Research Articles (Anthropology and Sociology)

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A decolonial anthropology: You can dismantle the master’s house with the master’s tools
(Sage, 2024) Venkatesan, Soumhya; Gillespie, Kelly; Ntarangwi, Mwenda
The 2022 meeting of the Group for Debates in Anthropological Theory (GDAT) Social Anthropology, University of Manchester. The motion is, of course, a riff on Audre Lorde’s well-known 1984 claim that ‘the master’s tools will never dismantle the master’s house. They may allow us temporarily to beat him at his own game, but they will never enable us to bring about genuine change.’ Lorde is asking about the tools of a racist and constitutionally exclusionary world, but we can ask similar questions about the tools of an academic discipline, anthropology, which arose during the height of empire, and the house that anthropology has built and its location in the university. Are anthropology’s tools able to dismantle a house built on oppression, exploitation and discrimination and then build a different better house? If not, then what kinds of other tools might we use, and what is it that we might want to build? The motion is proposed by David Mills and Mwenda Ntarangwi and opposed by Kelly Gillespie and Naisargi Dav´e with Soumhya Venkatesan convening and editing the debate for publication.
Narratives of HIV disclosure and masculinity in a South African village
(Routledge, 2012) fecane, Sakhumzi
This paper describes men�s experiences of disclosing their HIV status, arguing thatdisclosure restored their social respect, which was previously undermined by an illnessfrom AIDS. Results are from a 14-month ethnographic study conducted in ruralSouth African health facility, among a group of 25 men attending an AIDS supportgroup. The men included in this study tested while they were critically ill and somewere negatively labelled as �already dead� because of their poor state of health. Themajority voluntarily disclosed their HIV status to the public after recovering from thephysical symptoms of AIDS. This elicited positive reaction from the community, whotreated them with admiration for disclosing their HIV status. The paper emphasisesthe fact that the good response received by participants from the community waspredicated mainly on having healthy physical looks that men gained from usingantiretroviral medication. This paper then further analyses the ways in which a �healthyappearance� facilitates disclosure of HIV status and also disrupts the stigma attached toHIV in the studied community.
AIDS activism and globalisation from below: Occupying new spaces of citizenship in post-apartheid South Africa
(Institute of Development Studies, 2004) Robins, Steven; von Lieres, Bettina
Former President Nelson Mandela, Bono, Peter Gabriel and other superstars stood together on the stage at Greenpoint StadiuminCape Town in front of billions of television viewers around the world, watching the �46664�music extravaganza in support of the fight against AIDS in Africa. AIDS is clearly a global pandemic and responses to it have inevitably been on a global scale. At the same time, the disease has highly localised aspects to it. AIDS activists have had to address both the global dimensions and the local specificities of this epidemic.
Exploring the ties of incarcerated fathers with their families and communities in the Western Cape-The perspectives of care professionals
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2022) Rabe, Marlize; Londt, Marcel
It is often argued that incarcerated men who stay connected withtheir families are less likely to reoffend. Despite the growingliterature on non-residential fatherhood in South Africa, littleresearch has been conducted on incarcerated men in SouthAfrica. In this article, we draw on the expertise and perspectivesof three research participants who used to work closely, as careprofessionals, with incarcerated men in the Western Cape. Bydrawing on Bronfenbrenner�s human development theory, thejourneys of incarcerated men as fathers are explored here. Thediversity and the nature of offences are important when the linksbetween fathers, their children and other family members areconsidered during their entry, stay and release from correctionalfacilities.
Traditional health practitioners� perceptions, herbal treatment and management of HIV and related opportunistic infections
(BMC, 2014) Davids, Denver; Blouws, Tarryn; Aboyade, Oluwaseyi
In South Africa, traditional health practitioners� (THPs) explanatory frameworks concerning illness aetiologies are much researched. However there is a gap in the literature on how THPs understand HIV-related opportunistic infections (OIs), i.e. tuberculosis, candidiasis and herpes zoster. This study aimed to comprehend THPs� understandings of the aforementioned; to ascertain and better understand the treatment methods used by THPs for HIV and OIs, while also contributing to the documentation of South African medicinal plants for future conservation. The study was conducted in two locations: Strand, Western Cape where THPs are trained and Mpoza village, Mount Frere, Eastern Cape from where medicinal plants are ordered or collected. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 53 THPs of whom 36 were diviners (amagrirha: isangoma) and 17 herbalists (inyanga). THPs were selected through a non-probability �snowball� method. Data were analysed using a thematic content analysis approach.
