African Historical Review · 2015 · 25 citations · 28 references
Social SciencesHistoryPolitical ScienceAfrican StudiesDemocratizationSocial MovementsAfrican NationalismAnti-colonial MovementsApartheid In Southern AfricaNationalism In AfricaPostcolonial African StatesAnti-apartheid StruggleAnti-colonial PoliticsApartheid HistoryColonial Foundations Of ApartheidGroup Rights CritiqueInternational Anti-apartheid MovementSouth African Nationalism
At the end of the 1950s, anti‑apartheid struggles intertwined with a wider debate across southern and eastern Africa about democracy, nationalism, and political representation. The article traces the history of the terms “non‑racial,” “non‑racialism,” “multi‑racial,” and “multi‑racialism” to determine when and how they entered British colonial and South African political discourse, reconstructing the early development of “multi‑racial democracy” from the 1930s to post‑WWII colonial policy. It examines how “multi‑racial democracy” was formulated in South African liberal circles and later adopted by British colonial policy, then traces the divergent conceptualisations of non‑racialism and African nationalism that emerged in response. The study finds that ANC leaders adopted the language of non‑racial democracy reactively after the 1958 Africanist split to clarify the organisation’s stance on group rights.
This article traces the history of four words: 'non-racial', 'non-racialism', 'multi- racial', and 'multi-racialism'. Its main concern is to identify when and how these terms developed a role within British colonial and South African political discourse. At the end of the 1950s, the struggles within the anti-apartheid movement became entangled with a broader discussion across southern and eastern Africa regarding democracy, nationalism, and political representation. In clarifying the significance of this moment, this article reconstructs the earlier history of 'multi- racial democracy' from its formulation in South African liberal circles in the 1930s to its incorporation into British colonial policy following the Second World War. It then traces the divergent conceptualisations of non-racialism and African nationalism that developed in response to multi-racial democracy. It concludes that African National Congress (ANC) leaders adopted the language of non-racial democracy in a reactive fashion after the 1958 Africanist split in order to clarify the organisation's position on group rights.
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IX.—Essentially Contested Concepts
W. B. Gallie · Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society · 1956 · 2.2K citations
Essentially Contested Concepts
W. B. Gallie · Inquiry Critical Thinking Across the Disciplines · 1994 · 1.9K citations