Africana Periodical Literature 
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 Periodical article |
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| Title: | Does South Africa have a 'racial bargain'? A comparative perspective |
| Author: | Southall, Roger |
| Year: | 2007 |
| Periodical: | Transformation: Critical Perspectives on Southern Africa |
| Issue: | 64 |
| Pages: | 66-90 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic term: | South Africa |
| Subjects: | empowerment Black people race relations |
| External link: | https://muse.jhu.edu/article/230622 |
| Abstract: | Before the democratization of South Africa in 1994, blacks were overwhelmingly excluded from political and economic rights, while the politics of whites revolved around racial exclusivity. Necessarily, therefore, the democratic settlement was involved with accommodating racial and ethnic differences. The author argues that even though the agreed constitution formally espoused non-racialism, it rested upon an informal but widely understood 'racial bargain'. While the white minority would concede political power, they would retain control over major sectors of the economy. Even so, although the economy would be run on deracialized market principles, it would provide for greater levels of black participation and ownership in order to overcome the racially polarized nature of South African society. However, it was to be the slow pace of social and racial change which resulted from reliance upon the market which led to the State effectively renegotiating the bargain by implementing an increasingly assertive programme of Black Economic Empowerment (BEE). The author argues that South Africa's racial bargain cannot be understood unless it is located in the context of decolonization. This is illustrated by comparative reference to the nature of related decolonizing racial bargains in Zimbabwe, Kenya and Malaysia. These diverse experiences indicate that while racial bargains can be broken (Zimbabwe), albeit at considerable cost, their essence is that they are continuously being renegotiated in accord with changing political dynamics. The author concludes that progress towards substantive racial equality is the rock upon which the democratic right of individuals belonging to racial minorities is founded. Bibliogr., note, sum. [Journal abstract] |