Impact of social interactions in the community on the transmission of tuberculosis in a high incidence area
(BMJ Publishing Group, 1999) Classen, Collette N; Warren, Robin; Richardson, Madeleine
Tuberculosis (TB) is transmitted by close contact with an infectious person. It is assumed that close contact occurs amongst household members and that contact outside the house is �casual� and does not play a major role in the transmission of TB. This study was conducted in an impoverished area with a high incidence of TB and a low HIV seropositive prevalence. Thirty three households with 84 TB patients were identified between February 1993 and April 1996 and the transmission of TB was studied by combining Mycobacterium tuberculosis fingerprinting with in depth sociological interviews.
�Youth speaking truth to power�: Intersectional decolonial activism in Namibia
(Springer, 2022) Becker, Heike
This article portrays a recent movement towards intersectional activism in urban Namibia. Since 2020, young Namibian activists have come together in campaigns to decolonize public space through removing colonial monuments and renaming streets. These have been linked to enduring structural violence and issues of gender and sexuality, especially queer and women�s reproductive rights politics, which have been expressly framed as perpetuated by coloniality. I argue that the Namibian protests amount to new political forms of intersectional decoloniality that challenge the notion of decolonial activism as identity politics. The Namibian case demonstrates that decolonial movements may not only emphatically not be steeped in essentialist politics but also that activists may oppose an identity-based politics which postcolonial ruling elites have promoted. I show that, for the Namibian movements� ideology and practice, a fully intersectional approach has become central.
Orders of protection: Feminist lessons in anti-privatization and authoritarianism from South Africa
(Society for Cultural Anthropology, 2022) Gillespie, Kelly
The feminist adage �the personal is political� is not ahistorical. It is being operationalized in a time when the relationship between the private and the public is undergoing historic transformation. Making privatized violence public under current conditions often involves channeling the most authoritarian tendencies of the state into relationships made increasingly desperate by the conditions of contemporary capitalism. The ethnographic focus of the essay is the work of a feminist organization operating in the context of Lavender Hill in Cape Town, a neighborhood created by apartheid forced removals and made more precarious by post-apartheid abandonment. The essay focuses on an explosion in the use of protection orders to compel police to intervene in the intimate relationships of households and neighbors, and offers an extended explanation of how and why feminism provides an exemplary case of reactionary politics for our times. The essay ends with a plea to draw on a different trajectory of feminism as a way of reconstituting a transformative political agenda, one that must take the historical transformations of racial capitalism seriously.
At the limits of spatial governmentality: A message from the tip of Africa
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2002) Robins, Steven
Urban studies scholars drawing on Foucault�s analysis of govern-mentality have investigated how urban social orders are increasingly moreconcerned with the management of space rather than on the discipline ofoffenders or the punishment of offences (Merry, 2001). This paper examines the�rationality� and efficacy of spatial governmentality in post-apartheid CapeTown, and shows how the city has increasingly become a �fortress city� (Davis,1990), much like cities such as Los Angeles, Sao Paolo and Rio de Janeiro. These�global cities� are increasingly characterised by privatised security systems inmiddle class suburbs, shopping malls and gated communities (Caldeira, 1999).These spatial forms of governmentality draw on sophisticated security systemscomprising razor wire and electrified walls, burglar alarms and safe rooms, aswell as vicious guard dogs, neighbourhood watches, private security companies,and automated surveillance cameras.
Politicization and resistance in the Zimbabwean national army
(Oxford University Press, 2017) Maringira, Godfrey
While the dominant discourse in Zimbabwe on and about soldiers is that they are perpetrators of political violence, this does not always reflect the lived experiences of soldiers who joined the army in post-independence Zimbabwe. Based on army deserters� narratives emerging from 44 life history interviews and two focus groups, this article argues that not all soldiers have been supportive of President Robert Mugabe and ZANU-PF. Rather, ZANU-PF had to work quite hard to ensure the political loyalty of its soldiers, who often resisted and challenged ZANU-PF political coercion.
