Multiple livelihoods and social relations in the South African Lowveld, 1986-2013
Despite improvements in the last two decades, rural communal areas in South Africa remain dumping grounds, requiring multiple livelihood strategies and social adaptations. Local experience of dispossession forms the backdrop to individual and collective responses to changes in the role of land, labo...
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| Published in: | Review of African political economy Vol. 44; no. 152; pp. 220 - 236 |
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| Format: | Journal Article |
| Language: | English |
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Routledge
01.06.2017
Taylor & Francis, Ltd Taylor & Francis Ltd |
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| ISSN: | 0305-6244, 1740-1720 |
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| Abstract | Despite improvements in the last two decades, rural communal areas in South Africa remain dumping grounds, requiring multiple livelihood strategies and social adaptations. Local experience of dispossession forms the backdrop to individual and collective responses to changes in the role of land, labour and reproduction. The ethnographic research focused on a rural settlement in the former Gazankulu Bantustan in the period 1986-2013. Shifts in the mix of livelihoods were related to changing gender and generational relationships. Individual livelihood strategies aimed at diversifying sources of income and collective actions were directed at getting rid of criminals and accessing state resources. |
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| AbstractList | Despite improvements in the last two decades, rural communal areas in South Africa remain dumping grounds, requiring multiple livelihood strategies and social adaptations. Local experience of dispossession forms the backdrop to individual and collective responses to changes in the role of land, labour and reproduction. The ethnographic research focused on a rural settlement in the former Gazankulu Bantustan in the period 1986–2013. Shifts in the mix of livelihoods were related to changing gender and generational relationships. Individual livelihood strategies aimed at diversifying sources of income and collective actions were directed at getting rid of criminals and accessing state resources.
Malgré les progrès de ces deux dernières décennies, les zones communales rurales en Afrique du Sud restent des lieux de décharge, nécessitant des stratégies de subsistance multiples et des adaptations sociales. L’expérience locale de la dépossession constitue la toile de fond des réponses individuelles et collectives aux changements dans le rôle de la terre, du travail et de la reproduction. La recherche ethnographique se concentre sur un village rural dans l’ancien Gazankulu Bantustan pendant la période 1986-2013. Les changements dans les combinaisons de moyens de subsistance sont liés aux relations de genre et générationnelles changeantes. Les stratégies individuelles de subsistance visant à diversifier les sources de revenus et les actions collectives ont cherché à se débarrasser des criminels et à accéder aux ressources étatiques. Despite improvements in the last two decades, rural communal areas in South Africa remain dumping grounds, requiring multiple livelihood strategies and social adaptations. Local experience of dispossession forms the backdrop to individual and collective responses to changes in the role of land, labour and reproduction. The ethnographic research focused on a rural settlement in the former Gazankulu Bantustan in the period 1986–2013. Shifts in the mix of livelihoods were related to changing gender and generational relationships. Individual livelihood strategies aimed at diversifying sources of income and collective actions were directed at getting rid of criminals and accessing state resources. |
| Author | van der Waal, Kees (C. S.) |
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| SubjectTerms | Afrique du Sud Economic conditions Economics Ethnographic research Ethnography Income Informal economy Intergenerational relationships Interpersonal relations Labor force Land Limpopo Province Livelihood moyens de subsistance multiples multiple livelihoods Nkuna Traditional Authority Offenders pauvreté rurale Poverty Province de Limpopo Rural areas Rural communities Rural poverty Social conditions & trends Social relations South Africa économie informelle |
| Title | Multiple livelihoods and social relations in the South African Lowveld, 1986-2013 |
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