Ethnicity as identity and ethnicity politically mobilised : symbols of mobilisation in Inkatha.

Abstract

This thesis. entitled 'ETHNICITY AS IDENTITY AND ETHNICITY POLITICALLY MOBILISED: SYMBOLS OF MOBILISATION IN INKATHA'. presents two major contributions. The first is a discussion of ethnicity that not only draws the distinction between the phenomenon in its mobilised political form. on the one hand. and on the other ethnicity as social identity presenting life stories through which individuals live part of their social existences. but also follows through the theoretical and policy implications. The implications of this distinction suggest ways in which the issue of -ethnicity can be approached within attempts to avoid the conflictual dimension. The second is a study of the manner in which political mobilisation of Zulu ethnicity has occurred. especially during the 19708 and 1980s. through the Inkatha movement. The case study effectively illustrates the manner in which politicised ethnicity functions. in defining a rigid interpretation that allows little flux and movement within. and from and into the ethnic camp. The author integrates the theoretical discussion of the issue of ethnicity and ethnic social identities with comparative and empilrical material drawn nationally and internationally as well as from the extensive cue study of the mobilisation practices of the Inkatha movement and its leadership. In the theoretical approach the complex nature of all identities. and of ethnicity specifically, is stressed, arguing for the multiple experiences of what is presented as homogeneous within ethnic mobilisation. Ethnic identities are gendered, and subject to the effects of class, age, and 'race' distinctions. Ethnicity is, furthermore, much more flexible than would appear to be the case from such mobilisation. It is in this flexibility that an approach to resolving 'ethnic conflict' lies. Within ethnic mobilisation the stress in the interpellations addressed at ethnic subjects is on rigidity, lnflexibility, and single and centralised interpretations. These elements are illustrated through the case study of Inkatha operating from within the previous KwaZulu bantustan. Themes and approaches within the discourse of mobilisation employed to mobilise a regional population into Inkatha are examined. and set against the background and effects of social, political and economic factors.