Le rugby en Afrique du Sud face au défi de transformation : jeu de pouvoir, outil de développement et force symbolique

Published in Les Cahiers d’Outre-Mer

2010-04-01

Abstract

Rugby appears to be a valuable topic allowing reading and analyzing the South African notions of space and society. Its deep cultural impact and the attachment — almost religious — that a section of the population of the country has for this sport establish it as a true symbol fraught with the social stakes of the South African nation. As a highly political topic and a particularly interesting focus for the press, rugby is discussed by elected representatives and gives rise to deep controversies over points such as skin-colour or inequalities, which are major issues for the future of the country. After 150 years of political appropriation, it has been pushed to the rank of most valuable sport for the White Afrikaner community and raises the tricky issue of identity in the context of a rainbow nation that hesitates between acknowledging the Black and coloured cultures and searching for an identification of all communities to the South African nation through sport. Rugby, that played a part in the division among the South African people, is now a particularly important element that brings to light the stakes of transformation and development that trouble the country. Indeed, discrimination, economic and social inequalities and strong oppositions that have their roots in the past and the apartheid can be found today in rugby. Sport, and firstly rugby because of the symbolism that surrounds it, can be seen as a key-sector for development and recovery policies that not only have to remedy inequality through support and practice, especially in historically disadvantaged communities, but also have to transform the picture of rugby in order to turn it into the sport of all South Africans.

Published in Les Cahiers d’Outre-Mer.