Narrative decolonisation of the person in post-apartheid South Africa: reflections by pastoral a therapist

Abstract

The historical systems of white supremacy, colonialism and apartheid (in South Africa) have had far-reaching effects on the person on both sides of the divide. All have, albeit in different ways and to varying degrees, been shaped in fundamental ways by these closely related discourses. The thesis addresses this reality. Firstly, it exposes these effects, identifying and naming them on the basis of the stories of six real people on the one hand, and critical social analysis by a selected group of prominent social analysts, in the past and in the present – from Franz Fanon in the 1950s to Critical Whiteness scholars in the contemporary world – on the other. The exposition extends to the pastoral context of Christianity and the Church, focusing mainly on the effects of Christianity’s historical collusion with white supremacy, colonialism and apartheid (in South Africa). Secondly, the thesis engages with social constructionist discourse as appropriated by narrative therapy to interpret the identified effects and to elucidate the deeper dynamics involved. Thirdly, using a narrative way of working, the thesis proposes a map of decolonisation practices for use in group or community work, in the pastoral context of the Church and beyond, with the purpose of facilitating the construction of an alternative discourse, characterised by more ethical and more lifegiving ways of being and relating.