Verkramptheid: zur Geschichte und Gegenwart burischer Herrschaftsmentalitat
In: Peripherie: Politik, Ökonomie, Kultur, Band 6, Heft 24, S. 29-51
ISSN: 0173-184X
The background to the past & present practice of apartheid in South Africa is investigated, based on various studies & literary texts. Emphasis is on some aspects of the Boers' social psychology & history, which tend to bias their ideas of reality & hamper them in action adapted to reality. This psychology revolves around a Calvinistic notion of predestination, linked with an idealized picture of historical turning points such as the Great Trek & the Boer Wars. At present, the Boers perceive themselves as surrounded by enemies; but they themselves are creating the dangers, & their defensive measures reinforce what they are meant to contain -- resistance & fear. Current "reforms" of apartheid disguise the entrenchment of basic apartheid structures, above all, the territorial separation of racial groups. The Boers' racist attitudes are combined with obstinacy, which can only be understood as an outflow of fear. 29 References. Modified AA