Sociology A Concise SA Introduction 2nd Edition 2018

2nd Edition
Sociology cAo South African introduction •

Sociology
ise
coAncSouth
v African introduction
2nd Edition
• Has social equality increased in South Africa since 1994?

• What are the social effects of crime?
v
ncise
• How do the nature and organisation of work shape society?
• Does religion have greater functional or dysfunctional social effects?
The answers to these and many other questions about society are found in Sociology: A concise South
African introduction 2e. This updated edition contains a selection of chapters based on the original
text, Sociology: A South African introduction. It includes chapters on • Sociological theory • Socialisation
and identity • Religion • Family • Crime and deviance • Culture • Race • Gender • Work • Politics
and governance • The economy. The chapter on Poverty and Inequality has been extended and split
into two chapters: Social inequality, and Poverty. A chapter on Class, and new chapters on Education,
and Medicine & Health, have been added.
Each chapter addresses key issues, topics and debates in sociology today, and uses contemporary and
current South African case studies to make the material relevant and meaningful to students. Chapter
introductions serve as a narrative linking and providing cross-references to material covered in other
chapters, where appropriate.
Written with first-year students in mind, the language is accessible and easy to understand and the
carefully developed pedagogical features in each chapter serve to support students’ learning.
Paul Stewart & Johan Zaaiman (editors)

Sociology
Additional references at the end of each chapter include journal articles, books and websites.The glossary
in the textbook is also available on a mobile-friendly web page. Support material for prescribing lecturers
includes multiple-choice questions, sample short paragraph questions and essays with memoranda.
concise
About the editors:
Paul Stewart is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand where he has
taught for over twenty years. He has published in local and international journals on mining, around
labour issues with occupational health and safety as a key focus. He is currently preparing a manuscript
based on his PhD, entitled ‘Labour time in South African gold mines: 1886-2006’ for publication. A South African introduction
v
Johan Zaaiman is Associate Professor in Sociology at the School of Social Studies at the North-West
University, Potchefstroom campus. He has taught Sociology since 1991, first at the Huguenot College 2nd Edition
in Wellington, before joining North-West University. His research interests include political sociology,
social theory and research methodology.
www.juta.co.za
1620 Sociology Concise 2E cvr v4.indd 1 2018/01/19 2:39 PM

Sociology
A concise South African introduction
Second edition
Sociology_An SA introduction.indb 1 1/22/2018 9:03:03 AM

Sociology: A concise South African introduction
First published 2014

Revised reprint 2015
Second edition 2018
Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd

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© 2018 Juta & Company (Pty) Ltd
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Table of contents
About the authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii
Glossary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxiii
Why this book?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxiii
Thinking sociologically . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxiv
What is sociology?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxv
The sociological imagination. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxvi
Origins of sociology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxxix
Different perspectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xliv
Sociology as a social science . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l
Careers and sociology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l
Features of the book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l
Supplements to the book. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . li
Acknowledgements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . li
Reference . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . li
Chapter 1: Sociological theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.1 The origin and meaning of ‘theory’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.2 Major perspectives or approaches in sociology. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
1.3 Developments and challenges to classical sociological theory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
More sources to consult . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
More advanced reading. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 44
Chapter 2: Socialisation and identity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.1 The nature versus nurture debate. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
2.2 Theories of socialisation and identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 50
2.3 Agents of socialisation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 56
2.4 Re-socialisation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
2.5 Social identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
2.6 Identity and globalisation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67
Chapter 3: Culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69
Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
3.1 Defining culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
3.2 Theoretical perspectives on culture. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
3.3 Elements of culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77

3.4 Cultural diversity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

3.5 Culture, socialisation and identity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
Are you on track? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 83
Chapter 4: Families and households. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 86
4.1 To be or not to be … a family. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
4.2 An overview of family life . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
4.3 Family theories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
4.4 Intergenerational relations . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
4.5 Patterns of joining and dissolving families and households. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
4.6 Domestic violence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 102
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 106
A re you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
Chapter 5: Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

I ntroduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
5.1 Definition of sociology of education . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
5.2 Theoretical frameworks of education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
5.3 Historical background of education in South Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
5.4 Restructuring of education – post-apartheid South Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
5.5 The current scenario: challenges facing the education system. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
5.6 State. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
5.7 Society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
5.8 Schools. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 129
5.9 Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 131
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Websites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Chapter 6: Religion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
6.1 The development of South Africa’s diverse religions. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
6.2 The sociological study of religion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 142
6.3 Religion and society. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
6.4 Sociological perspectives on religion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
6.5 Organisation of religion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Chapter 7: Medicine and health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
7.1 The sociological perspective on health and disease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 166
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Table of contents
7.2 Models of health and disease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

7.3 Theoretical approaches to health and disease . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 173
7.4 Defining health, disease and illness. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 179
7.5 Places and sources of care . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 182
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Journals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 191
Websites. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 192
Chapter 8: Politics and governance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
8.1 Key conceptual points . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 199
8.2 Segregation and apartheid in South Africa . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 201
8.3 Post-apartheid South Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 203
8.4 Theoretical perspectives on state and society . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 208
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 216
Chapter 9: Race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 220
9.1 What is race? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 221
9.2 History of the race concept. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 223
9.3 Race, class and economics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 228
9.4 Race, state and resistance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 232
9.5 Race, identity and culture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 238
9.6 Illustrations of race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 241
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 242
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 243
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 244
Chapter 10: Gender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 247
10.1 Gendered bodies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 248
10.2 The social construction of gender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 251
10.3 Feminism. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 253
10.4 Masculinity studies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 260
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 264
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Chapter 11: Class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 268
11.1 Defining class . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
11.2 Marx’s theory of class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 269
11.3 Weber’s theory of class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275
11.4 Integrated perspectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 278

11.5 Class, people and community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

11.6 The conceptual status of class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 281
11.7 South African society and class analysis. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 282
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 289
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 290
Chapter 12: Social inequality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 295
12.1 Types of social stratification systems. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 296
12.2 Mainstream perspectives on class inequality in industrialised societies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299
12.3 Social inequality in South Africa today . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 309
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 312
Chapter 13: Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 316
13.1 Work as a universal activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
13.2 Work as purposeful activity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
13.3 The evolution of work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 319
13.4 Transformations in the world of work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 334
Chapter 14: Poverty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
14.1 Poverty as ‘the social question’ . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 339
14.2 Conceptualising, defining and measuring poverty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 342
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 358
Chapter 15: Crime and deviance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

Introduction. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 363
15.1 Defining deviance and crime. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 364
15.2 Functionalist perspectives on deviance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 365
15.3 Sub-cultural theories on deviance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
15.4 The conflict perspective on crime and deviance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 371
15.5 The interactionist perspective . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 372
15.6 Crime, poverty and social exclusion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
15.7 Social control. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 374
15.8 Crime in South Africa. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 376
Summary. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Are you on track?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 378
Index. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
vi

About the authors
Alvina (Khosi) Kubeka (PhD) is currently a Senior Lecturer in the Department of Social Development at the
University of Cape Town. Her areas of research interest are youth developmental well-being, family and work and
social development. She teaches courses in social research methodology, social work and social development,
and youth development. She has previously taught introduction to sociology, sociology of youth and crime, social
problems and sociology of education.
Shannon Morreira is Senior Lecturer in the Humanities Education Development Unit at the University of Cape
Town, where she lectures in Education Development, Anthropology and African Studies. She received her PhD in
Social Anthropology from the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 2013. Her research interests include the politics
of knowledge production, human rights, and migration. Her recent publications include Rights after Wrongs:
Local Knowledge and Human Rights in Zimbabwe (Stanford University Press, 2016). She is also editor-in-chief of
Anthropology Southern Africa, the journal of the Anthropology Southern Africa Association.
Marlize Rabe is a Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of South Africa (UNISA) and is also
involved in the Institute for Gender Studies at the same university. Her key research interests are in the construction
of masculinities within the family context and intergenerational relations. She has published on a wide range of
topics including fatherhood among mineworkers, family policy and power dynamics within qualitative research.
Pragna Rugunanan is a Lecturer and doctoral student in the Department of Sociology at the University of
Johannesburg. She is an executive member of the South African Sociological Association. She has also conducted
skills-based training in a number of manufacturing companies, such as Ford Motor Company and Cadbury’s
Ltd, among others. She is currently involved in research on Asian immigrant communities in South Africa. Her
research interests include the changing patterns of work, education, social networks, social identity, and migrant
communities.
Engela Pretorius started her teaching career as a Junior Lecturer in the Department of Sociology at the University of
the Free State (UFS) in 1980. Two decades later, she was appointed Head of the Department. In terms of teaching and
supervision, her emphasis has mainly been in the field of health and healthcare. Over a period of three decades,
she has been extensively involved in teaching both medical and nursing students. In 2002, she was awarded a
certificate by the School of Medicine at UFS for her exceptional contribution to the development of a new medical
curriculum. She retired in 2009, after having served a five-year stint as Vice Dean of the Faculty of the Humanities
at UFS.
Kirk Helliker is currently Head of Department of Sociology at Rhodes University. His recent co-edited publications
include The Promise of Land: Undoing a Century of Dispossession in South Africa (Jacana Press, 2013), Land
Struggles and Civil Society in Southern Africa (Africa World Press, 2011) and Contested Terrain: Land Reform and
Civil Society in Contemporary Zimbabwe (SS Publishers, 2008). His research interests include civil society, social
movements, agrarian and land reform, and Zimbabwe.
Ran Greenstein is an Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand. He received his BA
and MA degrees from Haifa University, Israel, and his PhD degree from the University of Wisconsin‑Madison, USA.
He has published and edited Genealogies of Conflict: Class, Identity and State in Palestine/Israel and South Africa
to 1948 (Wesleyan University Press, 1995), Comparative Perspectives on South Africa (Macmillan, 1998), The Role of
Political Violence in South Africa’s Democratisation (CASE, 2003), and Beyond Nationalist Paradigms: Alternative
Paths in Israel/Palestine (forthcoming, Pluto Press, 2014).

Christopher Thomas has been teaching in the Department of Sociology at the University of South Africa since the
mid-1980s. His research interests include the sociology of developing countries, poverty and social inequality,
industrial restructuring in South African firms, social and economic rights, housing rights and land protests, and
youth development.
Tapiwa Chagonda is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg. He
has published on Zimbabwe’s crises, masculinities, social stratification and poverty in South Africa and student
identities in South African universities. Professor Chagonda is also a member of the South African Sociological
Association (SASA) and the International Sociological Association (ISA).
Muhammed Suleman has an undergraduate degree in psychology, honours in industrial sociology and masters in
sociology. Prior to his current position as Lecturer in the department of Sociology at the University of Johannesburg
(UJ) he served as Sessional Lecturer at Monash SA. He is currently doing his PhD on Muslim Religious leaders’
views on Domestic Violence. His research and teaching interests are religion, crime, deviance, clinical sociology,
sport, social justice, family sociology, population dynamics, violence, gender studies as well as conflict studies. He
is part of the Azaadvillle Health and Wellness Association (AHAWA) and has presented his work at both national
and international conferences.
Paul Stewart (editor) is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand where he has taught
for over 20 years. He has published in local and international journals on mining, around labour issues with
occupational health and safety as a key focus. He is currently preparing a manuscript based on his PhD, entitled
‘Labour time in South African gold mines:1886-2006’ for publication.
Johan Zaaiman (editor) is Associate Professor in Sociology at the School of Social Studies at the North-West
University, Potchefstroom campus. He has taught Sociology since 1991, first at the Huguenot College in Wellington,
before joining North-West University. His research interests include political sociology, social theory and research
methodology.
viii

Glossary
A
absolutist view that something is beyond questioning or is not subject to interpretation; in moral reasoning, certain
acts are unquestionably right or wrong
achieved identity one that is acquired from our interaction with and perceptions of our observed reality
action research method of social investigation where researchers and respondents identify a problem, investigate
it, repeatedly if necessary, act on and submit their method and findings for evaluation by other scientists; also
known as participatory research and collaborative inquiry among other names
acupuncture the insertion and manipulation of fine needles into specific points on the body to relieve pain or treat
ailments; in its classical form it is a characteristic component of traditional Chinese medicine, one of the oldest
healing practices in the world (see also Chinese medicine)
advocacy/participatory knowledge claims reject the notion of value freedom and suggests that all research is
value-driven or political; associated with critical perspective
aetiology the origin of or set of factors that cause disease
affectual social action for Weber, intentional or conscious human behaviours or doings arising out of emotional
attachments, concerns or values
affordance a concept borrowed from the psychology of perception which suggests that social action takes place
within an environment of possibilities which are both perceived and real
agency the individual’s capacity to actively and independently make choices, decisions and plans
agents of socialisation people, groups of people and institutions that affect the self-concept, attitudes, or other
orientations toward life of the individual
age-specific fertility rate (ASFR) calculated for 5-year age categories, for example for women aged from 15 to 19
years, 20 to 24 years, etc up to women from 45 to 49 years of age
AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome) the end or final stage of HIV (see also HIV)
alienation Marx’s term describing the separation experienced by workers under capitalism: from the product, the
work process, from fellow workers and from self
allopathic a term used to refer to Western medicine based on biomedical science (see also complementary and
alternative medicine)
alter-globalisation movement/anti-globalisation movement terms referring to the global movement of people
organising against the various effects of neoliberal policies; movements of international scope seeking to create
a world free of inequality and oppression reproduced by contemporary capitalism
alternative medicine (see complementary and alternative medicine)
altruistic suicide individual taking own life due to overly high level of social integration
anarchists people who oppose the state because they believe it constrains the individual; people who hold that
individual freedom is the highest good, individuality is valuable in itself, but which needs a new kind of
society to be realised
ancestral related to deceased forebearers
androgynous an individual manifesting or expressing characteristics associated with both masculinity and
femininity
anomic suicide individual taking own life due to low level of social regulation
anomie Durkheim’s term for a social condition characterised by a breakdown in the norms governing society; the
personal experience of dislocation in the absence of rules or when the individual falls outside existing social
rules
anthropocentrism the supremacy of humans as a species and the ideology that nature exists primarily for human use
antibiotic a substance that kills or inactivates bacteria
apartheid a political system in South Africa that distinguished people according to their race, as defined by law;
came to an end in 1994 with new non-racial democratic dispensation

Arab spring a series of mass uprisings beginning in December 2010 in Tunisia, followed by Egypt, Libya, Syria and
other countries across the Arab world, characterised by collective demands for an end to authoritarian forms
of rule and corrupt leadership
artificial intelligence the capacity of a computing machine to simulate human thought
ascetic/asceticism renounces material comforts; refers to a life of strict self-discipline and contemplation, often an
act of religious devotion
ascribed identity the inherited features of identity, especially sex, race and religion
assembly line a technique of manufacturing production where a complex product, such as a motor vehicle or
television, moves on a conveyor-driven belt or moving work station along which workers are positioned;
product assembled by each worker repeatedly adding a designated piece to the moving product
assisted families families with paid workers such as live-in domestic workers, nurses or nannies responsible for
child or frail care
associational society a society characterised by a complex division of labour, formal social units (producer groups,
organisations and corporations), an economy based on manufacturing and related activities, high technology,
bureaucratic structures, complex stratification, strong emphasis on rationality and less on spirituality
assumptions statements taken for granted as being true; can be either implicit or explicit
asymmetrical a lack of proportion, harmony, balance and correspondence; applied to social groups with widely
diverging resources
austerity programmes the World Bank’s prescribed policies to countries defaulting on their debt requiring the
reduction of social spending on healthcare, education, pensions and wage increases
autonomy the capacity for individual or collective self-determination; in political science, the extent to which the
state is characterised by self-government and specific interest groups in society are not subject to determination
by any force, but are free to express their own goals
B
Bantu Education System an inferior system of education designed under apartheid to massify the production of a
basic skilled African workforce and a small intellectual elite
bedside manner a medical doctor’s way of talking to and dealing with patients in an either sympathetic or
unsympathetic manner
behaviourism a system of thought, philosophy and research practice based on the observation and measurement of
animal and human conduct; generally considered by practitioners to establish the empirical basis of social science
biocentrism emphasises the intrinsic value of all natural life forms informed by their equality where none is
prioritised above the other, but explained by their intricate network of relationships
biodiversity the variety of life on earth including the genetic composition of organisms
biological determinism the tendency to prioritise biological aspects at the expense of social and cultural influences
biological fatherhood procreation of children by males
biomedical model (of disability) assumes that disability stems solely from forces within the individual mind or
body, rather than from constraints built into the environment or into social attitudes
biomedical model (of health and disease) a specific way of thinking about and explaining disease based on
biological factors
biomedicine employs the principles of biology, biochemistry, physiology and other basic natural sciences to solve
problems in clinical medicine
biosphere the totality of ecosystems on the planet
Black Consciousness philosophy of Steve Biko stressing reassertion of dignity, pride and self-assertion of black
people; has psychological liberation from racial discrimination as key focus
bourgeoisie the townspeople, urban entrepreneurial class or burghers; used by Marx to denote the social class of
owners of capital, generally referred to as the middle class
breadwinner the individual who earns the money used for the upkeep of the household; generally refers to wage or
salaried individuals who do not own the primary economic resources in capitalist societies

Glossary
bureaucracy an impersonal system of administration, management and/or governance characterised by

hierarchical structuring, rigidity, top–down organisation, written rules defining separate tasks and duties
and the employment of impartial officials; social system designed to achieve greatest possible efficiency in
complex societies; applies to all formal organisations in complex industrial and earlier forms of society
C
calling strong inner impulse towards a particular course in life requiring dedication and sustained commitment,
especially under the conviction of a divine influence
capital an asset owned by an individual as wealth, eg a sum of money, financial investments, stocks and shares;
for classical economics, capital can be anything serving as an income or potential income; for Marx, more
specifically, capital is not a thing, but a set of social production relations historically specific to a society
dominated by capitalism
capitalism an economic system based on private ownership of the means of production, wage-labour and commodity
production for sale, exchange and profit
caste an internally complex hierarchical system of social stratification characterised by hereditary membership
and endogamy (marriage within a social group or class) which orders the lives of Indian Hindus
cause force or action responsible for an identifiable effect
census a comprehensive count of all the inhabitants of a well-defined area at a specific time to render information
on the total size, territorial distribution, composition and key socioeconomic attributes of a population
charisma refers, especially for Weber, to leaders who disrupt tradition, transcend bureaucracy and are imbued
with exceptional qualities or powers; ordinary people can be elevated to and maintain positions of charismatic
authority due to social support; generally unstable and temporary phenomenon
charismatic (Christians) refers to members of various denominations who seek direct ecstatic religious experiences
inspired by the Holy Spirit in the theological doctrine of the Trinity; often practise glossolalia (speaking in
tongues)
chiefdom a socioeconomic organisation in which power is exercised by a single person over many; generally refers
to pre-industrial societies, but still exists in parts of South Africa
child abuse the active maltreatment of children physically, sexually or emotionally
child neglect ignoring the needs of children
child or under-five mortality rate the number of children under five years of age who die in a year, per 1 000 live
births during the year
child-headed household a household with no adult members and usually where older siblings take care of younger
siblings with or without external support from other kin or community members
Chinese medicine one of the oldest healing systems in the world, dating back 5 000 years, one of the healing systems
being practised and recognised in South Africa; comprises a full philosophy of healthcare and combination of
therapies, with acupuncture the predominating component
chiropractic both in South Africa and globally, the most widely accepted and most ‘mainstream’ of the CAM
(complementary and alternative medicine) modalities; manipulations are applied to any muscle or joint in the
body for the relief of musculoskeletal pain and restoration of mobility
Christian-centric society dominated by values, beliefs and practices associated with Christian religion
chronic poverty a hopeless situation where it appears impossible to move out of poverty because the poverty
sustains itself
church refers to formal, hierarchical, bureaucratically organised religious organisation that accommodates all the
members of a particular, generally Christian, congregation or denomination
civil religion set of secular or sacred beliefs, attitudes and rituals related to the nation that tie people of a political
community together
class for Marx, a social group standing in a relation of ownership or non-ownership of the means of production;
for Weber, a social group sharing similar life chances and opportunities in relation to the market. A collective
term to signal a specific position in a social stratification system
xi

class consciousness the sense of collective awareness – potentially leading to social action or defence of interests;
the self-understanding a group of people with shared economic interests have of themselves
class experience the way in which people perceive an identity of interests among themselves and against others as
a result of common interests rooted in their shared access or lack thereof to economic resources
class formation the way in which social groups – defined in terms of access to economic resources – come into being
class fractions segments of a larger class with different economic activities and ideologies
class interests that which serves the purposes – increased material wealth, political power or advancement of
certain values and principles – relevant to a group of people of the same class
class situation for Weber, ultimately the same as the market situation – the life chances, income, the access to goods
and services, the external living conditions and personal life experiences of a certain group of people
class structure the way in which society is organised or ordered in terms of social groups which are defined in
terms of access to economic resources
class struggle for Marx, the conflict between two fundamentally opposing social classes; the driving force of social
change
clergy the collective body of those ordained as religious ministers, especially of the Christian Church
closed questions compel a respondent to choose between a limited number of pre-defined answers
cognition the mental process and ability to think, understand and know
cohesion (social) factors binding society together
cohort (in population studies) a group of persons who enter some stage of the life cycle simultaneously; eg a birth
cohort consists of all the males, females, or both, who were born in a given year; a marriage cohort consists of
all the men, women or both who were married in a given year
collective agency capacity of institution, government, corporation or social movement to actively make choices,
decisions and plans
collective conscience set of shared norms, values and beliefs regulating social behaviour
collective effervescence shared sense of enthusiasm and excitement and related actions
collective representations set of norms, values and beliefs shared by members of a particular group in society
coloniality the global power structure, including its epistemological design, which continues to live on beyond
colonialism
colonialism a policy and practice according to which one power expands its territory through control or governance
over a dependent area or people; generally refers to process of expansion of European economic and political
forces into other parts of the world
colonisation ruling of a territory and people by a foreign nation, generally by force; domination of a territory by a
foreign nation
commercialisation the trend and pressure for ever-increasing kinds of non-economic activities, organisations and
institutions to become financially self-supporting, make a profit and not rely on state funding
commercialised where the methods of manufacture and consumption are applied to personal and social matters
and subject to market forces, eg parents pay to send children to a nursery school or creche` which assumes the
responsibility of child care previously located in the family
commodification a process whereby goods, a person or even an idea is turned into or treated as a commodity and
an article of trade
communal action collective social or political behaviour or action taken by a social group, who feel they share
certain norms and values, to advance their interests
communal society type of society that features personalised relationships, an economy based on resources in
the local habitat, low levels of technology, non-bureaucratic institutions, limited stratification and a rich
ceremonial life
communism for Marx, a classless society; a future society free of domination and exploitation characterised by
co-operation and equality
complementary and alternative medicine approaches to healthcare that are outside the sphere of conventional
allopathic (biomedical) medicine
xii

