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Structural Violence and the Struggle for Recognition: Examining Community Narratives in a Post-apartheid Democracy

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Enlarging the Scope of Peace Psychology

Part of the book series: Peace Psychology Book Series ((PPBS))

Abstract

Twenty years into democracy, South Africa’s post-apartheid landscape is awash with almost daily recurrences of protest violence. In marginalised spaces of township life, the protestors’ demands echo the same struggles that characterised apartheid life—the demand for water, electricity and shelter. Community-entry dialogues with leaders of the marginalised peri-urban township of Thembelihle revealed overarching narratives of “poverty and need” and “struggle for recognition”, wherein community members were emplotted as helpless, voiceless victims of oppression. These narratives may be read as stories of structural violence and struggles for cultural peace. Interpreted from within a peace psychology and critical psychology perspective, the stories highlighted markers of structural violence including poverty, inequality, geospatial deprivation, media colonisation, State failure to meet basic human needs and limited social community/social efficacy in the face of institutional intransigence. Peace, as the participants implied is contingent on social recognition, epistemic justice (need for recognition of community knowledge and voice) and representation. We reflect on the implications of violence and peace for Community Storylines, an inter-institutional collaborative project and for critical psychology enactments more broadly within a young democratic society marked by particular post-apartheid achievements and developmental challenges.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    We do not denote an essentialised ‘race’ but racial categories are used here as a social constructs to locate participants within a sociopolitical, cultural, and historical context in South Africa, which shapes the narratives produced.

  2. 2.

    The gender imbalance is noticeable despite having opened up the invitation for participation to all leaders in the community.

  3. 3.

    For Bulhan (1985), microsocial systems (e.g. prisons, health institutions, educational institutions, the family) on closer inspection reveal elements of institutional violence. Structural violence is “a feature of social structures” (Bulhan, 1985, p. 136), presents as having a more abstract nature and cannot be associated with a particular institution. Its general formula is “inequality, mainly in the distribution of power” (Galtung, 1975, p. 173). Both institutional and structural violence supersede personal violence. Although conceptually distinguished here, in practice the three are interrelated rather than distinct.

  4. 4.

    P3 refers to a supportive march to demonstrate solidarity for the Marikana miners who in 2012 were engaging in a ‘wildcat’ strike in protest against unfair labour conditions. The deaths of 44 miners and injury of 78 at the hands of the police who used brutal force to quell the protest has been referred to in the media as ‘Marikana massacre’ (BBC, 2012).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Ursula Lau & Mohamed Seedat

  2. South African Medical Research Council-University of South Africa Violence, Injury and Peace Research Unit, Cape Town, South Africa

    Ursula Lau & Mohamed Seedat

  3. Institute for Dispute Resolution in Africa, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa

    Ursula Lau

Authors
  1. Ursula Lau
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  2. Mohamed Seedat
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Correspondence to Ursula Lau .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa, Johannesburg, South Africa

    Mohamed Seedat

  2. South African Medical Research Council-University of South Africa Violence, Injury and Peace Research Unit, Cape Town, South Africa

    Shahnaaz Suffla

  3. Department of Psychology, The Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA

    Daniel J. Christie

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Lau, U., Seedat, M. (2017). Structural Violence and the Struggle for Recognition: Examining Community Narratives in a Post-apartheid Democracy. In: Seedat, M., Suffla, S., Christie, D. (eds) Enlarging the Scope of Peace Psychology. Peace Psychology Book Series. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-45289-0_10

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