Academic representations of 'race' and racism in psychology: Knowledge production, historical context and dialectics in transitional South Africa

The paper critically reviews thematic patterns and trends pertaining to constructions of 'race' and racism within South African psychology's formal discourse between 1990 and 2000. It notes that clear differences emerge temporally with shifts in the socio-historical terrain of South African society, and it is the author's contention that these manifestations relate directly to ideological, political, social and economic conditions prevalent in South Africa and within the global context. Political transformation and its associated perceived threats to economic, social and cultural integrity; the impact of globalization and neo-liberal ideologies; and the contested institutional dynamics underpinning 'race' and racism in postapartheid South Africa are all explored as potential factors contributing to these academic discourses within South African psychology. The study is a thematic analysis of the South African Journal of Psychology during this period and highlights the shifting ontological, epistemological and methodological frameworks as they relate to the study of 'race' and racism. Furthermore, it provides us with the basis to examine how academia dialectically engages with ideological contestations pervading the social fabric and mirrors material and historical shifts in the political and socio-economic landscapes of South Africa. The paper argues for a revisiting of critical understandings of 'race' and racism within the framework of modernity, a recommitment to historical and materialist deconstructions of 'race' and racism and cautions against the potential contradictions within postmodernist understandings of these social scientific phenomena. However, it simultaneously acknowledges the changing social and economic relations upon which modernist theorizing has been premised and suggests a theoretical re-calibration that allows for the interface between the benefits of critical theory and postmodernism in order to begin to reflexively understand manifestations of 'race' and racism in the new global context. (C) 2003 Elsevier Science Ltd. All rights reserved.