Whiteness and Stigma in the Workplace : Organisation and Work in South Africa

Drawing on theories of whiteness, stigma, identity formation and identity work, this monograph aims to explore the ways in which racial categories continue to structure the lives of professionals of colour in South Africa. Using a Bourdieusian lens, it draws on personal narratives of professionals in the fields of accounting, engineering and industrial psychology, examining how stigma and whiteness continue to constrain their identity development in the public, professional and personal spaces they inhabit. Examining the unique post-Apartheid situation of South Africa, this book will be valuable reading to scholars interested in the intersection of race, professions and organisation. Anne Crafford is a Senior Lecturer at the Department of Human Resource Management, University of Pretoria, South Africa. Her research interests include various facets of identity at work, including work identity, organisational identity and professional identity, and more recently whiteness and stigma Foreword Preface Acknowledgements Contents List of Tables 1 Setting the Scene 1.1 Introduction 1.2 Professional Closure 1.3 The History of South Africa 1.3.1 Colonialism 1.3.2 Apartheid 1.4 The Aim of the Monograph 1.5 Layout of the Monograph References 2 Review of the Literature 2.1 Introduction 2.2 Racial Stigma 2.3 Whiteness 2.3.1 A Framework for the Study of Whiteness 2.3.1.1 Whiteness Located in History 2.3.1.2 Whiteness as Spatial 2.3.1.3 Whiteness as Multi-level 2.4 Conceptualising Collective Professional Identity in the Context of Whiteness and Stigma 2.4.1 Whiteness as Embodied Habitus 2.4.2 Whiteness as Blind Dominance of the Field 2.4.3 Whiteness as White Capital 2.5 Conceptualising Individual Professional Identity Work in the Context of Whiteness and Stigma 2.6 Conclusion References 3 The Research Process 3.1 Introduction 3.2 Description of the Professional Contexts 3.3 Perspectives Informing the Project 3.4 Research Design 3.4.1 Overview of the Sample 3.4.2 Data Gathering 3.4.3 Data Analysis 3.4.4 Quality of the Data 3.5 Locating Myself in Relation to the Research Topic 3.6 Locating Each Participant 3.6.1 Nelson 3.6.2 Lucy 3.6.3 Lillian 3.6.4 Sophia 3.6.5 Oliver 3.6.6 Dora 3.6.7 Moses 3.6.8 Bertha 3.6.9 Albertina 3.6.10 Caroline 3.6.11 Desmond 3.6.12 Xola 3.6.13 Philip 3.6.14 Florence 3.6.15 Robert 3.6.16 Dorothy 3.6.17 Charlotte 3.6.18 Griffiths 3.6.19 Amina 3.6.20 Steve 3.6.21 Peter 3.6.22 Frances 3.6.23 Annie 3.6.24 Solomon 3.6.25 Joe 3.6.26 Lizzy 3.7 Conclusion References 4 Macro-Context: Professional Identity and the Public Space 4.1 Introduction 4.2 Education 4.2.1 Schooling 4.2.1.1 Setting the Context 4.2.1.2 Becoming Black at School 4.2.1.3 The Power of Accent 4.2.1.4 Being Beyond Reproach 4.2.1.5 Learning to “Work” White Spaces—Or Not? 4.2.1.6 It’s All About Your Start in Life 4.2.2 University 4.2.2.1 Setting the Context 4.2.2.2 Becoming Aware of Difference 4.2.2.3 Becoming Aware of Disadvantage 4.2.2.4 I Never Took It Like Okay, Now I’m Good Enough 4.2.2.5 The Impact of Professional-Related Support 4.3 Employment Equity and Broad-Based Black Economic Empowerment 4.3.1 I Was Not Part of Apartheid 4.3.2 The Employment Equity Candidate 4.4 Conclusion References 5 Meso-Context: Professional Identity and the Professional Space 5.1 Introduction 5.2 Functioning as a Professional 5.2.1 The Little Crumbs: Whiteness and the Allocation of Work and Clients 5.2.2 Perceptions of Competence 5.2.3 Mentoring 5.3 Hierarchy: Moving Up the Ladder 5.4 Inclusion: Being Included as a Professional 5.4.1 Professional Bodies 5.4.2 Language 5.4.3 Conforming (or Not) to Professional Culture? 5.5 Conclusion References 6 Micro-Context: Professional Identity and the Personal Space 6.1 Introduction 6.2 “They” Don’t Value Education 6.3 Don’t Forget I Come with a Context 6.4 Traversing Spaces 6.5 Traversing Cosmologies 6.6 Black Tax: Financial Transfers and Family Responsibilities 6.7 Conclusion References 7 Whiteness, Stigma and Professional Identity 7.1 Introduction 7.2 Whiteness Reproduced Through Professional Identity Construction 7.2.1 Professional Identity and Embodied Practices 7.2.1.1 Professional Identity and Linguistic Practices 7.2.2 Professional Identity and Material and Historical Relations 7.2.3 Professional Identity and Discursive Formations 7.2.4 Group and Social Relations 7.3 Resisting Whiteness and Stigma: Identity Work 7.3.1 Mastery of Whiteness 7.3.2 Reframing Whiteness 7.3.3 Challenging Whiteness 7.3.4 How Agentic is Identity Work Actually? 7.4 Conclusion References 8 Implications for Professional Organisations 8.1 Introduction 8.2 Individual Professional Identity Work in Contexts of Whiteness and Stigma 8.3 Implications for Organisations 8.3.1 Understand Organisational Experience 8.3.2 Reveal the Problem with Cultural and Political Systems 8.3.3 Provide Solutions 8.4 Conclusion References Index