Abstract

In 1974, during the dark days of apartheid at a conference on "Church and Nationalism" in Mapumolo, South Africa, a heated discussion about the mere possibility of a transition toward a democratic South Africa led to one black participant saying to one of the white participants, "When you speak like that, it makes me lose all hope."Later, during his own contribution to the conference, the political philosopher Johan Degenaar repeatedly referred to this remark by the black participant to illustrate "that the way we talk impacts on the way we live together". He spoke about the search for a "grammar for our life together," a frame of reference for our discussions about the future of South Africa. He...