Exclusive and Inclusive Othering in the South African Context

Race, gender, sexuality and class are intersectional socially constructed concepts and institutions that create perceived differences and hierarchies that separate humans in society and reproduce positions of domination and subordination through the process of ‘othering’ (Collins, 1990). It is through this process of ‘othering’ and the representations of it that the inclusion and exclusion of groups occurs, resulting in the subordination and domination of these groups (Hall, 2001). This essay will discuss these notions of inclusionary and exclusionary othering, specifically within the South African context. The importance of doing so lies in that various literature has been written on ‘othering’ however, most of it explores othering as an exclusionary process alone while very few literature explore othering as an inclusionary process (Canales, 2000). Furthermore, Euro/Americans cultural hegemony has been established throughout the world and consequently, their knowledge dominates discourse (Oyewumi, 2002).

In this essay, by looking at othering as inclusionary and exclusionary, the boundaries for understanding and interacting with those perceived as different are expanded and the distinction between the two assists in clarifying the relationship of power in othering (Canales, 2000). In addition, by focusing othering specifically within the South African context, the essay will produce concepts and ideas based on African experiences rather than Eurocentric ideas (Oyewumi, 2002). Exploring othering specifically within the context of South Africa is already an example of exclusionary othering, however, my goal is to discover how inclusionary and exclusionary othering has occurred and occurs in South Africa at multiple levels- within individuals, families, communities, and the society as a whole; and its effect on these institutions. This will be done by looking at, namely, apartheid South Africa, the emergence of xenophobia, black consciousness, and the policy of...