White privilege in the Coastal Region, South Africa: how traditional South African wine farmers position themselves in modern times.

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M A S T E R T H E S I S

White privilege in the Coastal Region, South Africa: how

traditional South African wine farmers position themselves in

modern times.

University University of Amsterdam Student name: Ilse Jongboom

Student number: 12281220

Contact: ilsejongboom@gmail.com

Program: Master International Development Studies Department: Faculty of Social and behavioral sciences Supervisor: Dhr. Yves van Leynseele

Second reader: Dhr. Josh Maiyo

Place of submission: Amsterdam

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Acknowledgements

Through conversations with privileged white farmers I experienced a certain guilt, but mostly a sense of awareness, for leading a privileged life myself. As a master student going on fieldwork, I was grateful for being able to go to South Africa. In this same manner, I am grateful for having the means to study International Development Studies and to write this master’s thesis. While education ought to be a right, it remains to be a privilege.

I would like to thank those who took the time to speak to me during my fieldwork period. I would not have managed to develop a broad network if it was not for the connections I had through previous education in South Africa. My thanks go out in particular to Karen Hecht for introducing me to white farmers. After all those years, still very friendly to help a student out. I would like to thank my supervisor, Yves van Leynseele, for his support and great guidance. His unstoppable energy and enthusiasm gave me a lot of confidence and continuously showed me I was on the right path. His concise and relevant feedback brought forth additional insights while he also helped me to stay focused on the most important elements of the thesis.

Special thanks to both my parents, Rinse and Titia, the latter who visited me in South Africa, for always supporting me and having my back. Without them I would not have the mental strength and confidence, nor the financial needs to pursue this education and research period. Both always stood behind my choice to start studying International Development Studies, even after years of working and finishing my bachelor degree in a totally different field way before. Last but not least, a thank you to my boyfriend Kilian who was on the side line during the creative process and his enthusiastic energy that helped me keeping focused throughout the research process by giving me the time and space needed.

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Abstract

White privilege in the Coastal Region, South Africa: how traditional

South African wine farmers position themselves in modern times.

This research discusses white privilege of South African wine farmers and how they position themselves within the structure of the wine industry in the Coastal Region of South Africa. This all situated in a time where a modern way of doing business is combined with old farming and family traditions. The main objective of this research is to determine which external factors, such as the economy, environment and tourism, influence the decision of farmers to apply certain strategies and practices on wine farms and how that influences the performance of whiteness. Although scholarly literature explores various forms of white privilege in the social-cultural context of South Africa, it has yet to construct an intersectional understanding in the South African wine industry. Primary data consists of in-depth interviews and participant observations from wine farmers who are involved in the entire wine producing process. The study finds that white farmers are producing new identities to maneuver in-, and connect to, different worlds. By relying more on the international market to become more profitable and economic independent, a distanciation towards government has arisen. Mutual cooperation and formal group formation amongst white farmers are organized to remain leaders in the industry. Also, programs for corporate social responsibility are established and family traditions are preserved to comply with their own social sense of responsibility and belonging. The relevance of this embedded research is to provide insight into the new positionalities of privileged wine farmers who are able to condition their livelihoods and use their productive space to become even stronger stakeholders in the industry. Further research on wine land ownership is recommended to better understand the power relations in which the industry, with its farmers, operate in. The research concludes that white privilege is used, and misused, by white farmers to protect their identity, produce new identities and to maintain their productive space.

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List of Figures

Picture page three of the Coastal Wine Region, by the author

Picture page seven of the Coastal Wine Region, by the author

Figure 1 South Africa’s wine regions, retrieved from Wine Folley

Figure 2 Inequality at its clearest, Cape Town, South Africa. Photo retrieved from Johnny Miller’s series “Unequal Scenes” (2018)

Figure 3 Operationalization table, by the author

Figure 4 Conceptual Scheme, by the author

Figure 5 Research interview participants list, by the author

Figure 6 A tractor just came back from the vineyards with a container full of hand-picked grapes, by the author

Figure 7 French oak barrels stored together to mature red wines, by the author

Figure 8 There are many vehicles on a farm’s property like trucks and forklifts, but a harvesting machine is not common in South Africa to keep employment opportunities, by the author

Figure 9 The red grapes are pressed and its juice is stored in French oak barrels, by the author

Figure 10 Just harvested, hand-picked red grapes, ready to be fermented in the cellar, by the author

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Figure 11 A wine farm surrounded by its vineyards, by the author

Figure 12 Almost all farms have big fences around the property for safety. This electronic fence it the only way getting in, by the author

Figure 13 Perfectly in line red grape vineyards growing Cabernet Sauvignon, against one of the many mountains of the Coastal Region, by the author

Figure 14 Logo of the Cape Winemakers Guild, retrieved from the website of CWG https://thecapewinemakersguild.com

Figure 15 Farmers are traditional when it comes to family, and proud of their family as well. Most wine estates show their family business with pride, by the author

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List of Acronyms

AA Affirmative Action

B-BBEE Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment

BLM Black Lives Matter movement

CSR Corporate Social Responsibility

CWG Cape Winemakers Guild

ETI Ethical Trading Initiative

FAS Fetal Alcohol Syndrome

GDP Gross Domestic Product

PYDA Pinotage Youth Development Academy

PLAAS Institute for Poverty, Land and Agrarian Studies

SA South Africa

SAWIT South African Wine Industry Trust

SAWB South African Wine and Brandy Corporation

UNWTO United Nations World Tourism Organization

WIETA Wine Industry Ethical Trade Association

WITU Wine Industry Transformation Unit

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Privilege

In October 1991, former President Nelson Mandela held a speech which has been a guide in the application of the affirmative action measures:

"We are not asking for handouts for anyone, nor are we saying that just as a white skin was a passport to privileged past, so a black skin should be the basis for privilege in future. "Nor is it our aim to do away with qualifications. The special measures that we envisage to

overcome the legacy of past discrimination are not intended to ensure the advancement of unqualified persons, but to see to it that those who have been denied access to qualifications

in the past can become qualified now, and those who have been qualified all along but overlooked because of past discrimination, are at last given their due. The first point to be

made is that affirmative action must be rooted in principles of justice and equality."