Rape culture: Sexual intimidation and partner rape among youth in sexually diverse relationships
(SAGE Publications, 2022) Mayeza, Emmanuel
South African studies on rape culture have examined this issue in relation to heterosexuality. They demonstrate how toxic masculinity exercises sexual power by victimizing women and girls. However, little is known about manifestations of rape culture in contexts where both victims and perpetrators are same-sex attracted young people within intimate relationships. Thus, this article extends the scope of the scholarly discussions on rape culture by exploring how rape culture manifests itself in the social and intimate lives of sexually diverse South African youth. It will also reflect on some of the ways that could be explored to address rape culture.
�Ndiyindoda� [I am a man]: Theorising Xhosa masculinity
(Taylor and Francis Group, 2016) Mfecane, Sakhumzi
Masculinity studies in South Africa depend on Western gender theories to frame research questions and fieldwork. This article argues that such theories offer a limited understanding of Xhosa constructions of masculinity. Xhosa notions of masculinity are embodied in the concept of indoda, meaning a traditionally circumcised person. This article explores the nuanced meanings of indoda and its relationship to other masculinities, like uncircumcised boys [inkwenkwe] and medically circumcised men. The discussion reveals that indoda is the most �honoured� form of masculinity. A traditionally circumcised individual is regarded as indoda, a real man, irrespective of his sexual orientation or class, and this affords him certain rights and privileges. Inkwenkwe and medically circumcised men embody �subordinate� forms of masculinity and are victims of stigma and discrimination by indoda. This requires us to revisit some Western theories of masculinity which place heterosexual men at the top of a masculine hierarchy and gay men at the bottom. It furthermore requires us to pay attention to the body when theorising Xhosa masculinity, since it is a principal way of �proving� and �defending� Xhosa manhood.
An aligned alliance in allegiance to the drum beat of higher education's transformation agenda: A critical discourse lens
(MCSER Publishing, 2014) Ma�rtin-Cairncross, Anita
This paper includes an overview of transformation challenges faced by Higher Education globally, nationally and provides concluding remarks of the urgency that all staff who works in this sector understands and exemplify the transformation agenda. The study is contextualized within the framework of the critical discourse analysis (CDA) paradigm. This interpretive conceptual framework allows for the discussion of perceptions and interpretations of reports, debates and relevant document to substantiate arguments. Current trends in transformation in Higher Education, principles and goals of Higher Education Transformation in South Africa and several policy imperatives to drive the transformation agenda are discussed through a critical discourse lens.
Southern African Lesbian and Bisexual Women Responses to Symptoms of Sexually Transmitted Infections
(Archives of Sexual Behavior volume, 2020) Matebeni, Zethu
Sexually transmitted infection (STI) in lesbian and bisexual women is a relatively unexplored topic, particularly for women from low- and middle-income countries. Despite perceptions that women who have sex with women (WSW) are at negligible risk of contracting STI, existing research demonstrates that WSW do become infected with STI. Given the opposition between assumptions of invulnerability and the observed risks, we explored how WSW would respond to symptoms of STI (i.e., wait until symptoms passed, see a medical doctor, and inform sexual partners). We used data collected as part of a collaboration between academic researchers and community-based LGBTQ organizations in Botswana, Namibia, South Africa, and Zimbabwe. Chi-squared tests were used to test whether participants� responses to hypothetical STI symptoms varied in relation to several intrapersonal, interpersonal, and structural factors.
Pertinent African accounts of ambivalence and benefits in commuter marriages
(Cogent OA, 2022) Kumswa, Sahmicit Kankemwa; Agboola, Caroline; Kang�Ethe, Simon
The article attempts to unpack the ambivalence and benefits of commuter marriages. The study applied a qualitative paradigm, as well as a qualitative approach to investigate 17 participants between the ages of 30 to 52 (13 women and 4 men), of various occupations including bankers, civil/public servants, businessmen and women, lecturers, lawyers, teachers, managers of private organisations politicians, sales representatives, and medical doctors. All of them were married, had children and engaged in commuter marriages, but with the men being commuters while the women remained in the primary residence. The participants had an average of two children each.
