The subject of race and identity is a burning issue which continues to occupy the attention not only of South Africans but also the wider residents of the continent of Africa and those who are Africans in the Diaspora. The outburst of xenophobic attacks against foreigners mostly of Black African origins in some communities of Kwa-Zulu Natal and areas of Johannesburg during 2008 and 2015 has raised questions about the social cohesion of South African society linked to unresolved structural identity issues bequeathed by the nation’s past colonial and apartheid legacy. This publication argues that there is an embedded schizophrenic identity crisis within the society that requires scholarly interrogation. The chapters assemble scholarly voices from different ethnic groups that examine the central research question of this study: Who is an African? Within the wider Southern African context, identity and ethnicity politics are framing nationalist economic policies and are impacting on social cohesion within many countries. Writing from different social and racial locations the authors have critically engaged with the central question and offer some important insights that can serve as a resource for all nations grappling with issues of race, ethnicity, identity constructed politics, and social cohesion.
Roderick R. Hewitt is academic leader for research and higher degrees in the School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Chammah J. Kaunda is Africa Research Fellow, Senior Research Specialist in Human Development Science of the Human Sciences Research Council (HDS-HSRC), and honorary lecturer in the School of Religion, Philosophy and Classics at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Table of Contents
Foreword: Marshall W. Murphree Foreword: Nobuhle Hlongwa Acknowledgements Contributors Introduction: Who is an African? Roderick R. Hewitt Chammah J. Kaunda
PART I: RACISM, XENOPHOBIA AND CULTURAL IDENTITY
The Changing Salience of Race: Discrimination and Diversity in South Africa Jeremy Seekings, University of Cape Town
Cracking the Skull of Racism in South Africa Post-1994 Vuyani S. Vellem, University of Pretoria
Black Solidarity Impaled: The Cause of Afrophobia Bernard Matolino, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Race, Place and Indian Identities in Contemporary South Africa Goolam Vahed, University of KwaZulu-Natal Ashwin Desai, University of Johannesburg
Liberating Identifications: Being Black Conscious, Being Non-Racial, Being African Nico Botha, University of South Africa
Umuntu Akalahlwa: An Exploration of an African Ethics Sibusiso Masondo, University of KwaZulu-Natal
PART II: GENDER, SEXUALITY AND SOCIAL COHESION
“I am Born of a People Who Would Not Tolerate Oppression”: The Role of Indian Women’s Movements in Social Transformation Rowanne S. Marie, Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary
Identity Construction of African Women in the Midst of Land Dispossession Maserole Kgari-Masondo, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Re-enacting “Destiny”: Masculinity and Afrikaner Identity in “Religious” Post-Apartheid South Africa Kennedy Owino, Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary/University of KwaZulu-Natal
“Some LGBTIQs Are More Unequal than Others”: Determinants of LGBTIQ Marginality in South Africa Scott Everett Couper, University of KwaZulu-Natal/Seth Mokitimi Methodist Seminary
Rituals of Female Solidarity: The Role of Imbusa in Promoting Social Cohesion among Married Women in Pietermaritzburg, South Africa Mutale M. Kaunda, University of KwaZulu-Natal Chammah J. Kaunda, University of South Africa
PART III: RELIGION, PROTEST, AND AFRICANNESS
“Sing unto the LORD a New Song” (Psalm 98:1): Aspects of the Afrikaans Punk-Rock Group Fokofpolisiekar’s Musical Spirituality as Rearticulated Aspects of the 1978 Afrikaans Psalm– en Gesangeboek Christo Lombaard, University of South Africa
Rastafari Perspectives on African Identities: Lucky Dube’s “Different Colours / One People” in Conversation with Peter Tosh’s “I Am an African” Roderick R. Hewitt, University of KwaZulu-Natal
On Locating Islam and African Muslim Identity within Black/Africana Existential Thought: A Preview Tahir Fuzile Sitoto, University of KwaZulu-Natal
Urban Immigrant Pentecostal Missiology: The Case of an Immigrant Zambian Pentecostal Pastor in South Africa Chammah J. Kaunda, University of South Africa
Why Read the West? Messianicity and Canonicity within a Postcolonial, South African Context Justin Sands, North-West University Potchefstroom
