A comparative study of attitudes of urban Black communities in selected areas of Durban towards evolutionist strategies for social change in South Africa.

Thesis (M.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1988.No abstract available

Constructions and representations of masculinity in South Africa\u27s tabloid press: Reflections on discursive tensions in the Sunday Sun

The South African print news media have witnessed a sharp rise in tabloidised news forms and newspapers in recent years. While tabloidisation offers interesting possibilities in terms of contesting and transforming traditional masculinised news forms, it also raises serious questions with regard to the appropriation of these forms of news towards reinforcing and naturalising constructions of gender. This article explores the ways in which a South African tabloid newspaper, the Sunday Sun, represents and constructs masculinity. It is argued that the performance of masculinity, especially through the performance of (hetero)sexuality, is central to the way in which the ‘project’ of masculinity is constructed within the Sunday Sun. In addition, violent masculinities are largely normalised and framed as part of the performance and legitimation of masculinities. While alternative discourses around masculinity also emerge, recasting ‘manhood’ in a way that challenges violence, these voices are still comparatively limited. The implications of these representations are reflected on in relation to the ongoing ‘project’ of masculinity within South Africa

Traditional healers , their services and the ambivalence of South African youth

Abstract: In the aftermath of the Marikana massacre in 2012, a number of observers raised questions about young men’s traditional beliefs. Did young miners apply muthi on their bodies believing that they would be invincible in the face of police bullets? How do young men generally, in the course of wrestling everyday challenges, draw on ‘traditional’ and ‘modern’ medicine? The findings in the literature seem to be contradictory and mediated by age differentials, educational levels, and place of residence. In this article, both qualitative and quantitative evidence is drawn upon to offer insight into the views of young men in a particular site: Chiawelo, in Soweto. The study suggests that while young men do not hold a special place for traditional healers in their lives, their insecure life circumstances and the dynamics of the groups to which they affiliate, lead them when necessary to consult traditional healers for immediate or out-of-the-ordinary help, particularly if trusted institutions do not provide satisfactory assistance. The study links and uses the theoretical constructs, ‘socialisation’, ‘habitus’ and ‘anomie’

Poverty and socio-political transition : perceptions in four racially demarcated residential sites in Gauteng

In the period preceding the May 2011 municipal elections there was speculation in the South African media about how widespread dissatisfaction with economic insecurity and poor service delivery would affect voting behaviour. The popular protests that occur intermittently are symptoms of a deep structural malady: the prevalence of chronic poverty in the context of a widening gap between South Africa’s rich and poor. State officials keep pointing to the cushioning effects of social grants and poverty alleviation initiatives, but critics argue that poor state performance and failure to include communities in political process are holding back socioeconomic development. This article discusses recent research on economic hardship and the ‘politics of the poor’ in four residential sites in the vicinity of Pretoria. The data reveal grassroots perceptions of poverty and vulnerability and the coalescing and contradictory political discourses across racial divides.The Andrew Mellon Foundation for a large-scale survey and a National Research Foundation.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cdsa20gv201

‘Getting involved on campus’ : student identities, student politics, and perceptions of the Student Representative Council (SRC)

Abstract: Since 1976 when school students in Soweto took to the streets in active defiance of the apartheid state, students as a political constituency have always been admired, noted and feared for the political positions they have taken and campaigns launched. South African student organisations in the 1980s and 1990s a ligned themselves with mass democratic movements and engaged with and shaped their agendas. Commentators suggest however, that the nature and character of student organisations have changed in post-apartheid South Africa, and consequently, also students’ interest in ‘getting involved’. With regard to SRCs, while many authors argue that SRCs are no longer a ‘revolutionary force’ and have become either retrogressive or disempowered, others suggest that more effort needs to be made to understand the content of ‘new’ SRCs in post-apartheid South Africa and their appeal to diverse student populations. This paper seeks to establish the attitudes of University of Johannesburg (UJ) students towards voting for, and supporting, the Students Representative Council (SRC), and, for involving themselves in student politics at UJ. In making sense of students’ perceptions, the paper probes differences and similarities in terms of four key factors: gender, race, year of study, and residential background

Vulnerability and resilience of female farmers in Oku, Cameroon, to climate change

Abstract: The experience of climate change is filtered through ones existing cultural, social and economic vulnerabilities. The rural poor in natural resource dependent communities in various African countries are likely to be negatively affected by climate change. In many cultures female farmers are considerably worse off than their male counterparts. This study makes use of a life history methodology in order to examine the particular nature of the vulnerability experienced by rural women in Oku in the Bamenda Highlands region of Cameroon. Gender is linked to vulnerability through a number of factors. These include access to and control over land, division of labour, marriage relationships, access to education and responsibility for dependents. Participants’ life histories show how vulnerability in the region develops over time and is both complex and non‐linear. Nevertheless, the participants expressed how they used their agency, both individual and collective, in coping with vulnerability. They narrate different adaptation strategies employed including livelihood diversification, and changing farming practices. Understanding the role of gender in shaping women’s vulnerability is useful in informing the design and implementation of adaptation policies. This article makes an empirical contribution to the discussions on the need to engender climate change research, policy and actions

