Racial categories as resources and constraints in everyday interactions: Implications for racialism and non-racialism in post-apartheid South Africa

Abstract

The anti-apartheid struggle was characterized by tensions between the opposing ideologies of non-racialism (exemplified by the Freedom Charter) and racialism (exemplified by Black Consciousness). These tensions have remained prevalent in public policies and discourse, and in the writings of social scientists, in the post-apartheid period. In this paper I examine some ways in which issues of whether, when, and how race matters become visible in everyday interactions in South Africa, and what insights this may offer with respect to these ongoing tensions. Specifically, I employ an ethnomethodological, conversation analytic approach to examine some ways in which racial categories are treated as resources for action or constraints on action. I conclude by arguing that these findings point to the contingent and situational operation of a practical non-racialism (as well as practical racialism), and thus to the achievement of these ideologies in the moment-by-moment unfolding of interactions.

Keywords:

• Non-racialism
• racial categories
• interaction
• South Africa
• ethnomethodology
• conversation analysis

Acknowledgements

I would like to acknowledge the financial assistance of the (South African) National Research Foundation (NRF) towards this research, in the form of a Prestige Scholarship for Doctoral Study Abroad (2004–2008). Note that opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at in this paper are my own, and are not to be attributed to the NRF. I have also benefited from a University of California, Santa Barbara Dean's Fellowship (2008–2009), and a University of California President's Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship (2009–2010). The current manuscript, originally prepared as a Working Paper for the Centre for Critical Research on Race and Identity (ccrri), University of KwaZulu-Natal, was made possible through funding received from the Maurice Webb Trust (2010). I am indebted to Geoff Raymond for his helpful comments on earlier drafts. This work has also benefited from the comments of two ERS reviewers, and from discussions with Gene Lerner, Howard Winant, and the attendees of presentations delivered for the Language, Interaction and Social Organization (LISO) pro-seminar at the University of California, Santa Barbara; the Center for Language, Interaction and Culture (CLIC) at the University of California, Los Angeles; and the Centre for Critical Research on Race and Identity (ccrri) at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

Notes

1. A list of the transcription symbols utilized is provided by Jefferson (2004).

2. For a discussion of turn increments see, for example, Ford, Fox and Thompson (2002).

3. A transition relevance place (TRP) is a recognizable place at which transition to a next speaker may possibly occur (Sacks, Schegloff and Jefferson 1974).

4. Paradoxically, this involves using race (in the form of the caller's race-based authority) to defeat the use of race (in the form of potential accusations of racial bias in expressing a position).

5. It is noteworthy that the caller in this case establishes from the outset a defensive orientation with respect to what is to follow, setting the scene for the defensive racialized concession that he subsequently produces. He does this by: 1) prefacing his complaint with the claim ‘I do:n't want to sound like I'm beating a drum here’ (lines 4–5), thereby treating what he is about to do as the sort of thing that could be responded to with accusations that he is ‘beating a drum’; and 2) claiming that he is ‘not saying all South Africans are violent’ (lines 13–14), thereby displaying his concern about the potential for being accused of making unsustainably broad generalizations about South Africans, and moving to pre-empt such accusations.

6. The Scorpions unit had been accused of partisan political motivations in its decisions on which investigations and prosecutions to pursue, and the government had proposed disbanding it and incorporating its personnel and duties into the regular police force.

7. The listener's ascription of the racial category ‘white’ to the guest involves a presumption on the part of the listener since, as mentioned above, the guest has not shown any apparent orientation to his racial category membership, and has not overly identified himself racially in any way. In responding to the listener, the guest tacitly confirms the accuracy of the listener's presumption by resisting the listener's accusations (as described below) without challenging the listener's claims about his racial category membership.