Distancing the Past: Racism as History in South African Schools
Please join either in person or online. For in-person attendees, the talk will be preceded by a light lunch at 12.15pm. Please email comms@sociology.ox.ac.uk with any questions.
How are histories of racial oppression dealt with in contexts of diversity? Chana Teeger tackles this question by examining how young South Africans, born into democracy, confront their country’s racist apartheid past in high school history lessons.
Drawing on observational, interview, and textual data, she discusses how students learn that racism is a thing of the past, even as they experience it in their everyday lives. Teeger shows how teachers’ desire to avoid conflict between students mirrors a national focus on racial reconciliation, leading to the historical distancing of the recent apartheid past.
This historical distancing allows schools to present a façade of transformation. Beneath the surface, however, the lessons reproduce unequal power relations at school and legitimise inequality at the societal level. In documenting these processes, Teeger points to the subtle reconfiguration of racism in the era of civil liberties.
Date:
2 June 2025, 12:45
Venue:
Seminar Room, Department of Sociology
Speaker:
Chana Teeger (London School of Economics)
Organising department:
Department of Sociology
Organiser contact email address:
comms@sociology.ox.ac.uk
Part of:
Sociology Department Weekly Seminar
Booking required?:
Not required
Audience:
Members of the University only
Editor:
Laurel Quinn
