Session 5(b): Pluralism, Cultural Constructions and Difference

Session 5b: Pluralism, Cultural Constructions and Difference
Chair: Shu-Ling Berggreen

The Cultural Construction of “The New South Africa” in Resistant Whiteness
Melissa Steyn
Institute for Intercultural and Diversity Studies of Southern Africa, University of Cape Town, Rondebosch, South Africa

This paper is based on a longer work examining the ideological contours of resistant whiteness, characterised by what I have called white talk, now prevalent in post-apartheid South Africa. South Africa has been undergoing a process of transformation which defines itself in opposition to the old, apartheid South Africa, and in which the government’s stated agenda is to create a non-racial, non-sexist South Africa. The result is that the privileged social space of white South Africa is in trouble, and filled with ambiguity towards the new regime. While few would openly declare themselves against transformation, the expectations of racial privilege do not simply disappear, and the desire to preserve power and advantage is not easily abandoned. The central challenge for whiteness thus becomes: how to manage a situation in which black people have legally and legitimately achieved political power, and in which white people are in a minority, without losing face. A great deal is therefore at stake in the battle over whose definitions of the current social, economic and political arrangements and developments should prevail, both within the country and abroad. In other words, the signifier “The New South Africa” itself has become a trope over which battles of representation are fought and through which interests are contested. This paper explores a cultural construction of the New South Africa within white South African that seeks define the terms by which people will understand New South Africa, and relate to it. This ideologically-informed discursive activity presents itself as evaluating the New South Africa simply as it is “out there,” as if the evaluative aspects of white talk emanate from the “objective” character of the political and national life of the country. However, the representation is already pre-evaluated, refracted through an ideological lens, constituting a version of New South Africa after its own image.

Building Freedom: Pluralistic Visions of East Timor
Marjorie Greene
Charles Darwin University, Australia

In its broadest sense, “pluralism” is a condition marked by groups seeking the satisfaction of a multiplicity of desires , whose outcomes will enable competing interests to flourish so that, when they are incorporated into decision-making, society at large will be better off. Managing pluralism of this nature is not easy. First, very few societies provide an opportunity for implementing such a vision. Second, there is a need for real world economies to exhibit the opportunity to exercise what can be termed Macroeconomic choice. Such an opportunity presents itself when a new nation is born. East Timor is a case in point and is the focus of this paper.
The phrase “within one, many” aptly characterises East Timor . While racially the country is relatively homogenous, as one of the world’s newest nations, it is comprised of a congeries of interest groups whose origins lie in the tumultuous history of conquest and imperial rule dating back some three hundred-sixty years. The current ruling elites must govern a nation comprised of people who possess a diversity of languages, customs, political and social allegiances, and expectations for the future. The leaders have a unique opportunity to create a macroeconomic framework within which agents pursing their diverse interests can interact in a pluralistic manner.
This paper examines a macroeconomic framework for East Timor to create a pluralist macro-economy. The paper is based on a belief that Pluralism demands that disparate interest groups take part in the governance of their society without any one group systematically dominating the processes or outcomes. Managing pluralism involves designing public policies and structures that support universal access to meaningful participation in the creation of a national model for sustainable development in East Timor.

Interculturalism in Japan? An Analysis of the Negotiation of Cultural Citizenship among Students in Japanese Universities
Lynne Parmenter
School of Letters, Arts and Sciences, Waseda University, Shinjuku-ku, Tokyo, Japan

The aim of this paper is to present various perspectives from Japan on issues related to intercultural citizenship. The presentation will consist mainly of discussion of data collected from over 600 Japanese university students through questionnaires, interviews and focus-group discussions. Relating data with relevant theory, the following issues will be addressed:

• Historical and social contexts of cultural citizenship in Japan. A brief explanation of pertinent historical movements, cultural traditions and social policies will be given, referring mainly to existing literature on the subject.
• Young people’s concepts of and opinions on monocultural, intercultural, multicultural and global citizenship. Although the focus of the conference is interculturalism, it seems vital to place interculturalism in relation to other ‘…culturalisms’ in order to grasp its definition and significance. Using principles of grounded theory, this section will start from student definitions, and intertwine these with relevant sociological literature to build up a picture of the place and concept of intercultural citizenship in the minds of young people in Japan.
• The possibilities and pitfalls of intercultural citizenship in Japanese society. Following on from the previous section, this section will focus more specifically on student discussion of interculturalism and intercultural citizenship. The role of intercultural citizenship, its potential in society and the possible pitfalls of intercultural citizenship will be explored.
• The influence of education on the development of cultural citizenship. In this final section, Japanese education policy, curriculum and practices will be examined, and an analysis will be made of the ways in which education is related to the development of cultural citizenship.

It is hoped that this paper will serve as a contribution to the debates on concepts of intercultural citizenship and relationships between interculturalism and other ‘…culturalisms’, as well as being useful as comparative data for researchers in other countries.

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