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Introduction

This extract of the speech from Nelson Mandela summarizes what affirmative action aims to do. Though, in South Africa the issue of white privilege is still very much alive, even 25 years after the end of the Apartheid political system. In an attempt to improve livelihoods of disadvantaged black South Africans and reduce inequality between all population groups, affirmative action has been put in place. These actions are policies to support the members of the disadvantaged groups that suffered discrimination by white minority rule lasting up to 1994 in such areas as education, employment, housing and land ownership. However, racial inequality is still high as the white minority in South Africa is rich and economic dominant in comparison to the black majority. Because of the long history of Apartheid, ‘black’, ‘colored’ and ‘white’ South Africans still inhabit vastly different spatial, social, psychological, moral and lived worlds (Scheper-Hughes 2007). There is a certain poignance in what has been called the 'white tribe of Africa' - predominantly white, male farmers - finding or claiming they are not valued in a new South Africa, who see the expressed demand for their skills as affirming their 'African-ness' and their place and role in the future of Africa as a whole (Hall 2011). This has social and economic consequences. This research discusses white privilege of South African farmers and how they position themselves within the structure of the wine industry in the Coastal Region of South Africa, situated in a time where a modern way of farming and doing business is combined with old family traditions. The main objective of this research is to determine which external factors influence the decision of farmers to apply certain strategies and practices on wine farms and how that influences the performance of whiteness. This research takes an anthropological approach by focusing on behavior and perceptions of wine farmers. The empirical chapters further on in this research are therefore written in an ethnographic way.

Studies in South Africa have been carried out in the social context of whiteness in general but in this research, I argue that white privilege is used, and misused, by wine farmers to protect their livelihoods and produce new identities to fit into the different worlds they are operating in to become more successful and independent. Therefore, white farmers are maintaining their productive space and are improving their livelihoods. There is a social relevance to understand how whiteness is shaping and constructing identity and decision making, but also to understand

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the sense of belonging. This has an influence on the strategy and practicing of wine farming which is one of the most labor-intensive industries of South Africa. In addition, it will give insight whether commercial wine farmers are, or are not, transforming (social) practices for the continuation of the farm.Previous anthropological research conducted by McDermott Hughes (2006) shows that farmers from Zimbabwe have affiliated themselves with the land rather than with their surrounding societies. This study shows similar patterns where indeed, wine farmers in South Africa rather affiliate themselves with the farm and everything that has to do with it, than building a relationship with South Africa as a nation. The relationship to land or a nationalistic feeling is lacking, an international focus is becoming stronger and old family traditions such as family, the Afrikaans language, animals, sports and of course wine, are essential pillars in a wine farmer’s life.

This study consists of five parts. Firstly, to create an analytical basis, the research context is described in detail to understand the multi-level complexity of the research. Subsequently, the theoretical framework is formed based on relevant literature and the empirical data collected. To put the concepts discussed in perspective, a conceptual scheme and operationalization table have been created. Thereafter, the research design is outlined and consists of the methodology and its reflection. Then the empirical chapters with research findings are presented, wherein the collected data during fieldwork is incorporated. In Chapter one the scene is set. It describes the various aspects that shape the current wine industry and shows its complexity. Chapter two zooms in at the life of a wine farmer and describes the different practices and strategies that are taken to maintain the farm and how this influences relationships with different actors. The last chapter shows the dichotomy of being a traditional wine farmer and a modern business man at the same time. The Cape Winemakers Guild is comprehensively described as an example of mutual cooperation amongst privileged white farmers that construct and maintain their own identity in de country, and industry as a whole. This empirical data is analyzed, discussed and concluded moving forward. Finally, I answer the research question and make suggestions for further research.

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Research Context

I. Research Location

This study has been conduction in the Coastal region, South Africa, located less than 50 kilometers north-east from Cape Town. The Coastal region lies within the Western Cape and is an important wine-producing area with seven districts. Wine is among the most capital-intensive industries in agricultural production and most labor capital-intensive also. For the duration of the study, I stayed in both Cape Town and Stellenbosch. The Coastal region is colored in red on the map (see figure 1).

Fig. 1: South Africa’s wine regions

II. Apartheid Legacy

Stellenbosch and its surrounding wine areas are a booming place for transnational business and leading universities. Having the same time zone as Europe, English being one of the official languages and offering soft winters and warm summers, the area attracts not only tourists from Europe, but from all over the world. Wine estates are one of the main attractions for tourists. Being a farm and an international oriented business show interesting contradictions. It must be noted that the Coastal Region is a region of contrasts. Large townships such as Kayamandi sitting at the top of a hill overlooking all that beauty of the winelands. Kayamandi is a typical

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South African township that was founded in the 1950’s. Its purpose was, and is, to accommodate non-whites who were working on the surrounding farms. In general, townships in South Africa are growing, as urbanization is also growing. The densely populated townships cannot handle the influx and houses that are made from corrugated tin and wood scraps. Sanitation, running water and electricity are scarce and need to be shared among each other. This contrast is also interconnected since the inhabitants of the large townships often work on the luxurious farms for harvesting, pruning, and other farming activities and are dependent on the work that is available for them on the farm.

In order to understand how the Coastal Region has become such a rich and vibrant economy, one has to know its past. White privilege was legally enshrined in South Africa through Apartheid. Apartheid was institutionalized in 1948 and lasted formally into the early 1990s. During the Apartheid system in South Africa, which entailed more than 45 years of institutionalized racial segregation and discrimination, the inequity between human beings was enormous. This system classified the citizens of South Africa racially into White, Colored, Asian or Indian, and Black. The latter being at the bottom of the classified order and the Whites being the supremacy. Apartheid was characterized by an authoritarian political culture based on white supremacy, which ensured that South Africa was dominated politically, socially, and economically by the nation's minority white population (Beinart 2001). So, racial privilege was not only socially meaningful; it became bureaucratically regulated. According to this system of social stratification, white citizens had the highest status. In contemporary South Africa that is not the case anymore but the economic legacy and social effects of Apartheid continue to the present day.