Glossary
co-morbidity the simultaneous co-existence of two chronic diseases or conditions

composition (of a population) refers to characteristic patterns of a population in terms of sex, age, ethnic
characteristics, educational attainment and economic activity
comprador bourgeoisie the ruling elites in government and business in postcolonial territories that serve as
intermediaries of foreign capitalist interests and their domination of the postcolonial economy
concentration (social) concept for describing a process, whether self-propelled or engineered, of centralising urban
functions and facilities into a single urban space
concept abstract component of cognition expressed as a word which picks out, isolates or identifies some aspect or
phenomenon; important aspect of abstract contents of the human mind
conceptual analysis ideas expressed as words used to understand and explain some aspect of reality
conflict perspective the view that society is characterised by fundamentally antagonistic and opposing
socioeconomic classes; the continual dynamic tension between major social groups is considered as the source
of social change
consensus establishing agreement between all parties in a discussion despite differing views
consensus theory sociological perspective focusing primarily on agreement, joint action, regularity and routine as
central feature of society
conservative inclined to preserve existing conditions, institutions and state of affairs or aims to restore traditional
ones and limit or resist change
conservative elitism the view that privileged or superior minority groups, ie elites, are inevitable
contradictions conflicting opposites; irreconcilable tension; signals falsity when it appears as a clash between
premises in an argument
contradictory class locations term used by Eric Olin Wright to refer to intermediate class locations between the
bourgeoisie and proletariat that are neither capitalist exploiters or exploited working class, but share aspects
of both, eg foremen
core economies the industrial capitalist countries of Europe, North America and Japan that, until recently,
dominated the global economy
credentialism excessive or overreliance on the educational or academic qualifications particularly in hiring
practices and for promotion; an origin of the idea of social superiority and inferiority
criminal capacity the ability to know the difference between right and wrong and to act in accordance with that
knowledge
criminal justice system the system of law enforcement, the bar, the judiciary, correctional services and probation
directly involved in the apprehension, prosecution, defence, sentencing, incarceration, and supervision of
those suspected of or charged with criminal offences
criminal trajectories the term referring to continuity and change in the nature and pattern of criminality over time,
including its onset or initiation, termination or desistence and duration or career length of offending
critical social science seeks to uncover the underlying causes which explain the surface appearances of social
phenomena
critical sociology adopting a questioning and reflexive attitude and practice when studying the social world,
including questioning the role and place of the discipline itself
critical theory an examination and critique of society associated with the Frankfurt Schule
cults groups without fixed religious doctrines but tend to be esoteric and individualistic and with limited
organisation
cultural hegemony the philosophic and sociological concept, originated by the Marxist philosopher Antonio
Gramsci, that a culturally diverse society can be ruled or dominated by one of its social classes
cultural lag a condition where social problems emerge because a society’s institutions do not keep pace with
technological change
culturally postulated something assumed as evident within a culture
culture industry a term used to refer to commercial organisations involved in the production and distribution of
mainly entertainment products
xiii

culture of consumption entails the meaning-making processes by which consumer goods and services are created,
bought and used
culture-related syndromes these refer to ‘diseases of African people’ – ukufa kwabantu in IsiZulu – understood
only by Africans and treatable only by African traditional healers (see also personalistic explanations)
D
data information, facts or statistics attained through observation and/or research; here with specific reference to
sociological research
data collection techniques methods or tools and/or instruments (such as a questionnaire or thematic list), to gather
information, facts and statistics
decennial lasting ten years or recurring every ten years
decent work a popularised term originated by the International Labour Organization to refer to employment
opportunities providing productive work performed for a fair income, security in the workplace and social
protection under conditions of freedom, equity and dignity
decolonial imaginations the many unique individual ways resulting from reconceptualising the sociological
imagination in terms of decoloniality
decolonial thinking taking one’s own personal social position (in terms of gender race and class and geographical
location) as the starting point of thought and understanding
decoloniality a political and epistemological movement aimed at liberation of (ex-) colonised peoples from
coloniality; a way of thinking, knowing and doing taking personal social position and geographical location as
the starting point of thought
decolonisation politically, the process whereby a colonial power relinquishes control over another territory; an
epistemic, political and cultural project for decolonial theorists
deconcentration a concept for describing a process, self-propelled or engineered, of decentralising urban functions
and facilities away from existing urban centres
deconstruct expose or dismantle the existing structures in a system or organisation
deconstruction the accepted meanings and use of terms are critically dismantled and analysed
deduction conclusion made from general premises to specific conclusion which must follow from the premises
demedicalisation the process by means of which a condition or behaviour becomes defined as a natural condition
or process rather than by an illness or as defined by medical science
democracy rule of and by the people
demographic surveillance systems any method of tracking well-defined entities or primary subjects (individuals,
households, and residential units) in population studies within a clearly circumscribed geographical area
denomination group of religious congregations united under a common faith, name and a common hierarchical
structure
depersonalisation the process by means of which an individual comes to feel less than fully human or comes to be
viewed by others as less than fully human
deprivation a lack of basic economic and social supports of human existence such as food
deskilling the erosion and breaking up of craft and artisanal skill into semi-skilled and unskilled tasks
desacralised people’s actions not directed by religious beliefs but by secular goals
dialectics (dialectical analysis) a form of logic and theorising about social change identifying contradictions or
tensions in a prevailing situation and their resolution in a changed situation
dictatorship autocratic rule of individual, usually supported by military force
difference the condition or quality of dissimilarity, divergence or unlikeness; distinction between people in post-
modern thought
differentiation an evolutionary process in the specialisation of society’s institutions
differential association in criminology, the process whereby the attitudes, values and techniques of criminal
groups are learned
diffuse spread freely in different fields or applications
xiv

Glossary
diffusion copying, adopting or importing cultural features, values and institutions, technology or financial
resources from one society to another; spread freely in different fields of applications
direct action a public, confrontational, disruptive (and sometimes illegal) attempt to elicit an immediate change in
a social system
discourse refers to language and its structure and functions and how it is used
disembeddedness social contact and access in economic, political and cultural affairs becomes distant and is no
longer linked to people’s immediate local experience
disenchantment Weber’s term for the experience of the loss of wonder and awe
diverse the whole made up of different types, allowing for variety
divinities supernatural entities or beings
division of labour continuous specialisation in productive tasks in pursuit of increased efficiency of individual tasks
designed to increase productive output; the structured separation of work into various forms or occupations
doctrine of specific aetiology the idea that a single agent causes a single type of disease and that a specific therapy
can be used to treat that disease
dogma set of opinions, beliefs or doctrine held strongly, often expressed authoritatively and arrogantly
dominant ideology tendency of subordinate classes and minority groups to accept their disadvantaged condition
because the ideas and culture are largely controlled by powerful, superordinate social groups
dysfunctional deviating from the normal and expected function; adversely affecting the whole
E
ecology the scientific study of the structure, patterns and processes of interrelationships between living organisms
and their natural habitat
economic fatherhood financial contributions to the raising of children by male family member
economism the view that the form and shape of society is due solely or can be reduced to the development of its
(economic) productive forces
ecosystem a dynamic system of plant, animal and microorganism communities and their non-living environment
interacting as a functional unit
education literally, to lead out of ignorance; generally refers to a formal social institution that plays a decisive role
in society by transmitting society’s values and morals, shaping its views, upholding traditions, regulating
individual and social behaviour and bringing about increase in knowledge and ideally contributing to positive
social change
egoistic suicide individual taking own life due to low level of social integration
elite a minority privileged or superior group excluding the majority, usually due to exercise of power and access to
resources
embodiment the concrete expression of an idea or principle; in gender studies, refers to the way in which individuals
incorporate cultural ideals of gender which are given expression in their bodies
embourgeoisiement the process of becoming middle class; process whereby segments of the working class adopt
and assimilate the values and lifestyles of the middle class
emerging economies a term used to describe middle income economies in the developing world
empirical pertains to observable and measurable evidence and which hence can be positively demonstrated; widely
considered to be the basis of all science
empiricism philosophy and research practice based on the view that only observable and measurable phenomena
are real; opposite of rationalism
endogamy marrying within one’s own social group or community
endogenous social change driven by cultural or structural factors internal to a society
enlightenment a body of thought based on rational, secular and scientific explanations developed in the eighteenth
century, which challenged explanations of the world based on religion or superstition
enumeration areas (EAs) geographical units into which a country is divided for census enumeration and which one
enumerator can carry out; typically contains between 100 and 250 households
xv

environment the full totality of the surroundings within which humans exist, including the land, water and
atmosphere of the earth; microorganisms, plant and animal life or combination or interrelationships among
and between them
environmental justice a rights-based and people-centred discourse focusing on how marginalised and powerless
communities bear the brunt of risks and hazards due to the actions of powerful elites in society, including
governments and multinational corporations
environmental racism institutionalised racial discrimination in environmental policy, regulation and practices
which deliberately locates toxic waste sites and industrial facilities in poor minority neighbourhoods
environmentalism an ideology and an action-orientated political programme designed to bring about desired social
change or a new social order which will improve relationships between society and environment
epistemic derived from the Greek word for knowledge; in sociology what on rational and evidential grounds is
worth believing
epistemic adequacy sufficient for knowledge; contemporary term replacing that of truth
epistemology the study of the conditions required for establishing knowledge
estate generally refers to the form of social hierarchy of post-feudal states of continental Europe
ethics in social science, the obligation of professional conduct in the use of scientific method
ethnic identity a sense of identity determined by acquired hereditary characteristics
ethnocentric to see one’s own culture as superior to others or to use it as a benchmark to evaluate the culture of
outsiders
eurocentrism an attitude that regards European culture and way of life as superior to those whose origins lie
elsewhere
evaluative research type of applied research usually undertaken to measure in some way the impact or changes a
particular programme may have made
evolution gradual development, adaptation and change of biological species in relation to the natural environment
and hence ensuring their survival over time
evolutionary universals principles repeatedly encountered deemed to further the evolution of human society
exclusion generally refers to processes in contemporary global capitalism where the periphery has become less
important as a supplier of inputs for the industrial capitalist core regions
existential related to or dealing with human experience and life
exogamy marrying outside one’s own social group or community
exogenous social change driven by factors external to a society
experiential knowledge based on personal observation and familiarity
explanations to account for or provide sound reasons for the occurrence of phenomena
exploitation for Marx, the technical term describing the expropriation of economic value from the expenditure of
workers’ labour power
extended family at least three generations of a family who live together in one household, or in polygamous
marriages where more than two marriage partners share a household
external areas in Immanuel Wallerstein’s world-systems theory these are structurally defined locations not yet
part of the capitalist system
exhurb a settlement that lies outside a city and beyond its suburbs
F
fact that which has demonstrated and been proven, whether a material or non-material social fact as construed by
Durkheim
false consciousness for Marx, the failure to be aware, have a collective sense of or recognise what is in the interests
of the working class, objectively defined (as a class ‘in-itself’)
family households comprising group living together bound by bonds of blood, sexual mating or legal ties; husband,
wife, children and grandparents
fatalistic suicide individual taking own life due to overly high level of social regulation
xvi

Glossary
feminisation of poverty the majority of poor people being women

feminism the view that men and women should have equal rights
fertility the number of births or the reproductive performance of an individual or population
feudalism historical period prior to capitalism, characterised by political and economic obligations between
peasant serfs and lords controlling the land; social arrangements regulating relations between chiefs and
ordinary people can be construed as feudal
fidelity being committed to a sexually exclusive union
First World the advanced capitalist industrialised economies of the capitalist world system
focus group a group with a limited number of people brought together to discuss a topic under guidance of a
facilitator
forces of production for Marx, the physical tools, instruments and technologies employed in production, including
new forms of energy, developments in machinery and the labour process, the education of the proletariat and
science
Fordism term used to identify the widespread transformation of work and society in the twentieth century
characterised by mass production and mass consumption
formal rationality achieving calculated goals or ends by using rules and regulations established by reason
Foucauldian relating to or characteristic of the philosophy of Michel Foucault (1926–1984)
functionalism sociological theory focusing primarily on how the various parts of society perform specific tasks
and work together as a whole
functional flexibility the combination of multi-skilling and multi-tasking; the redistribution and re-organisation of
skills and/or tasks among workers by way of job rotation
functional prerequisites the conditions that a society must meet to sustain itself
functional specialisation the process whereby increasing forms of work and different kinds of jobs results in greater
social stratification
functionalist perspective theoretical framework in which society is viewed as composed of various parts, each
with a function that, when fulfilled, contributes to society’s equilibrium
functionalist theory a view of society as composed of different but related parts, each of which serves a particular
purpose in relation to the whole
fundamentalism religious movement or point of view that strictly holds to non-negotiable principles and is hostile
to alternative views
G
gangrene the physical decay and death of soft tissues of a part or parts of the body due to lack of blood to the area
Gemeinschaft (German) a homogenous and regulated community enjoying close, emotional and face-to-face ties
and relationships
gender the social construction of what it means to be male or female
generalisation broad, widely applicable and valid statement about particular phenomena, whether natural or social
genre a term for a type of artistic or cultural composition made up of generally recognisable conventions
gentrification renewal of inner-city areas to accommodate more well-to-do citizens, young families and single
persons
germ theory (see doctrine of specific aetiology)
Gesellschaft (German) a heterogeneous society associated with urbanism, industrialism and impersonal social
relations
ghetto usually a poor section of a city inhabited by a minority group, characterised by high rates of unemployment,
crime and a decaying built environment
Gini coefficient a widely accepted measure of inequality using housing, income and security as key indices
globalisation the multiplicity of linkages, interconnections and interdependencies that transcend nation-states
comprising the modern world system and which affect most of the world’s inhabitants
gospel refers to four books in the Christian New Testament; colloquially refers to human salvation
xvii

government a group of people in the legislature, parliament and executive who have the power to make and enforce
laws for a country or territorial area
grace refers to unconditional salvation granted by monotheistic God
great transformation term used by Karl Polanyi for understanding the deep social and historical changes in social
structure linked to industrialisation
Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the total value of all goods and services a country produces in a year, but excluding
income from outside a country
Gross National Product (GNP) the total value of all goods and services a country produces in a year, including
income from investments outside a country
guilds associations of independent self-employed craftspeople organised by occupation to serve common interests,
for mutual support and to regulate standards and conditions of work
H
hegemony a concept initially used by the Marxist theorist Antonio Gramsci to describe how a ruling class maintains
power not only by economic authority, but also by exercising its intellectual, moral and ideological influence
in civil society in order to persuade the people of its economic and cultural legitimacy
heterogenous diverse or different in kind or nature; displaying completely different characteristics
heteronormativity refers to the belief that heterosexual behaviour is and should be the norm
heuristic related to making a discovery; generally applied to the learning experience and process
hidden agenda intentions underlying a particular course or programme of action not made explicit, but which have
attitudinal and behavioural effects
hidden curriculum usually the behaviour or attitudes that are learnt at schools that are not part of the formal curriculum
hierarchy an arrangement or system of steps, grades, orders or classes relating to power or rule, generally organised
institutionally from top to bottom and relating to an organised body of persons or things; originally with
reference to the gods and religious orders
historical materialism for Marx, the science of society based on the study of real, physical events, processes and
conditions determining human actions over time
historicism a view that maintains human history has a discernible pattern, an almost law-like movement towards
some predictable type of social structural arrangements
HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) the virus that causes AIDS (see also AIDS)
homo duplex for Durkheim, the tension between individual desire and social obligation; a characteristic of modern
individuality
homoeopathy a complementary disease treatment system in which a patient is given minute doses of natural drugs
that in larger doses or at full strength would produce similar symptoms to a given disease
homogenous, of the same kind or nature; sameness; alike; similar
household economy productive, service and financial activity occurring within the home
human development approaches ways of understanding poverty by integrating notions of economic and social
advancement and upliftment
Human Development Index (HDI) a poverty measurement that incorporates changes in life expectancy, educational
attainment and per capita income
hybrid a concept sometimes used to refer to multiculturalism, or the mixing of cultures, and the questions this
raises about identity
hybrid identity a sense of identity that is influenced by exposure to various cultures, beliefs and lifestyle as a result
of globalisation
hydraulic fracturing a mining process which involves a deep drilling technique at high pressure in order to break
the shale underground rock structure using a mixture of water, sand and an elaborate mix of toxic chemicals
creating wells to release and access the natural gas or oil trapped in rock formations (also called fracking)
hypermasculinities forms of expression that are associated with stereotypical male behaviour generally relating to
physical prowess and strength
xviii

Glossary
hysterectomy the removal of the uterus disabling females from bearing children
I
iatrogenesis the harmful consequences of medical intervention; disease contracted in hospitals; literally meaning
harm caused by doctors
idealism sociological approaches that focus on the meaning, ideas, values and beliefs behind social interaction;
philosophy stressing the priority of ideas in social explanation
ideal type Weber’s specialised cognitive and conceptual tool designed to describe and evaluate social phenomena;
an abstract model used as a standard of comparison
ideas complex mental pictures or mental image of something, generally expressible in words, concepts or theories
identity a disputed term in sociology; generally refers to one’s sense of self; who you are, where you come from and
the various factors impacting on self-understanding and self-definition
identity formation the process whereby the individual is established as unique resulting from interaction with a
wide variety of inter-personal, social and other material factors and forces
ideology a set of ideas based on an interpretation of selected evidence, generally referring to the politics of
organisations especially political parties
illness (behaviour) refers to the subjective experience of having a disease
illusion the condition of being deceived by a false image or representation of what is real
imperialism the rule, spirit and practice/s of an emperor or empire, especially when despotic
implosion literally, bursting inwards; technical term used by Ankie Hoogvelt of the contemporary trend in the
capitalist world system where core regions prefer to intensify capital and trade linkages among themselves
import substitution a post-Second World War development strategy popular in developing countries whereby local
manufacturing is supported through imposing high tariffs and quotas on competing imported goods
independent churches church organisations not formally aligned with established denominations or mainline
church institutions
indigenised adaptations for use of artefacts or products foreign to local culture and customs
induction interrogating and inferring from particular observations or data in a systematic way to derive
generalisations in order to lead to a theory that explains the findings
industrial capitalism the phase of capitalism beginning in the late eighteenth century characterised by factory-
based production using machinery and increasing the division of labour and specialisation of tasks to produce
commodities for resale and making a profit
Industrial Revolution the emergence in England in the nineteenth century of machines which transformed
production, the economy and society, generally driven by steam and electrical power
industrialisation the emergence and establishment of machine-based manufacturing processes in economic
development
infant mortality rate (IMR) the number of children younger than one year of age who die in a year, per 1 000 live
births during that year
infectious diseases diseases capable of being passed from one person to another
institutions established or structured sets or forms of social arrangements; variously subject to change over time
instrumental rationality reason devoted to achieving a goal or end
instrumentalism in political theory, the view that capitalists intervene directly in the state in the interests of
capitalism
interpretations the different ways in which individuals independently understand phenomena or occurrences
intergenerational equity emphasises the idea that the environment needs to be conserved for future generations
interpretivism an approach in the social sciences, sociology in particular, derived from Weber and which stresses
the capacity of human agents to make meaning, understand and deliver independent judgements about the
world
intersectionality the way in which different social identities/categories/relationships intertwine/overlap/interact;
often used in the social sciences to account for the inter-relationships between race, class and gender
xix

intersex people who have biological characteristics of both sexes – previously referred to as hermaphrodites
inter-subjectivity the result of the relation between two or more individuals pertaining to personal perspectives,
beliefs, feelings or desires
interventionist state a state which has or plays a proactive role and involvement in the economy
iridology a diagnostic method used by CAM practitioners; refers to the study of the iris of the eye; the iris reveals
changing conditions of every part and organ of the body
J
jobless economic growth the positive change or rate of improvement in the level of productive or service providing
activity, but which does not result in increased employment
justification the provision and acceptance of valid reasons in the making of a claim to knowledge or truth;
establishing the grounds for epistemic adequacy
K
Keynesianism economic policies adopted from John Maynard Keynes’ views that government spending should
increase during times of recession and high unemployment and reduce during times of full employment and
inflation
knowledge information that is viewed as specific and certain; that which is backed up with evidence, but is
provisional and open to revision
knowledge claims the epistemic statements made by theorists who hold, generally on the presentation of evidence
and argument, that what they say is thereby defensible or even true (theorists differ in their definition of what
knowledge is)
L
labour hard work or toil performed under coercion; also used as a collective name for workers
labour market a generalised concept denoting the exchange of work for money; the interaction of supply of and
demand for labour; sites where workers find paying work and employers find willing workers
labour power the capacity to work or labour
labour process refers to the purposive activity of work, the objects or raw materials and the instruments or
technologies employed which, when combined, creates useful products or provides services
labour time the duration of work measured in minutes, hours, days, months and years
laissez- faire the unfettered, unregulated and free activity of trading on the market; normally associated with and
applied to an economic system manifesting these characteristics
legal authority for Weber, refers to the power of law accepted as legitimate
legitimise making something legal, acceptable or correct
level of urbanisation the proportion of a population living in urban settlements, expressed as a percentage
liberation movement organisation seeking overthrow of colonial or national government by popular mobilisation
of an oppressed people
life-chances the opportunities and possibilities available to individuals or groups of people – closely related to
access to material resources for Weber
life expectancy the average number of years individuals born in a given year can expect to live in a particular
population
Likert scale series of options open to questionnaire respondents listed in terms of weighted categories such as
‘strongly agree’, ‘agree’, ‘undecided’ or ‘neutral’, ‘disagree’ and ‘strongly disagree’
logical reasoning in argument comprising premises that adhere to established rules to ensure the conclusion
follows from the premises
logical deductions what one is compelled to accept as the conclusion follows from the premises according to
established rules of rational thinking
logical fallacy a form of argument where the conclusion does not follow from its premises
xx

Glossary
longitudinal when the same group of people or the same area is studied over a period (in contrast with cross-
sectional studies that focus on a specified point in time)
lumpen-proletariat for Marx a subordinate class not in wage labour; the lowest social level of the working class
made up of the unemployed, indigent and criminal elements
M
mainline the principal or a well-established position in society
manual labour physical work done by hand performed by ‘blue collar’ workers
marginalised status or position of a group living on the periphery of society
marginality the experience of social groups separated from the mainstream in society or from society in general
Marxism theoretical and political perspectives arising from the thought of Karl Marx
Marxian theoretical and political perspectives influenced by, but not necessarily strictly following the thought of
Karl Marx
massification making available to the broader population or the masses; regarding education, ensuring open access
by all to institutions of learning
mass media forms of communication designed to reach large audiences without face-to-face contact between those
conveying and those receiving the messages
master status refers to the social position of an individual which overshadows all other social positions
material inequalities the disparity between individuals or social groups in access to goods and services necessary
for sustaining life
materialism philosophy stressing the priority of actual, physical and real phenomena in social explanation
materialist conception of history Karl Marx’s sociological approach that ultimately explains history in terms of the
production and reproduction of real life
materialist dialectics Marx’s method of thinking and investigating history and society; the unification, synthesis
or resolution of contradictions or opposites occurring in actual states of affairs
material social fact for Durkheim, physical or real phenomena peculiar to social science to be treated as things and
which are external, general and exercise coercive influence over human agents and of which they are generally
unaware
maternal deaths those that occur while the woman is pregnant or within 42 days of the termination of a pregnancy
maternal mortality ratio (MMR) the number of maternal deaths per 100 000 live births in a 12-month period
means of production for Marx, the physical tools, instruments and technologies employed in production
mechanical metaphor in medicine, the idea that doctors can act like engineers to mend that which is dysfunctional
mechanical solidarity for Durkheim, the form of social cohesion arising from a shared set of common values, norms
and beliefs, generally encountered in primitive or simple pre-industrial societies
mechanisation the use of machines in production, generally replacing human labour
mediator a person who facilitates contact and agreement between opposing parties
medicalisation concept used to describe the tendency for biomedicine to increasingly extend its influence and
scope over areas of life previously not considered to be medical
membership taking part in an organisation or institution
mental labour cognitive work performed by ‘white collar’ workers
mercantile imperialism economic policy in sixteenth to eighteenth century Europe associated with seeking to
maximise economic trade to augment state power, central to the early development and spread of merchant
capitalism
meritocracy generally refers to an educational system where individuals are rewarded on the basis of their level of
ability and personal achievements
metaphysics the study of what is real and what exists; assumes vastly contrasting forms such as empiricism (things
are real) and idealism (ideas are real)
metatheoretical choices the options open and the capacity to make decisions about which theory, theories or
conceptual paradigms to accept over and above others
xxi

methodological individualism the view, generally associated with Max Weber, that the motives behind the social
action of individuals are vital to understanding social structures and processes
methodological practices a body of practices, procedures and rules used by scientists in a discipline to engage in
an inquiry; a set of working methods
methodologies different or alternative ways of working or doing things
migration the geographical movement of people from one location to another
Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) eight development goals which were agreed upon at the United Nations’
Millennium Summit in 2000 as a plan to improve the quality of life in developing countries with a target
achievement date of 2015
Millennium Development Goal 4 (MDG 4) set a target of reducing, by two thirds, the mortality rate for children less
than five years of age by 2015
Millennium Development Goal 5 (MDG 5) set a target of reducing, by three quarters, the maternal mortality ratio
between 1990 and 2015
mind/body dualism in the medieval church the view that the mind and matter cannot be reduced to one another;
that body and soul are distinguishable but inseparable
mini-system for Immanuel Wallerstein, an early social form of organisation with a self-contained division of labour
and economies based on reciprocal exchange such as hunting and gathering societies
missionary a representative of a religious organisation or faith community sent to expand and extend its membership
mixed methods the combined use of quantitative and qualitative research instruments aimed at providing robust
degrees of validity
mode of production for Marx, the way successive societies throughout history organise the necessities of life with
available technologies and accompanying forms of social relations, idea systems and social institutions
modernity a general term to describe the various processes associated with industrialisation, urbanisation and
bureaucratisation emerging in late nineteenth and twentieth century society in Europe
modernism a contemporary or modern quality of thought; expression or use of terms characteristic of being modern
modified extended family household members who live apart, but who exchange services and goods on a regular basis
monarchy the absolute rule of a single sovereign over society; generally hereditary
money the symbolic repository of wealth
money metric approaches measuring poverty by income levels or shortfalls in a predetermined income level
monogamy the practice of having a single sexual partner over a period of time, generally in marriage
monopoly capitalism a stage of capitalism commencing towards the end of the nineteenth century characterised
by large-scale corporations
monotheism the belief in and worshipping of one supreme being or god
moral development the gradual process by which an individual develops attitudes and behaviours towards others,
generally involving an understanding of right and wrong, based on social and cultural norms and values
moral judgement an evaluation or assessment and decision about some or other human behaviour or action based
on norms and values considered authoritative
mortality the death rate (in terms of demographic processes); deaths occurring in a population
multi-skilling the capacity to perform or exercise a range of different competencies in the workplace
multi-tasking the capacity to perform or exercise a range of different elements of a job in the workplace
mystical relating to paranormal, supernatural, spiritual or transcendent religious experience
N
narrative a description or account of a sequence of events and experiences; often refers to a person’s biography or
historical story
nation-states cohesive institutional political structures and defined geographical boundaries at the level of
individual countries
nationalisation the process of transferring private ownership of economic resources into public ownership,
generally to be owned and operated by the state; opposite of privatisation
xxii

