*** ``` dataview TABLE length(file.outlinks) AS "Liens sortants", length(file.inlinks) AS "Liens entrants" WHERE file.path = this.file.path ``` ## Concepts importants This study focuses on the degree to which an explicit biological concept of race informed apartheid theory, and how this related to theological and cultural explanations of human difference. 1 Christian-nationalism played a vital role in this process, providing apartheid with a rationale distinctive from existing forms of segregation. The argument in this paper is that Christian-nationalism proved flexible and eclectic in its use of racist ideas. In constructing an intellectually coherent justification for apartheid, ideologues frequently chose to infer or to suggest biological theories of racial superiority rather than to assert these openly. Both for pragmatic and doctrinal reasons, the diffuse language of cultural essentialism was preferred to the crude scientific racism drawn from the vocabulary of social Darwinism. Cette étude se concentre sur le degré auquel le concept biologique de race a contribué à la théorie de l'Apartheid, et comment cela a été relié aux explications théologiques et culturelles sur les différences entre les êtres humains. Le nationalisme chrétien a joué un rôle essentiel dans ce processus, en fournissant à l'apartheid une justification distincte des formes existantes de ségrégation. L'argument de cette étude vise à montrer comment le nationalisme chrétien a justifié de manière cohérente l'apartheid. Les idéologues ont préféré plutôt suggérer des théories de supériorité raciale plutôt que de les assumer ouvertement. Pour des raisons tant pragmatiques que doctrinales, le langage diffus de l'essentialisme culturel a été préféré au racisme scientifique grossier tiré du vocabulaire du darwinisme social. ### Conclusion CONCLUSION Despite recent academic research Afrikaners continue to be stereotyped as the '*white tribe of Africa'*. They are portrayed as hardy creatures of the frontier whose political views were shaped by an unrelenting struggle against British imperialism and a fierce commitment to the maintenance of white supremacy in all its forms. This view was especially influential during apartheid's heyday in the late I950S and 6os, when Afrikanerdom (nation Afrikaner) appeared to have gained total command of the South African state. Keen observers have always detected important divisions within the seemingly monolithic power of the Afrikaner state, but it was only in the aftermath of the I976 uprisings that the unity of the state and the ideological coherence of apartheid began to fragment visibly. Today it is all too evident that Afrikaner nationalism is in retreat, that the South African state (though immensely powerful) is riven by internal contradictions, and that apartheid ideology no longer serves the class interests which underlie continued white domination. Once regarded as the stubborn legatee of a fundamentalist Calvinist tradition dating back to the earliest days of white settlement, the Nationalist govern- ment is now seen - with rather more justification - as a canny practitioner of **For example, the assumption that language and culture were expressions of race was an essential element in post-Enlightenment anthropological thought.** Similarly, the notion that non-physical characteristics (e.g. culture) are capable of absorption and transmission from one generation to the next derives in large part from **Lamarck's** theory of the inheritance of acquired characteristics. **which may be prepared to surrender its abstract commitment to the unity of the volk in the broader interests of defending white power and privilege**. This view accords far more closely with historical reality than the mythologized notion of God-fearing Afrikaners engaged in an unrelenting pursuit of an unrealizable vision. Indeed, seen in these terms, the zealous fervour associated with the construction of Christian-national philosophy in the I930S and 40s appears as an exceptional episode in Afrikaner history. The important work of O'Meara and others has done much to demystify the rise of Afrikaner nationalism by discussing this process in terms of class formation.115 But it would be mistaken to view Afrikaner nationalist ideology purely in instrumental terms. Christian-national theory can only be fully understood within the terms of its own cognitive reality and by reference to its internal logic. To this extent it contains a certain irreducible ideological element which seems to defy interest-group or class analysis. Confronted with this irreducible quality, there has been a tendency amongst some writers either to wish it away or else to resort to the unsatisfactory claim that Afrikaner nationalism is fundamentally irrational. It is, however, dangerous to dismiss apartheid theory in these terms, not least because of the demonstrable capacity that supposedly irrational ideologies can have when it comes to influencing human behaviour. Within the terms of its own internal discourse, Christian-nationalism was based on a coherent, if contradictory, intellectual framework. Its power as an ideology was related to the ability of its adherents to hold together contradictory ideas, while maintaining an overall appearance of consistency. The theologians and academics who participated in the construction of apartheid ideology were often highly sensitive to political realities, and they constantly sought to test the limits of their doctrine's flexibility. [[The rise and fall of Christian-Nationalism The ideological evolution of Dopper intellectuals]] Même truc sur la contradiction interne du christian-nationalism One notes, for example, that the high-point of support for an Afrikaner volk state was reached at around the time when a victory for the Axis powers during the war seemed possible. Likewise, it was during the late I930S and 40s that explicit biological explanations of human difference were expressed most stridently. -> Dans l'avant-guerre et la guerre, le mouvement des Afrikaner s'est radicalisé avec des idées nazis et tout = à ce moment là il y a pu avoir des discours racistes clairement basés sur des explicitations biologiques -> en réalité avant les discours racistes étaient juste implicites et parlait de "culture" In the I950S and 6os, when attacks on the herrenvolk ideology of apartheid gathered force, it is clear that many Afrikaner nationalist intellectuals were pushed onto the defensive. This can be seen in the severe unease generated by the United Nations' attacks on apartheid, the UNESCO criticisms of racial myths and the I960 Cottesloe rejection of apartheid within the churches. Faced with this