It may be art, but is it culture? The ANC's conceptions of culture and orientation towards ethnicity in the 1994 RDP booklet

Abstract

ABSTRACT Debate is invited on the conceptions of culture in the 1994 RDP booklet. A link is suggested between these concepts and the ANC's orientation towards ethnicity. The RDP conceptualises culture‐as‐art, culture‐as‐language, and culture‐as‐national‐identity, but ignores culture‐as‐lifestyle‐of‐an‐ethnic‐group. Cultural diversity is seen as affirmed at personal and national – but not communal – level. The RDP is presented as a political instrument with particular objectives. The extent of ANC ambivalence about ethnic and cultural diversity, its general effects, and the implications for implementation of the RDP provide avenues for further discussion.