Glossary
nationalism attitudes, sentiments, views and practices reflecting and generally propagating the consciousness and
political aspirations of a group of people who feel themselves united by a common language, shared customs,
traditions and beliefs in a geographical location or nation-state
naturalism philosophical view with real world settings and common sense as its focus
natural religion socially binding view of the world and related practices based on or emerging from a force or forces
of nature
natural science the establishment of the fact or state of knowing regarding inanimate, physical and non-human
phenomena; systematic investigation and research relying on evidence and rational thought resulting in
knowledge of the material world
naturopathy a CAM therapy that holds that healing depends on a vital curative force within the human organism
which under proper conditions is capable of healing itself
negative punishment in behavioural psychology, when something which is desired is removed as a result of a
certain behaviour, the action of which is designed to decrease the frequency of such behaviour
negative reinforcement the removal of something which is unpleasant when the desired behaviour occurs, thereby
supporting the desired behaviour
neo-classical economics approach focusing on supply and demand on the market as the primary principle to
determine what is produced, services to be delivered and the prices of goods and services
neo-liberalism the policy and practice advocating free trade and open markets, deregulation (including labour
market deregulation), fiscal prudence, privatisation and the reduction of the public sector
network society a term coined by Manuel Castells to describe a globalised world as linked and interconnected by
cultural, social, political and economic associations and relationships
new fatherhood implies more than just financial contributions to children by including an emotional and caring
relationship with a child by the male parent or care-giver
new petty bourgeoisie the class of artisans, engineers and supervisory workers in the era of monopoly capitalism
who earn wages, but do not produce surplus value
nobility in traditional or feudal societies, linked to or the ruling elite related by family or blood ties
nomothetic law making; law applying to everything
non-family households group living together not bound by blood or legal ties; e.g. student commune
non-material or immaterial social facts for Durkheim, non-physical or abstract phenomena peculiar to social
science to be treated as things and which are external, general and exercise coercive influence over human
agents and of which they are generally unaware
non-probability sample a selection of cases where it is unknown which will be selected and where some cases have
a zero chance of being selected
non-racialism a state wherein people’s racial categories do not determine group relations and distribution of
resources in society
norms generally accepted standards or rules of life
nuclear family two adult members living with their dependent biological or adopted children in one household
numerical flexibility the practice of increasing or decreasing the number of jobs in a company to suit changing
production demands
nuptiality marriage rate
O
objective (noun) a goal; (adjective) to be unbiased; without prejudice; not permitting the intrusion of personal
judgements
objectification Human agents realise their creative intentions and produce an artefact or thing or object, e.g. writing
an essay, baking a cake; the act or process whereby persons are treated as objects. e.g slavery.
objectivity dispassionate assessment; absence of bias and prejudice resulting in general agreement about the nature
of some phenomenon
oligarchy rule by the few, generally a small elite
xxiii

open market the site or sites in which the unregulated and free sale and purchase of goods and commodities takes
place
open question respondents participating in research inquiry invited to supply their own answers in their own
wording
organic solidarity for Durkheim, the form of social cohesion arising from interdependence in the division of labour
of complex industrial societies
organisation a formal, goal-orientated structure with clearly defined rules and principles that determine the
engagement of members and the operations of the collective
organised labour workers who are members of a trade union of staff association
oscillating migrancy constant movement of people, generally between rural and urban areas, for purposes of
maintaining employment
outsourcing business practice of contracting out aspects or parts of work, generally done internally, to a third,
external party
P
paradigm a model or whole way of thinking, often with a distinctive set of concepts; fundamentally conflicting
ways of thinking are incommensurable (cannot be compared)
parastatal institutions business concerns owned partly or predominantly by the state; referred to as state-owned
enterprises when fully-owned by the state
parity in population studies, the number of births a woman has had up to the point of investigation (women who
have never given birth are referred to as nulliparous)
parsimony a methodological principle stressing the criterion of simplicity in theory construction
participatory approach a subjectivist approach to producing knowledge where poor people themselves participate
in the conceptualisation, definition and measurement of poverty
party for Weber, membership of political group, association or affiliation
patriarchy within the family context it refers to the power of men over women and children, especially when men
have control over the family’s resources
patrimonialism for Weber, a form of political domination; rule by a traditional military master or household via
the exercise of personal and bureaucratic power; applies to certain traditional African and Oriental societies
peri-urban areas areas on the outskirts of existing urban centres, often not under local government control and
regulations for land use
perception the capacity and action of the senses and the mind in apprehending and appropriating some or other
phenomenon or phenomena; a condition for any form of knowledge
personalistic explanations assume that the cause of disease is a direct result of the influence of human or non-
human, supernatural agents
petty bourgeoisie for Marx, a subordinate class comprising traders, shopkeepers, teachers, lawyers, doctors,
accountants, etc
phenomenology the philosophy that especially studies the essence of perception and consciousness of people with
the view that these phenomena can be grasped and understood as they really are
pluralism a theoretical perspective which argues that the state in capitalist society acts as broker between the
interests of all groups in capitalist society
pluriversal term popularised and used (but not clearly defined) by Walter Mignolo; aims to signal the end of
universalism in knowledge; knowledge is ‘multiple’, has many sources; is an ‘entanglement’; is in contrast to
universal, but does not, for Mignolo, signal relativism in knowledge
political action collective behaviour or action taken by a group or some of its members to realise their goals whether
of an ideal or material nature
political franchise eligibility to vote
politics of production refers to the role and power of the state and the agency of workers in shaping the social
relations between classes interacting in the economy
xxiv

Glossary
polyandry one woman being married to several husbands at the same time
polygamy a sanctioned marriage between one person and several partners of the opposite sex at the same time
polygyny one man being married to several wives at the same time
polytheist the belief in and worshipping of multiple gods
population estimation mathematical computations on the size and composition of a population
population projection the calculation of future changes in population numbers, given certain assumptions about
future trends in fertility, mortality, and migration rates
positive punishment a negative consequence follows an undesired behaviour is manifested in order to decrease the
frequency of that behaviour
positive reinforcement involves the addition of something of value to the individual as a consequence of certain
behaviour in order to stimulate the desired behaviour
positivism the philosophy responsible for establishing criteria for knowledge; the rules and criteria focused
on empirical evidence required for any statement to constitute knowledge, i.e. representivity, replicability,
reliability and elimination of reactivity
positivist the approach that sees knowledge relying solely on what can be directly experienced verified through
scientific experiments
post-colonial after political liberation from colonialism; thinking from the perspective of the post-colony
post-colonialism articulates perspectives and experience of colonised peoples as opposed to those of the coloniser
post-enumeration survey (PES) a special kind of survey designed to measure census coverage and content error
post-industrial a society characterised by manufacturing industries losing significance to service industries, the
prominence of knowledge in production, the increasing power of a managerial strata and the diminution of
class conflict between producers and capitalists
post-modern usually refers to broad ranging developments in the 1970s across literature, the arts and philosophy
which subjected the aims of the Enlightenment to critique and introduced historical and cultural relativism
as a guiding motif
postmodernity the era replacing modernity and its characteristic belief in rationality, progress, and truth
post-structuralism broad-based interdisciplinary perspective showing that words and signs represent an autonomous
system independently of reference to reality or the social world. e.g language has or is an autonomous structure
with its own independent, internal rules which refers to its use; can further apply to discrete philosophies,
ideologies and sciences e.g. the terms, practice and logic of traditional African or Chinese medicine is discrete
and fundamentally different from allopathic biomedicine
poverty a state or condition in which especially material and cultural resources are lacking; the condition in which
basic needs of clothing, food and shelter are not met
poverty eradication social structural reforms and changes to end poverty
poverty reduction policies and strategies to reduce the levels of poverty
power the ability to influence the views, choices and actions of others, often against their will
pragmatism in philosophy and social science the stress on prioritising what is practical as defining the course of
thought and action
precariat a social group of unprotected, temporary and hence vulnerable workers whose livelihoods are fragile due
to little or no job security or established employment rights
predestination a Christian doctrine based on the belief that God has elected certain souls to eternal salvation and
others not
prescribed identity often imposed; a family or communal expectation an individual will adopt or follow a specific
course or procedure e.g. a doctor imposes the career choice of a doctor for a son or daughter
primary socialisation the process whereby individuals learn to become members of society in the home
primitive accumulation For Marx, the historical process of accumulating wealth by plunder and force, principally
by divesting peasants of their land; a necessary process prior to capital accumulation; the process whereby
capitalism itself is established
primordial the beginning or origin, when first created or emerged, such as earliest forms of life e.g. amoeba
xxv

private property entitlement by law to sole proprietorship, ownership or use of land or commodities
production the economic process within which the basic material and all other conditions for human life are
realised or created
profane non-religious focus, marked by negation of or even contempt for that which is deemed sacred by others
proletarianisation the process whereby independent, self-employed or subsistent peasant producers lose access
to the land and are compelled to move into urban areas to sell their labour power and become a social class
relying solely on waged labour
proletariat term used by Marx for the working class; the class which survives by selling their ability to perform
work (labour power) in return for wages
pro-natalist policies actively encourage women and couples to have many children and discourage them from
limiting their number of offspring; the opposite of anti-natalist policies
prophets people chosen and authorised to speak for a deity or god, or self-selected by divine inspiration
propositions statements that can be true or false, which confirm or deny something
protective factors enhance the likelihood of positive outcomes and lessen the likelihood of negative consequences
from exposure to risk
psychopathology the scientific study of mental disorders
public interest a generally vague term that contrasts general welfare of the majority with the selfish interests of the
minority (claimed generally by governments in matters of state secrecy and confidentiality)
purity the condition or state of being or acting unblemished
push-pull model a theoretical model to explain migration and urbanisation according to forces pushing people out
of their sending areas and pulling them toward their receiving areas
Q
qualitative research that focuses on gathering in-depth, experiential and testimonial evidence for thematic analysis
quantify to determine or measure the amount of something numerically
quantitative gathers numerical data for statistical analyses for the identification and analysis of correlative indices
R
race a social construct based on biological differences; has no basis in science; humans belong to a single race.
racism discrimination of the grounds of biological characteristics
racist attitude, behaviour, act or practice which discriminates against a person on the basis of their biological
characteristics
radical elitism a theoretical perspective which argues that a dominant power elite exists in capitalist society and
that the state serves the specific interests of this power elite
random probability sample the selection of a limited number of cases, where all cases have an equal chance of
being selected
rational based on appropriate reasons
rationalisation for Weber, the increasingly intensified application in complex societies of legal and administrative
mechanisms instituted on reasonable grounds designed to regulate social affairs
rationalism the view that reason and its role in thinking should receive priority over views based on sensory
experience
rationality exercising reason or an approach that is agreeable to reason
realist perspective all views of the world are seen as grounded in a particular perspective and all knowledge is
partial and incomplete with no possibility of attaining a single understanding of the world independent of a
particular viewpoint
reason to think, argue or discuss in a connected, sensible logical manner; to think something through in a critical
and questioning manner
reconstituted or joint family divorced, widowed or never married parent marries or cohabits with a new partner
reductionism the attempt to explain a range of phenomena in terms of a single concept or idea
xxvi

Glossary
reflexivity the capacity of the social analyst to critically reflect on his/her own role, social position, attitudes, bias
and preferences when conducting social research
reflexology originating in Chinese traditional medicine, a form of massage in which pressure is applied to certain
parts of the feet and hands so as to promote relaxation and healing elsewhere in the body
relative deprivation the perception of an unfair socio-economic disparity between one’s own position and that of
those of others in our environment
relativism the concept or philosophy that no point of view can claim absolute knowledge or truth; all views are
particular and subjective and none is to be prioritised above another
reliability principle of positivism establishing the dependability of social scientific research findings
religiosity the quality of being religious, which comprises various aspects
repressive a legal system, generally informal or traditional, which metes out punishment
Republicans members of a political party in a state not ruled by a king; members of a major political party in the
United States of America
research a systematic investigative process employed to increase or revise current knowledge and understanding
research design reasoning and planning how a study will be conducted
research problem the question posed on the issue to be investigated
re-socialisation takes place within a controlled environment with the goal of changing a person’s behaviour
restitutive a legal system, generally formal, which remedies or compensates for loss
retrenchment the process of reducing expenditure (usually by a company) in order to improve its financial stability
involving the reduction of the number of employees
revolution major socio-political upheaval resulting in significant social change
rites of passage cultural ceremonies that mark decisive transitions in a person’s life
risk society a term coined by Ulrich Beck to describe modernity as seeking to assess and insure against the
unintended social and environmental consequences of industrialisation
risk taking making decisions or acting in dangerous or hazardous ways which may result in loss, damage or harm
risk factor something which increases susceptibility
ritual established formal patterns of behaviour associated with the sacred
rural-urban transition a major transformation in human history impacting on all aspects of life, geographically,
economically, socially, psychologically and culturally
S
sacred set apart, venerated or subject to devotion, relating to religious practices; opposite of profane
salary remuneration for undertaking ‘white collar’ employment, generally paid monthly
salient identity a dominant part of identity which is expressed in specific situations
scepticism philosophical position which questions and doubts everything, at least until compelling evidence is
advanced and presented, thereby dispelling the questioning and doubtful attitude
science the establishment of the fact or state of knowing; systematic investigation and research relying on evidence
and rational thought resulting in knowledge
scientific evidence is collected in a systematic and repeatable way
scientific management also referred to as Taylorism; the application of rational, scientific principles in managing
business enterprises, especially the workplace behaviour of employees
scientific observations made in a systematic, methodical and rigorous manner and refer to a body of techniques for
investigating and acquiring new knowledge
secondary socialisation learning how to become members of society in the schooling environment
Second World the planned, industrialised socialist economies of the former Soviet bloc
sect a distinct group of people breaking away from a larger, usually religious, group to follow a different set of rules
or establish different values
secular non-religious
xxvii

semantic differential scale question a method of rating responses during research designed to measure connotative
meanings of concepts, objects and events by noting where respondents’ preferences lie when confronted with
two polar opposites
semiotics the study of signs and sign systems e.g. language is a system or structure of signs.
semi-proletarianised wage labourers who retain access to productive forces such as land and livestock
serial monogamy being married more than once, but with one partner at a time
serfdom an unfree social system in which a quasi-independent labouring peasantry performs the work ruled by
chiefs or lords
service work work performed in the tertiary sector of the economy
sex the biological features of being male or female
sexism discrimination on the grounds of gender
sexist attitude, behaviour, act or practice which discriminates against a person on the basis of their gender
shamanic labour work or labour performed under the direction of a traditional medical healer, visionary seer, a
‘priest-doctor’ or ‘witch doctor’
sick role the position occupied by the ill used in functionalist theory to outline the privileges and expectations
associated with being legitimately sick
significant others parents, relatives, siblings or important individuals whose primary and sustained interactions
with the individual are especially influential
single parent family single parent who lives with dependent children in a household
single parent household one parent living with dependent children in a household
sinner a transgressor of a specified religious conduct
slavery an economic and social system in which labour is performed as a result of non-economic compulsion or
force
social action for Max Weber, when subjects engage in a particular choice of action because of the meaning it holds
for them
social behaviourism for GH Mead, the approach, analysis and view that the nature of human conduct and
personality is derived solely from interaction and association with others and in which language, symbols and
communication are primary factors
social closure first formulated by Max Weber, refers to various strategies of preserving privilege by restricting
access of others to resources and rewards
social cohesion the condition, varying in degrees of strength or weakness, of being linked and bound together into
a group of individuals; interchangeably used with solidarity
social contract unwritten agreement between the state and it’s citizens expressing the rights and duties of each
whereby political relations in society will be organised and regulated
social construction refers to the socially created nature of social life, i.e what does not occur naturally but is humanly
created e.g notions of femininity and masculinity differ as they are due to different modes of socialisation (see
also socially constructed)
social differentiation distinctions between social groups
social division of labour the specialisation of tasks that produces interdependence and social solidarity
social exclusion the complete or partial exclusion of people from full participation in the society in which they live
social facts for Durkheim, range of phenomena peculiar to social science to be treated as things and which are
external, general and exercise coercive influence over human agents and of which they are generally unaware
social fatherhood various roles men play in children’s lives such as nurturing, teaching and playing
social grants regular income paid by the state to different categories of vulnerable members of society
social honour the social status people are acknowledged to have based on their economic resources and political
influence
social inequality extent of difference in socio-economic and social status between members of society; generally
indicated by race, gender and class
xxviii

Glossary
social integration refers to bonds and links between people; solidarity between people; occurs in different degrees
in social groups
social mobility the movement between different, generally vertical hierarchical social ranks
social movements opinions and beliefs collectively held that reflect a desire for change in some elements of the
social order, generally including the reward and distribution structure of society
social movement organisation a formal collective organisation which has specific identifiable goals it seeks to
implement through mobilisation, direct action or legal means
social relations interactions between people; can assume many forms
social relations of production for Marx, in order to produce, people must relate to and co-operate with one another,
the sum total of such interactions being the structural and real basis for the economy of any society
social science the establishment of the fact or state of knowing regarding social phenomena; systematic investigation
and research relying on evidence and rational thought resulting in social knowledge
social solidarity the different types and degrees of social cohesion in traditional and modern society
social stratification the hierarchy of different layers of unequal social classes in society; levels of social distinction
or social difference
social structure routinised pattern of events; generally deemed to influence or exercise force over human agents
social system a systems theory notion of human society being analogous to a biological organism with specialised
and interdependent parts that make up the whole
social theory abstract conceptual ideas about human affairs; construction or explanation of the nature of human
affairs or some aspect of it
social wage the subsidised or free benefits and services provided by state budgets which supplement the earnings
of citizens, such as housing, education and healthcare
social welfare range of services and assistance rendered to vulnerable members of society
socialisation the process by which people learn the characteristics of their group: the attitudes, values, and actions
thought appropriate for them; learning to become members of society
socialism a future transitional form of society based on freedom, equality and co-operation and the absence of
exploitation, domination and oppression
socially constructed the result of the human interactions, events and processes creating a powerful structural
constraining force over individuals in society; humanly created circumstances manifesting influential impact
on individual and collective behaviour
societal action collective social or political behaviour or action consciously and rationally motivated to advance
the interests of a particular group
sociological competence the common-sense capacity to negotiate and manage the social world
sociological imagination ability to place and link personal life processes within and relate them to the broader
social and historical context
sociological realism an approach that inclines or is directed towards literal truth, pragmatism and the mind-
independent character of social reality and social structures
sociological research methods the scientific study of society using conventionally accepted ways of investigating
the social sphere of life
sociological theory abstract conceptual construction or explanation of the nature of human affairs or some aspect
of it based on evidence
sociologist social scientist who studies human social behaviour and the affairs and development of human society
sociology of knowledge an approach showing how ideas and theories reflect the society in which they are formulated
sociology in medicine an approach to the sociological study of health, disease and healthcare to answer research
questions of interest to doctors
sociology of medicine an approach that critically analyses matters of health, disease and care to answer research
questions of interest to sociologists in general, often relating to power and power relationships within the
healthcare domain
solidarity the cohesive force that binds people together in a society
xxix

specialisation in the division of labour, productive tasks continuously dividing into more varied and discrete tasks;
regarding work, focusing exclusively on a specific field or function and limiting options
speculation akin to gambling, but based on some or other kind of information or even evidence but which remains
uncertain; relates particularly to investing money in fluctuating financial markets in the hope of reward or
profit
state a form of political association which subsumes all other such forms; sovereign political entities; the totality
of infrastructure government, judiciary and the executive, including all departments, ministries employed to
implement policies and programmes which regulate society
state-form different forms of state exist, ranging from liberal democracy states to fascist and authoritarian states
status the regard, attitude and prestige in which individuals or social groups are held due to their social position
and standing, referred to as ‘honour’ by Weber
stigma a characteristic that discredits or prevents a person’s claim to a ‘normal’ identity or full acceptance in a
particular situation
stigmatised to label or characterise someone or something as socially undesirable or unacceptable
stratification a model of social difference, variation and structured inequality in the organisation of society (which
appeals to the striations or ‘layers’ in geological rock formations); divides and defines people into social ‘layers’
by rank, social status, class or any other such division
stretched households joint financial commitment of a particular group of related individual family members
unable to share the same dwelling on a regular basis
Structural Adjustment Programmes macro-economic reforms implemented in developing countries by the
International Monetary Fund and World Bank in the 1980s
structural differentiation in structural functionalism, the development of increasing complexity of societies or
sub-systems within a society e.g societies from simple hunter-gather to complex industrial society can be
distinguished; sub-systems such as family, education, occupation in complex functional social systems
structuralism any view, approach or perspective in the social sciences which prioritises social structure over
individual action or agency; structures can be identified lying behind appearances of social reality
structural functionalism a sociological perspective established by Talcott Parsons stressing the way society
is ordered by patterned regularities in the way in which the parts of the whole work together; often employs a
biological analogy of how the constituent parts of an organic whole work towards maintaining the whole organism
structure mechanism, system or institution which regularises or routinises a pattern of events e.g timetable at
school or university
subjective a personal or single view or perspective, belief, feeling or desire pertaining to and not valid as knowledge
beyond the individual concerned; opposite of objective
structure (of a population) (see composition of a population)
subjectivity the state of being subjective; the self-conscious perspective of the individual
suburbs residential areas of a city or large town, with their own social identity, but normally included under the
city government
supernatural relates to phenomena or beings said to exist outside the natural observable world
superstructure for Marx, the range of social institutions arising from the economic base of society
surplus value Marx’s concept regarding the value created by wage labourers over and above the value of their wages
and costs of reproduction
surrogate families unrelated individuals providing support for each another
survey investigation conducted by means of a standardised questionnaire in which all respondents are asked the
same questions and designed to arrive at statistical results
survival kinship networks dependent children sent to relatives to ensure better opportunities
sustainable development defined by the World Commission on Environment and Development (WCED) as
development that meets the needs of the present without compromising the ability of future generations to
meet their own needs
xxx

Glossary
symbol something or act which stands for or represents something else, eg the South African flag stands for or
represents the South African people or nation
symbolic interactionism emphasises the micro scale interaction of humans and their process of creating meanings
syncretism the combining of different beliefs and practices from different sources, usually in religious practise
syphilis a potentially fatal sexually transmitted disease
T
tables, graphs and illustrations visual ways of presenting research findings
TBVC states an acronym – Transkei, Bophuthatswana, Venda, Ciskei – for tribally defined settlement of Africans
under apartheid dismantled in 1994
teleology the study of ultimate causes; sociological explanation of processes as moving towards identifiable end
states
temporal flexibility the allocation of time in the workplace by way of part-time or seasonal work, shift work or
flexi-time working time arrangements
theological stage for Comte, a long period in human history in which religious belief was both primary and necessary
theology the systematic and rational study of concepts and ideas about religious questions, truth and God
theory abstract conceptual construction serving to explain some or other social phenomenon or phenomena
Third World the poor, undeveloped, un-industrialised, less industrialised or developing societies
tithes a proportion of income or earnings given to the church
tolerance a fair, open and accommodating attitude to those holding different opinions and views
total fertility rate (TFR) the average number of children born alive during a woman’s childbearing years conforming
to the age-specific fertility rates of a given year
total institutions places in which the lives of large numbers of like-situated persons are controlled in all aspects
totalising system of thought capturing everything under its ambit; term used in post-modernism and post-
structuralism
totalitarianism highly centralised political and social system in which the state is in complete control and absolute
authority is exercised over citizens
totemism a natural object taken as the emblem of a clan with which the members have a kinship or mythical
relationship
townships (also called locations) a special name under apartheid for African residential areas
trade liberalisation the relaxation or removal of rules, regulations or restraints (such as tariffs, import duties and
taxes) over buying, selling or trading in the market; opening the market to competition
trade unions organisations established in workplaces representing interests of workers – especially in respect of
wages and working conditions – in negotiations with employers
traditional action for Weber, something done intentionally based on established ways of doing things
tragedy of the commons destructive behaviour in which a public-owned common natural resource is over-used
and degraded
transcendence that which surpasses human knowledge or natural experience
transcendental idealism philosophy based on the view that the perception of objects are shaped or conditioned by
the mind; things themselves cannot be known; formulated by Immanuel Kant
transgender an umbrella term including transsexual people, cross dressers and people who express gender
behaviour not usually associated with their sex
transnational communication communication across national borders and boundaries
transnational corporations global companies, normally with a home base in one country and subsidiary companies
in other countries
transnational elite term used to describe the contemporary minority global social grouping enjoying
disproportionate political and economic power exercised seemingly independently of generally respected
national or international legal norms and rules
transsexual people those who believe that the sex of their body and their gender identity do not match
xxxi

triangulation a research method involving two or more research methods providing different kinds of evidence
requiring integration
tuberculosis an infectious, airborne disease caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium tuberculosis; attacks and
destroys lung tissue and can be fatal if not treated
U
unemployment joblessness; occurs when workers have no work despite being active job seekers
unintended consequences social actions or occurrences which are not foreseen by their agents
universal laws laws that apply to all places at all times;
universalism the pursuit of universal knowledge; often used to refer to the dominance of Western knowledge
urban centres a metropole, city, town or village, defined according to size of population, form of government and
services available
urban growth the growth in the urban population expressed in absolute numbers or in a growth rate
urban hierarchy a gradation between the largest and the smallest urban centres in a country, forming a continuum
urbanisation the increasing proportion of a population living in settlements defined as urban areas or centres
urban-rural linkages a concept used to refer to linkages between towns and cities and agricultural settlements
usurpation to take over, infringe or seize control; generally illegally by force
V
validity the question whether research is measuring what it claims to measure and results in the measurement or
concept being well founded thereby accurately corresponding to the real world
value worth; for Marx, that which is embodied in commodities due to human labour expended in their creation
value neutrality lack of bias; not being influenced by values
value-rational for Weber, refers to actions motivated by reason derived to achieve a goal or end considered
worthwhile
value statements human questions on values and on how things should be
variables concepts with a value that changes from case to case; can be viewed as independent or dependent
verification the attempt to establish criteria for truth and falsity; the provision of empirical evidence to enable the
belief that a statement is true
Verstehen for Weber, the approach to the interpretation or meanings individuals give to parts of or their subjective
experience, or understanding of the social world
W
wage remuneration for undertaking ‘blue collar’ employment, generally paid weekly
wage flexibility the use in workplaces of various forms of performance-based pay, incentive schemes and
productivity bonuses
women’s rights movements a general type of social movement fighting for specific rights for women in various
contexts
work purposive productive activity undertaken with tools, generally with the expectation of a reward
working class traditionally used to describe the social class performing physical and much practical cognitive
work in capitalist societies, but who do not own or control economic resources
workplace flexibility the re-arrangement, re-allocation and re-distribution of tasks, skills and jobs among and
between workers
world economy a world economy has a common division of labour made up of units characterised by different
cultures and no single overarching political structure and the economic surplus is distributed by market forces
world empires refers to civilisations which had a common, unified, centralised political system reigning over an
extended geographical territory
world-systems theory for Wallerstein, a multi-disciplinary approach stressing that the current global social
arrangement should be the primary, but not exclusive unit of social analysis
xxxii