When Apartheid finally ended, the formalized Apartheid system was replaced by a democratically elected government; the ANC (African National Congress), which is the leading anti-Apartheid political movement that had prominent leaders such as Nelson Mandela. The South African government, ANC, wanted to address the problem of racialized inequity and discrimination by invoking a system called Affirmative action. These affirmative action policies in South Africa were established to redress gender, as well as racial, imbalances perceived to be the consequences of Apartheid in order to enable everybody to enjoy the same economic and social benefits and opportunities (Scheper-Hughes 1995). The most important pillar of this policy is the Black Economic Empowerment. This form of affirmative cation is a

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racially selective programme launched by the South African government to redress the inequalities of Apartheid by giving black South Africans citizens (so Africans, people of color, Indians and Chinese) economic privileges that are not available to white South Africans, in order to redistribute wealth (Alexander 2007). There is a wide division in opinions whether the government has been radical enough in these measures. There is definitely criticism about the missed opportunities and the political compromises of the negotiations and the first tenure of the ANC government.

Fig. 2: Inequality at its clearest, in Cape Town, South Africa. Photo taken from Johnny Miller’s series “Unequal Scenes” (2018)

South Africa’s extreme income diversity can be linked to its high rates of violent crime. Robberies and physical assaults are common. These serious public safety concerns have affected the kind of social circles that white Afrikaners have developed themselves in. Life is happening on the farm where business and family is intertwined, protected by technological security systems. Much of the outside communication consist of relationships with other white Afrikaners within the wine industry and actors in the wine export market. The percentage of white South Africans population is declining, comparing a 21.6% in 1904, 16.8% in 1975 and current percentage of 7.9%.1_{The difference between rich and poor is significant in the Coastal}

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Region. There is a major gap of wealth disparity. It is painful to experience such a big inequality in South Africa when you drive home from a luxurious and entertaining wine tasting whilst seeing the small booths made from corrugated iron alongside the road.

III. Post-Apartheid: Affirmative action

In an attempt to improve livelihoods of disadvantaged black South Africans and reduce inequality between all population groups, affirmative actions have been put in place after Apartheid. Affirmative action has a tumultuous fifty-year history and has been both praised and argued as an answer to racial inequality. It describes those policies to support the members of the disadvantaged groups that suffered discrimination during Apartheid in 1949 until 1990 in such areas as education, employment, housing and land ownership. The act eliminates unfair discrimination in certain sectors of the national labor market by imposing similar constraints on another. However, post-Apartheid South Africa has some of the highest educational and economic disparities in the world whereby inequality of income and wealth by race is becoming more worse over time. The townships around big cities are tremendous and almost only consists of black citizens. Because of its long history of Apartheid, ‘black’, ‘colored’ and ‘white’ South Africans still inhabit vastly different spatial, social, psychological, moral and lived worlds (Scheper-Hughes 2007). As a result of that, South African citizens continue to have their social world largely defined by race, and many express negative views of other racial groups (Seekings 2008).

Affirmative action in the agrarian wine industry

In all different economic and social sectors, different affirmative action policies have been put in place. The agrarian wine industry is no exception. There is a distinction between affirmative action and land reform policies. Affirmative action usually does not address land and is along a spectrum from equity sharing (with black managers and staff as shareholders) to very light forms like providing safety training for workers and other labour compliance. This spectrum is important to sketch because opting out and partial engagement will happen along it. Even the very conservative farmers are doing some form of affirmative action because it makes business sense. One affirmative action policy is The South African Land Reform. It consists of three components: redistribution, restitution and tenure reform. Land reform has been set in place as a way of redistributing land and used as a tool for a more structural approach to redress past inequalities. But there is also critique. PLAAS (2019) warns that redistribution policy is

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inherently biased towards the well-off. It is the design of the redistribution programme itself that contains a preference for the forms of commercial farming that typify settler farming. In case of the wine industry that means that this specific form of agriculture, which is mostly large-scale, capital intensive, tightly integrated into upstream and downstream value chains, and highly dependent on formal finance, is well adapted to large scale production by commercial firms. But, “it is not aligned with the social and economic realities facing smallholder and subsistence production in South Africa. Despite this, government policy takes it as the only ‘proper’ style of farming and seeks to replicate it in land reform” (PLAAS 2019). This means that land redistribution in this way results in a pro-elite business model because all the power is concentrated within a small group of people, commercial individuals in the case of the wine industry, where farm owners have been taken over the farm from generation to generation or hold the largest shares within the company.

Lately, policy to redistribute land by expropriating land from white landowners without compensation caught global attention. The expropriation aims to be a measure through which land reform is forced on the white farming class (Du Toit 2019). Land owners in South Africa are predominantly white, mostly offspring from the former settlers of the colonial times. Vink and Kirsten (2019) warn for the inefficiency of the state and possible corruption that has been plaguing the country already for a long time. All these affirmative agrarian policies have a range of social, economic and political impacts for land owners (PLAAS 2019). The way of farming that has been common for years, is changing. It is therefore that these affirmative policies pose a challenge on white land ownership, and so to the notion of belonging and identity of white farmers (Van Zyl-Hermann and Boersema 2017; McDermott Hughes 2006, Pilossof and Boersema 2017; Ewert and Du Toit 2005).

An alternative to land reform policy, equity sharing schemes have been implemented to tackle poverty and to empower previously disadvantaged groups. It offers low-income individuals a grant to purchase land or, given in a less extend, the option to get a share in the business. Within the wine industry, The Farm Worker Equity Scheme has been implemented. In that way individual farm workers have the opportunity to buy shares from the farm in which they are employed and become beneficiaries. These ownership transition suggests to provide a secure capital asset for the employee, shifts in power relations between farm owners and workers, and therefore should result in a redistribution of wealth and power. However, the shift in policy has also other important consequences; 1) change in agricultural production portfolio of the

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country, 2) shift in trade patterns and 3) innovation in some areas of commercial agriculture (Sandrey and Vink 2008). Also, equity sharing schemes do look like a fair play to tackle poverty amongst employees, but in the end, most of the time the power and ownership stays where it has always been; right at the owner of the farm. There is a limited reach of unions to help and empower employees and the enormous unemployment rate is a plight for those who are working. These are key factors of the untouched power and privilege of white farmers. It requires major effort to change the ownership and labour relations on existing large-scale commercial farms in order to break with the status quo. Farm workers active the Western Cape have complained that these equity sharing schemes do not work for them during the ‘speak-out’ meeting held in Ceres on May 4t, 20192_{. The farm workers argue that they have not seen}

their lives change for the better and that the schemes have not reached their goals of strengthening the socio-economic conditions of the farm workers.

