Grievance Formation in Times of Transition: South Africa 1994–2000

This paper is an exploration of grievance formation among black and white South Africans during the transition years from 1994 to 2000. Representative samples of black and white South Africans were surveyed annually. Respondents were asked about their objective circumstances and their (dis)satisfaction with their personal situation and the situation of the group with which they identified most strongly. Black South Africans reported higher levels of personal grievance in comparison with white South Africans, but white South Africans reported higher levels of group grievance in comparison with black South Africans. Respondents’ race and class predicted their levels of satisfaction, but over the 7 years of the study, race became a less important predictor and class became a more important predictor. However, grievances—at the individual and the group level—are mostly determined by comparisons, especially comparisons with others that people perceive to be in a better position.