Introduction
Why this book? inequality, exploitation and social service delivery

A sophisticated advertisement for a leading business protests. Moreover, financial investors want to know
newspaper, flighted on national television, ends about political uncertainty especially.
with the following unspoken words on the screen: This book seeks to introduce you, the reader, to
Understand your country – or lose it! This is a those serious issues and how to respond to them. But
curious statement and worthy of interpretation. it also asks fun questions about love and marriage,
Taken at face value, this textbook presents just such friendship groups and answers questions like why
a contribution to understanding South Africa from you feel lost when you do not have your cell phone.
sociological perspectives. The specific focus in this The aim is to address the many uniquely South
introduction to the study of society is South African African issues, large and small, everyday and global,
society itself. In adopting this focus you will see we seemingly obvious ones and tough, difficult ones. This
need to go much further afield than simply studying means developing the analytical and thinking skills
South Africa. Welcome to the exciting and extremely necessary to understand the social forces and factors
challenging world of sociology – a subject of great that shape individual identities, influence the form
historical depth, immensely vast scope and burning which families and the schooling system takes and
contemporary relevance. impacts on the world of work, alongside many other
First-time international academic visitors are social topics. What, for instance, impedes or advances
astounded by South Africa. It is interesting to see our social and economic progress? How can South Africa’s
country through their eyes. They see a country which young democracy be entrenched further? What
has achieved astonishing political renewal. They see prevents this society from achieving a better life for all
vibrancy and fast-paced social change. Visitors are South Africans?
moved by the openness and abiding sense of ubuntu The opportunities any society presents to its people
manifested by its people. They encounter a degree of cannot be taken for granted. Its challenges cannot be
first-world sophistication which they did not expect. ignored. In any society, how opportunities are grasped
People cannot help seeing and want to see more of and how challenges are met depends on the people and
South Africa’s natural beauty. On the other hand, they those they elect to represent them. It is all about the
also want to know about its problems and challenges: following: those in leadership positions in politics and
unemployment, crime and, in particular, corruption. the economy, the way in which a society is ordered and
South Africa is ‘a world within a country’ as a structured, the involvement of its citizens and a range
tourism brochure used to proclaim. It is indeed a of other social factors and forces. These factors and
country rich with resources and located on a continent forces and a range of social processes can both hinder
that is experiencing an upsurge in economic growth. and help a society in its quest to function at its best.
Without exaggeration, South Africa has the most Much also depends on global economic and political
progressive democratic constitution in the world. forces beyond the control of the citizens of any society.
It experiences stable government and has a strong The overall result of this complex set of individual
state, albeit one currently embroiled in the highly actions, as well as local and global social forces, can be
controversial notion of ‘state capture’ in which a social environment in which there is opportunity for
personal interests are widely alleged to override the some, but which remains beset with social problems. It
interests of citizens. The country boasts a colourful is these kinds of issues that this textbook will tackle in
diversity of cultures and people. It bristles with a systematic manner.
unexplored talent. However, this is also a society South Africa is a developing country, often referred
facing many challenges and with which this textbook to as an emerging market society.
will seriously engage. This book will ask tough The development of a country is not only dependent
questions about other problems that visitors want on its people and their leaders and how it is organised.
to know more about – such as authoritarian rule, Development also involves the place a country or

society occupies in an increasingly and rapidly privileged to be educated to play a more active role
globalising world. Global, cultural and technological and thereby contribute positively to society, in this
developments are increasingly determining the way case South African society in particular. Reading
people work, their styles of life, their patterns of and studying it will go a long way to ensuring you
consumption and their life opportunities in societies ‘understand your country’.
across the world. Global politics and economics How, you might ask, can the study of sociology
powerfully shape the possibilities of local political help in understanding the world around us and enable
and economic developments. Global tendencies this kind of empowerment? This book begins by giving
have a powerful impact on national stability in you an example of the way in which sociologists think
many countries. Such tendencies include issues of about and explain one aspect of the social world with
regional political and economic power, ethnic and which you will be very familiar. Note that any words
religious fervour and rivalries and an increasingly in bold type are explained in the Glossary at the back
interconnected world. How does South Africa fare of this book. Don’t be surprised if you have to consult
in all of this? What is the impact on you, the reader, a word more than once. You are already beginning to
as an individual? study sociology!
This book addresses these kinds of questions and
many more in a rigorous and scholarly manner. Thinking sociologically
Sociology: A concise South African introduction Why do you feel lost without your cell phone?
was written by sociology lecturers who teach at South Sociology has a series of responses. One classical
African universities. It was specifically designed for sociologist (whose theories you will encounter)
first-year students registered at university and tertiary would say cell phones contribute to social cohesion
educational institutions. It will also be useful to all – they help link and bind people and social groups
undergraduate students in the social sciences and together. A cell phone keeps us connected. We are
sociology in particular. Some postgraduate students in immediate contact with our friends and family.
in sociology have found it useful. One master’s When we are out of contact, because we find
postgraduate student appreciated the fact that a theme ourselves without our cell phone for some reason,
he knew about, but had never specifically studied, we feel anxious. What if we missed an important
had filled in missing pieces of his knowledge. This is event? We experience a loss if we are not linked with
because the chapters are comprehensive introductions our immediate social group. The social relationships
to themes that form the basis for a sociological we maintain through being connected have been
understanding of South African society and beyond. disrupted and so we feel dislocated.
This textbook will mirror your learning experience Another influential classical thinker starts his
in the social sciences at university. You attend different social analysis with the everyday things of life – its
lectures, follow a diversity of subjects taught by material basis in other words. He would explain
various lecturers and in which you confront a whole how this late twentieth century technology cellular
range of styles, methods and content. Taken seriously, telephony has powerfully shaped the form and
this textbook will provide you with a solid grounding quality of our social relations which have arisen out
in the social sciences in general and sociology in of an advanced industrialised capitalist society. This
particular. The intention of the book is therefore to thinker, who died in the late nineteenth century,
equip tertiary education students with the conceptual would be interested in how the global economy has
and theoretical foundation on which to build sound developed the material basis for the production of over
reasoning skills in the social sciences. Through such 5 billion cell phones on a planet of 7.2 billion people.
skills you will be able to grasp and understand how The use of cell phones has helped define our awareness
South African society works, what its challenges and and consciousness of ourselves as we depend on this
possibilities are and how it fits into the global village contemporary technology in our everyday lives.
of which we are all part. The plight of marginalised One of the leading sociologists in the world today
citizens for instance, is central to how well or poorly would explain our sense of being lost in terms of the
any society meets the needs of its citizens. Thus network society in which we live. Another prominent
learning how to think sociologically enables those contemporary sociologist would say that we feel a
xxxiv

Introduction
greater sense of being at risk without our cell phones. ageing, agriculture, armed forces, arts, childhood,
What if something happened to us? What if we could communication, conflict, deviance, disasters, the
not contact anybody? It boils down to the social fact economy, education, the environment, ethnicity,
that we live in a risk society, he would explain. families, gender, health, housing, illness, labour,
You will find it intriguing to see how other language, law, leisure, migration, organisation,
sociologists apply their sociological theories to politics, political elites, poverty, racism,
arrive at understandings and explanations about all religion, social classes, social movements, sport,
manner of aspects of the social world, not merely stratification, welfare, women, work and youth.
‘ordinary’ experiences such as missing cell phones.
It is important, therefore, to have a clear idea of what Where humans interact, social relations between
sociology is about. Let us look at what sociology is in a people emerge which sociology can study. As this
more systematic and formal manner. applies to every person, the study of sociology becomes
very immediate, interesting and relevant.
What is sociology? • Crucially, sociology involves scientific study. This
Sociology is the scientific study of human social means that knowledge in sociology is obtained
interaction and the social forces which shape much by specific methodologies or ways and rules of
of human behaviour. Sociology studies the patterns, social investigation. To give an example of what
trends and forms of collective social action and the methodology is, if rugby players were invited to
social processes and structures in society which arise play in a soccer match, they would be expected
out of the way human beings act in the world. The to play according to the rules of soccer. Similarly,
following paragraphs explain this brief definitional sociologists are expected to abide by the rules
overview of sociology. of scientific study. This means that sociological
• The term ‘sociology’ comes from the French word enquiry must fulfil certain requirements.
sociologie, which means the science of companions. • Sociological arguments and conclusions must
Sociology is therefore a combination of two words. be logical.
The first part ‘socio’– derives from the Latin socius You will learn quickly that any assertions
meaning companion. The second part ‘-logy’ stems or argument in sociology must be internally
from the Latin logia meaning sayings. The Latin logically coherent. A sociological account
was derived from the Greek word logos, meaning must fit together as a consistent whole. This
word and legein, meaning to speak. In sociology, means the account must be based on logical
therefore, its researchers speak about the social deductions, generalisations or interpretations
aspects of life. of observations or of other assertions. Through
• The social features that sociology studies include such a logical discourse, sociology is therefore
the wide variety of social actions of people and ‘playing’ within the rules of rational deduction
the social patterns, organisations and institutions and generalised ideas relating to social
arising from it. Such a variation can range from phenomena.
fleeting encounters of individuals on the street • Sociological knowledge must provide
to global social processes. Sometimes students explanations of social reality.
of sociology distinguish these social contexts by Explanations – especially social explanations
referring to micro-, meso- or macro-sociology. This – illuminate and empower. The sociological
implies that the micro will focus on individual knowledge in which such explanations are
relationships, the meso on groups or communities embedded must ultimately be justified and
and the macro on national and global social verified. Reasons must, in other words, be
processes. The point is that sociology has to deal given and must be supported for the knowledge
with a very wide variety of social aspects in claims that sociology makes.
society. Examples of these are sociology’s interest • Sociology must strive for objectivity.
in the social aspect of the following themes: It should be clear that the sociological
knowledge is not based on subjective bias. The
reasons given through explanations should
xxxv

be based on thorough research. Sufficient The sociological imagination

objectivity is attained by demonstrating that Imagine you are the only one of your friends in your
the findings, on which the knowledge is community who is unemployed. Think about this for
based, were verified through acknowledged a moment. Being unemployed has a dramatic effect on
procedures of empirical observation and your personal circumstances. Not having a job or having
techniques of inquiry. lost your job, may lead to a low income or no income
• Sociology resists jumping to moral judgements. and makes you feel excluded from the mainstream
A characteristic of scientific knowledge is to of social life and society. This condition thus creates
focus on facts. Social scientific knowledge personal troubles for you. You are held responsible and
presents things as they are. Only on ground of might be blamed for being incompetent or lazy.
this must sociologists make ethical assessments Now, imagine that you and quite a number of
and moral choices. your friends in your community are unemployed and
• Sociological knowledge is not final. that this is the case in South Africa as a whole. You
It is important to note that scientific knowledge do not just all have personal troubles. You all share a
should not be seen as final. Sociological social problem. Unemployment is a social issue. Your
knowledge does not consist of absolute and shared unemployment is a feature of a dislocated place
unchanging truths. It is provisional. This means in society, which you experience collectively. The
that the knowledge can change as knowledge situation of your unemployment thus can no longer be
develops. Continuous peer-reviewing and new seen solely as your personal trouble. It is a product of
research contributes to broaden sociological social strife. You are not responsible for this situation.
knowledge. Nobody can blame you for not pulling your weight.
• Scientific knowledge is theoretical. The two situations are quite different. According
Sociology describes and explains social to your first imagination you were on your own. In
phenomena through reasoned arguments. the second mindset you found yourself together with
This is what ‘theoretical’ means. Such forms others in a shared social situation. In the first case
of reasoning are built up by means of concepts you personally had to shoulder the responsibility and
which pick out phenomena. Concepts are blame. In the second case neither you, nor your friends,
imaginable mental phenomena (eg age, racism, could be blamed for being unemployed when youth
compassion). Sociologists can of course and do unemployment has soared. You all still had a personal
differ in how they imagine these phenomena. problem. But your lack of a job must be seen as the
Therefore they can define the same concepts result of the pressing state of the local economy, as well
differently. As you progress in sociology, as broader regional and global economic processes. In
you may find that the definitions of some of this sense, your personal circumstances form part of a
these concepts are a contested terrain and bigger social problem. To understand that your shared
that defining social phenomena is not always unemployment is linked to broader social events and
straightforward. circumstances is to display a sociological imagination.
To exercise this sociological imagination means to be
Return to these paragraphs again in a while. This is able to link and understand your own situation in the
advisable as you may have already struggled somewhat! light of what is happening in broader society.
You will then be pleasantly surprised how much you have
learned. When you begin to understand sociology in the Activity
systematic way as described above, you already will have Think about your now being at university. What
learned that sociologists have specific approaches and personal considerations led you to become a student?
perspectives on how they study society. This introduction Try to link to each of those personal considerations a
now focuses on one typical sociological approach to social issue or factor that contributed to your having
society. If missing cell phones was a fun example, this that personal consideration.
is a serious one. Unemployment, especially among the
youth, is one of the direst challenges South African
society faces currently.
xxxvi

Introduction
This notion of the sociological imagination was imaginations. If not developed, Professor Kwezi Prah
used by C Wright Mills (1916–1962) to describe has expressed concern that the call for decolonisation
the approach by which people could discern what of the curriculum stands to remain a one-lined passing
affects them adversely in life. It links the two poles trend. How will this current and emerging political
of social understanding and analysis – the individual and epistemic movement in our society affect you as
and society. This insight shaped much of sociology the reader of this book?
as we know it today. So powerful is this insight that To see how social factors largely have made
you will find it expressed near the beginning of any individual human beings who they are, read and
good sociology textbook. This is because by using study Chapter 2 on Socialisation and identity. Some
the sociological imagination, people could begin to of the most important factors which impact on us as
understand the underlying issues that impact on people are our culture and language (see Chapter 3),
their lives. This gives them the insight to deal with our ethnicity and race (see Chapter 9), gender (see
these matters and thereby contributes to potentially Chapter 10), our class (see Chapter 11), and our work
improving both their own situation and that of society. (see Chapter 13).
From a personal perspective, one focuses only on one’s Sociology thus aims to lay bare the issues that
own life, private troubles and experiences – one’s cause personal troubles for people. In this way
own individual biography. One does not take into people develop their sociological imagination and
account that these troubles may form part of a larger are thereby able to answer the question on what effect
social issue. When using this insight the sociological social issues have on their own life. In sociology, it
imagination provides, it enables individuals to see is therefore important to broaden one’s imagination
their troubles not as a result of lacking personal with the help of scientific knowledge. In this way,
abilities, but by understanding them in the light of C. Wright Mills believed society can be improved – by
the bigger social picture. Once they do this, they can making sociology a servant to the democratic process
view their life as part of a larger history that operates and thereby an inherently political endeavour. This
independently of the individual. This leads people to demands clear thinking by students of society and
understand that their personal troubles are related constitutes an ongoing project.
to broader social issues. They can then look beyond Sociology consequently does not shy away
their personal circumstances, and see how it fits into a from studying controversial topics. This fact makes
larger social framework. sociology an exciting discipline and one that evokes
Viewed through a sociological imagination, debate. Sociology can therefore contribute to the
ordinary social phenomena are not accepted at face unveiling of social issues like oppression, domination,
value. This might at first be tricky to understand. This exploitation, racism, sexism and other social
is because people tend to internalise social patterns influences and forces that limit people’s freedom and
and rules and make these their own. For the most impact on their sense of themselves. By enabling this
part, people are, therefore, totally unaware of the unveiling of external issues, the discipline of sociology
underlying social aspects which structure human can promote the improvement of society. However, the
thought, experience and behaviour. People’s lives are extent to which sociology should indeed try to improve
to a large extent already patterned – they live according or change society is a controversial matter. Some
to patterns that they have acquired through learning. sociologists prefer merely to study society in a neutral,
People’s ways of thinking, feeling and acting may thus scientific way. Others believe that sociologists should
be what other people and external social forces (such also be involved politically and participate directly
as unemployment) imposed on them. This is the core in processes that may help make society better. For
insight of sociology. C. Wright Mills, private issues must be turned
The new intellectual challenge, highlighted in into public issues and play an illuminating and
South Africa by university students in 2015 and transformative role in society. As can be expected,
2016 is, as the first chapter on sociological theory there is a huge debate about this view of sociology.
will suggest, whether the sociological imagination This boils down to the question: who or what does
is not further specified by decolonial thinking and sociology serve?
needs to be enhanced by a whole range of decolonial
xxxvii

Once the developing sociological imagination – Africa (ASSA) congress. He was impressed by what
or decolonial imaginations – begin to take root, the he referred to as public sociology in South Africa. He
question arises: what do we do with the powerful saw sociologists actively engaged in society. When
insights gained? Are such imaginations only applicable he became president of the American Sociological
to a scientific discourse? The brief answer is no. In Association in 2004, he argued strongly in his
the early twentieth century sociologists following presidential address for the involvement of sociology
the conflict perspective in particular, argued that in public life. This form of public sociology implies
sociology should also contribute directly to positive an approach in which the discipline engages with the
social change. The classroom is therefore not only public. Burawoy contrasted this kind of sociology with
a place in which to present academic scientific professional sociology – an academic discipline that
knowledge, it is also a springboard from which active mainly addresses other professional sociologists – and
students can be equipped to participate in positive which can be dry, technical and difficult to follow.
social change. In this way it is argued that sociology Burawoy argued that the idea of public sociology
should steer away from being a typical conservative encourages adherents of the discipline to engage in
bourgeois practice, which functions in the service of debates about political activism, public policy, the
the status quo. institutions of civil society and the purposes of social
This idea of a critical sociology was developed movements. Public sociology therefore sought to renew
strongly in the 1950s in Germany by a prominent the discipline by applying its theoretical insights
group of social analysts and thinkers called the and empirical methods to engage in debates. These
Frankfurter Schule (the Frankfurt School). Their debates did not only cover what society is or was, but
names might not mean a lot to you right now, but any also what society could become. The question was
serious student will come across them in studies both thus put to sociologists: to what extent can one only
in and well beyond sociology. The main collaborators study the subject as an academic? Should sociologists
were influential scholars whose great body of work, not be involved in public debates and controversies
critical sociology, is still keenly studied today, such as that are related to the improvement of human social
Theodor Adorno, Lucien Goldmann, Jürgen Habermas, conditions? Michael Burawoy’s analysis of sociology
Harry Hoefnagels, Max Horkheimer, Robert S Lynd, in South Africa sparked a huge international debate
Serge Mallet, Herbert Marcuse, Karlheinz Messelken, about the nature and status of the discipline. (Google
Herman Milikowsky and C Wright Mills. ‘public sociology’ to see just how far the debate raged
Proponents of critical sociology initially promoted and what the arguments for and against this view of
the idea of a society in which all members will be fully sociology were.)
included. However, it was soon realised that a scarcity When following a critical approach, sociologists
of economic means (or resources) makes this ideal can appear to be finding fault all the time. Critical
impossible. In time, Habermas began to dominate the sociologists criticise not only their peers’ interpretations
debate. He pleaded rather for a dominant free dialogue of society, but sociology’s role and place in society as
of sensible people. Such a dialogue could help people well. Precisely this critical position of sociology causes
to develop a consensus on general goals and means economic and political leaders to query the discipline’s
of a new society. In such an ideal society the social contribution to the improvement of society. Prominent
processes are consciously directed towards a more leaders in the political and economic spheres do not
desirable and a more humane society. It is important always receive constructive critique from sociologists.
for a developing society such as South Africa to make They mostly have to handle penetrating critique of the
social progress. Such progress may be achieved if social processes and structures underlying society.
greater consensus could be found on how to embed Yet governments worldwide, South Africa
human-orientated aims more deeply into the social included, need and use social scientific studies to
fabric of South African society. formulate their own policy. Sociologists therefore need
However, currently the engagement of sociology to be fair in their critique on society. It is therefore
with society is argued differently. In 1990, one of important that they ask two questions:
the world’s leading sociologists, Michael Burawoy, 1. What is the factual state of affairs and the
attended the Association for Sociology in Southern consequences or results of this present state of affairs?
xxxviii

Introduction
2. What can be done to change the present state of thought that preceded sociology. This is followed by
affairs and bring about a new condition which an exposition of the social conditions that demanded
realises definite goals, ideals and values? such a science.
Usually the origins of sociology are traced back to
The prerequisite for answering this second question is Auguste Comte who, in 1838, formally conceptualised
that sociologists must state the goals, ideals and values sociology as a scientific discipline. However, from
which they would like society to realise. In many ancient times, thinkers were approaching, and to some
cases sociologists do not separate the two questions extent successfully formulating, the main problems
mentioned above. Hence, sociologists are not always that sociology as a science faces theoretically and
clear about their personal preferences for society. Such methodologically. These early thinkers also analysed
preferences stem from the value system of individual – albeit often in a rudimentary way – the social factors
sociologists. It is therefore crucial for a sociologist to which are the subject of sociological enquiry. To scan
be specific on what goals, ideals and values they think through those early thoughts will help you understand
are important, who are supporting them and who will the task that sociology as a science currently faces.
be affected if their own goals, ideals and values are
implemented. It is also important that sociologists Ancient times
should work within interest groups, but remain Long before sociology developed as a science, people
scientists. This means that in studying society, a thought about how society worked. This early
sociologist must adhere to certain scientific standards reflection was caught up in views concerning two
and act as an analyst whose study fully reveals social issues in particular:
reality, however in a way that acknowledges the • What do the gods or does the godhead expect of a
preliminary nature of knowledge. Sociologists must particular society?
keep in mind that further analysis may prove their • What are the codes of conduct of the ruling
initial analysis as lacking or wrong. powers – kings, caesars, religious leaders, tyrants
When you study this textbook, it should become and councils?
clear that sociology originated – and took shape as a
discipline – out of conditions that demanded urgent Reflection on society in those ancient times was mostly
social change. This was not much more than a century aimed at explaining, but also justifying, the status quo
ago. In light of these pressing events, the discipline – the existing state of affairs of the particular society.
developed with the aim to give answers to the social
challenges of the time. The social challenges of the A ‘deeper reality’ below the surface of the world
past and present thus demand a scientific application The ancient Greek Empire (800–300 BCE) was
of the sociological imagination. characterised by the diminishing influence of
Thinkers and theorists have always reflected religious and undemocratic powers which had
on society. Sociology has deep historical roots, dominated society for a long time. This gave thinkers
the fascinating story of which will be briefly told the opportunity to begin reflecting independently
below. The discipline stands on the shoulders of the about social affairs within the empire. They envisaged
intellectual giants who figure in this story of how a deeper reality ‘beyond’ the things that people saw and
human beings have attempted to understand their experienced. The thinkers spent all their time trying
world and themselves. Most of these people were, of to discover what the substance in the existing order
course, great philosophers. These thinkers, for over was that remains constant – when all else seemed to
two thousand years, turned their gaze onto the social keep on changing. Such an underlying element, they
world around them. thought, could explain the foundation of reality as
such and provide the basis on which society functions.
Origins of sociology The early theorists focused on different ‘candidates’
The origins of sociology lie in the thoughts of great for such a ‘deeper reality’, as can be seen further on.
thinkers of the past. The following is a brief overview, a Eventually their focus shifted to trying to understand
concise thumb-nail sketch of 2 500 years of early social this deeper reality which informed their society.
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The underlying structure of the logos What can we know?