There are multiple key factors mentioned in the previous paragraphs that show how power at the highest level remains untouched and privilege is maintained, which is profitable by white farmers. Because of the tremendous inequality past, the complexity to tackle economic inequality is one not to be solved so easily. However, wealth disparities continue to grow. White farmers have both struggled and adapted to new policies implemented by the government but mostly have been able to maintain, or even improve, their livelihoods.

2_{PLAAS Research Institute}

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Theoretical Framework

The establishment of this theoretical framework serves to analyze the empirical data of this study. Whiteness as a concept connects to a multitude of theories depending on which approach one takes. In this thesis whiteness is predominantly approached from an anthropological perspective. A social construct is a theory of knowledge in sociology and anthropology that examines the development of jointly-constructed understandings of the world that form the basis for shared assumptions about reality. The theory centers on the notion that meanings are developed in relation to others rather than separately within each individual. It questions what is defined by humans and society to be reality. Within anthropology, the notion of a social construct is mainly accepted. This study emphasizes that white privilege and identity, and to a broader notion whiteness, is a social construct.

I will firstly discuss how whiteness is conceptualized and which definition I use for this study. By understanding the usage, rationale behind, and shortcomings/critiques on whiteness, a lens is constructed through which the process of white privilege and particularly for the case of South African wine farmers can be understood. The third theoretical component deals with the identity of wine farmers and their positionality.

I. Whiteness and its history

Whiteness studies draws on research into the definition of race, originating in the United States but applied to racial stratification worldwide. Two, quite recently developed, definitions about whiteness covers the meaning of this notion for this study.

Zeus Leonardo (2002) defines whiteness as

"a racial discourse, whereas the category ‘white people’ represents a socially constructed identity, usually based on skin color".

And

Steve Garner (2007) adds to that

"whiteness has no stable consensual meaning" and that "the meanings attached to 'race' are always time- and place-specific, part of each national racial regime".

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Racism and privilege are intertwined. Much has to do with historical past that continues to have an impact in the current global world. The current global debate, anno 2020, is the Black Lives Matter movement that emerged in the African American community in the United States in response to police brutality against African Americans. The BLM has shown its power by protests all over the world, characterized by big groups together in major cities to show support and demand change. White privilege is a social phenomenon and refers to the advantages, both implicit or systematically, of white people with regard to people who are the objects of racism. The term shows the benefits that white people have within a society where racism is prevalent and whiteness is considered as being normal. This notion originates all the way back in time of colonialism where white supremacy was common and white privilege could therefore develop to protect white racial privileges. Du Bois believed that capitalism was a primary cause of racism. He argued that this notion of white privilege is a social privilege that benefits white people over non-white people under the same social, political or economic circumstances. Allen (…) shows a different perspective on racism by arguing that the white race was invented as a ruling class social control formation and was therefore not satisfied with the proposition that race is a social construct as believed by Du Bois. According to Allen, the invention of the white race is related to class struggle and to the ruling class efforts in maintaining social control and must be understood in that way. So, whiteness corresponds to a set of social advantages and conventionally refer to these advantages as white privilege. The system of white privilege applies both to the way a person is treated by others and to a set of behaviors, affects, and thoughts, which can be learned and reinforced. These elements of whiteness establish social status and guarantee advantages for some people, without directly relying on skin color or other aspects of a person's appearance.

So, often white people unconsciously have an advantage in a society where racism is prevalent. Thinking through unacknowledged male privilege as a phenomenon, McIntosh (2016) notes that since hierarchies in our society are interlocking, there is most likely a phenomenon of white privilege which is similarly denied and protected. As a white person, one might have been taught about racism as something which puts others at a disadvantage, but lacks to see its corollary aspects, white privilege, which puts white people at an advantage. Social, political and cultural advantages are three different areas wherein whites predominantly have an advantage in global society. McIntosh argues that these advantages seem invisible to white people, but obvious to non-whites. Whites utilize their whiteness, consciously or unconsciously, as a framework to classify people and understand their social locations. In

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addition, even though many white people understand that whiteness is associated with privilege, they do not acknowledge their privilege because they view themselves as average and non-racist. Essentially, whiteness is invisible to white people. This so called silencing of race within discussions of neoliberal restructuring has generated a form of “global Apartheid” in which racial, class, and gendered disparities have been intensified (Seekings 2008). Walker (2005) emphasizes his view by stressing how Apartheid ideology mutates into apparently democratic forms that entrench privileges of opportunity that are likely to be racially shaped. Hereby it is noteworthy to say that these opportunities can also be shaped by class and gender. Chapter three will explain how this manifest in the wine industry of South Africa by the example of the mutual cooperation of the Cape Winemakers Guild, all white fourty-plus men and part of the same wealthy class. However, the two latter still being, together with race, concepts of ethnic classification. Gloria Wekker (2016) has expressed her concern about the unconscious racism of mainly white people. It is because of the so-called cultural archive that racism is still alive. This cultural archive is basically a synonym for intersectionality, or intersection thinking, between sexuality, race, gender and class.A methodology and a theory about how you look at reality. Both refer to the patterns that are in our knowledge, attitude and feeling. How we look at things and talk about them is based on what is ‘stored in our cultural archive’ a long time ago. Wekker agrees with both Seekings and McIntosch that people are unconscious of their racist behavior and therefore also simply denying their racist behavior. Making it difficult for change.

More recent scholars like Arnesen, Blum and Forrest and Dunn also still very much contribute to the academic field of discussion. Arnesen (2001) argues that the term uses the concept of "whiteness" as a proxy for class or other social privilege or as a distraction from deeper underlying problems of inequality. However, it is not that whiteness is a proxy but that many other social privileges are interconnected with it, requiring complex and careful analysis to identify how whiteness contributes to privilege (Blum 2008). Still, the world is large and populations and communities differ even within small countries such as the Netherlands. Therefore, it is important to see white privilege through the lens of each particular situation. Important differences between white subpopulations and individuals when discussing the concept of white privilege should not be ignored and the notion of whiteness cannot be inclusive of all white people. Acknowledging the diversity of people of color and ethnicity within these groups is important (Forrest and Dunn 2006).

