Language, Legitimation and control: The South African state after 1978∗

Abstract

The language of state discourse in South Africa has shifted away from the Verwoerdian ideological orthodoxy in some noteworthy ways. For example ‘pragmatism’ now trumps ‘ideological’ rigidity; uncompromising racial separatism must yield to ‘rational reform’, including the extension of ‘free enterprise’. ‘Effective government’ entails a ‘total strategy’ in defence of ‘civilised values’, rather than a moral crusade upholding white supremacy for its own sake. Still, the result is not an uncontested or complete ideological shift. Orthodox ideological symbols coexist with the new, as symptoms of an unresolved struggle within the state over the terms of its legitimation. This paper analyses the new discourse both as a means of legitimating a new technocratic style of politics and as an instrument of control in itself: it facilitates a redefinition of the political agenda, so as to constitute new public avenues of power and influence for both the military and capitalist interests. Part 2 examines the relationship between the state's old and new languages of legitimation in an attempt to determine why certain contradictions persist, and their possible effects on the ideological efficacy of the new legitimatory discourse.