Khoisan Consciousness

Rafael Verbuyst has a PhD in Anthropology from University of the Western Cape (2021) and a PhD in History from Ghent University (2021), where he is currently a postdoctoral fellow. He previously published in Anthropology Southern Africa and Social Dynamics.

[...] With the acts of identity reclamation—specifically Khoisan ethnic self-assertion—reverberating in South Africa, Botswana and Namibia, this monograph is timely and pertinent. It will appeal to academics and students of history, heritage studies, ethnicity and/or subaltern studies, and postcolonial theory. Khoisan Conscious is a particularly invaluable resource for San studies and explorations of the notion of indigeneity.It will be of interest to researchers working in the space of race and ethnic identification, memory and memorialization, and emic historicization.Connie Rapoo, University of Botswana, in Research Africa Reviews Vol. 7 No. 1, April 2023, pp. 53-55

• ForewordPrefaceList of FiguresList of AbbreviationsIntroduction1 Defining a Phenomenon, Navigating a Field Studying Khoisan Revivalism through Reflexive Ethnography1.1 Ethnography and the Interpretation of Emic Perspectives1.2 Gathering Data on an Elusive Phenomenon: Heterogeneous Interlocutors, Reflexive Methods, and Eclectic Sources1.2.1 Sources1.2.2 Methods and Wider Implications of the Researchpart 1Lost in Categorization? The Khoisan Extinction Discourse, and the Intellectual Roots and Aspirations of Khoisan Revivalism2 (Re)Thinking the ‘Khoisan’ The Fate of a People, the Career of a Concept2.1 Dispossession, Assimilation, and the ‘vanishing native’: A Brief Overview of Khoisan History2.1.1 Dutch Colonialism Settles on South African Shores: Frontier Settlers and Expendable Natives (1652–1806)2.1.2 British Colonialism, Assimilation, and Salvage Ethnography (1795–1910)2.1.3 Union, Apartheid, and Coloured Citizens (1910–1970s)2.2 Black Consciousness, Khoisan Revisionist Historiography, and the Origins of Khoisan Revivalism (1970s–1997)2.2.1 Black Consciousness and the Reinvention of Coloured Identity in the Anti-apartheid Struggle2.2.2 Henry Bredekamp and Khoisan revisionistRevisionist Historiography2.2.3 Towards a New Khoisan Agenda in the Post-apartheid Era3 The Political Accommodation and Diversification of Post-apartheid Khoisan Revivalism3.1 Joseph Little, Traditional Leadership, and the Politicization of Khoisan identityIdentity (1997–2012)3.1.1 From the Cape Cultural Heritage Development Council to the National Khoisan Council: Traditional Leadership and Indigenous Rights on the Agenda3.1.2 Khoisan politicsPolitics in the Aftermath of the 2001 National Khoisan Consultative Conference: From Peak to Stagnation3.2 Khoisan Revivalism in the 2010s: Towards a Broad-Based Identity Movement?3.2.1 A New Cohort of Khoisan Revivalists3.2.2 Land Reform, the Traditional and Khoi-San Leadership Act, and the Advent of a Broad-Based Identity Movementpart 2Ethnographic Encounters with Khoisan Revivalism in Cape Town4 The Khoisan Identity Discourse (i) Reclaiming History and Remedying the ‘identity crisis’4.1 ‘Khoisan forever, Coloured never’: Khoisan Identity as the Answer to the Identity Crisis4.1.1 Identities Lost and Found: Khoisan Identity as a Spiritual Experience4.1.2 An Eye-Opening Experience: Diagnosing and Healing the Identity Crisis4.2 Reclaiming Khoisan History: Coloured Indigeneity and Indigenous Colouredness4.2.1 Khoisan Revivalist Perspectives on the Past: Exposing Historical Continuity4.2.2 Rewriting the Khoisan Past4.2.3 Recuperating Khoisan Heroes: The Case of Krotoa5 The Khoisan Identity Discourse (ii) Entitlement, Land Claims, and Traditional Leadership5.1 Empowerment, Discursive Land Claims, and the Boundaries of Khoisan Indigeneity5.2 On Khoisan Revivalist Traditional Leadership6 Reviving Khoisan Culture Between Continuity and Change6.1 ‘Like stepping into a time machine’6.1.1 Plants, Rituals, and Inspiration from the North6.1.2 Tourism, Mending the ‘broken string’, and Reviving Khoekhoegowab6.2 21st Century Interpretations of Khoisan Culture: Hip-hop, Jazz, and Fashionpart 3Theoretical Perspectives on Khoisan Revivalism7 Khoisan Revivalism and the Therapeutics of Emic History7.1 Therapeutic History, Heritage, and the Case of Khoisan Revivalism7.2 Subverting ‘repressive authenticity’? The Khoisan Revivalist Guide to Reclaiming History and Authenticity7.2.1 Authenticity after Colonialism: Repressive Authenticity and the Khoisan Extinction Discourse7.2.2 ‘Subversive authenticity’: Repressive Authenticity Turned Inside Out?7.3 Closing Reflections on the Therapeutics of Emic HistoryConclusion Khoisan Consciousness and Its Discontents in a Post-transitional South AfricaBibliographyIndex