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II. White privilege in South Africa

Zooming in the wine industry of South Africa, most capital and most companies in the agrarian sector of South Africa are still owned by whites. There is a certain poignance in what has been called the 'white tribe of Africa' - predominantly white (male) Afrikaner farmers - finding or claiming they are not valued in a new South Africa, who see the expressed demand for their skills as affirming their 'African-ness' and their place and role in the future of Africa as a whole. Therefore, affirmative agrarian policy has not only economic consequences, but also social consequences. Lenz (2017) argues that post-Apartheid and the affirmative policies that came along with it, made contemporary white south African men aware of their minority status and tend to dissociate themselves from the county. However, research is lacking on how this dissociation translates into the (labour) relations and social lives on the physical sites itself, the wine farms in South Africa. In the case of Zimbabwe, Hughes (2006) notes that white farmers solidified the man-land relationship that is critical to their sense of belonging in Africa. But, the white man – black man relationship is not visible, at least in a positive way. Some white farmers have adapted to postcolonialism by withdrawing from society instead of integrating with their social surroundings, or even the broader nation they are living in. McDermott Hughes (2010) offers an interesting analysis of whiteness by showing how white farmers have constructed and understood their role in the country with regard to the agrarian reforms. He suggest that white farmers, in view of the current agrarian reforms that threaten their imagined realm, have reinvented their role in the ‘high veld’ in order to preserve their farms.

Though, through globalization and a shift in politics there has occurred a social change in South Africa over the years. Waiters and waitresses in hospitality are not only black any more, and an increase in black managers is prevalent. Still, a paternalist way of farm labour relations is happening in the wine industry of the Western Cape. “Generations of colonial settlement, slavery and racial domination have knitted these concepts deeply into the social construction of white and black identities. To be a white farmer has been, for at least three hundred years, to be a ‘master’, defined not only by the ownership of a farm but also by the relationships of deference” (Ewert and du Toit 2005:318). Because of globalization, increased differences in hierarchy at wine farms have occurred. This is specifically true for wine estates and private cellars. Farmers are implying willingness to change but however are reluctant to comply with for example labour legislation.

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There has been a deep displacement in Afrikaner identifications in the post-Apartheid period. Though, Afrikaner nationalism remains significant as a political issue because of the economic and cultural importance of white Afrikaans speakers. The integration of an Afrikaner bourgeoisie into the global political economy is something that contributes to both the strengthening of Afrikaners as an economic bloc at the elite level and also contributes to the increasing interrogation of what it fundamentally means to be an Afrikaner (Davies 2009). The varieties of Afrikaner identities and how this plays out in the social, economic and political landscape of South Africa is empirically founded throughout this study as well, which can be read in the empirical chapters hereafter. Davies argues further that globalization and its ideology is the main actor for identity change of the South African Afrikaner and that these men are quite successful in adapting to the Post-Apartheid regime. Chapter three describes the mutual corporation set up by privileged white farmers called the Cape Winemakers Guild which is a perfect example of how this class oriented and capital driven social has acted to preserve the privilege and (economic) power. Globalization and the opening up of South Africa after Apartheid period as a country in the world, were the shifts that created and produced opportunities for those who were able to profit from these developments.

III. A sense of belonging

There are profound limits to a transformation agenda in the wine sector that turns the gaze away from a consideration of its underlying power relations and argue that there still structural, racial and power inequalities within the South African wine industry, even 25 years after Apartheid and with affirmative policies in place (Du Toit et al 2008). As a reaction, there is a rise in the ‘self-doing culture’ of the white South Africans in general to maintain their power Van Zyl-Hermann (2018). The Cape Winemakers Guild is a clear example of this self-doing culture where farm owners have set up a mutual cooperation to help each other and become stronger stakeholders in the industry. This has also deepened their sense of entitlement to the farms, estates and/or cellars that they own. Hughes (2006) relates this to the empowerment of farmers they regain from this entitlement of the political footing they have lost at independence, after Apartheid. Lenz (2017) argues that post-Apartheid and the affirmative policies that came along with it, made contemporary white south African men aware of their minority status and tend to dissociate themselves from the county. This so called ‘placedness’ of ‘whiteness’ on farms as physical sites and sites of labour relations are productive of the types of relations and lives. The

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empirical chapters further on in this study will show how this dissociation translates into the labour relations and social lives on the physical sites, the farms, itself. However, Van Zyl-Hermann and Boersema (2017) argue that “white land ownership and discourses of belonging, white economic and cultural power, and hypervisibility manifestations of white privilege come under pressure” since land reform affirmative policies. The empirical chapters further on in this study will give more insight how social relations and whiteness is manifested in the wine industry of South Africa. McDermott Hughes (2006) argues that many white farmers affiliate themselves with the land rather than with surrounding societies. Pilossof & Boersema (2017) critique McDermott Hughes arguing that it is too simplistic and a misrepresentation of white power and privilege to landownership. Yet, visibility of whiteness matters for its politics and that has as a consequence that power remains in white hands and is defending the privilege they have. Again, the Cape Winemakers Guild is a clear example of this visibility and is further elaborated on in chapter three.

IV. Operationalization of concepts

Building on the broader theoretical debate the following concepts are used to build the conceptual scheme; 1) External factors, having economic, environmental, tourism and safety dimensions. 2) Strategies & practices, such as international focus, disengagement with the government, mutual cooperation and formal group formation, CSR programs and preserving old family traditions. 3) Whiteness through the positionality of wine farmers and their construction and production of (new) identities and white privilege. Figure 3 presents the operationalization table, which is added to appendix I.

V. Conceptual Scheme

Figure 4 presents the conceptual scheme. It shows that there are several factors that are considered external and cannot be influenced, such as the (inter)national economy, environmental conditions (e.g. climate change and drought), tourism and crime. These factors influence the decision making of farmers when it comes to strategies and practices on the wine farm. Together, it has an influence on how wine farmers position themselves in the industry and nation as a whole by the performance of whiteness. White privilege and identity are two important factors that make wine farmers stronger stakeholders in the industry and those two factors shape their sense of belonging.