Heraclitus (540–480 BCE), for instance, proposed that The thinkers of the fifth century BCE contradicted
there is an underlying structure (logos) according one another in their theoretical designs of reality. This
to which the surrounding world functioned. If this confused ordinary people. ‘What can one really know
underlying structure could be comprehended, he of the surrounding world?’, they asked. The Sophists
thought, this would help one to lead a true and wise were ‘wisdom teachers’ who facilitated the mental
life. This has much in common with the notion of attitude that ‘man is the measure for all truth and
social imagination discussed before. Heraclitus sure knowledge’. Truth is thus relative to the concrete
also reflected on change in terms of this structure situation of each individual. This already indicates
underlying the nature of the world. The structure is the embryo of the phenomenological or interpretive
not static, but consists of opposing forces (opposites) perspective in sociology that you will encounter in
in an eternal war that continually creates new forms. Chapter 1 and throughout this textbook. This way of
Heraclitus himself focused on social forces that thinking is also applicable to qualitative research.
clashed within his society in the city of Ephesus.
Here can be found some of the earliest concepts of The idea of justice
the conflict theory you will encounter as a major Together with the insight of the Sophists, another
theoretical theme in this book – negative energy is transformation occurred in Greek thinking. This was
essential for change in society. linked to political upheaval and social turmoil due to
In terms of South African society, the service war. Philosophers began to ask deeper questions about
delivery protests come to mind. Conflicting interests an ideal and just society. Socrates (469–399 BCE) is
between the ruling party’s political aims and the known for his method of investigation through dialogue
collective aspirations of citizens can create such (later called dialectics). He did not accept social matters
negative energy – which can have positive effects as at face value, but asked searching questions. Socrates
they can lead to improved social conditions. did not only describe the existing order. Through
his dialogue he also informed society and infuriated
The guiding power of the mind its autocratic leaders. Socrates refused to be coerced
Anaxagoras (500–428 BCE) introduced new scientific and prescribed to by local authorities. Legend depicts
thought patterns, those relating to speculative research. him ending his own life by taking poison in a public
This way of thinking began asking questions about display guided by an inner orientation of what is right.
the composition of the world and the functioning of
society as the ancient Greeks knew it. For Anaxagoras, The ideal society
all of the disorderly parts in the world are combined These informal teachings were followed by teaching
and structured in an orderly manner through some institutions where there was thorough reflection on
sort of force, which he named the mind, or the nous. reality and especially on the relationship between the
The development of the underlying force, the nous, was comprehensive world structure (cosmos) and the social
responsible for all movement towards a new integration functioning of society. Plato (427–347 BCE) founded
in society. Anaxagoras expressed this principle by the first Western ‘university’ in Athens. There he
his credo ‘The nous rules the world’. It is extremely developed Socrates’ discourse technique of dialectics
important to grasp this motif of an overarching mind into a fully fledged research method. By means of this
that creates and orders the world of objects. This idea method, rational dialogue was used to investigate the
is particularly important for understanding German different forms of political organisation as he saw
idealism and theoretical rationalism of the eighteenth them in the city state of Athens. He viewed the actual
century that influenced Karl Marx. Herein also lies society or existing reality as a reflection of an ideal
the rudimentary view of a rational ordering of society, society that exists eternally. Thus, the present society
which reached its peak in the emergence of the system is not the ideal one, but strives to reach the highest
of organisations and the bureaucracy which dominates ideal, utopia (a perfected state).
much of the contemporary social landscape. The main point is that such a state is actually
unattainable and not to be established concretely. The
idea merely serves as a guiding principle, which entices
xl

Introduction
citizens to strive towards better social integration. In Viewpoint of the early church and the
the same sense, the ideal post-apartheid democratic Middle Ages
society in South Africa is depicted by images of a Society as natural
deeper reality, such as ‘the rainbow nation’ ascribed In the times of the Early Christian Church the
to Archbishop Emeritus Desmond Tutu. Such an ideal church fathers helped establish the idea that society
image helps guide the drive for actual nation building is a natural phenomenon. Thus it requires a ruling
in our society. authority to control humankind’s crimes and vices.
Plato argued that the alluring idea of such a society For them, poverty was an unalterable part of society.
(which could not be reached in this life) encourages Therefore one could not place too much emphasis on
people never to be satisfied with their current political social development and social institutions, because
arrangements. Here we already encounter strains of the of the coming judgement that would end society. Ask
progressive thinking typical of the nineteenth century. yourself whether the idea still exists that poverty is
These methods of thought aim to apply rational means natural and cannot be eliminated?
to explain certain general laws which steer human
history towards an ideal final purpose. Parallel modes of social being
Aristotle (384–322 BCE) was a pupil of Plato and Aurelius Augustine (354–430) was an influential
corrected the weak points in Plato’s rational design. church father in Hippo, Algeria, the Roman province
If one wants to envisage an ideal reality ‘beyond’ in Africa. He used a basic social analysis to explain
existing things, one must separate the ideal state in the disintegration of the Roman Empire – and the
your mind from the current, factual one. Only then seemingly inevitable take-over of society by ungodly
can one reach the new unity again in your mind. heathen powers. According to his design, society
Aristotle did not separate things from the idea about unfolds dynamically into two parallel cities that exist
those things. He rather viewed the idea as an inherent simultaneously. These are the earthly or worldly city
potential which can be transformed into the thing – and the spiritual City of God. This analysis implied
just like a block of marble is potentially a statue. The two opposing cultures or ways of life – that of good
idea only needed an external force or movement to and evil. These two opposing cultures had divergent
become factual or become actualised. This motif of futures: the good represented fulfilment in contrast to
inner forces bearing down on a distinct purpose is evil, which represented total destruction. This analysis
crucial to understanding modern theorists’ analysis also dissuaded his fellow believers from participating
of society. Through applied science, society can be in political affairs. By contrasting and explaining the
understood and that knowledge used to the benefit of world in terms of good and evil, this understanding
the citizens of society. informed them of their choice – to concentrate on the
spiritual realm, in light of its outcome, as against that
The centrality of law of the worldly realm.
In the Roman Empire which followed, the philosophers
had a more practical and legalistic attitude or The king as God’s representative
disposition. They focused on the application of law. In the Middle Ages, this line of thought was carried
During this time Lucretius (99–55 BCE) contributed further. The Roman Catholic priest Thomas Aquinas
to an evolutionary view of society. Already over two (1225–1275) was the key thinker in this regard.
thousand years ago, he demonstrated how social According to his social analysis, society should be
relationships were becoming more complex in relation seen as the realm in which humans, by nature, seek
to an evolving society. According to Lucretius, society their own interests. Therefore, a superior power, God,
progresses to the extent that human beings strive to is needed to direct society to the benefit all people.
improve their lives and to stay clear of unnecessary Aquinas’ social analysis helped to provide theological
complexities. This early theorising is in line with the legitimacy for the monarchy, which was the form of
functionalist perspective that you will find explained government at that time. A monarch, he thought, was
in this book. The different aspects of society have a the ideal form of society. The king was seen as God’s
positive function that results in society developing in representative on earth, which offered the best model
an ordered and evolutionary manner. for organising the affairs of humanity.
xli

The state and external social factors their freedom willingly in exchange for recognising
In Africa, another early contribution to social thought structures of state control. This would establish a
was that of Ibn-Khaldun (1332–1406). He indicated society in which citizen’s natural rights would be
the important role the state had in maintaining guaranteed. Such a social contract, however, would
order. He also showed that different societies went also empower citizens to discard the rulers if they did
through different stages of development that related to not comply with the agreement.
psychological and environmental factors. Another English philosopher, John Locke (1632–
1704), took this notion further: a social contract
The Age of Enlightenment establishes a society that functions independently
The power of reason of government. Government thus should act as an
The Age of Enlightenment was an intellectual movement independent institution to which society delegates
of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. During political control. This conceptualisation provided
this period human reason was strongly promoted the possibility for monarchies and dictatorships to be
as a source of knowledge over against tradition and overthrown in favour of the emerging nation-states
faith. Scientific thought, intellectual interchange during the following three centuries.
and scepticism were advanced as the new pursuit
of intellectuals over against religious intolerance, I think, therefore I am
superstition and intolerance. Most researchers trace this intellectual approach to
In this way the dominating role of the church the world back to the method of systematic scepticism
within society – and the king as its head – were of the French natural science philosopher, René
increasingly questioned. The eventual rediscovery of Descartes (1596–1650). According to Descartes’
the ancient philosophies and reinstatement of Roman method, one should keep on doubting until one finds a
Law increasingly posited the supreme authority of the clear principle that cannot be doubted. The only thing
state (see Chapter 8 on Politics and governance) above that one cannot doubt is the fact that you are the one
that of the church. who is performing the doubting. From this follows his
In addition, the intellectuals of the day began famous statement: I think, therefore I am. Thus, the
examining the existing state of affairs critically and point of departure for scientific knowledge is: I can
envisaged an improved society. They began to see think for myself. This notion was a great breakthrough
human rationality as a noble force that could make in social thought and which eventually resulted in the
a difference to their world. All that was needed was idea of individual human rights.
for thinking people to apply their mind to societal
problems. Through abstract theoretical analysis they The Enlightenment
could posit the perfect society in which all could live Building on this principle of thinking for oneself,
– free and content. thinkers dared to be critical and even to question
facts in society which they had always accepted
The social contract on the higher authority of the church or state. In
The focus then shifted away from blindly accepting light of this development these philosophers named
authority, to a relationship of collaboration in creating their ‘movement’ the Enlightenment – in German,
such a just and free society. As a consequence of this Aufklärung. This meant that people were free to think
development in thought, from the 1600s onwards, and investigate things for themselves. They began to
the theme of the social contract between rulers and register contradictions in society which differed from
citizens became prominent. The English philosopher how they thought reality ought to be. This attitude
Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) departed from earlier connected with the scientific insight (eg of physics
viewpoints that humankind lived and cared for one and mathematics) about general laws which control
another. Hobbes typified humans as being self-centred, the movement of social phenomena. The philosophers
and therefore people rather lived in fear of each other – proposed such universal laws ‘beyond’ the phenomena
somewhat like a pack of wolves. A social contract was that people observe in the economy, politics and
therefore necessary as a basis for peaceful coexistence. culture. When a mental image can be formed of these
He argued that citizens should agree to surrender laws, they contended, people can understand the
xlii

Introduction
different processes in all areas of life, giving them quickly see that sociology embodies this idea – there
another view on the society in which they lived. are many ‘perspectives’ and different approaches in
the discipline.
Metaphysics For Kant, the world of objective facts ‘appears’ to
What this means is that intellectuals began to see the human mind if and when the mind perceives each
social problems as existing issues that contradicted of these facts. This is what is meant by, ‘my perception
their ideal – the deeper reality – of how society ought to of the facts’. I, as thinking self, do not accept facts
be organised. Such speculative reflecting on a deeper on account of a higher authority such as the church
reality became known as the science of metaphysics or respected scientific institutions. I reserve the
(meta means ‘outside’ or ‘beyond’). The question was right to interpret things surrounding me, to import
whether this mental speculation was truly science. The new meaning to those things in accordance with my
problem was that it could only point out contradictions position as examiner. On the other hand, however, this
among facts, but did not deliver true knowledge about means I can only perceive those things that ‘appear’
the facts themselves. to me. With this design of the relationship between
This is where the speculative philosophy of the observing mind and phenomena, Kant paved
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) produced an impressive the way theoretically for the later development of
rational construct or body of thought. Kant attempted phenomenology as we know it today.
to find answers to the problem: Human reason itself
conceptualises universal laws (values) of a deeper The rational world
reality that imports meaning to the world of phenomena After Kant’s theorising, a debate flared up among
(facts). The question which arose, however, was how German intellectuals of the nineteenth century.
that could be possible. How can universal law be They took the basic principles of the Enlightenment
formulated without – or even before – experiencing – free rational thought independent of tradition
the phenomena directly and have it tested through and religious faith – further. Their analyses focused
experimentation? For this was the criterion for true critically on society, in order to understand forces
science at that time. Kant proposed the correction: which underlie the development of new social and
the thinking self should understand and except the political dispensations. Instead of following Kant’s cue
limitations to its reasoning. We cannot know the about the limits of human reason (the boundaries of
phenomena as they are beyond what we can experience. the mind that can only perceive things which appear
Our impressions of the phenomena around us are to it), Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814) created a
mediated and filtered through our mind. Our mind grand design. Reason, he thought, is not only a mental
acts as a mental ‘processing plant’ that orders these faculty (mind), but the whole of reality, in itself, is
impressions into understandable units (perceptions) rational. All of humanity, nature and society are
and then processes them by applying mental structures driven by an underlying process of reason, which
(or ideas of how things ought to be). Kant’s conceptual unfolds progressively. In this process, everything
construction is difficult to understand and remains that does not fit into the rational design (called ‘inner
much discussed and debated to this day. contradictions’) are made rational and become part of
a harmonious rational whole.
The creative mind
This Kantian form of knowledge implies a unique Inner logic of transformations
relationship between our mind and the things around Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) built on
us. The human mind interacts with the phenomena it German idealism’s idea of such an underlying rational
observes, but not merely in the manner of a student structure that steers the existing society towards an
taking ‘notes’. It is rather like a judge asking the right ideal and free outcome. Hegel envisages the cultural
questions to give the correct judgement. Thus the things development of societies through the ages as the life
that people observe are relative to the angle or position cycle of a single ‘world spirit’ – Weltgeist in German.
of the observer. The person or self who observes any This spirit inevitably drove human history on towards
phenomenon imports meaning to their perceptions the ideal society – for Hegel, German social integration.
from a certain perspective or ‘point of view’. You will According to Hegel’s design, this world spirit took on a
xliii

concrete shape in external structures, such as nature, others, on how to establish the ideal society within
politics and economics during consecutive stages in the existing order. This theorising reaches back to the
human history. By examining the processes of these speculative impulse of Heraclitus on social analysis,
stages closely, Hegel finds a certain ‘logic’ that governs then to the grand, absolutist rational social theories
the transformations in society. The dialectical tension of the speculative ‘masters’. Inevitably the question
between the existing and emerging stages unleashes arose whether one merely can describe the society by
masses of creative energy. This tension is carried over uncovering the underlying structure (general laws), or
in social transformations. In this way the world spirit whether thought and ideas can impact on society and
develops through the different stages on its way to the actually change it?
total rational and free society.
Idealists wanted to prescribe through their lofty The priority of facts
ideas (values) how the society of their time ought to Marx moved from social theory to social analysis
function (facts). However, in stark contrast to their through his critique on Hegel’s ‘spiritualistic’
magnificent mental designs of the ideal society, the interpretation of the struggle between historical stages
undeniable reality of the suffering of the people of that in human development. The idealist philosophers,
period stood out sharply. These people were in a very Hegel in particular, had developed complex rational
vulnerable position, particularly in the face of famine, solutions which were the products of thinking
epidemics and exploitation. alone. These ideas of the mind had as their goal the
social integration of society by means of political
Change the world! arrangements or dispensations. Marx thought such
The philosophy of rational ideals, by being turned ideas should be based on concrete social facts. Marx
upside down, laid the foundation for Karl Marx’s hence did not only examine the ideas about the world,
well-known critique of society. It should be clear that but focused on the material basis of production in
Marx’s applied social analysis cannot be understood society. (This approach you will find explained in
outside of this framework of the complex debate among greater detail in Chapter 1.)
the idealist theorists, such as his teacher, Hegel, and
Table 1 An overview of the development of Western social thought throughout the centuries
Social theorist Social perspectives that originated from the theorist
Heraclitus (540–480 BCE) Social imagination; the suggestion of conflict theory
Anaxagoras (500–428 BCE) Rational ordering of society
Sophists (5th century BCE) Phenomenological or interpretative perspective
Plato (427–347 BCE) Idealism; emphasising the importance of theory
Socrates (469–399 BCE) Investigative theory informing society
Aristotle (384–322 BCE) Applied science; the beginning of social theory
Lucretius (99–55 BCE) Functionalism; the evolutionary development of society
Augustine (354–430) Social analysis explaining the status quo
Thomas Aquinas (1225–1275) Social analysis legitimising the status quo
Ibn-Khaldun (1332–1406) Functionalism; the evolutionary development of society
Thomas Hobbes (1588–1679) Social theory on political power
John Locke (1632–1704) Social theory on governance
Immanuel Kant (1724–1804) Interpretative perspective
Johann Gottlieb Fichte (1762–1814) Meta-theory (absolutism)
Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel (1770–1831) Idealism; meta-theory (rational design); social theory
xliv

Introduction
However, it took Marx some time to reflect on and their respective cultures, not only in South Africa,
wrestle with the huge and difficult philosophy of Hegel but elsewhere in the world. Part of this approach is
before he reached this point of view. He only found the decoloniality debate. This is an attempt to free
his master-key after applying the method of Ludwig the academic discourse from what is perceived as
Feuerbach (1804–1872), a young follower who critiqued a knowledge basis that continues oppression and
Hegel’s idealist approach. In the end, Marx’s analysis exploitation. A new knowledge is pursued that
of the economic, material ‘base of society’ was in many can contribute to a humanity beyond oppression.
ways equivalent to Hegel’s mental construct, but turned To address this issue it is important to revaluate
onto its head or rather, the right way up – as far as Marx indigenous knowledge systems that became disguised
was concerned. Marx’s overtly materialist approach or buried under colonisers’ knowledge. For this
to science was born out of the poor living conditions purpose the decoloniality debate is important and a
created by the age of revolution and industrialisation. continuing productive dialogue about it necessary. An
The social context out of which Marx wrote will be openness for different epistemic positions is necessary.
dealt with in the following section. This includes an understanding that it is impossible to
A summary of this trajectory of human thought formulate new theories disregarding existing theories.
about the social world, which covered a period of over This is the reason that this book presents you with a
2 500 years, first needs to be made. Table 1 gives an dialogue of existing and contextualised theories and
overview of the development of Western social thought perspectives.
throughout the centuries and how it informed later
social perspectives in sociology. The Enlightenment and revolution
There are two main reasons why Western sociology
Age of revolution and industrialisation – is dominant. Firstly, the Enlightenment created the
and the need for sociology condition for sociology to flourish. The rational
The domination of Western thought and approach of the Enlightenment later became acceptable
resistance to the rest of the world and the related critical view
It may be frustrating to South African students that of society which then developed, meant an adoption
sociology seems to be so deeply embedded in Western of Western thought about society. Secondly, the
thought. Yet it is against the history of ideas, traced question with which sociology grappled, when it took
above – and to be further expounded in the following form in Western society, is common to all societies.
section – that the discipline must be understood. This The question was how social order in society was
Western connection is evident in all the chapters of established or could be recovered.
the book. The simple reason is that Western thought Cast your thoughts back to South Africa’s transition
and philosophy dominated the discourse of not only to democracy after apartheid in 1994. The road to
sociologists, but also provides sociology’s intellectual social disintegration was avoided. In Europe, in the age
heritage in general. of revolution, this was not the case. The whole social
This is not to say that other interpretations of order was turned upside down. This led to massive
social life did not exist in other areas of thought. social dislocation and human suffering. The drive for
Social interpretations can be found in the writings individual human rights was consequently born in the
of early Chinese and Indian thinkers from about 600 ferment and social upheaval of revolutionary periods.
BCE. Many of these writings had a considerable effect
on the development of Western thought as they became Social conditions give birth to sociology
known there. The immediate conditions that caused the creation of
Recently sociologists – as well as other social a science called sociology were created by the age of
thinkers – have begun to try and develop ideas and revolution and industrialisation in Europe. The age of
analyses outside the scope of Western sociology. They revolution refers to the French Revolution (1789–1799),
pose the question whether a non-Western sociology – which led to widespread social and political instability
or African sociology in our case – is indeed possible. and upheaval in Europe that continued until 1945.
For this reason these sociologists are starting to look This revolution comprised an uprising against the rule
for old and new theories on society that may exist in of the Bourbon monarchy with King Louis XVI at that
xlv

time. The revolution was a result of several causes. The general Napoleon Bonaparte seized power and
main cause was the inability of the ruling classes of established the Napoleonic Empire (1799–1814). He
nobility, bourgeoisie and clergy to deal properly with consequently ravaged Europe through wars in order to
the problems of the state. This occurred in the period extend his sphere of influence – until his abdication
leading up to the storming of the Bastille by the masses in 1814. From 1814 to 1830 the Bourbon monarchy was
in France in 1789. reinstated. France proclaimed another Napoleonic
There were other factors as well. The monarch was Empire from 1848 to 1870.
indecisive by nature, the peasantry was exorbitantly
taxed and the workers were exploited and impoverished. Sociology as solution
In addition, the Age of Enlightenment produced a This historical overview is meant to show the degree
fundamental critique of this state of affairs in French of political instability that France experienced during
society and the American War of Independence created this period of revolution and industrialisation. In terms
an example that the Republicans, who articulated of progressive ideas, European society went backwards.
the aspirations of a down-trodden people in France, Little remained of the Enlightenment thinkers’ rational
could follow. designs promoting hope and expectations of idealised
human progress. France experienced discord and
Liberty, equality and fraternity overt conflict. Within this unstable social context in
This uprising eventually resulted in the public France, but also in the rest of Europe, in 1838 Auguste
beheading on the guillotine of the king and his wife, Comte specifically began to promote sociology. He
Marie Antoinette, as well as of the champions of the put sociology forward as a scientific way to create an
monarchy and certain church leaders. About 8 000 intellectual, moral and political reorganisation of the
people were sent to the guillotine in this manner. In social order.
total, approximately 18 000 people were executed. It was not, however, only the political volatility
The age of revolution, however, changed European which called for a new answer to social stability.
and world society irreversibly. The driving force and The economy had also been utterly transformed.
positive development resulting from this revolutionary These social conditions were due to the Industrial
period was the establishment of a society in France Revolution that extended from approximately 1760 to
which embodied the watchwords: ‘Liberty, Equality, 1840. This revolution dramatically changed the way
Fraternity’. Among a whole slew of dramatic social in which the economy and society was organised.
changes, these new principles guiding society meant This new industrial economy was driven by the
the abolition of serfdom, as well as the elimination introduction of steam-powered machinery and tools,
of the feudal privileges of the nobles and feudal dues as well as developments in metallurgy, chemicals,
and tithes. The principle of equal liability to taxation textile manufacture, gas lighting and glass-making.
was introduced. Feudal estates were broken up. This This industrial revolution, while starting in Britain,
redistribution of wealth and land tenure made France rapidly extended to Germany and the United States of
the European country with the largest proportion of America. France was also affected by the restructuring
independent small landowners. of society. Britain as an empire had the advantage
of international markets available for their mass-
Dictatorship produced goods. Therefore, this revolution initially
The uprising, however, did not immediately deliver a delivered the most significant economic results for
stable leadership for the new society. Faction fighting Britain. Early technological advancements in the
made the Republican struggle an ugly process with cotton industry gave Britain the economic edge.
continuous changes of power and with previous When it could no longer supply its own needs, Britain
revolutionary leaders being put on trial. The defeat colonised India, which has been producing cotton for
of the monarchy in France caused other monarchies thousands of years.
in Europe – who all belonged to an extended ‘royal’
family – to act against the new republic. To deal with Improved means of production
this threat, France had to reply with military force. The Industrial Revolution itself was largely triggered
During this time of instability, the hugely successful by James Watt’s improvement of the steam engine in the
xlvi

Introduction
period 1763–1775. As he modified the engine it became diamonds and gold in South Africa in Chapter 13 on
suitable for driving factory machinery. This speeded up Work will show. Finance and insurance were needed by
the Industrial Revolution by multiplying the production the capitalists. Thus the banking sector and insurance
of goods. At the height of this technological revolution, companies grew. To enhance production and profit,
steam power was used on the railways. The first public continual technological advancements were invented
railway utilising steam locomotives was introduced and managerial techniques developed. In this way
between Liverpool and Manchester in Britain in 1830. the cost of labour could be minimised, which led to
In the 1840s Britain had already constructed about desperate conditions for the labourers.
10 000 km of railway, the German states 6 000 km
and France 3 000 km. By 1850 the United States had Urbanisation
constructed 15 000 km of railway and a decade later People flocked from the rural areas to the cities, seeking
48 000 km. The employment opportunities for manual employment in the factories. City planners had never
labour generated by this industry were manifold. In before experienced such an influx and did not know
contrast, South Africa as a colony had, by the end of how to deal with it. To make matters worse, during
the 1860s, constructed railway line of only 72 km from the time of the Industrial Revolution, the population
Cape Town to Wellington. This major development of of Britain doubled. Terrible housing conditions were
the railway system in the industrialising countries the result of poverty and overpopulation. Sewers
allowed the mass transportation of iron ore and coal were uncovered, water supplies contaminated and
for production purposes and opened up markets for dampness was prevalent. The outbreak of epidemics,
mass-produced goods. This process accelerated the such as tuberculosis, cholera and typhoid, were
Industrial Revolution further and also concluded it. common. Lung diseases tormented the miners.
Ironically, this surplus of labourers made it
Capitalist industrialisation possible for Britain to abolish slavery at that time. At
The development in steam power helped transform the end of the revolution, industrial unrest led to the
people’s economic activity as a whole. The new introduction of the first labour laws in history. These
capitalist mode of production transformed a previously laws limited the working hours of children in 1847.
agricultural society into an industrial one. Society Further labour legislation followed. Eventually the
changed completely. The Industrial Revolution soon conditions of the workers began to improve. However,
created new and problematic labour relationships. this was also because a large percentage of the poor
The means of production, namely the machines and emigrated to the colonies and to America.
factories, were owned by the employers. This meant
that the workers were separated from the products Political struggles
which they made. The workers were thus only viewed The mechanisation brought about by the Industrial
in terms of their contribution to production. The Revolution also led to new methods of political control.
pace of production was set by machines. This created Thereafter the formation of nation-states became
assembly-line production, which made simple tasks possible and caused widespread political disruptions.
and set routines as the norm in the workplace. It also Conflicting ideas about the ideal state became an
made it possible to employ cheap labour – which at important source of conflict. This concerned in
that time consisted of women and children workers. In particular the struggle between monarchy, democracy
a short span of time people were exposed to a total new and totalitarianism.
way of organising work in which manual labour was The changing face of society was dramatic. The
replaced by mechanised production. power of monarchies diminished, with no clarity
Due to this sudden upsurge in production and being reached on alternative political models. The
increased technological development, capital and power and influence of the church declined. The
new enterprises were necessary. This new mode new capitalist industrial mode of production created
of production required organised management. pressing socioeconomic problems and new forms of
Industrial management and organisation therefore political power. These conditions created a radically
became paramount and later were key study areas new society and for the people of that time, an
for sociologists, as a discussion on the discovery of unknown one.
xlvii

