From Liberation to Citizenship: Identity and Innovation in Black South African Political Thought

Abstract

In the political tradition of black South Africa, such ideological positions as liberalism, socialism, and nationalism are secondary to those themes emerging from the conjuncture of race and class. At the core of black political thought there are two interrelated and recurring visions of liberation: one, the image of multiracial union; the other, black republican identity.I am aware of the contentious nature of the terms multiracial and nonracial within the context of black South African political debate. Nonetheless, I have decided to use multiracial union because, in my judgment, it provides a more realistic picture of the actual appeal and vision of this strand of thought. I do not assume that either black republicans or multiracial unionists are uncommitted to the ideal of a nonracial society. While adherents to both visions espouse the ideal of a genuinely nonracial society, they disagree over the question of whether intra-racial versus inter-racial class solidarity is the means to attain this end.