Diagnosing and dismantling South African whiteness: ‘white work’ in the Dutch Reformed Church

HTS Teologiese Studies/Theological Studies

 
 
Field Value
 
Title Diagnosing and dismantling South African whiteness: ‘white work’ in the Dutch Reformed Church
 
Creator van der Riet, Louis R. Verwoerd, Wilhelm
 
Subject Practical Theology; Conflict Studies; Critical Whiteness Studies whiteness; Dutch Reformed Church; white work; race; South Africa
Description In this article, we reflect on our lived experience as co-facilitators of a promising intragroup anti-racism process within the Dutch Reformed Church (DRC) in South Africa. Firstly, we describe how this emergent process, referred to as ‘white work’, has developed since 2018 to include three focal areas: facilitation and training, research and the development of resources for faith leaders. Secondly, in the interest of localised, embodied diagnostic work, we mention relatively neglected strands of South African whiteness that have arisen through this process of ‘white work’. We argue that this DRC ‘white work’ contributes to a more intersectional approach to dismantling whiteness. Finally, we propose that the dismantling potential of this ‘white work’ rests on three dimensions – raising consciousness, cultivating capacity and forming community – while stressing some of the challenges and limitations we have encountered in our process thus far.Contribution: This article contributes to both the diagnosis and dismantling of South African whiteness by presenting a narrative reflection on an emergent process among members of the DRC in South Africa.
 
Publisher AOSIS
 
Contributor None
Date 2022-06-21
 
Type info:eu-repo/semantics/article info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion — Reflective practice
Format text/html application/epub+zip text/xml application/pdf
Identifier 10.4102/hts.v78i4.7402
 
Source HTS Teologiese Studies / Theological Studies; Vol 78, No 4 (2022); 9 pages 2072-8050 0259-9422
 
Language eng
 
Relation
The following web links (URLs) may trigger a file download or direct you to an alternative webpage to gain access to a publication file format of the published article:

https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7402/22389 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7402/22392 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7402/22393 https://hts.org.za/index.php/hts/article/view/7402/22394
 
Coverage South Africa Post-apartheid South Africa —
Rights Copyright (c) 2022 Louis R. van der Riet, Wilhelm Verwoerd https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0
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