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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:The emergence of new identities in the Western Cape
Author:Bekker, SimonISNI
Year:2000
Periodical:Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies
Volume:27
Issue:2
Pages:221-237
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:nationalism
regional government
External link:https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/713692333
Abstract:Identity construction has become a serious business to new governments in liberal democracies. Rank-and-file residents, however, do not always accord to attempts by such governments to construct identities from above. Instead, from below, in so far as they are able, they choose between new sub-national identities and older 'given' identities. This article reports on the results of qualitative research that aimed at establishing whether a provincial identity is emerging in the Western Cape province, South Africa. Research, which was conducted during 1999, comprised two phases. The first took place immediately before the provincial and national elections of that year and involved a series of structured interviews with provincial political leaders and leading local journalists. Informants were asked whether Western Cape provincial identities existed, what the nature of these identities were, and whether strategies existed to advance these provincial identities. The second phase (immediately after the elections) involved a series of focus group discussions with rank-and-file groupings conducted across the province. Each focus group was requested to discuss what living in their residential area, what living in Western Cape and what living in South Africa meant to them. The results of the research show that provincial leaders in their search for institutionbuilding strategies claimed that a provincial identity was emerging in the Western Cape. The residents of the province, however, rather identify themselves with the village, the suburb, a language or a minority group. They are confused by the distinctions between national, provincial and local bodies and their knowledge of their separate activities is patchy at best. App., notes, ref., sum.
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