The need for social order detriment! The complexity of people’s social existence
From within these taxing social, political and and the multifaceted nature of societies resulted
economic circumstances sociology as a field of study in sociology developing into an extended and
originated mainly to answer the question: ‘How is order intricate discipline.
and stability possible in society?’ There simply was no As a fully fledged discipline, sociology is at the
knowledge to provide people with direction on how same time stimulating, interesting and constantly
such a society should be established and developed. posing challenges. Sociology entails a field of study
The ongoing struggles, tensions, conflicts and wars that covers a wide variety of elements, forms, levels
at that time underlined the need for a discipline like and interrelations. Some sociologists aim to identify
sociology to provide such direction to society. relationships and order in this field of study, while
others place more emphasis on the dynamics, activity
Sociology as discipline and fluidity of people’s social existence.
The idea of sociology developed over time and became Because much of contemporary sociology is based
more refined when it was applied as an analytical on the sociological imagination, it investigates and
science and an academic discipline. The earliest use interrogates all aspects of society. This function of
of the concept ‘sociology’ appears in the unpublished sociology is often not appreciated by authoritarian
writings of the Frenchman Emmanuel Josef Sieyès regimes. For that reason sociology was banned in China
(1748–1836), dated 1780. At that time sociology was, from 1952 until 1979. The Union of Soviet Socialist
however, not yet connected to a field of study. It was Republics allowed only Marxist sociology from the
left to another Frenchman, Auguste Comte (1798–1857), 1930s until 1966. In contrast, South Africa’s apartheid
who conceptualised the discipline of ‘sociology’ in regime banned or restricted Marxist literature from
1838 and thereby placed the name of the discipline in the 1950s until 1990. However, currently sociology is
general use. The main early contributors to sociology practised as an academic discipline in most countries
were Auguste Comte and Karl Marx (1818–1883), both of throughout the world.
whom developed scientifically justified systems with
which to interpret society. Their analytical systems South African sociology
were very influential, especially that of Marx. An early In the midst of the Great Depression of the 1930s,
popular sociologist was Herbert Spencer (1820–1903) urbanisation in South Africa and the political focus –
who advocated a laissez-faire style of government. specifically on poverty among whites – saw the need
But this was before formal sociology was introduced for the training of social workers and the accompanying
into universities. subject of sociology was identified. Most universities
started teaching sociology in South Africa in the
Formal academic status 1930s. From the start sociologists in South Africa
Formal academic sociology was first established in adhered to different theoretical and methodological
France by Émile Durkheim (1858–1917). Academic approaches. With the implementation of apartheid in
sociology was introduced in the United States of 1948 by the National Party, supporting and critical
America in 1875 and in Britain in 1902. This was positions divided sociologists further. In the 1970s
because of a preference for social anthropology in sociology was largely split in South Africa between
both countries’ academic circles. Full undergraduate the Afrikaans-speaking sociologists supporting
sociology was introduced in South Africa in 1933. the structural functionalist perspective and the
After its establishment as an academic English-speaking sociologists favouring a Marxian
discipline, sociology progressed rapidly. As theory perspective. This led to two sociological associations,
and methodology, the discipline soon developed a the Suid-Afrikaanse Sosiologie Vereniging (SASOV)
significant profundity. Sociology in this form also and the Association for Sociology in Southern Africa
exerted a huge influence on the way people thought (ASSA). Sociologists adhering to Marxist and neo-
about and analysed societies. This gave new impetus to Marxist perspectives informed intellectually to a
the creation of new ideologies that governments used large extend the struggle movements in South Africa.
to control their subjects. Sometimes the control was to Civil society and the unions relied heavily on their
those societies’ benefit, but many times also to their academic input with Jack Simons and Harold Wolpe
xlviii

Introduction
developing an original South African Marxism. In the effectively. The critical thought of sociology also
1990s the two sociological associations merged to form helped create a theory for democracy in modern
the South African Sociological Association (SASA). times and address exploitation on different levels
This vibrant association helped to develop sociology in society. Sociology laid bare the inequalities
in South Africa to its current academic standing with between people and the exploitation of certain
close links to sociology in the other BRICS countries sections of society. Such analyses helped to
(Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa). establish government policies aimed at addressing
these issues. For this reason the disciplines of
Networking and association sociology and social work developed side by side in
Sociologists globally also maintain extensive formal some countries. In this sense, sociology did indeed
and informal networks between each other. Many assist with the logical restructuring of society and
countries have established sociological associations. helped improve people’s living conditions.
The largest association is that of the USA, consisting • No, the use of sociology led to the more effective
of approximately 21 000 members (founded in 1905). functioning of military forces. The reason is that
In comparison, the South African Sociological the earliest sociological theories provided a new
Association (SASA) has a small membership (founded focus on power and the mobilising of people around
in 1993 out of previous associations). However, SASA extended self-interest. Sociology also researched
is active and presents its own sociology congresses the methods to exercise power through coercion
each year. and manipulation. This in turn eventually led
At present the discipline is represented globally by to a situation where wars could be waged more
two general international associations: efficiently. The far-reaching theoretical differences
• the major one, the International Sociological among sociologists on how society ought to be
Association (ISA), founded in 1949 structured, also led to fierce ideological debates.
• the oldest one, the International Institute of These debates flared into conflict that did not
Sociology (IIS), founded in 1893. benefit people directly. In addition, the enormous
growth of the world population caused large-scale
Website of the International Sociological Association inequalities and tensions which are difficult to
(ISA): http://www.isa-sociology.org/ address by science alone. This state of affairs limits
Website of the International Institute of Sociology (IIS): the contribution that sociology can make in society
http://www.iisoc.org/ if political acceptance of its recommendations is
not forthcoming.
Different perspectives Even if the contribution of sociological knowledge

While reading this book it is important that students may in some instances be limited, its know-how can
must understand that sociology is a discipline assist in improving society and changing it for the
characterised by diverse perspectives on society. better. Sociology is therefore very useful for students
Students therefore should know how this discipline in the sense that it makes them aware of how society
functions. They should keep in mind that even functions and of what positive contributions they can
sociologists differ on the contribution sociology can make in this regard.
make to society. As was mentioned in the previous In the chapters throughout this book you as a
section, sociology developed in disruptive times as an student will be confronted with different theories
attempt to give a scientific answer on whether order which interpret the same subject differently. You
is possible in society. It can rightly be asked whether will also be exposed to different, contrasting and
sociology could indeed contribute to such an order. conflicting perspectives. This can be disconcerting
The answer to this question is yes and no: and even confusing to a student looking for clear-cut
• Yes, sociology did contribute, for instance, to the answers. It may seem to you that sociology does not
development of organisations. It contributed to provide ‘real’ answers to social problems. The fact
understanding how goal-orientated organisations is that social phenomena are complicated, because
operate and how they can be managed even more people interpret their conditions uniquely and act
xlix

according to their own unique interpretations. It is field of study. Sociology therefore develops good
important for students to understand this fact early on general social interpreting skills among those who
in their study of sociology and to realise the usefulness take it seriously.
such diverse insights into the complexities of society
holds for them. Careers and sociology
As can be seen above, sociology develops people’s
Sociology as a social science sociological imagination. With such a skill one can
The broad field of sciences have a deeper understanding of how society functions;
In the broad field of the sciences the divisions of also how people can be at the mercy of social
natural, formal and social sciences and the humanities processes and structures. Students can profitably
can be distinguished. apply the theoretical skills learned in sociology in a
• The natural sciences deal with natural phenomena. variety of professions. In 2006 Letitia Smuts studied
Examples of such study fields are physics, the usefulness of sociology for former University of
chemistry, biology and zoology. Johannesburg students to find jobs (Smuts 2010). In this
• The formal sciences include philosophy and study she found that of the students with BA degrees
mathematics. 84 per cent indicated that they find sociology useful in
• The humanities deal with aspects such as their jobs and 100 per cent of the postgraduates. This
languages, music and art. confirms how beneficial sociology can be to graduates.
• The social sciences developed during the time of the Sociology is therefore a very useful discipline due to
Industrial Revolution and the French Revolution its insights that can aid people in diverse occupations.
(as was shown). During that time of upheaval Such occupations can include the following: project
and in response to the empirical successes of managers, labour relations negotiators, town planners
the natural sciences and the speculations of and developers, managers, impact assessment
metaphysics, scholars attempted to develop researchers, communication scientists, population
applicable disciplines. Such disciplines had to scientists, community developers, public servants,
deal scientifically with the social challenges of human resources managers, political officials,
the time. Through this process the social sciences psychologists and social workers. Sociology may be
came into being. very helpful in all of these careers. With postgraduate
qualifications in sociology, specific careers can also
In a wider sense, social sciences can be viewed in terms be followed, such as those of academic sociologists,
of a variety of fields of study, such as: anthropology, social researchers, social analysts and social project
communication studies, economics, education, evaluators. In the study conducted by Smuts the
geography, history, law, linguistics, political science, former sociology students of the University of
psychology, public administration and sociology. Johannesburg were working in the following fields:
journalism, education, marketing, public relations,
Pure social sciences human resource management, advertising, banking,
Currently the pure social sciences are viewed in manufacturing, non-governmental organisations,
terms of anthropology, economics, political science, television production, development and psychology.
psychology and sociology. Of these the oldest field of This book wishes to present you as a student in
social scientific study is economics, with its origin sociology with the first steps to develop the skills in
traced back to the publication of Adam Smith’s The social analysis you may need in your future career.
Wealth of Nations in 1776. As noted above, sociology as
a scientific discipline finds its origins in Comte’s use Features of the book
of the term in 1838. Within the broad encyclopaedia This book includes standard features for each chapter
of sciences, sociology can therefore be viewed in that students will find helpful. They include: an
particular as the discipline with the broadest focus of introductory synopsis, case studies, key themes, bold
all the social sciences. Where the other social sciences key words in the text for which explanations are
focus on specific areas of social life, sociology attempts provided in the Glossary, a summary of the chapter,
more. This discipline makes the whole of society its additional sources to consult, guides for further

Introduction
reading, and detailed reference lists at the end of perseverance and patience. The editing contributions
each chapter. These features assist lecturers when of Karen Froneman and Inge du Plessis from Juta
presenting the chapters and help equip students with and Karoline Hanks from Karabos Media are also
tools to master the chapters. acknowledged with great appreciation.
Last, but not least, our gratitude is extended
Supplements to the book to all the writers of the chapters for their excellent
The following supplements are available for prescribing contributions. They are: Khosi Kubeka, Shannon
instructors and students: Morreira, Marlize Rabe, Pragna Rugunanan, Engela
• For instructors: Contact Juta for access to multiple- Pretorius, Kirk Helliker, Ran Greenstein, Christopher
choice questions, short paragraph questions, Thomas, Tapiwa Chagonda and Muhammed Suleman.
long questions with memoranda, and PowerPoint Each contribution is highly appreciated. The end-
presentations. They are provided for each chapter. product offers students of the discipline a publication
• For students: Students can access the Glossary at that stems from the heart of the broad sociological
the back of the book or online on a mobile-friendly academic community in South Africa.
web page at www.jutaacademic.co.za/pages/
sociology-glossary. The Editors
Acknowledgements Reference
This book would not have been possible without the Smuts L. 2010. ‘Careers with sociology: Evidence from
continuing effort of the publishers, Lynn Koch and UJ’. South African Review of Sociology, 41(1): 105–119.
Corina Pelser from Juta and Carlyn Bartlett-Cronje
as project manager. We are much obliged to their
li

Chapter 1
Sociological theory
Paul Stewart
Thinking is a mental activity in which every normal person engages. Theory is likewise a mental activity to which none of us
are strangers. We all have ideas and ‘theories’ about something or other. This has occurred ever since the mental or cognitive
powers of human beings developed as they engaged with their immediate environment and forms of social organisation
emerged. Normal thinking and everyday ‘theories’ lie at the basis of the theories about society you saw traced over the past
2 500 years in the introduction of this book. These ideas and theories, in turn, lie at the basis of the more systematic attempt
of sociological theory which, based on evidence, seek to describe and explain some aspect of the world of human experience.
Thinking sociologically and sociological theory are based on normal, ordinary thinking and the way in which thinkers
have tried to understand the social world around them. Sociological theory attempts to understand and explain – and even
sometimes predict – social events in a more systematic, scientific way than ordinary, normal thinking and the theories it
produces. Sociological theory, then, is one kind of social scientific theory. Political science, psychology and economics are other
types of social scientific theory.
This opening chapter starts by showing how sociological theory is distinguished from ordinary theorising about the social
world, as well as the great social thinkers of the past. You will find the origin of the word theory to be surprisingly familiar.
The chapter goes on to lay the foundations of the thinking and theory which lie behind much of what follows in this
textbook. What you will quickly discover is that there is no one, single way of sociological thinking and theorising. The reason
for this is that the foundational pillars of the discipline are based on different ways of approaching systematic thinking about
society. The works of the three great thinkers traditionally associated with having established the theoretical foundations
of the discipline are introduced in this chapter. The three main perspectives in sociological theory can be attributed to their
intellectual work and the theories and analyses they produced. Because sociological theory does not rest on one single idea,
approach or perspective, this is what makes it both challenging and interesting.
What is probably the most interesting about the three main perspectives in sociological theory is that each is intimately
tied to the approach they adopt when examining society. In this way they direct themselves to the social world in an attempt to
understand our own role within society, how society is ordered, how it changes and even how to improve and change society
in the interests of its members.
South African society continues to go through turbulent times and must continually confront issues of social order and
social change as its young democracy establishes itself. How, for instance, is a society like South Africa to be understood,
developed and life improved for its citizens? How must a society like South Africa transform itself? What is the place of
decolonisation in this much needed process? One of the major theoretical approaches in sociological theory addresses how
social order and stability are achieved. Another of the major sociological approaches focuses on the extent of social changes
manifesting themselves in society. The third major approach in sociological theory powerfully alerts us to the different ways
in which people act and how what happens in society is subject to differing interpretations. Sociological theory is founded on
these three perspectives, but which are not inclusive of its range and scope. All of this can only be introduced in this textbook.
While theoretical issues are abstract and intellectual, the effects of sociological theory are often very practical. The ways
in which sociological theory is used means that sociology becomes part of the social world it studies. International institutions
use the results of sociological theorising and research in regulating global socio-political and economic developments.
Governments employ sociologists and sociological theories in the formulation of policy. Companies use sociological research
to improve their organisations, survive and make bigger profits. Sociological theories and methodologies are used in market

research. Advertising uses its ideas to convince us to buy certain products. Trade unions use sociologists and their theoretical
skills to assess how well they are serving their members. Political party strategists use sociological thinking to win more
votes. Student activism often takes sociological theory for granted when mobilising for changes to the curriculum. In short,
sociological theories and methodologies inform and shape much of the rapidly changing and complex world in which we live.
For sociologists to be able to engage in providing ideas and analyses in such a wide variety of activities means having strong
intellectual foundations.
This chapter makes a start in being able to understand and meaningfully engage in applying sociological theories and
knowledge in social life. Before we improve and change the world around us for the better, we need to understand our role
within the much bigger picture of the social world around us and understand contemporary developments in the society of
which we are part. This requires developing the sociological and theoretical imagination.
Like any intellectual activity, it is best to take it slowly and carefully and work through the chapter in a methodical manner.
This is not something you should feel you have to learn because there is an examination at the end of your course. Engage
with sociological theory rather because you have the opportunity to fashion your own mind. You will find that the subsequent
chapters open up your understanding much more clearly if you do so. Prepare to advance and even perhaps change the way
you think. You will soon be thinking and talking in new ways which will surprise those around you. Sociological theory is a
living and vibrant intellectual activity and this will happen before you know it.
To see just how much things do change in sociological theory, the final part of the chapter very briefly traces major shifts
in thinking from the classical theorists through to introducing some key concepts lying behind the calls for decolonisation. Do
not expect to cover all of this in lectures in your first year of studying sociology. By the end of this brief story about theory itself,
you will find theory which explicitly puts you, dear reader, at the very centre of sociological thinking and theorising.
Case study 1.1 Student protest
Questions
1. What theory or theories lay behind students’ action and mobilisation in the #Rhodes Must Fall (starting March 2015)
and #Fees Must Fall (starting October 2015) campaigns?
2. Were these ideas born of experience only or were they informed by previous learning?
3. How can sociological theory take these actions and ideas forward practically?
4. Bear these and your own questions in mind as you begin your study in the social sciences.
•• Concepts and how concepts combine to form theories

•• The criteria of a good theory
•• The difference between social and sociological theories
•• Choosing between different sociological concepts and theories
Key Themes
•• The importance of identifying assumptions

•• The difference between natural and social science
•• The three main theoretical perspectives in the discipline
•• Auguste Comte, positivism and the criteria for knowledge
•• Introduction to positivist social science and key concepts of Émile Durkheim
•• Introduction to critical social science and key concepts of Karl Marx
•• Introduction to interpretive social science and key concepts of Max Weber.

Chapter 1: Sociological theory
Introduction and adopt a more ‘objective’ perspective in relation

This chapter introduces the activity of engaging in to the object of our study, namely the social world
theory and thinking sociologically. It does so by noting in which we live and our position within it. Some
the interesting origin of the word ‘theory’. When we theorists think being objective is impossible and that
think and theorise we use concepts. According to one we need to choose between competing theories and
of the founders of sociology, Max Weber, the concept is pursue the one we think provides the best explanation
‘one of the great tools of all scientific knowledge’ (Gerth of the world. Whichever route you take, it is a major
& Mills 1974: 141). Concepts are basic to all theory. objective of this chapter and the primary objective
Some issues introduced in this chapter are: the of this textbook to facilitate the process of learning
prevalence of assumptions and how they underlie any about society and the place of human agents within it,
theory; the criteria (the standards by which to judge ourselves included.
something) of a good theory; the difference between
social theory and sociological theory and the need to 1.1 The origin and meaning of
make conceptual and theoretical choices. It is helpful ‘theory’
to know from the outset that some of these issues relate The word ‘theory’ comes from the Greek word for god
to intellectual activities in which all normal people – theos. Over three thousand years ago the ancient
engage. We all think and exercise our cognition – Greeks worshipped many gods and hence had many
our capacity to think, understand and know things. ‘theories’ about the world. They made sense of and
You might even be pleasantly surprised to learn offered explanations for what happened in the world
that, according to one sociological thinker, people in terms of the gods they believed in. Neptune was, for
are generally sociologically competent. Our starting instance, the god of the sea, while Mars was honoured
point will therefore be more familiar than you might as the god of war and Eros held sway over all matters
have thought. Once this basic groundwork is laid, the of love.
chapter will introduce key concepts and theories of What changed this many-sided view of the world
the three major foundational thinkers in the discipline was a more powerful theoretical idea which came out
of sociology. of Africa. An early form of monotheism (the belief in
Learning changes people. When you learn one God) gradually emerged from around 3200 BCE.
something, you are not quite the same person as before. This idea challenged the idea of ‘many gods’. The
This book seeks to build on what you already know, single, one-god ‘theory’ came to dominate and shape
but also to lead you out of a state of previous ignorance. Egyptian society as the pharaoh ruled over society as
That is the aim of education. The word e-ducere in sole, god-like sovereign, served by the architecture of
Latin means ‘to lead out of’ ignorance. You can (and the pyramids and the social ritual of embalming to
perhaps should) test this claim for yourself by re- preserve his immortal status.
reading this chapter when you have worked through One proposed explanation for this conception
the whole textbook. Thinking sociologically can of theos was that no life was possible without the
potentially change our outlook on the world around us, daily rising and setting of the sun which gave light,
how we understand ourselves within it and even how warmth and growth, enabling a population to settle,
we behave. This can even contribute to understanding develop agriculture, irrigation systems and some of
who we are. humankind’s earliest inventions. This natural force
Exploring ideas and studying social and was worthy of worship. The dominance of the sun and
sociological theories will introduce you to new ways of the regular pattern of the forces of nature in this ancient
seeing and understanding. What you took for granted geographical area gave birth to the idea that there
will sometimes come into view in a startling manner. was one god. This was a natural religion, a powerful
You might never again be able to look at the world in prompt and a universal development in the thinking
the way you do right now. But to gain such insights in humankind. This particular development was a
and learn new ways of seeing is not always easy. The theoretical revolution in the ancient world. For the
reason for this is that in the social sciences we are part unifying idea of one theos, for the first time, explained
of what we study. We are familiar with our immediate everything and in the light of which Egyptian society
social environment. It is hence tricky to be neutral was organised.

