Identity and agency in South Africa
It is often assumed that a sense of interconnectedness with others and a common identity, such as that associated with the idea of “rainbowism”, can only be achieved after a host of social injustices, inequities and other material problems have somehow been addressed. Related to this, Western socia...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
University of Johannesburg
2022-10-01
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| Series: | Communicare |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://journals.uj.ac.za/index.php/jcsa/article/view/1540 |
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| Summary: | It is often assumed that a sense of interconnectedness with others and a common identity, such
as that associated with the idea of “rainbowism”, can only be achieved after a host of social
injustices, inequities and other material problems have somehow been addressed. Related to this,
Western social theory proposes that addressing these problems requires mobilising op/positional
identities that can free individuals from their constraints. Yet if we are to suppose that identity
shapes our very interests, then the converse might be true. Social injustices, inequities and other
material problems may only be resolved once a sense of relatedness and interconnectivity with
the community at large is established. In this article I show how the African moral theory of ubuntu
can help us achieve this by contributing to understandings of identity and agency that work in
concert with systems and structures and towards shared ends. Hence, while theorists largely
focus on the potential of identity to confront wanting social realities and to create freedom from
constraint, I suggest that through ubuntu, identity can be reimagined as mutualistic and symbiotic
with social organisation – enabling, as a result, more equity and justice. Critical of false and
misappropriated manifestations of unity, my article contributes to a novel understanding of the
relationship between identity and agency towards reimagined notions of rainbowism.
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| ISSN: | 0259-0069 2957-7950 |