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• External factors

o Deteriorating economy

§ Affirmative action in the agrarian wine industry § International export business

o Environmental conditions o Foreign investment and tourism o Safety & crime

HAVE AN EFFECT ON

• Strategies & practices on wine farm

A) Focus on international market,

disengagement with government

B) Mutual cooperation & formal group

formation

e.g. Cape Winemakers Guild

C) Corporate Social Responsibility programs & preserving family traditions

HAVE AN EFFECT ON

• Positionality of Whiteness o White privilege

o Producing new identities

• Sense of belonging

• Stronger stakeholders in the industry Fig. 3: Conceptual Scheme

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Research Methodologies

I. Methodology

This study has followed an anthropological approach whereby privileged white farmers are studied closely. However, I do believe that all observations are inherently biased by my own cultural experiences, world views, and so on. Because perception and observation are fallible, my constructions must be imperfect. Therefore, multiple qualitative methods are used and commonly evaluated by using principles of reliability and validity as described by Bryman (2012). There is the possibility of several truths about the social world and the wider political impact of research and this chapter explains and evaluates the methodology of this research. Unit of Analysis

For this study, the unit of analysis are those responses of commercial wine farmers in the Coastal Region, South Africa, that perform acts of whiteness. Hence, the unit of analysis is the social reality around white privilege, within the broader debate of whiteness.

Unit of Observation

The main unit of observation is specifically centered around those individuals that own and practice commercial wine farming in South Africa. In order to collect the data, participants have been carefully selected according to their gender (being a white male), with an age above forty and have commercial wine farming ownership in the Coastal Region. This to get an as complete as possible view on how whiteness is performed in the agrarian wine industry of South Africa as a consequence of white privilege. The sample size for this research is 12, due to resources and time available. Of these 12 interviews, there is a variation of wine farm generations that have been interviewed. Some of the respondents are first generation farmers, some of them are already the fourth generation that took over the wine farming business. Not all farmers that were approached, were willing to talk. Another seven recorded in-depth interviews have been conducted with other actors closely involved in the industry and/or farmers, such as heads of relevant wine- and governmental organisations, agricultural university, agricultural research institution, wine farm employees and wives of farmers. In addition to these 19 recorded (and transcribed) interviews, more than 25 informal interviews have been conducted with similar parties and used for data. Notes of these informal interviews have been made.

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I have made use of the so-called chain referral sampling – snowball sampling – where the participants or informants with whom contact had already been made before entering the field, used their networks to introduce me to other relevant actors who could potentially be of value as a participant or contribute to my research in whatever way. This method of sampling has helped my tremendously. Especially entering the world of The Cape Wine Makers Guild would not have been possible without the help of so called ‘gate keepers’.

Data Collection Methods

Several research methods have been combined to complement each other to help answering the research question eventually. All three methods of data collection are qualitative; 1) a total of 19 in-depth interviews have been conducted. In addition to the 19 in-depth interviews, more than 25 informal conversations with all kind of individuals involved in the wine industry were held. The bulk of these conversations were with employees and wives or other relatives of the farmer that I visited during field visits for interviews and participant observations. 2) Two follow up in-depth interviews with two individual farmers to get a more comprehensive understanding of the farming business and social structures. These follow up in-depth interviews were both conducted throughout the day when I spent the entire day at the farm. 3) Participant observation by doing field visits so that the behavior of the farmer on the farm itself could be observed. But also, to observe the relation and communication with (black) farm workers, other colleagues, friends, family of the farmer and the wine industry as a whole. Participant observations are of importance in this research because I collect data on relations and seek to understand these relations and ways of communication, group dynamics, gender roles and social structures. These observations have also contributed in gaining trust from the individuals I wanted to interview so rapport was built and more reliable answers to specific questions could be collected in that way. Once I was invited to attend an informal braai3_before

a rugby game by one of the farmers in a suburb of Cape Town. Informal conversations and field notes are therefore part of the participant observations also. I emphasize the importance of multiple measures and observations here, since each of them may possess different types of error individually, but can complement each other when combined. It is because of that, that I use triangulation in both methods and sampling, in order to get a better understanding on the phenomenon and what is happening in reality.

3_{Afrikaans for barbecue}

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Research participants

Figure 5 in Annex II gives a comprehensive overview of the research participants that have been interviewed. The interview names in the table, which are abbreviated for securing anonymity, correspond with the abbreviations referenced in the thesis.

Data Analysis

I have incorporated narratives in my thesis that weave together a sequence of events and themes to illustrate the tensions and challenges of the industry and society. Quotes throughout the research are used to strengthen these narratives. Because of my anthropological background I choose for this anthropological angel incidence. These stories are strengthened by visuals through the use of photos. It is because of that, I handle an inductive approach. The collected data from interviews has been transcribed and analyzed by the use of Atlas.ti. From there, data have been coded to discover thematic patterns. Other qualitative data such as participant observations have also been analyzed with the use of Atlas.ti since notes of these observations have been added to the database.

II. Research Question and sub questions

This research is about privileged white Afrikaner farmers and how they position themselves within the structure of the wine industry in the Coastal Region of South Africa. All that is situated in a time where a modern way of farming is combined with family traditions. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to determine which external factors influence the decision of farmers to apply certain strategies and practices on wine farms and how that influences the performance of whiteness. The following main research question has been formulated to capture it all;

‘Why do external factors influence the strategy-making and farm practicing in the Coastal region, and how does this influence the performance of whiteness of white South

African wine estate farmers?’

Three sub questions will be addresses in order to answer the main research question.

1. Which external factors can affect the agrarian wine industry?

2. How do wine estate farmers strategize and practice their farming business? 3. How do wine estate farmers perform whiteness in South Africa?

