Abstract

Scholars studying racialization processes in South Africa have largely focused on South African nationals. There is limited literature on the everyday experiences of non-South African communities with racial ascription in post-apartheid South Africa. I address this overlooked phenomenon by interviewing how first-generation Eritrean asylum seekers and refugees in Johannesburg, Durban and Cape Town experienced racial ascription in their everyday interactions with South Africans. Convenience and snow-ball sampling were used to select participants. As part of a larger project involving 46 participants that explored various interrelated topics, analysis of the topic that examined everyday experiences of racial ascription resulted in the identification of five common themes. The themes were: racialized as Colored, racialized as Indian, racialized as both Colored and Indian, racialized as Black and racialized as ambiguous. Drawing on participants’ experiences I argue that South African racial labels which were originally constructed to classify South African nationals are experiencing discontinuity and limitations in light of increased immigration flows in post-apartheid South Africa. I further argue that South African racial boundaries in everyday life tend to be porous and fluid which contradicts rigid racial categories reflected on bureaucratic forms which assume a sharp demarcation between the different categories.

摘要

研究南非种族化进程的学者主要集中在南非国民。关于种族隔离后的南非种族隔离的非南非社区的日常经历的文献很少。我通过采访约翰内斯堡，德班和开普敦的第一代厄立特里亚寻求庇护者和难民，在与南非人的日常交往中如何经历种族归属，来解决这一被忽视的现象。方便和雪球采样被用来选择参与者。作为一个较大的项目的一部分，该项目涉及46位参与者，探讨了各种相互关联的主题，对该主题进行了分析，考察了种族归属的日常经验，从而确定了五个共同主题。主题是：种族化为有色，种族化为印第安人，种族化为有色和印第安人，种族化为黑色，种族化为am昧。借鉴参与者的经验，我认为，南非种族隔离最初是为了对南非国民进行分类而设计的，由于种族隔离后南非的移民流动增加，它们正经历着不连续性和局限性。我进一步指出，南非人在日常生活中的种族界限往往是多孔和多变的，这与反映在官僚形式上的僵化种族类别背道而驰，官僚形式假定了不同类别之间的明显界限。