Identity politics of race and gender in the post-apartheid South Africa : the case of Stellenbosch University

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Identity has been a contentious issue in South Africa for many years. This created manyproblems including, among others, discrimination against people on the basis of race andgender. When the new government came to power in 1994, it promised to make valuablechanges, and hence programmes such as affirmative action and black economicempowerment were introduced. This study investigates perceptions of students atStellenbosch University (US) towards identity politics of race and gender after 1994.The subject of investigation includes, inter alia, student accommodation, language of tuition,relationship between students, class participation, sexual harassment and politics (affirmativeaction and black economic empowerment). This research investigates the university'streatment of students and how students themselves treat each other.Information was collected through a survey using a questionnaire in four selected residences,viz. Concordia, Goldfields, Huis DeViIIiers and Lobelia.The findings of this study indicate that there still are some problems as far as identity politicsof race and gender at the US are concerned. For example, this study came to the followingconclusions:• The majority of students from the three racial groups who participated in this studyhave a perception that racial divisions still exist at the US in three areas (classroom,residences and the student centre). The perception is these divisions are caused by thefact that students come from different cultural backgrounds. Language differencesalso play a role in this respect;• The majority of students also have a perception that black students are less likely tospeak in class because they feel intimidated;• The majority of black and coloured students support the ANC (African NationalCongress), while the majority of white students support the DA (DemocraticAlliance). Although this is the case, this research also finds that many students at theUS do not want to indicate their political support;• Black and coloured students are positive about the role of Affirmative Action (AA)and Black Economic Empowerment (BEE), whereas white students have a differentview;• Women students at the US have a perception that South Africa is still confronted by aproblem of gender inequality;• The majority of students have a perception that white men are the worst affectedgroup by AA and BEE;• Most students, regardless of their race or gender, feel protected at the US. There is aperception that there is no gender discrimination by their lecturers;• Men and women students view sexual harassment differently; for example, womenstudents view sexist jokes and wolf-whistling as constituting sexual harassment whilemen students have a different view. They all have perception that women students arethe one who experience more of these forms of sexual harassment than their malecounterparts do.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University