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III. Ethical consideration and Limitations

For ethical consideration, I have guaranteed anonymity of participants for confidentiality by using oral informed consent. Before the start of each interview, I informed the interviewee about the purpose of the research, those individuals who will read the research after completion and where the research will be published; which is not an official publication but a link on the website of the University of Amsterdam. I have asked each interviewee if she, or he, agreed on these terms before moving forward with the interview questions. Additionally, the purpose of the research was explained. Also, consent was asked to record the interview and the participant has been informed that participation is entirely voluntary and therefore it is possible for participants to withdraw from the interview at all times without negative repercussions. All interviewees from wine estate farms were surprisingly willing to talk to me, even though it was the busiest time of the year. Most interviews have been recorded and were stored on my personal laptop afterwards which can only be entered by passwords. The recordings have been deleted from my phone after being transcribed to minimalize the risk of exposure.

The communication and language barriers have been, as expected, very minimal since English and Afrikaans where the main spoken languages in the region where research was conducted. Both these languages are reasonably spoken and understood by me. Therefore, a translator was not needed in the field and direct contact was made during the research period. Remarkable was that almost all farmers started talking in Afrikaans to me, which might be because of my white skin and blond hair characteristics. Being Dutch and visiting South Africa for the third time over a long period, I was fairly able to reply in Afrikaans, in an attempt to show interest and effort, making the first contact pleasant and comfortable. However, to ensure I understood answers during interviews as correctly as possible, I conducted the interview in English, asking for response in English as well. In South Africa the English language is also a first language for farmers, therefore they are able to express themselves properly in this language. Me having an educational background in wine studies, conducted in South Africa in 2011, it was easy to talk to wine farmers about their livelihood and passion, creating trust so the most honest answers as possible could be collected during the field visits.

For safety in participation, I conducted all interviews either in the farmers office, or at her or his home. It was not only preferable for me to visit the farm for interviews so that the farm and its surroundings could be observed by me, but also to see the farmer in his own environment

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and therefore see his or her behavior. Moreover, most farms are quite remote, often with long driveways up towards the farm, excluding the possibility of other people getting a glimpse of what was going on and conversation topics that were discussed during the interviews and field visits. The topic of the research is quite sensitive in South Africa so it was important that the interviewee felt as comfortable as possible to ensure honest answers. For my own safety, I first made contact by phone or email to get a first impression of the interviewee. When arriving on the farm itself, I always checked whether other people were in the surrounding area also, being family or colleagues of the interviewee. No negative experiences have been encountered. As a master student, I have approached this research as a learning process in which I aimed to add something to the general body of knowledge within the field of whiteness and privilege. I am aware that I could not cope with all the biases that I have encountered during my research because of the limited time there has been.

One of the limitations of this research is the amount of people that have been interviewed. The research was conducted during harvesting season so many poorer wine producing farmers did not have time or interest for an interview because they were actually working in the fields all the time. In that regard, there has been a lack of that side of perspective into the issue. Only wealthy wine (estate) farm owners have been interviewed for this research (all twelve). Another limitation is the bias of talking mainly to those wine farmers that had not a lot to ‘hide’ since these wine farmers are making multiple efforts to contribute to the national economy and social development of the nation.

IV. Methodological reflection and the current global debate

The choice of evaluation criteria cannot be arbitrary but is dependent on the nature of the research question. Methodology, aims and assumptions of the research have to be taken into consideration since there is the possibility of several truths about the social world and the wider political impact of research. It is important to choose the appropriate evaluation criteria based on the different assumptions and the methodologies adopted. Since the research is aiming to be objective, rigor needs to be operationalized through member checking and triangulation. Also, the empirical chapters of this research include quite some quotations to make a case which is firmly grounded in theory. Therefore, a short explanation and evaluation about the methodology of this research is set out according to trustworthiness with a special focus on the credibility criteria and to authenticity as proposed by Lincoln and Guba (1985) and Guba and Lincoln (1994).

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In order for others to use this research for findings and transfer it to other contexts, thick description of the social world where the research has been conducted are established. Three very comprehensive empirical chapters have been written to describe the very context specific situation further on in this research (chapter one, two and three). Other academia have to be very careful when using the data from this research for other context since the history of South Africa plays a significant role in the current public debate. However, (white) privilege is not only a hot topic in South Africa and the results of this research can be an example of how other privileged minorities around the globe might practice whiteness or white privilege. The current global debate about #BlackLivesMatter is an example of how (white) police officers are (mis)using their power.

With regard to ontological authenticity, this research includes a rich complexity with all kinds of different viewpoints from interview participants about whiteness, privilege and identity in South Africa. Here, there is educative and catalytic authenticity since the possibly of the research is here to impact the understanding and perspectives of not only the participants on the wine industry and their social roles, but globally. Recent global attention is given to the complexity and racial inequality of privilege and the (mis)use of that by the example of #BlackLivesMatter. Millions of people across the globe are protesting and raising attention and awareness to this phenomenon. This research contributes to the discussion and has a major methodological contribution. In regard to tactical authenticity it is not clear yet, but certainty hoped for, whether this research will have an impact on the empowerment of the research participants to take necessary steps to engage them for action.

Through conversations with privileged white farmers I learned to feel a certain guilt but mostly a sense of awareness for leading a privileged life. As a fieldworker, I was grateful for being able to go to South Africa. In this same manner, I am grateful for having the means to study International Development Studies and to write this master’s thesis. While education ought to be a right, it remains to be a privilege. So, looking at confirmability, it parallels to objectivity. Since this research was embedded and I took the role as an anthropologist, it was possible to dig into the world of white elite men that have a privilege life in South Africa. Myself, I am a Western white woman who is privileged herself. It was easy to connect to the research population since we had several things in common. This way of doing research was preferable, since it made it more able to answer the research question, which is very social in its nature.

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However, becoming too involved and socially interacting, it was sometimes hard to stay objective. Also, the farmers are talking full of passion, very aware they are privileged, but also very much convinced that they are doing the right thing to improve to society and the country as a whole, which could work very convincing at certain moments. In order to maintain as objective as possible, I have had the fine possibility to let my peer group students read the different chapters of the research to provide feedback. Next to that, my supervisor and another teacher from the University of Amsterdam read and provide feedback on the confirmability of the research. In this way, it is possible to write the research in the most unbiased way.

In this chapter I aimed to address the methodological issues in a critical way to strengthen the qualitative research that has been conducted. The qualitative data that has been conducted has been written in the following three empirical chapters.

