Constructing activist identities in post-apartheid South Africa

With the understanding that every generation shares a generational consciousness, which locates individuals not only in a common geographical location, but also a historical one, this study uses social-constructionist accounts of collective identity, narrative inquiry and positioning theory to trace the moral careers of twenty-six young, middle-class activists, based in Cape Town, South Africa. In doing so it explores the relationship between their activism and identities, and how this relationship is contingent on the social and political context of post-apartheid South Africa. The first part of this study provides an account of the dynamics of political community formation amongst this group of activists, how they generate a shared understanding of the world, how they construct borders of belonging and influence, and how these borders sometimes mirror broader social cleavages in post-apartheid in South Africa. The second part examines how participants draw on two major narratives, or morality plays, with which to construct their activist identities. The most significant of these is ‘the Struggle’, the story of the struggle against apartheid. The other is the ‘the TAC Method’, the story of the Treatment Action Campaign’s struggle for the treatment of those living with HIV and AIDS.

Grantor dc:publisher.institution

Department of Psychology

Year dc:date.issued

2013

Author dc:creator

• Kelly, Claire

Advisor dc:contributor.advisor

• Foster, Don

Language dc:language.iso

eng

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/11427/11202

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/11202