“Survival in Justice”: An Afrikaner Debate over Apartheid

• Published in: Comparative studies in society and history 1994-07, Vol.36 (3), p.527-548
• Main Author: Giliomee, Hermann
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Acculturation, contemporary social changes. (cultural action - rights of indigenous peoples ); Africa; Afrikaaners; Afrikaners; APARTHEID; Civil rights; Communities; CONFLICT; Debate; Ethnicity; Ethnology; Generalities; Government; History; Intellectuals; Interethnic relations; JUSTICE; Liberalism; Literary criticism; NATIONALISM; Poetry; Political debate; Political ideology; POLITICAL MOVEMENT; Politics; Post World War II Period; Race relations; Racial Segregation; REPUBLIC OF SOUTH AFRICA; Social justice; South Africa; Southern African cultural groups; Survival strategy; The Ethics of Difference; Theme; White people
• ISSN: 0010-4175; 1475-2999; 1471-633X
• DOI: 10.1017/S0010417500019228

Within nationalist movements a tension typically exists between group demands for ethnic self-preservation and the more universal demands of religious belief, professional commitment, or academic vocation which confront particularly the intelligentsia in the group. Ethnic politicians tend to argue that decades or centuries of oppression or the anticipated disastrous consequences of a loss of self-determination makes loyalty to the group and its leadership's strategies a matter of overriding importance. It is usually exceptional individuals, often poets or novelists, who in times of crisis issue the challenge that survival be reconciled with universal values and prevailing international political norms.