The Struggle to Belong: Middle Classing and Social Change in Post-Apartheid South Africa

The social and urban landscape in Johannesburg has been profoundly influenced by its’ legacy of colonial and apartheid rule. Apartheid legislation such as the Group Areas Act of 1950 significantly embodied apartheid at an urban scale as it segregated and policed social space on the basis of racial classification where large numbers of people classified as native (also referred to as African, bantu or black), Indian (or Asian) and coloured were relocated to planned settlements to the periphery of cities and leaving the inner city and many areas to the north, east and west as white residential zones. The demise of apartheid and its administration in 1994 has resulted in Johannesburg becoming more racially integrated over time. Conversely, the democratic era has also been associated with a change in the class structure in the country, in particular, the growth of the black middle class. There is no longer always a direct relationship between race and income which means that black, Indian and coloured people are able to live in former white areas and neighbourhoods. Given the rise of crime and violence in the city, residential gated communities have been seen as the common housing option for middle- and upper-class social groups of the country. These developments were initially proliferated by mainly white groups in society, however changes in class dynamics in the country have resulted in growth of the black middle class living within these spaces, therefore creating racially integrated residential pockets in the city. The lived experiences of the black middle class within these spaces, remains under-researched. The study employs a qualitative thematic exploration through the use of in-depth interviews with a group of black middle-class residents residing in two South African residential gated communities in Johannesburg to unpack the politics of belonging to the community and the pressures and complexities of gated living and how that impacts identity formation and self-realisation. The interview data indicated the negative impacts of stereotype threat as black residents live with the historical legacy of being viewed as part of an inferior race. The findings outline various strategies that black residents employ to reaffirm their belonging to the community. Furthermore, the results provide a multi-layered analysis of race, identity, difference, space and place in a post-apartheid urban setting. The study makes recommendation for the decolonisation of privatised residential communities to create more inclusive and cohesive communities

Exploring Neighbourliness and Social Cohesion in Two Residential Gated Developments in Johannesburg, South Africa

The growth of privatised residential territories through the concept of ‘gating’ has become a global phenomenon and a distinct feature of the urban landscape of cities. There has been much debate around their existence. Justifications for these developments have been largely associated to the fear of crime, the expressed need for a defensible space, ineffective security provisions by government institutions, a search for an enhanced residential lifestyle and inadequate municipal service provision and governance. In the South African context, it has been argued that they have generated a “neo-apartheid” and serve as a façade, concealing the elitism and privilege that they offer residents. Similarly, questions have been raised around the benefits of living in a gated community, including whether or not they nurture or limit social cohesion among their residents. Current literature and studies on gated communities tends to focus on their physical form and function with little emphasis on the internal dynamics that take place within such developments. Given the growth and popularity of such developments in South African cities, the paper employs a qualitative approach using in-depth interviews with residents of two gated communities in Greenstone Hill to examine how living in a gated community influences daily social interactions among neighbours. The findings of the study identified four key themes that influenced social cohesion in the gated developments. Furthermore, contrary to expectations, interview data revealed that gated communities are socially diverse living spaces allowing for interactions of individuals from various cultural, religious, racial and class backgrounds which is unique given South Africa’s legacy of apartheid that has resulted in the persistence of residential segregation and mono-racial communities. The implications of the study are that these developments provide platforms for different races, classes, and cultures to unlearn past prejudices which has key implications in the process of re-building and uniting the country and its communities. The paper makes recommendation for gated communities to be viewed from a different perspective that focuses on their potential to contribute to social change and cohesion in the era of democracy

'Resting’, AIDS-affliction and marital constraints : engendered livelihood issues in the aftermath of Lesotho mineworker retrenchments

Since the late 1990s retrenched Basotho mineworkers have been returning in steady numbers to the rural areas of Lesotho. While marital and household relations have been rekindled in the process, there is currently much curiosity about how the large-scale presence of men in rural areas is reconfiguring married women’s livelihood strategies and their striving for financial autonomy. The Legal Capacity of Married Persons Act of 2006 has been celebrated as a victory for married women, but customary practice and societal perceptions of the legitimacy of men’s marital powers continue to restrict women’s activities and livelihood efforts. This reflection on ethnographic research in Mafeteng, Lesotho, illustrates key constraints, in particular gender ideologies and debilitating health conditions that aggravate rural households’ economic crises. It is argued that more institutional interventions are required in order to socialise the values and promote the cause of gender equality between married partners and to tackle persisting familial and cultural impediments affecting women’s lives.http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cdsa20hb2016Sociolog