The idea of one god and the concept of unity which bush and the concept of a tree. You can be confronted
it expresses, is a foundational concept. It is perhaps by an herbaceous plant and not know whether it is a
not surprising that the concept of zero originated bush or a tree. A botanist would presumably have two,
in Arabic thought in the same geographical region specialised definitions for the concept of a bush and
where the monotheism of Judaism, Christianity and the concept of a tree and easily solve my untutored
Islam developed. quandary. To take another example, when you look
Yet millennia later, the majority of South Africans, under the bonnet of a motor vehicle, what do you see?
at least in name, claim to adhere to one of these three You do not see or understand much unless you already
monotheistic religions. Were you and your parents, know something of the theory behind the internal
grandparents, forebears and ancestors influenced by combustion engine and what each component does.
this idea? Whatever the case, do consult Chapter 6 on The relation between the spark plugs, the high tension
Religion in this textbook. leads and the cylinder-head means nothing unless
you can identify these mechanical components in the
1.1.1 Theory and the criterion of simplicity first place.
A ‘one-god’ theory was a more simple idea than the In a similar way, specialised sociological
‘many-god’ theory. To this day simplicity (or what concepts pick out, isolate or identify a particular
philosophers term parsimony) is a criterion for choosing social phenomenon and other social phenomena in
between scientific theories. In the natural sciences, the world. Sociological concepts immediately direct
astronomy, physics and chemistry for example, when us to some aspect of social life. Sociological concepts
it comes to choosing between competing scientific connect our thinking minds to the social world around
theories with the same explanatory power, the simple us. Carefully linked together, they provide us with a
theory is preferred, accepted and used. Incidentally, theory which explains some aspect of social life.
the Greek philosopher Aristotle (AD 384–322), whose
intellectual influence remains strong and alive, had 1.1.3 All normally functioning people are
already arrived at this criterion for what makes a sociologically competent
good theory. Theories, then, are built, made up of and formed out
of linking concepts coherently together to create a
1.1.2 Concepts as the building blocks of ‘picture’ or explanation of an aspect of the world we
theory observe around us. The concept of ‘coherence’ simply
We can usefully start to understand theory as a ‘story’, means fitting logically and rationally together without
a narrative, an account, a detailed mental picture or any sense of mental discomfort or awkwardness. By
as a linked set of concepts about the world around us. integrating theories of ever larger scope, we develop
Concepts only exist in our heads. To put it another more complex descriptions and more powerful
way, concepts are an integral part of the contents of explanations.
our minds. Concepts are abstract mental constructs We all have such ‘theories’ which shape the
which we express in words and language. A good story opinions and views about the world in which we live.
or theory is made up of a range of concepts which All normal and healthy human beings possess, without
explains in the minds of those who hold them, why even knowing it, what the sociologist Charles Lemert
things are the way they are. Theories are built up out (1993) calls sociological competence. We are familiar
of concepts. with and competently negotiate our way around our
What a concept does is pick out, isolate or identify own neighbourhood. Since childhood our primary
something or a phenomenon in the world around us. caregivers – our parents and teachers – named things
Think about that for a moment. We are, for instance, all for us, explained how things worked, told us what to do,
familiar with simple concepts, such as the concept of where we could go, what not to do and had preferences
a chair. A chair is something to sit on. We understand about our friends. They perhaps did not like some of
this concept because we recognise what a chair is, even our friends because we learned things of which they
though chairs are of different shapes and sizes and did not approve. They wanted us to learn particular
made of many different materials. Let us compare two sets of norms, values and behaviours so we would fit
other familiar, simple concepts. Take the concept of a into our community and broader society. This is what

sociologists mean by the concept of socialisation. choosing a theory was to ask which theory depended
The processes of socialisation have enabled us to on the strongest evidence. Were there any observations
competently manage the immediate world around us. or facts to support the theory? Could the facts be
We connect concepts with our environment and social measured? Evidence for theories emerged as crucial.
life without even thinking about it. We hence all have If you cannot provide evidence for your theory
views about the world and are able to use concepts and about the world, you are probably thinking in the
have theories about aspects of the social world which realm of social theory. If you can provide evidence
we inhabit. The task of sociological theory, however, is for your theory about social matters, then you have
to elevate this common-sense and everyday practical a sociological theory – one that explicitly rests on
sociological competence into theoretically informed the evidence of facts informed by the theory. With
practices of social scientific inquiry and investigation the emergence of modern science, this reliance on
which result in knowledge. evidence became central in human understanding,
knowledge and even the never-ending quest for ‘truth’–
1.1.4 Distinguishing between social theory or epistemic adequacy as contemporary philosophers
and sociological theory prefer to say.
A contemporary American sociologist, Charles Lemert Following Ibn Khaldun four hundred years later,
(1993), asserts that normally functioning members of four of the thinkers who were foundational to the
society, most people in other words, are sociologically academic discipline of sociology, Comte, Marx, Weber
competent. This means that we can manage our and Durkheim, to be introduced shortly, all sought
daily lives. We do so on the basis of our views about evidence for their theories. This made the work of these
the world and common-sense theories about it. In theorists not just social theories, but sociological ones.
much the same way, ancient civilisations developed In different ways and even with different concepts of
theories about the social and physical world, whether science, they carefully observed what happened in
in Europe or Africa or elsewhere. In fact, this is society and sought to develop a scientific analysis of
what Ibn Khaldun did six hundred years ago and is society. But what precisely, you might ask, is science
rightly called the first sociologist as you will see. As and scientific analysis?
Ibn Khaldun, surprisingly early in social thinking
developed a sociologically informed explanation of the 1.1.5 Theoretical predictions
historical process, so can our social theories, it could The question of what science is immediately
then be said, provide explanations for the multitude of becomes complex because the very identification and
things and complexity and even mystery and wonder recognition of observable facts depends, in turn, on
of the world around us. Most of us ask questions theory. For example, some natural scientific theories
and are curious about life. Why is there poverty and predict facts we cannot see or which have not yet been
wealth? Why is crime worse in some societies than established. Light was thought to travel in straight lines
in others? Why is there conflict in the world? How is until Albert Einstein (1879–1955) made the theoretical
social order achieved? Why do people disagree about prediction that light could bend. His mathematically
what is beautiful? In short, human beings have always, based theory was later proved correct by evidence from
either implicitly (without stating as much) or explicitly a practical scientific experiment. Even in the natural
(actually being able to express as much) thought sciences, however, making accurate predictions is not
about these things, developed theories about them a common occurrence. Just think of how the weather
and continue to ask questions about what happens bureau often gets predictions wrong. It is even more
around them. difficult to make predictions in the social sciences,
Ancient philosophers and great writers considered although the social analyses of some great sociological
such issues and are the subject of the great literatures thinkers stand the test of time and are as appropriate
of the world. But no definitive answers to some of today as when they were written. Sociological and
these questions could be given or theoretical disputes social scientific theories consequently generally
resolved until the emergence of science, modern confine themselves to identifying, describing and
science in particular. With science, where theories analysing patterns, regularities and trends in social
conflicted with one another, one of the criteria for life instead of trying to predict what will happen.

Capturing all the relevant facts under the umbrella of to identify phenomena, name or attach concepts to
a single theory hence remains the challenge of science things and draw conceptual distinctions. Concepts
in general. are grouped into clusters of concepts or distinct
For not only these reasons, the relation between conceptual categories. Categories are the most
theory and facts is complex. What constitutes science fundamental division of any subject matter. A colour
and knowledge has consequently occupied the greatest has no sound, for instance. Colours and sounds are
of minds throughout human history. This is the issue different conceptual categories. What is living and
with which we now have engaged – the challenge of animate on the one hand and non-living and inanimate
exercising our theoretical imaginations in a rigorous on the other are clearly different categories of things.
social scientific manner. Conceptual analysis, by its very abstract nature,
however, rarely captures the full complexity of what
1.1.6 The power of theory exists. When analysing some aspect of the social world
What is even more fascinating is what happens when there are limits to the concepts we use. Take note in
we do exercise our theoretical imaginations. Very few this chapter and in Chapter 11 on Class how differently
ideas are genuinely original. When we grapple with Karl Marx and Max Weber define and use the concept
ideas and concepts we find we are generally thinking of class. The concepts we use are limited because they
thoughts which themselves have a history and were only pick out the social phenomena informed by the
originally the thoughts of some or other individual theories within which they have been formulated and
mind. We all know the earth moves around the sun defined. In addition, when concepts are not defined
and that the planet is not flat. This was not obvious sufficiently clearly, they will not accurately identify
before the emergence of a scientific world view. The and isolate the social phenomenon at which they are
‘flat-earth theory’ dominated human thought until directed. The findings about the social world derived
Copernicus (1473–1543) taught us otherwise. We now from conceptual analysis and hence our knowledge
know this and we are all, in some sense, Copernicans. about the social world is hence always provisional, but
We share his theory. In fact, so strong is the evidence not only for this reason.
that we believe it and can even say, ‘I know the world In trying to understand something about the social
is round’. Like the good scientist he was, Copernicus world, conceptual analysis requires that concepts must
also thought a theory must agree with the facts and continually be tested against the empirical evidence
that a simple theory must be preferred over a complex to construct better, more accurate theories – ones that
one. Copernicus’s simple helio-centric theory put the more accurately reflect what we are trying to explain
sun and not the earth at the centre of the universe and and understand. An idea or concept is empirically
replaced the earlier geometrical model of the ancient based if it is based on experience and evidence gleaned
Greek astronomer and thinker Ptolomy (AD 90–168) from the five human senses of sight, hearing, touch,
which described how the planets move in space. taste and smell or can be observed or measured by
Sociological theories are similar in striving for instruments.
evidence-based accuracy and simplicity – although one Social scientific theories are hence constrained
might not think so sometimes! And most sociological or limited by their lack of conceptual clarity (or lack
theorising stands on the shoulders of great thinkers of of definition) on the one hand and the degree to
the past. We have inherited much of the contents of which they are based on empirical evidence on the
our own minds from the theories of such thinkers who other. Depending on what we are studying and how
began to analyse society in a scientific manner. our concepts are defined, theories will be different
in scope. The sociological theories, to be discussed
1.1.7 The nature of conceptual analysis below, deal mainly with large macroscopic social
Conceptual analysis is like a knife. The process of issues – explaining the nature of society as a whole.
thinking and analysis, expressed in words, makes Less ambitious, middle range theories are often called
sense of the world by cutting it up into concepts in meso-level theories. It is useful when you start out,
order to develop our understanding of it. The mental however, to engage with a research question which is
exercise of cutting and dividing up the world is what more manageable and so pose your theoretical question
is meant by conceptual analysis – using concepts at a more immediate or micro-sociological level.

By selecting concepts carefully in terms of scope, as a social group sharing similar socioeconomic
defining them to achieve maximum clarity and conditions? Would Marx’s concept of class do –
closely interrogating the evidence they illuminate, the defined as ownership or non-ownership of productive
accuracy and reliability of your conceptual analysis economic wealth? Would it be best to use Weber’s
and sociological theorising will be enhanced. But how, concept of class, which is defined in terms of one’s life
you might ask, does one start this process? opportunities available in the market? Or would you
choose the concept of ethnicity – defined as sharing
1.1.8 Making conceptual and theoretical linguistic, cultural and racial attributes? What social
choices in sociological inquiry phenomenon would each concept pick out in your
When we embark on examining some feature of society neighbourhood? What evidence could be marshalled
it will almost inevitably be something that is of interest to support these concepts or others you might choose?
to us born out of our life’s experience. There will be a Which concept or concepts would best answer your
range of concepts and theories to choose from which sociological question about social change in South
have tackled the self-same subject. For this reason we Africa today? In order to begin answering these
are going to have to choose which concepts, theory questions it is always important to try and identify the
and method of inquiry to adopt. How to do this can be assumptions underlying the concepts or theories we
illustrated by looking at a real example. might want to use.
We all know that under apartheid South Africans
were separated by race in virtually all aspects of their 1.1.9 What is an assumption?
lives. With few exceptions, there was a stark division Assumptions are important when we think,
between mainly well-resourced, rich, white and conceptualise and develop theories. An assumption is
inadequately resourced, poor, black people. Since 1994 something we take for granted. If you are reading this
when South Africa achieved its non-racial democratic book now, I can correctly assume you are a breathing,
transition, everyone, including sociologists, agrees living human being, but I cannot assume you are
that there has been significant social change, but there a student registered at a South African university
are different sociological theories about the extent of required to study the subject of sociology. Your mother
this social change. One political sociological theory or father or brother or sister or friend might be reading
says the extent of social change in South African it to see what you are studying. You might correctly
society is significant – because now we all have the assume that if you do not read this textbook carefully
vote and apartheid legislation has been abolished. you might fail your sociology exam! Assumptions
Another economic sociology theory says the extent define not only thought, but human behaviour as well.
of social change is not so significant – because there Watch out for the assumptions made by your friends in
is still social and economic inequality despite the any discussion or those of politicians when they speak.
demise of apartheid. This is a highly relevant issue, but Identifying the assumptions people make often reveals
involves big theoretical and empirical questions about a lot about the strength of the argument being made.
the extent of social change. Also watch out for the assumptions made by the
If you wanted to investigate this issue, you would theorists we are about to discuss. They are often very
clearly need firstly to narrow the scope of your difficult to uncover, but once you do, the theorist’s
inquiry. Let us say you limited your study to particular perspective on the social world makes a great deal
groups of South Africans and their perceptions and more sense. I will assume you will be watching out for
experience of social change since 1994. This is a the underlying assumptions in what you read as we get
manageable exercise. Perceptions and experience into deeper theoretical waters.
are good indicators of social change. Such a study
would illuminate the theoretical question about the Identifying assumptions
significance of social change. What concepts would To make a start, what are the assumptions sociologists
we choose to begin such a sociological study? Would make when they employ the concepts of nation and
the inquiry be best conducted by using the concept that of social class? Firstly, we assume these are useful
of peer group – defined as those of similar age? Or concepts and will help us illuminate something about
should one use the concept of social class – defined society. Secondly, we assume they refer to social

groups of people. Thirdly, both concepts assume Once you have worked through this textbook,
similarity and difference among human beings. especially by reading Chapter 9 on Race and the
Both concepts pick out different characteristics section in this chapter on Marx, check whether you
and features of human and social life. The shared still agree with your explanation. Our assumptions
similarities of one group of people distinguish them lie deeply embedded in our own specific social
from those shared by other social groups. Being South context. Can I make the assumption that you are a
African, Nigerian or Brazilian means belonging to serious student and did the practical exercise in the
nations from different geographical areas of the world. application box and have already identified some of
Language is often a defining feature. The concept of your assumptions? If you did, you might have noticed
social class also assumes similarity and difference, that the responses both you and your informants gave
but more particularly of a socioeconomic character, were powerfully influenced by individual biography
highlighting poverty and wealth and social status and life experience. Indeed, if one of the tasks of a
in particular. good theory is to be able to make predictions, then
Let us assume the concepts of nation and social my theoretical prediction is that the responses you
class are important and meaningful in distinguishing received were reflections of the social experience and
between social groups. How would you rank the position in society which shaped your respondents
relative importance of the two concepts – nation and (and yourself) in important ways. Social phenomena or
social class? What theoretical assumptions do we get events can be interpreted very differently depending
caught up in when using these concepts? The concept on the social context in which they occur.
of nation might be more familiar to you. If so, check
whether this is still the case once you have studied 1.1.10 The importance of social context
this textbook. Sociological theories are often reflections of the
How do we understand the human species society from which they emerged. Good sociological
inhabiting this global village of ours in the twenty- theories will be applicable more widely and transcend
first century? This will depend on the theoretical the social context from which they emerged. Good or
assumptions that we make. Does the world comprise strong sociological theories will apply to societies very
a host of nations or seven billion people divided by different from those of the theorist who developed them.
poverty and wealth? In short, the concepts we use to Yet as new social situations emerge, developments take
understand the social world and the theories in which place and society changes, so often must even strong
they are often embedded has implications for how we theories change as they attempt to grasp and explain
end up understanding the society around us. what is happening in society. In short, sociological
theories change or give way to others in the light of new
Box 1.1 Exercising your theoretical imagination experience and evidence in changing social contexts.
Has your race had a greater influence on your identity Part of the power of sociological theories is that
as a person or has your social class (socioeconomic) they also guide how we see things. If taken seriously,
position more powerfully shaped your life chances and theory can shape our behaviour and our actions. For
personal identity? theories and ideas contribute to changing society.
No further reason need be given for making sure we
Questions get our theory right! In fact, a study of sociological
1. Decide on your choice of concept, list the reasons theories, even if they have been proven wrong, can
for your choice and then go and ask your parents still tell us much about the way the social world was
(or someone their age) and two of your friends what at the time the theory was developed. For our ideas,
they think. thoughts and behaviour are the product of social and
2. Can you explain the different responses you got? sociological theories – as well as other social scientific
3. Write down your explanation of the different theories – developed in the past. Such theories can, in
answers your older and peer respondents gave. addition, also tell us much about the social position of
the thinkers who came up with the theory in the first
place. Social and sociological theory itself is a product
of social life. This is a peculiar characteristic of

sociology and one which has significant implications instrumental action (action performed with a goal
for social scientific knowledge. For if sociology is itself in mind) of getting a degree above the hard task of
a social product, what makes it scientific? Is objectivity striving to be as objective and neutral as possible in
then even possible in social science? asking the difficult epistemological questions. Yet we
need to strive for objectivity as our very assumptions
1.1.11 Can sociology be a science? and the implicit theories we hold, usually reflect our
If it is true that sociologists are influenced by their upbringing (our primary and secondary socialisation)
immediate social context – their social position or and the structure of the society we inhabit. These are
if they have been insufficiently critical of their own social forces which can prevent us being objective.
intellectual culture – the question of objectivity arises. Because the theories we propound are born out of and
Related to this question is whether sociology is or can often reflect the society from which they emerge, we
be science. A strong definition of science refers to a need to contrast natural and social science.
neutral and objective assessment of the facts, based
on empirical evidence and which results in a law The difference between natural and social
that can be confirmed by other scientists. The natural science
sciences strive to be nomothetic (law making). The The natural sciences – such as physics and chemistry
law of gravity is such a scientific law. This law applies – study the physical world, the world of inanimate,
to all conceptual categories, people and things. But non-living things. Physicists and chemists stand in
when it comes to social science and the behaviour a clear external and objective position in relation to
of people and not just things is the issue, law-like the objects of their study. Physical phenomena being
behaviour generally does not apply, although you will studied or chemical processes being measured do
encounter one stunning example below where laws not change their properties or chemical composition
do appear to apply to collective human behaviour. In simply because the natural scientist is observing
brief, the nature and status of science and knowledge and measuring them. Water always boils at the same
has been and remains a topic of debate. Whether the temperature at the same altitude and this can be clearly
social sciences constitute science in terms of the strict, observed, measured and repeated time and time again
hard definition is especially complicated. Sociologists by other natural scientists. Laws can be formulated
study society, but are part of society itself. Sociologists about boiling water and other forces of nature and the
therefore have no privileged, external position from hard definition of science can be applied.
which to observe and analyse the object of their The social sciences – such as history, sociology,
investigation. How can we achieve any objective anthropology and political science – study the social
distance and stand apart from what we study if that world, the world of human, animate, living beings.
is the case? Social scientists cannot stand outside or stand in an
Modern sociologists in general would argue external position to the objects of their investigation.
that individual identity, as well as social scientific The behaviour and social actions of human subjects
knowledge, is socially constructed. Humans have is not readily captured in strict laws and the hard
constructed the world in which we live. We live in and definition of science cannot be applied. Note that this
are shaped by the complex, socially constructed world distinction between the natural and social sciences
of language, traditions, rituals, norms and values which has been cut with a sharp analytical knife. Biology,
served previous generations well. Some theorists for instance, studies living, but non-human, subjects
would say we cannot tear ourselves away from these and falls somewhere in between. This immediately
social moorings and be objective and neutral. Out of suggests that clear-cut analytical distinctions seldom
this social matrix we form our own individual ideas capture the complexity of issues and is one of the many
and learn to express our own independent agency. We intellectual challenges of the sciences in general.
generally have a personal interest in what we study.
We study sociology not just because it is fascinating, Reflexivity in the social sciences
but because we have an interest in getting a university To overcome the power of context and the fact that we
degree! We have interests and so, as you will see Max are part of what we study, we need to develop a special
Weber would say, we might prioritise our capacity for awareness of what it is we are doing by critically

reflecting on our own thinking activity, our own social as these ideas have developed and been challenged.
context and the role of our own thinking. Theorists This matter will be addressed at the end of this chapter.
call this reflexivity and to be reflexive is generally
understood to be good social scientific theoretical
practice. The importance of this epistemological Box 1.2 Ideas, values norms and traditions
issue and these questions lie at the foundation of the Read the following statement and answer the three
discipline of sociology. The word epistemic means questions below:
that which is related to knowing and to knowledge.
Epistemology asks the question: How do we know? As Africans, we may hold a set of ideas, values,
What it is to acquire knowledge has, of course, occupied norms and traditions which do not entirely fit with
the minds of thinkers since the beginning of time, the the dominant ‘Western’ or, for that matter, ‘Eastern’
importance of which will soon become evident. To views of the social world.
claim to know something in the social sciences means Questions
stripping the veil off our own socialised learning
1. What are these ideas, values, norms and traditions?
and practices. You might find it useful to know that
2. Do you think we can escape the traditions of
your lecturers and sociologists in general struggle
Western thought and culture?
with these timeless issues and even reflect on how
3. Add to your initial thoughts as you study. This is a
to introduce social theory in the best possible way to
longer term intellectual project.
undergraduates such as the majority of you reading
this textbook (see Stewart 2003). This is because
sociology cannot be separated from the constant
awareness of how we are caught up in the object of our 1.2 Major perspectives or approaches
study, our reflections on what it is we are doing and in sociology
how best to conduct practical social research. This How one identifies the main foundational thinkers and
points to the importance of methodology in the social major perspectives in sociology is controversial. After
sciences, which is a topic you will encounter in your briefly introducing two such thinkers, Ibn Khaldun
undergraduate study later. and Auguste Comte, the three major theoretical
perspectives, approaches or paradigms which have
1.1.12 The dominance of ‘Western’ been widely accepted as foundational to sociology
sociological theory will be discussed. Despite much deserved criticism of
In this chapter and textbook, the theories of society the intellectual tradition sociology has inherited, the
are still largely, but not exclusively, associated with writings of Émile Durkheim (1858–1917), Karl Marx
Western thought. The reason for this is that Western (1818–1883) and Max Weber (1864–1920) will be the
thinkers remain widely accepted as the founders focus. This textbook will certainly present evidence of
of the still young modern academic discipline of this claim to their continuing relevance, although by
sociology – established only around a century ago. no means uncritically as you will soon discover.
Under the influence of the European Enlightenment Modern science and the prospect that certainty in
(1650–1800) and the French Revolution (1879), the knowledge could be achieved had captured the human
three foundational thinkers of sociology all tried to imagination when these thinkers wrote and impacted
explain the massive shifts which occurred in human on the way they thought. The great hope was that
society with the invention of machines which, from science would solve many human and social problems.
the 1830s, ushered in the Industrial Revolution. The Marx, Weber and Durkheim were influenced by this
capacity to exercise control over society developed in hope. In their case it was the age of modernity which
a way which had not been possible before. New ideas followed the period of the Enlightenment in Europe
and sociological theories based on evidence sought when a great flowering of the arts and knowledge
to conceptualise this radically new phenomenon as accompanied the emergence of modern science. This
human beings gained a new-found sense of themselves exciting period in human development also massively
and their power to respond to and create the social influenced intellectual giants such as Charles Darwin
world around them. We face very similar issues today (1809–1882), who developed the scientific theory
10

about the origin of the human species, Sigmund Freud this chapter, do just that. It is with the original ‘father’
(1856–1939) the father of modern psychology and many of sociology, Ibn Khaldun, we will, however, begin.
others. Such was the impact of the Enlightenment – also
referred to as the Age of Reason – that it had its echo
in the idea of the African Renaissance as articulated
by former president, Thabo Mbeki. He wished Africa
would emulate this powerful artistic, cultural and
scientific movement and work towards it, but do so by
adopting a purely African stance and perspective, one
located in Africa.
Of the three key foundational thinkers in
sociology, Émile Durkheim has been associated with
the view that sociology can be a science modelled on
the strict definition of science. He thought that the
criteria which lay the epistemological foundations for
knowledge in the natural sciences, can and must apply
to the social sciences. The criteria for knowledge were
laid down in the philosophy of positivism.
Max Weber strenuously disagreed with this view.
Science as defined by natural science, which examined
physical objects and natural forces, could simply not,
he thought, be applied to the complexity of what it was
to be human. Due to the fact that human beings have
free will and that many interpretations of the same Figure 1.1 Abdul al-Rahman ibn Khaldun
phenomena or social events can be encountered, any (Source: Image courtesy of Wikimedia)
study of human affairs was subject to the capacity of
interpretation of which human beings are capable. 1.2.1 Abdul al-Rahman ibn Khaldun
Human beings continually interpret the world around Ibn Khaldun (1332–1406) ‘received a careful education’,
them and so Max Weber is associated with the approach schooled by his father and ‘scholars teaching in the
of interpretive sociology. mosques and schools of Tunis’ in the fourteenth century
While Karl Marx wrote earlier than both Durkheim in North Africa where he lived. He studied the Qur’an,
and Weber, theorists who have taken their lead from his the Word of God for Muslims as ‘revealed through the
voluminous writings adopt the perspective that both prophet Muhammed’; the Hadith, the ‘traditions of
Durkheim’s and Weber’s theories essentially express what the Prophet had said and done, jurisprudence,
and represent the views and thinking of the ruling and the science of law – as based on the Qur’an and
the economically and politically powerful social class Hadith, the Arabic language and the rational sciences,
in any society. The origin of this view is that the task of mathematics, logic and philosophy’ (Hourani 1991:
philosophy, Marx thought, was not to merely interpret 1). North African students have long been taught that
and understand the world, but to change it. For Marx, the scholar Ibn Khaldun was the first sociologist. This
this meant changing capitalist society. The critical recognition has only fairly recently been rediscovered
perspective in social science has consequently been in the West (Ritzer 2000). Many of his ideas prefigure
based on and associated with his complex theoretical those of other thinkers in the discipline whose ideas
works spanning philosophy, politics and economics. and theories will be discussed.
Each of these theorists will be introduced and their Standing out in history when compared to
influence will be found throughout this textbook and his peers, living when the dominant idea was
virtually any other good sociology textbook you might that everything had already been discovered and
consult. Test yourself to see whether you can identify anticipating Comte, Ibn Khaldun considered himself
the assumptions of these three major perspectives. In as the founder of a new ‘science’, the ‘science of human
fact, the decolonial theorists, introduced at the end of association’ (Wardi 1950: 265). This would be ‘a new
11