The Bamasaaba people�s response to the implementation of the Safe Male Circumcision Policy in the Bugisu sub-region in Uganda
(Cogent OA, 2022) Omukunyi, Bernard
Male circumcision is culturally motivated with a symbolic meaning of the rite-of-passage from boyhood to manhood in some African countries such as Uganda, particularly by the Bamasaaba local people from the Bugisu sub-region. This study aimed at investigating the local Bamasaaba people�s response to the implementation of the reformed health policies on male circumcision in the Bugisu sub-region in Uganda. The qualitative research approach adopted masculinity and Bourdieu�s theory of practice, presented through the lens of Habitus, which involved in-depth interviews with selected individuals and numerous Focus Group Discussion with the participants. Data analysis involved transcribing, interpretation, coding, categorising and generating the themes using the qualitative computer application known as Atlas. The results suggest that the Bamasaaba people have not accepted implementing the reformed health policies on male circumcision. However, these people are conditioned to rethink their traditional Imbalu (traditional male circumcision) practices due to the prevailing and persisting HIV/AIDS infections in their society.
Politics, privileges, and loyalty in the Zimbabwe national army
(African Studies Association, 2017) Maringira, Godfrey
In postcolonial Africa, the military has become an actor in politics, often in ways that can be described as unprofessional. This paper focuses on the manner in which the Zimbabwean National Army (ZNA) has become heavily politicized since independence, directly supporting the regime of President Robert Mugabe while denigrating the opposition political party. The military metamorphosed, to all intents, into an extension of President Mugabe�s political party, the ZANU-PF. I argue that even though the military is expected to subordinate itself to a civilian government, the ZNA is highly unprofessional, in- and outside the army barracks. The ways in which politics came to be mediated by army generals, as �war veterans� serving in the military, directly influenced not only how soldiers who joined the army in postindependence Zimbabwe were promoted and demoted, but how they lived their lives as soldiers in the army barracks. This article is based on fifty-eight life histories of army deserters living in exile in South Africa.
Rethinking medicinal plants and plant medicines
(National Inquiry Services Centre, 2018) Gibson, Diana
Because plants are perceived as sessile and immobile, they are often represented as objects or things in current literature. In this paper, I explore variations and shifts in research and literature since 2000 that reconsider the ways that plant-related ideas, expertise and practices intersect in multiple associations related to medicinal plants. I argue that, in their relationship with humans, plants have histories, are mobile and can also bring about political and other effects. I use ethnographic material from Namibia and the Western Cape of South Africa to review medicinal plants, by focusing on human-plant relations and the incorporation of plants as non-human subjects with non-intentional agency.
With shouts of Afrika!�: The 1952 textile strike at good hope textiles, King William's town
(Social Dynamics, 1990) Minkley, Gary
This paper, through a detailed examination of one of the biggest and most significant strikes in the East London region, suggests its importance lies both in the events and processes of the strike itself, and in its longer term impact on political traditions of union and popular struggle. It argues that a dynamic relationship developed between a newly emergent industrial working class in the textile industry, and an equally rapidly established local ATWIU, and local ANC branch. This resulted in the merging of a pattern of worker discontent and strike action with the ANCs Defiance Campaign in particular, and in so doing, the nature and direction of the strike was transformed. Finally it is argued that the defeat of this �mass� strike of defiance by the textile workers, laid the patterns and built the disillusions of future labour struggles in the region. � 1990 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
Embodied urban health and illness in Cape Town: Children�s reflections on living in Symphony Way temporary relocation area
(National Inquiry Services Centre, 2015) Prah, Efua
This paper explores ideas about health and illness held by six children who live in the Symphony Way Temporary Relocation Area in Cape Town, South Africa. The research shows that solutions to illness and health problems held by low-income populations are critically shaped by various characteristics of society � the surrounding neighbourhood, the family and the experience of the individual child. This contests current policy assumptions that solutions to wellness are not located within the lived experience of local populations. The findings are part of continued efforts to investigate how health is negotiated in low-income areas, what challenges people face and how they overcome such challenges. The research discusses ideas of health embodiment in relation to both the socio-economic and natural environment, and illustrates the impact that poor housing-quality and access to health care services have on health and ideas of health and illness.

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