onslaught, one of the favoured responses was the disavowal of any connexion between apartheid and notions of innate racial superiority. Far from being a simple, dogmatic creed, Christian-nationalist thought contained a number of tendencies, reflecting differences of approach, emphasis and political conviction. It also reflected a marked degree of intellectual eclecticism: Dutch neo-Calvinism, German National-Socialism and the already existing framework of inter-war segregationist ideology are amongst the most important sources. **The idea of race, whether latent or explicit, was a constant motif**. This is especially evident where the fear of **racial contamination** or **miscegenation** arose. "**The idea of race, whether latent or explicit, was a constant motif**. This is especially evident where the fear of **racial contamination** or **miscegenation** arose. " Such dangers were highlighted by reference to scriptural injunction and historical precedent, as well as biological degeneration. **If race figured as a deeply ambiguous concept within religious thought**, this was partly because of the **equally ambiguous notion of volk** with which it was closely associated. volk and race = ambigüe Conceived of both in biological and cultural terms, these concepts were shrouded in a quasi-mystical language and reinforced by the influence of a brand of Romanticism which openly distrusted rational thought and the universalistic ideas associated with the Enlightenment. The portrayal of the **voortrekkers** (*In _historical_ contexts. A member of one of numerous groups of Dutch-speaking people who migrated by wagon from the Cape Colony into the interior from 1836 onwards, in order to live beyond the boundaries of British rule*) as the embodiment of Afrikaner virtues was deeply influenced by such ideas. Their heroic pre-industrial past, their connexion with the soil and their wisdom born of experience were all essential elements in this construct. Experience, instinct and tradition were key validating principles, and they were often accorded more significance than the authority of empirical knowledge. **When it suited their purposes, ideologues were pleased to quote the findings of racial science in support of the idea of white superiority**; but only *rarely* did this constitute the basis of their arguments. The metaphysical terms according to which Afrikaner nationalism construed its purpose meant that a full-blown racist explanation of human difference was seldom articulated. In the main it was neither necessary nor convenient to do so. The Kuyperian language of 'diversity' and the sovereignty of separate 'spheres' was highly conducive to the affirmation of a form of **cultural relativism**. Here, the idealist conception of nation, volk and culture functioned as a useful substitute for a biological view of race. It was therefore possible to speak about the 'national character' or 'soul' as if such qualities were capable of being transmitted from generation to generation but without the difficulties associated with biological theories of racial inheritance. -> pour contourner les difficultés associées à l'imaginaire autour des théories biologiques de la race, ils parlaient des valeurs du volk qui pouvaient se transmettre de générations en générations This subtle mixture of **cultural relativism** and **racial determinism** was an important aspect of Christian-nationalism's strength and appeal. Idealism, in the other sense of the word, also convinced many adherents that apartheid was **a genuinely just way of solving South Africa's racial conflict**. For, unlike partial ad hoc segregation, which was held to be intrinsically exploitative, it was believed that total segregation would provide Africans with full opportunities to develop according to their own cultural norms. -> certains ont cru bien faire en mode "séparer les cultures pour qu'elles puissent se développer selon leurs propres normes" To the extent that the success of ideologies depends to a large extent on the degree to which they are genuinely accepted by their advocates, a belief in the moral rectitude of apartheid was crucial to the relative cohesiveness of Afrikanerdom during the I950S and 6os. That coherence has since been shattered, both politically and ideologically. But even today, as a new South Africa is struggling to be born, the coded language of 'groups', 'nation' and 'cultural identity' retains a ghostly resonance. Together, they alert us to the residual salience of an ideology which, though wholly discredited, continues to exercise a significant influence over events. Justifient l'Apartheid avec l'expérience historique du peuple Afrikaner et l'autorité de la science La doctrine du christian-nationalism a su s'adapter aux circonstances. En regardant l'articulation des discours racistes, on voit qu'ils s'appuient parfois sur du différentialisme culturel, parfois sur du racisme biologique SUMMARY This paper analyses the ideological elaboration of the concept of race in the development of Christian-nationalist thought. As such, it contributes to our understanding of the ideological and theological justifications for apartheid. The AFRIKANER NATIONALISM 237 paper begins by pointing to the relatively late moment (c. mid-I93os) at which Afrikaner nationalist ideologues began to address the systematic separation of blacks and whites. It takes its cue from a key address given by the nationalist leader, Totius, to the I 944 volkskongres on racial policy. Here, racial separation was justified by reference to scriptural injunction, the **historical experience of Afrikanerdom** and the **authority of science**. Each of these categories is then analysed with respect to the way in which the concept of race was understood and articulated. The paper argues that both scientific racism and distinctive forms of cultural relativism were used to justify racial separation. This depended on the fact that the categories of race, language and culture were used as functionally interdependent variables, whose boundaries remained fluid. In the main, and especially after the Second World War, Afrikaner nationalist ideologues chose to infer or suggest biological notions of racial superiority rather than to assert these openly. Stress on the distinctiveness of different 'cultures' meant that the burden of explaining human difference did not rest solely on the claims of racial science. As a doctrine, Christian-nationalism remained sufficiently flexible to adjust to changing circumstances. In practice, the essentialist view of culture was no less powerful a means of articulating human difference than an approach based entirely on biological determinism.