At the intersection of class and race. Languaging and picturing diversity in post-apartheid South Africa

ORTU, CLAUDIA

2015-01-01

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Abstract

South Africa is one of the most diverse countries in the world. With its eleven official languages and many more historical and cultural traditions, the Rainbow Nation – as its first democratically elected president Nelson Mandela liked to call it – has much to contribute to the study of the many articulations of the concept of diversity. But South Africa is also one of the more unequal countries in the world, with a Gini coefficient that oscillates between 60 and 70 (with 100 indicating maximum inequality). This form of structural diversity and its intersection with racial diversity are the main of this contribution.