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Chapter one – The African Bordeaux

How it all began

Asphalt has turned into a dirt road. The dust pours up behind my rental car and leaves a track cloth from where I drove that remains for a long time. It's like going back in time here, hay bales scattered over the dry plains. Cattle graze on some patches of land, but not many. Attention needs to be payed, the roads are not so good everywhere and I constantly hear small pebbles splashing against the car. In the distance is a lost sign with behind it a flat line to the left appears that looks lighter than the land that crosses it. It is a gravel road that will take me to the designated farm. Indicating a direction with my car lights seems useless, there is no other traffic on the road. I open the window of the car and a warm wave of air comes in oppressively. It is at least 40 degrees outside. It smells like nothing, there is nothing here. Swartland, a small piece of world where nothing resembles the bustling Stellenbosch closer to Cape Town. But the wines here are at least as good and appreciated. Yet hardly any tourists come here. It is rougher here, purer farming. With about 100,000 inhabitants, this area is sparsely populated and on my way to Albert and his farm I encounter only a few settlements. Swartland is the northernmost wine region of the Coastal Region northwest of Paarl and Stellenbosch. It is a large area with a lot of arable farming, between which also viticulture takes place. Originally, Swartland wines are known to be robust, full-bodied reds, but nowadays a lot of Chenin Blanc is also grown here that earn appreciation. Going here to grow wine takes passion and a vision.

When I get out of the car, I hear The Dire Straits playing. Where does this music come from? I pet one of the dogs and walk towards the entrance of the farm shed. There is standing a big juice presser in front it and some workers are busy pressing the juice from the grapes that just have been picked. They are making jokes and the atmosphere is good. Albert walks up to me and gives me a strong hand. “Hoe gaan dit met jou? Goed dat jy daar is. Wil jy ook koffie hê? Jy moet 'n rukkie wag totdat ek gereed is. Baie mooi is die pad hierheen, nie waar nie?”4_{I try}

my best to respond back in Afrikaans but then I continue in English. I tell him that I can understand Afrikaans when slowly spoken since I’m Dutch and have been in South Africa before but that English is better for me to understand what he is saying. All farmers are Afrikaans and proud of it also. All start conversating in Afrikaans but it was no problem for

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them to have the interview in English with me. Albert explains the process of the press whilst making coffee for me. It gives me the chance to watch the employees work and look around in the cellar until their done. An old pick-up stands in the corner with a lot of records next to it. That’s where the music came from! The coffee is made freshly by the professional coffee machine with a coffee grinder and everything. “You must make the best out of every day. That includes fucking good music, coffee and friends to make jokes with, you know”5_{. I notice that}

farming is not just a profession, it’s a way of life. Every farmer has its own way of doing that, but the social part is the important aspect that they all share.

Albert runs a family business, like most farmers I interviewed. It’s a farm that is run by several family members, each having his or her on task. There are some students from abroad who learn the art of winemaking in the cellar, together with Albert. Their hands, scientific knowledge and educational vini- and viticulture background helps Albert. In return he teaches them the art of wine making in practical sense. The students get food and accommodation, and stay for a few weeks, or even months. There are a few permanent farm employees, but those who work in the cellar can be counted on one single hand. The majority of the permanent farm workers are manual laborers who are outside in the field or working the tractors. These workers often have worked on the farm already for many years, they know exactly what is expected from them. It is a typical family farm. It is surrounded by vineyards, the smell of fermentation is everywhere and the office lies full with administration papers, family photographs, rugby player posters, several (used) glasses here and there and some bottles of wine, not only from the wine estate itself. Birds are chirping everywhere, thanks to the many trees that are surrounded by the farms. Its full of life here. A farming business is not a 9 to 5 environment, it goes on all day long. That is also the reason why most farmers still life on the farm. “I just feel that every farmer needs to be on the land. You need to be in touch with the land. You need to experience the heat, the wind the rain, and know what those vines go through… if you want to really understand when to pick them and what needs to be done to them. You know, if you miss out on those moments it becomes very, very difficult to make decisions. Living on a farm, living on the land, becoming part of that is imperative in making good decisions and farming. So, I think, from my opinion, I think it's important to live on the farm”.6

5_{Interview AA}

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Based on the telephone conversation which I had with the farm owner Albert, he seems to be (like many other farmers), an eccentric person with a strong own opinion and a good sense of humor. Up to now, the farmers I have approached for an interview are very willing to talk to me, even though it is busy season. In the beginning, that was not so easy. But after being introduced by other farmers, a whole new world full of warm-hearted farmers opened up to me. It is the beginning of the year, so harvest is around the corner. During this time of the year, tourism is a time consuming, but profitable part of the wine industry as well.

Luxurious wine tourism

South Africa’s wine producing Cape Province has become a major tourist attraction the past years7_{. According to the United Nations World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) report,}

international tourism in South Africa grew above average in comparison to other countries. But its not only quantitative numbers, UNWTO presented figures that show that the Cape Winelands captured 17% of the international visitors of South Africa, but when it comes to spending, it got 29%. More and more people want to sleep under de stars, overlooking perfectly maintained vineyards after a fine dining experience in the restaurant that is increasingly offered at wine farms, paired together with some of the best wines that South Africa has to offer. It is sometimes an interesting contrast to see when you drive up a farm during the day. At first sight, its vineyards everywhere. A big farm appears at the end, sometimes only after a few hundreds of meters, but it can take for more than a kilometer to reach the actual property. There are parking spots reserved in the shade for its guests, offered by beautiful citrus trees that have many leaves. The farm has gotten multifunctional in its purpose. Outside, next to the entrance of the parking area, there are signs that show where the consumers can go for wine tastings and the location of the wine shop that often sells more than only the bottles of wine that are produced on the farm. Food, tableware and other (luxurious) goods are often sold as well. But food & beverage is not the only hospitality branch offered. When you look up the website of a wine estate, or type in “accommodation wine” at Airbnb, you will find lots of options to stay at a farm in the Coastal Region. One of the opportunities to accommodate the tourists has occurred from the consequence that the properties of farm workers, who used to live on the farm, are more and more excluded to suburbs of surrounding towns.