White Guilt and Reconciliation in South Africa

• Název práce v češtině: Bílé privilegium, vina a smíření v Jihoafrické republice
• Název v anglickém jazyce: White Guilt and Reconciliation in South Africa
• Akademický rok vypsání: 2022/2023
• Typ práce: bakalářská práce
• Jazyk práce: angličtina
• Ústav: Katedra politologie (23-KP)
• Vedoucí / školitel: Hana Kubátová, M.A., Ph.D.
• Řešitel: skrytý - zadáno vedoucím/školitelem
• Datum přihlášení: 26.09.2023
• Datum zadání: 26.09.2023
• Datum a čas obhajoby: 06.06.2024 07:00
• Místo konání obhajoby: Areál Jinonice, C520, 520, seminární místnost IPS
• Datum odevzdání elektronické podoby: 28.04.2024
• Datum proběhlé obhajoby: 06.06.2024
• Oponenti: doc. Mgr. Bohumil Doboš, Ph.D.

Zásady pro vypracování

White Guilt and Reconciliation in South Africa

Introduction
The topic will be the role of white guilt in South African reconciliation in the post-apartheid period. It will be delineated according to semantic and abstract terms, as well as more observable phenomena (such as the use of white guilt as a tool to measure the effectiveness of reconciliation, if it can be utilized as such). White guilt in the South African context touches many fields. The two main disciplines that will be used as a lens for this work will be philosophy and the political sciences. However, jurisprudence is a fundamental background for research into transitional justice and will therefore be delved into as well. Lastly, the inextricable nature of the relationship between South African socio-political and economic institutions, South Africa’s economy and exploitation and subsequent reconciliation through monetary means must be discussed.

The importance of the topic is underpinned by recent discussions surrounding the supposed failure of South African institutions and the failure of the country as a state itself. South African citizens face many crises (such as governmental corruption and resource depletion and mismanagement) and possibly tracing them back to the failures of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee or those that were placed at the head of transitionary justice at a time when similar strong feelings of negative emotions swept the country would be helpful. These crises could be addressed and a path for finding solutions befitting them could be established. Issues faced by South Africa is of contemporary concern due to the country’s prominence as an African political and economic power. The more salient aspect to consider, however, is the fact that the South African model for transitionary justice through the TRC was used an example by other countries in other instances of social injustices. It is therefore important to establish whether the TRC was truly effective in what it aimed to accomplish.

What the term “white guilt” refers to exactly is vague. The authors who do opt to explore the phenomenon seem to adopt definitions which do no coincide with the definitions used by other academics. For research into the role of white guilt in reconciliation and transitionary justice to be worthwhile, such confusions and inaccuracies need to be dispelled. The thesis outlined in this proposal partially aims to explore and decrease the vague nature of the semantics involved in the debate as well as to determine whether there is operational potential behind the use of white guilt as a measure for future studies.

Most of the studies which use white guilt as a measure concern the racial inequalities of the United States. South Africa is an invaluable resource for understanding racial reconciliation and therefore creating means of perhaps solving similar problems in other countries in the future.

Research Goals
The research topic formulated in a more succinct way is “The role of white guilt in South African reconciliation”. The research question derived from this topic is “What is the role of white guilt in South African reconciliation?”. As was previously mentioned, there is a sweeping indefiniteness in the literature (both in the South African and in the broader context) concerning the use of the term “white guilt”. Another aim of the thesis will be to address this alongside potential gaps in the literature.

Current State of Knowledge
The transition of the post-apartheid period in South Africa is discussed in an overwhelmingly qualitative way by both South African and non-South African authors. Many authors whose writing surrounds the topic also discuss work done by other authors. This work is often from non-academic genres such as fiction and prose. The role of white guilt in racial relations and subsequent policy-making is certainly a topic of discussion in the literature, at least in the American context.

Conceptual and Theoretical Framework
Instead of focusing on the theoretical underpinnings of different works, the more salient aspect to consider in this case is the conceptual framework of the works within the relevant field. The conceptualization of the term “white guilt” will be one of the key parts of the thesis as part of a larger meta-analysis. What different authors mean by their use of “white guilt” will be investigated. Furthermore, whether white guilt can be operationalized and thereby be used as a measure or tool in relation to other phenomena will also be explored.

Methodological Framework
The work will largely consist of qualitative and normative research. The literature surrounding white guilt, and white guilt in the South African context more specifically, lacks quantitative research. Although this would be a worthwhile area to pursue in the field, the author lacks the capabilities to engage in accurate quantitative research using numerical data and hopes that the thesis here outlined might inspire other researchers to explore this option. Establishing a clear definition of white guilt and exploring the confusions amongst different works in the field is a crucial first step in establishing a foundation for future research in which white guilt may be operationalized as a concept to measure the effectiveness of transitionary justice, amongst other concepts frequently discussed within the field.


