Interpersonal Relations: Trust, Tolerance, and Gender

Abstract

The evolution of a liberal “open society” in South Africa was thwarted for many decades by the imposition of apartheid rules and laws. In the liberal perspective the separation and hierarchical ordering of society has inhibited the development of political trust among virtually every South African not classified as White, and this distrust has channeled the development of social cohesion into narrow racial and ethnic enclaves. But most severely affected, according to the liberal critique, has been the development of trusting and tolerant relations between strangers, as apartheid rules enforcing spatial separation of people prevented individuals across the racial divisions from meeting, mixing, and establishing amicable interpersonal relations. The 1996 constitution, described as the epitome of liberal constitutionalism in every way, with its elaborate human rights charter, has provided a new social arena for citizens to build such relationships. The proposition upheld by the theory of the liberal democratic peace is that structure can shape culture, and the proposition central to the transition paradigm is that structure will shape culture, and that the constitutional rules adopted in 1996 will in time liberalize South African public attitudes. In this chapter we examine three key components of civic culture relevant to liberalization, those of trust, tolerance, and gender relations.