In a broader sense, the use of the term “white guilt” and how different authors define it will be addressed, along with how it reflects in the South African context. Secondly, post-apartheid reconciliation will be explored through the ways in which it was enacted (through the creation and running of the Truth and Reconciliation Committee, for example) and its subsequent side-effects at the time and in a contemporary context. This will allow for an investigation into what effects white guilt had on the decision-making and outcomes of South Africa’s transitionary period.

Used Method and Approach
The main methodological method that will be used is the literature review. Work discussing South Africa, apartheid and post-apartheid transition will be focused on instead of what is most often discussed in “white guilt” literature, which is the United States and its history of racial segregation and slavery. The definition of white guilt used by authors will have to be derived via an investigation of the text if not stated explicitly.

Data
Considering the qualitative nature of the literature, the data will, in a way, consist of academic studies and articles relevant to the research and the definitions of “white guilt” used by various authors. The information utilized will mainly be from secondary sources, as much of the literature already surrounds the discussion of previously written work. Data will also be collected via content discourse analysis in relation to the definition of “white guilt” used by various authors in different articles.

Seznam odborné literatury

Preliminary List of References:

Barnett, U. A., & Krog, A. (1999a). Country of My Skull: Guilt, sorrow, and the Limits of forgiveness in the New South Africa. World Literature Today, 73(4), 802. https://doi.org/10.2307/40155254
Gachago, D., Bozalek, V., & Ng’ambi, D. (2018a). White guilt and shame. In Routledge eBooks (pp. 230–245). https://doi.org/10.4324/9781351250962-14
Iyer, A., Leach, C. W., & Crosby, F. J. (2003a). White Guilt and Racial Compensation: The Benefits and Limits of Self-Focus. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29(1), 117–129. https://doi.org/10.1177/0146167202238377
Iyer, A., Leach, C. W., & Pedersen, A. (2004a). Racial Wrongs and Restitutions: The Role of Guilt and Other Group-Based Emotions. In Cambridge University Press eBooks (pp. 262–283). https://doi.org/10.1017/cbo9781139106931.016
Kinloch, G. C., & Steyn, M. (2002a). “Whiteness just isn’t what it used to be”: White identity in a changing South Africa. Contemporary Sociology, 31(4), 390. https://doi.org/10.2307/3089063
Klandermans, B., Werner, M., & Van Doorn, M. (2008a). Redeeming Apartheid’s legacy: collective guilt, political ideology, and compensation. Political Psychology, 29(3), 331–349. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9221.2008.00633.x
Mahilall, R., & Swartz, L. (2021a). ‘I am Dying a Slow Death of White Guilt’: Spiritual Carers in a South African Hospice Navigate Issues of Race and Cultural Diversity. Culture, Medicine and Psychiatry, 46(4), 779–797. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11013-021-09750-5
Nagy, R. (2012a). Truth, Reconciliation and Settler Denial: Specifying the Canada–South Africa analogy. Human Rights Review, 13(3), 349–367. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12142-012-0224-4
Phyfer, J., Durrheim, K., & Murray, A. (2020a). Buttressing Whiteness by Confessing Guilt and Rejecting Racism: A Study of White-Talk about Paid Domestic Labour. South African Review of Sociology, 51(1), 3–16. https://doi.org/10.1080/21528586.2020.1741442
Steyn, M. (2005a). "White talk”: White South Africans and the management of diasporic whiteness. In Postcolonial whiteness: A critical reader on race and empire. State University of New York.
Straker, G. (2004a). Race for cover: Castrated whiteness, perverse consequences. Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 14(4), 405–422. https://doi.org/10.1080/10481881409348795
Swartz, S. (2020a). Giving In, Giving Up, and Being Blown to Smithereens: A Discussion of “‘When Reparation Is Felt to Be Impossible’: Persecutory Guilt and Breakdowns in Thinking and Dialogue about Race.” Psychoanalytic Dialogues, 30(5), 613–620. https://doi.org/10.1080/10481885.2020.1797399
Teeger, C. (2015a). “Both Sides of the Story”: History Education in Post-Apartheid South Africa. American Sociological Review, 80(6).
Vice, S. (2010a). “How do I live in this strange place?” Journal of Social Philosophy, 41(3), 323–342. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9833.2010.01496.x
Visser, I. (2008a). How to Live? Guilt and Goodness in Rian Malan’sMy Traitor’s Heart. Research in African Literatures, 39(3), 149–163. https://doi.org/10.2979/ral.2008.39.3.149