and independent science of society and culture which Al-Muqaddimah (Introduction or Prolegomena)
he called ilm al-‘umran – literally translated to mean Ibn Khaldun’s theoretical orientation is developed in
‘sociology’ – whose subject matter and objects of study what is an early universal view of history and society.
would be human society and social organisations, His central text is the Muqaddimah (Introduction or
and whose primary concerns would be explaining the Prolegomena). The Muqaddimah explicitly developed
conditions that often inform social change and the a distinctly sociological perspective to understand
essence of civilisation’ (Abdullahi & Salawu, citing Ibn history informed by sociological concepts. This
Khaldun 1967: 38–39). Ibn Khaldun has consequently laid the basis for his Universal History in which his
been thought to be the only writer in Islam at the time historiography, cultural history and philosophy
who recognised ‘the importance of preconceptions of history found expression. A modern scholar
and categories of thought in the settling of intellectual assessed Ibn Khaldun’s work as rational, analytical
debate’ (Wardi 1950: 261). He set out to discover a logic and encyclopaedic and which presented not only
based on the actual events of human society as his history, but an explanation of history (Rosenthal
data, which he referred to as a ‘scientific tool’, in order 1967). Anticipating Weber and the importance of
to distinguish between what was true and false when understanding, verstehen, Ibn Khaldun penetrated
examining historical data – and formulated social deeply into what other people thought and their value
laws to verify the validity of such data (Ibn Khaldun, systems (Wardi 1950: 404). This was a novel and highly
Al-Muqaddimah, p6, cited in Wardi 1950: 264). In original achievement for the fourteenth century.
doing so, Ibn Khaldun has the distinction of being the It is not surprising Ibn Khaldun was highly
‘only writer in medieval Islam’ – free of ‘idealistic’ critical of the intellectual culture and attitudes and
orientation (Wardi 1950: 81). suspicions of his day. The uncritical acceptance of
What is hugely controversial even today, one ideas apparently particularly irked him and which he
serious source suggests, is that Ibn Khaldun ‘can rightly took to task. He was instead concerned with the clear
be considered as the first thinker in Islam’ who was definition of specialised concepts, such as existed
prepared to analyse the sacred tradition of his religion in the natural sciences at the time, needed for ‘the
by putting it ‘on the dissection-table of time and place’ purpose of explaining, clarifying, and understanding
(Wardi 1950: 101). His work, thought by some to be the phenomenon under investigation’ (Abdullahi &
opaque, yet by others very clear, distinguished itself Salawu 2012: 28). In a thoroughly modern vein, Ibn
from the traditional thinking and the historiography Khaldun wrote about ‘actual happenings of society
of the time which relied on commonly held traditional and customary ways of life’ (Wardi 1950: 269). Because
views and ‘idealistic preconceptions and classical he did not deal with what were considered to be the
rules of thinking’ (Wardi 1950: viii). The varied important issues, namely the eternal ideas of the
responses to Ibn Khaldun’s work stems directly from sacred, his contemporaries missed the importance of
the context in which it was written. No one could go his work. In a society shaped by a religious world view
against the religious absolutism of the accepted and and the strict separation of good and evil, the eternal
orthodox dogma of the day. Wardi argues Ibn Khaldun and sacred belonged to the good. The ordinary affairs
consequently had a dilemma in presenting his realist of the world were associated with evil. Ibn Khaldun
and materialist perspective in the face of the idealistic rejected this binary way of thinking.
absolutist orientation of the dominant religious culture For Ibn Khaldun the actual happenings of society
and the learned men of his day (1950: 86ff). Independent were inescapable and permanent. He hence sought
thinkers have often faced this dilemma. In order not to to trace the pattern which ordinary, everyday events
be condemned, he ‘superficially supported’ his secular followed. He observed how the common people acted
theory with traditional religious sayings which would according to custom, inherited manners and beliefs and
have been acceptable to his readers, but who in any case considered this to be natural and valid. In the minds
ignored his realist orientation and focus on the doings of of these common pre-modern people there was no
ordinary people (1950: 86ff). This has led commentators distinction between ideal and real as the logicians and
astray when interpreting Ibn Khaldun’s work, the philosophers of the day held. Anticipating Marx as you
theoretical orientation of which is ‘relativistic, will see, Ibn Khaldun was of the view that ‘the human
temporalistic and materialistic’ (Wardi 1950: 88). mind is a product of the environment and man is the
12

child of his habits and customs’ (Muqadimmah, pp 433 The concept of asabiyyah was hence central in his
and 125, cited by Wardi 1950: 271). Consequently, for understanding of social change. Asabiyyah would
Ibn Khaldun, one cannot get to know or understand ‘play itself out’ within a dynasty, with those displaying
ideas for which one has no ‘mental preparedness’ stronger forms of social cohesion taking their place.
(Wardi 1950: 271). Today this is clearly obvious to us. These cycles, Ibn Khaldun suggested, would repeat
In the fourteenth century, to the logicians of his day, themselves every four generations or for as long as
who were attempting to get ordinary people to change four kings reigned. He argued that these cycles further
their ways, Ibn Khaldun advocated they leave their applied to other pre-modern civilisations in China,
‘ivory towers’ and ‘go along with the multitude’ (Wardi India, Persia and Europe. In each of these instances
1950: 277). It is not surprising that Ibn Khaldun’s work the religions and world views of the invaders would
has been thought to have a remarkably modern feel take root, whether it was Islam in the East or Roman-
about it. Greco culture and Christianity in the West. From his
learning Ibn Khaldun would have studied the march
Asabiyyah and cyclical social change of history and how the great empires of the Greeks and
Prefiguring Émile Durkheim, Ibn Khaldun can be the Persians had been replaced by the Arabs, who in
interpreted as having the notion of asabiyyah as his turn had been replaced by Berbers in Spain in the west
central organising concept. Translated from Arabic, and by Turks in the east.
asabiyyah means social solidarity, group cohesion These historical cycles were inevitable, Ibn
or group consciousness (Abdullahi & Salawu, 2012: Khaldun thought. He held that ‘the future and past run
31). Asabiyyah has also been rendered as ‘a corporate on the same pattern and according to the same laws
spirit orientated towards obtaining and keeping and so both future and past can be observed in the
power’ (Hourani 1991: 2). This meant strong degrees of present’, hence his concern with studying the routines
integration and identification needed to be established of everyday life (Wardi 1950: 85). This orientation led
and maintained within the nomadic tribe and who him to accept the inevitable march of history and have
Ibn Khaldun greatly admired for their independence social order as his focus. He consequently disparaged
and strength in comparison to those who lived in the campaigns of those ‘trouble makers’ whose actions
the towns on the fringes of the desert. Any leader tried to change society as disruptions to the social
who had a sufficiently strong and cohesive following order would weaken asabiyyah in the process (Wardi
manifesting asabiyyah could establish themselves as 1950: 277).
the authoritative ruler of a dynasty or what today we
would call a state. Once such rule was firmly within Range and scope of Khaldunian sociology
grasp, ‘populous cities would grow up and in them You might like to Google Ibn Khaldun to appreciate
there would be specialised crafts, luxurious ways of the range and scope of his work. A number of ideas
living and high culture’ (Hourani 1991: 2). across the social science disciplines are attributed to
Such was the importance of asabiyyah that it lay at him; a conflict theory based on the struggle between
the heart of how Ibn Khaldun thought dynasties followed ‘town’ and ‘desert’; the originator of a labour theory
each other in cyclical fashion. He observed how nomadic of value adopted by Marx; notions which would later
tribes living on the fringes of great dynasties or empires, only be encountered in the work of luminary thinkers
who manifested stronger degrees of asabiyyah than those such as Georg Hegel, Marx and Friedrich Nietzshe in
of the dynasties, would come to replace them in regular the nineteenth century and Arnold Toynbee in the
cycles. As the asabiyyah of the dynasties loosened twentieth century; comparisons to some of the views
over time within a cycle, they became less disciplined of the influential economist John Maynard Keynes; the
and lax. Such dynasties were weakened as a result of Khaldun-Laffer curve principle used, intriguingly, in
political infighting, factionalism and individualism. both economics and solid state physics and chemistry
The dynasties would become weakened as a political as well as Islamic theology and psychology. Let us
unit and unable to resist challenges from beyond their end this brief review, however, with Ibn Khaldun’s
borders in a time when there was no distinction between explanation of a matter of critical importance for
religious and political power and force and might was us today.
accepted as right.
13

Explaining racial difference recognised as the first thinker to clearly articulate the
Couched within ‘the principles of general sociology’ rules of method in the natural sciences. His concern
(Bin Syed Agil 2008, cited by Abdullahi & Salawu 2012: was to lay the foundations for certainty regarding
29) Ibn Khaldun addressed a range of issues of his day, knowledge. Positivism provides strict epistemological
including that of racial difference. His explanation, criteria and rules for scientific method and is based
again, was modern and makes good scientific sense six on limiting theory to the evidence collected. While
hundred years later. Ibn Khaldun explained biological Comte’s strict interpretation of positivism has been
differences evident among different peoples in terms formally discredited philosophically, simply because
of the interaction of different groups of people with the human and social affairs are too complex to be treated
biological conditions of their environment. Personality as mere empirical data, positivist principles relating
traits of particular groups were not determined by to the role of evidence powerfully remain in practice
innate differences, but were instead environmentally in powerful ways within both the natural and social
and socially conditioned (Abdullahi & Salawu 2012). sciences. In short, if there is no evidence to support a
Ibn Khaldun also argued that the differentiating statement, that statement does not represent an item of
national characteristics of the Arabs and the Jews knowledge. Here is a quick example of which Comte
are not based on innate differences but on culture, would have approved as there is plenty of evidence for
experience and historical exigencies (Abdullahi & the statement: Many tertiary students cannot afford
Salawu 2012: 29). university fees.
Auguste Comte’s theory of three stages

For Auguste Comte ideas govern the world. But
because these ideas could not be proved in a way
which every reasonable and rational person would be
forced to accept, everyone expressed their own views
and opinions and fruitlessly argued with anyone who
expressed otherwise. For Comte, this explained why
there was disorder in the world. There was simply no
yardstick to assess different arguments or which was
the better argument. And people behaved according to
and social groups acted on, their preferred beliefs. There
was no way for protagonists of different arguments to
resolve their differences and arrive at any degree of
certainty. Society consequently manifested, Comte
thought, aspects of disorder due to different competing
arguments with no overall agreement being possible.
Comte attempted to resolve this matter once and
for all. Society needed science and for it to be properly
ordered and have a solid foundation for agreement.
He developed a theory of how human intelligence
went through three stages, each stage being a grand
conception about life and the world in general.
Figure 1.2 Auguste Comte Somewhat controversially, he thought these three
(Source: Image courtesy of INPRA) stages applied not only to the development of human
intelligence in general down the ages. He also thought
1.2.2 Comte and positivism that the development of the mind of every individual,
Auguste Comte (1798–1857) is important not simply both yours and mine, followed these three stages.
because he first conceptualised sociology as a To use our definition of what a concept does, these
discipline which he initially referred to as ‘social three stages, he postulated, picked out or identified
physics’. Comte was important due to being generally three stages of both historical and individual human
14

development. This ‘three stages’ theory both described reasonable explanation for human experience than that of
the social world and prescribed how disorder could an unseen god. Human life is subject to the abstract forces
be overcome. Do pay close attention if you want to such as the weather and the forces of human instincts
understand the recent university based struggles and human passions. The mind could make reference to
around decolonisation! these forces, but not yet properly understand them prior
to the advent of science. This metaphysical stage also
The theological stage culminates in one grand conception, that of Nature,
The first stage was the theological or what he also called which is understood to be the cause of all phenomena.
the ‘fictitious’ stage. Comte argued that this stage was
a necessary stage of development, in other words it The scientific stage
had to have occurred. Its role was to release the mind In the final, positive or scientific stage the mind
from the circular trap in which human thinking found comes to the realisation that absolute knowledge is
itself. This circular trap can be described as follows. not possible and that metaphysical speculation must
We need concepts and theory to guide our thinking be substituted by a form of knowledge which provides
in order to make sense of what we perceive when we real certainty. Reason and observation together finally
observe things. But we cannot perceive things without enable us to rely on facts and evidence. The mind has
having a concept to isolate that thing from the rest of reached what Comte thought was its final flowering,
the world in which it is placed. This is the trap Comte the end state of knowledge, namely positivism. Such
thought early human thinking encountered. He put it knowledge is scientific. It is open to question and
this way in his work The Positive Philosophy (1832): debate and subject to the power of reason and logic in
the light of the emergence of new facts and theories
Between the necessity of observing facts in order and is hence progressive. But for whom – which social
to form a theory, and having a theory in order to groups – is it progressive, you might ask, in the South
observe facts, the human mind would have been African intellectual climate today?
entangled in a vicious circle, but for the natural
opening afforded by theological conceptions. Static and dynamic social analysis
(Thompson & Tunstall 1971: 20.) There are two aspects in Comte’s theory of the three
stages. We observe both order and progress in social
The belief in gods and then later the unifying idea affairs. We hence need a static or stable conceptual
of a single divine being (monotheism) satisfied the aspect in our theory as well as a conception of dynamism
questions the human mind posed in its attempt to and change in order to grasp the relation between the
understand the world and find answers about the origin parts of society and society as a whole. The static
and purpose of human existence. This theological aspect focused on and accounted for the evidence of
stage culminates in one grand conception of a divine stability in society, while the dynamic aspect focused
being and represents absolute knowledge. on social change. Comte’s theory of society constituted
a whole – ie statics and dynamics must be integrated
The philosophical stage in social analysis. From these two aspects of Comte’s
The next stage in the development of the human theory, much of sociological theorising followed.
mind is the metaphysical, philosophical, abstract or Comte’s theory was sufficiently sophisticated
‘speculative’ stage. This stage, Comte’s theory says, to recognise that one stage leads to the next, not in a
is a development of the theological stage and is a neat linear fashion, but rather as a complex series of
transitional or bridging stage. As the human mind dynamic changes and that all three stages could co-
develops it begins to think more abstractly and deeply exist. One stage would influence successive stages. He
about the physical world, hence the meaning of the term was clear, however, that confusion and disorder arises
metaphysics – thinking about physics. Humans begin when all three exist together, for then no agreement
to reason and think about the abstract forces of Nature. can be achieved. For agreement to be achieved and an
Once observed and noticed, the power of Nature – the ordered society to arise, the final scientific stage had to
seasons, the sea, the wind, fire and the fertile character be reached. Only the power of rational thought, relying
of the earth – provide a more immediate and more on evidence, would secure an ordered society. Comte
15

certainly intended that his theory would shape ideas (Thompson & Tunstall 1971: 27) and automation when
and powerfully influence human thinking and action. he wrote in the first decades of the nineteenth century.
Each thinking individual was to develop through He observed the increasing division of labour and saw
these stages to attain the final stage of positive once multi-skilled artisans relegated to the simple task
knowledge – science. If a person’s intellectual of making pin heads, which so horrified the economist
development has not gone through these stages, Comte Adam Smith (1723–1790) in the late eighteenth century
thought, they have immature minds as they are not and which Karl Marx sought to explain. Comte would
prepared to base beliefs on evidence and facts. certainly have been aghast at how knowledge was to
become so specialised that academics were virtually
forced by the astounding growth of knowledge to end
Box 1.3 Order and progress up only studying one thing, often losing sight of the
The Brazilian flag has the motto of Comte – Order and whole. This is perhaps not surprising, for despite its
Progress – emblazoned on it. dynamic aspect and much subsequent criticism of
it, Comte’s theory, assuming the power of ideas and
Question prescribing what should happen, was not very good in
Would Comte’s motto be appropriate for South African predicting and explaining social change. There was
society today? What would this mean? one social thinker, however, who was to focus not on
social order, but on social change.
Comte’s influence 1.2.4 Marx and critical social science

From having been able to explain disorder in society When social change comes into focus, conflict theories
and how order (and social progress) can be achieved, are developed. Conflict theories observe that there are
a range of influential theories followed, such as competing interests in society and the dynamism that
functionalist and consensus theories. Examples develops, as different social classes of people interact and
of these theoretical orientations are to be found come into conflict, provides the engine of social change.
throughout this textbook. Functionalist theories
examine how different parts of society work and how
they fit together. Consensus theories examine how
agreement occurs in society and stresses the need
for social cohesion via the attainment of agreement
between people of different persuasions. Not only did
Comtean sociology emerge as a serious attempt to solve
the problem of disorder, but here was a social scientific
approach comprising both theory and methodology
providing certainty regarding knowledge. This would
serve, Comte thought, as an arbiter between competing
theories and contribute to a more ordered society. What
goes for science and how knowledge is constituted are,
however, our contemporary questions.
1.2.3 The vast scope of sociology

Sociology was consequently to observe and examine
all manner of human, social and historical events,
processes and procedures, hence the vast scope of the
discipline and the broad reach of its theories. Sociology
was to examine all social interaction in relation to the
whole of society and to take account of past and future
development. Comte even foresaw and warned of the Figure 1.3 Karl Marx
danger of ‘the action of Man upon his environment’ (Source: Image courtesy of INPRA)
16

Karl Marx was the pre-eminent conflict theorist. He vulnerable and socially marginalised people). How the
rejected Comte’s focus on ideas which could change economy or the mode of production was organised was
the world. Like Comte, however, he thought there were based on these simple facts. With the rise of capitalism
laws of human development. But unlike Comte, these especially, the mode of production was characterised
laws were to be found by examining the material forces by a fundamental antagonism and conflict between the
of history. If Comte had an evolutionary view, Marx two basic and antagonistic social classes. It is hence
propounded a revolutionary one based on a theoretical no surprise that the concepts of labour, work and
approach he called historical materialism. Even more production and the need for every society to produce a
so than Comte’s work, Marx’s theories have been the surplus are centrally critical concepts for Marx as later
subject of much debate and criticism. chapters in this textbook will show.
The starting point of materialist social analysis Exploitation and revolutionary theory
For Marx, it had to be recognised that human beings Marx thought capitalist society was based on
first had to produce their basic material needs exploitation. This was not a moral, but a technical
before doing anything else. Each society at different issue for Marx. Simply put, exploitation occurs in the
stages of development had to collectively organise capitalist mode of production as the wages workers
how to satisfy these needs. The manner in which earn is worth less than the economic value they
things were produced or what Marx called society’s produce. Under capitalism, exploitation results in the
mode of production was therefore central not only to experience of alienation which occurs in a number of
social life and the social relations of production, but ways. Workers, those actively engaged in the economic
social analysis. His theory consequently stressed the base of society, were alienated from their own work
importance of what happened at the economic base as they exercised little or no control over their own
of society and out of which the superstructure (law, work. Workers were alienated from each other as
politics, religion, education and art) of society emerged. they had to compete with other workers. Workers
Except for the most primitive societies where were alienated from what they produced as they did
everything was shared, Marx theorised that as not own their own product. Finally, workers were
human society developed, in every form of social and alienated from themselves as individuals as they were
economic organisation there were those who owned unable to realise their own human potential. Workers
and controlled the resources society had at its disposal had to learn that this was the situation in which they
and those who performed the labour with the means of found themselves. Marx sought to provide them with
production – the tools and materials needed to produce a revolutionary social analysis and practical ideas
what society needed. Society was hence divided into to overcome their exploitative situation. He wanted
opposing social classes. This division gave rise to his ideas to be weapons in the struggle between the
conflict between social classes, would shape society proletarian workers and the bourgeois capitalist class.
and social development and was for Marx the ‘motor’ It is quite clear whose side Marx was on.
of social change. History, for Marx, is a succession
of developments in which different societies are Historical materialism and materialist dialectics
characterised by their mode of production. History In order to develop these ideas Marx had to confront
is driven by class struggle between two basic social the dominant philosophy and teaching of his day.
groups – the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’, the rich and the The method Marx used to articulate his historical
poor, the oppressor and the oppressed or, when it comes materialist perspective he took from the idealist
to modern capitalist society, between the proletariat German philosopher Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel
(the labouring working class) and the bourgeoisie (1770–1831), namely dialectics. There is no easy way
(the owners of the means of production). Apart of defining dialectics in a sentence or two, not least
from these two major or fundamental social classes, because the philosophy of Hegel is renowned for its
Marx’s stratification of society into social classes difficult and abstract language. Hegelian dialectics
also included the petty bourgeoisie (small business rests on the idea or thesis that all logic and world history
owners, teachers, lawyers and other professionals) and itself is characterised by internal contradictions. It is
the lumpen-proletariat (the unemployed and other hence subject to change, but confronts resistance or
17

an antithesis to change which transcends or resolves primitive hand-held tools. Yet as humans grasped and
the contradictions. This results in a synthesis which shaped their world with increasingly sophisticated
is the accommodating resolution of the contradictory tools, so did their knowledge, consciousness and sense
sets of forces, but which sets in motion new sets of of themselves and their world develop.
contradictions requiring resolution. Human consciousness then, for Marx, arises out
Marx challenged the Hegelian notion that the world of materially rooted social experiences and the social
could be explained in terms of ideas interacting with structuring of life appropriate to each of the stages
nature or the world external to the human mind. For or modes of production which characterise human
Marx, the driving forces were fundamentally material history. As Marx famously wrote in 1859 in the Preface
forces. Capital, for instance, faces its contradictory to a Contribution to the Critique of Political Economy:
opposite, labour (who demand higher wages), resolves ‘It is not the consciousness of men that determines
the contradiction (by introducing machines), but their being, but on the contrary, their social being
which gives rise to new contractions (the machinists determines their consciousness’ (see Bottomore &
demand higher wages), which themselves must be Rubel 1963: 67–70). Human beings naturally struggle
resolved (by automating production). Like Hegel, to assert their collective agency against these socially
however, the Marxist theory of historical materialism, structuring influences as they construct their world,
combined with his method of materialist dialectics, yet are compelled to do so within the context of the
results in a grand, overarching theory of history and influence of the past. As Marx put it in The Eighteenth
society. Some have called this a ‘totalising narrative’, Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte in 1852: ‘Men make their
capturing everything under its complex matrix own history, but they do not make it just as they please
of concepts and interlocking theories. This grand … but under circumstances directly found, given and
theoretical framework explains what some Marxist transmitted from the past’ (Tucker 1978: 595). The
theorists call ‘the combined and uneven development’ point is that as we mould and change the world to
of society on a global scale – how and why development satisfy our wants and needs, while we face the weight
and underdevelopment (or developed and developing of past traditions and circumstances, we transform
societies) are inextricably linked together in a complex, ourselves, including the way we think and become
global capitalist economic system. While many critics, aware of things.
such as post-modern thinkers discussed in Chapter
3 on Culture, do not think such grand conceptual Social classes and the mode of production
schemes can explain our highly complex modern Like us, Marx wanted to understand and explain
world, this is a subject for another day. his own society and the emergence of capitalism in
particular. From the 1830s onwards the Industrial
Human consciousness Revolution in Britain had utterly transformed the
Marx thus begins with the everyday – the need to previous slow-moving feudal society based on
produce our material needs of existence. The existing agriculture. Two new social classes had arisen and
tools and technology with which we do this powerfully had replaced the aristocratic lords and peasant serfs of
frames our very thinking and consciousness. To take feudal society. In an African, agriculturally dominated
an extreme example, a pre-industrial peasant farmer society, we would refer to chiefs or traditional
obviously cannot share the world view of scientists leaders overseeing the lives and work of those who
formulating the physics required of the Square work the fields. Marx noted, with considerable
Kilometre Array (SKA) (partly built in the Northern admiration, that the new social class, the townspeople
Province) or the Large Hadron Collider (built under or bourgeoisie who had replaced the aristocracy
the ground in Europe). Both of these technologies – dominating the previous feudal mode of production,
the one exploring the stars and the other exploring was a progressive social class. In society, as Marx
sub-atomic matter – are the biggest machines ever to was to proclaim in the Manifesto of the Communist
be built by human beings. The minds and knowledge Party of 1848: ‘The bourgeoisie, historically, has
of the scientists responsible for these astonishing played a most revolutionary part’ (Tucker 1978: 475).
endeavours are light years away from the pre-industrial This new bourgeoisie often had no inherited land
experience and consciousness shaped by working with and wealth and were the first entrepreneurial class.
18

They organised the making of things they sold for a potentially explosive productive power of this capacity
profit, thereby transforming the ancient agriculturally which lay at the basis of the creation of economic
dominated economy into the greatest, most powerful value. For the wage agreed to on the market between
and productive industrial economy and society the the employer and the worker was worth far less than
world had ever seen. the capacity of labour-power to create untold wealth
once harnessed with materials and tools to produce
Analysing capitalism commodities. Herein also lay the fundamental conflict
Marx conceptualised this achievement as the at the base of capitalist society. For the wages of workers
capitalist mode of production. But to do this, Marx are a cost for the bourgeois employer, but are the sole
needed to define money and capital. He did so in his source of life for the working proletariat. For many,
book Capital: Critique of Political Economy in 1867. these two social classes – the bourgeois owners of the
Where did this fabulous wealth and profit come means of production and the working proletariat who
from? Previous classical economists, Adam Smith owned only their own labour-power – would forever
and David Ricardo (1772–1823), had given answers clash as long as capitalism survived.
to this question – labour. The purposeful application
of human energy at work – labour in other words – The concept of class
creating things and artefacts and commodities for sale Class, for Marx, was defined in terms of ownership
on the market, was the source of all economic value and and non-ownership of the means of production. Class
wealth. But neither Smith nor Ricardo had properly was not just a concept, but an objective reality. Social
explained profit and this Marx set out to do with both class defines the subjective experience of its members.
far-reaching conceptual and politically revolutionary To get the idea across to the proletariat that they were
consequences. He invented new concepts to pick out, exploited by the bourgeoisie, who did not pay them the
isolate and identify new social phenomena, such as full value of the commodities they produced and that
labour-power (the capacity to work) and explained they suffered alienation under capitalism as a result,
the role of private property. He developed new a revolution was needed and for that a revolutionary
understandings of old concepts such as labour and the political working class party was required. If workers
division of labour. failed to understand this they would forever suffer
from what Marx called ‘false consciousness’ – the
Challenging the dominant ideas of the ruling class belief that if they worked hard under capitalism they
For Marx, the dominant ideas of the day – the ideas of the would prosper. Evidence that hard work is not enough
ruling class – constituted the ideology (set of ideas) which to prosper is the existence of the ‘working poor’,
provided the justification for co-operation in the capitalist workers who, though employed, remain poor. One of
mode of production. These ideas provided the social Marx’s theories, the ‘immiseration thesis’, the theory
cohesion in a capitalist society underpinned by class that the working class will remain poor – formulated
conflict and class struggle. Marx was seeking a deeper 150 years ago – appears to come close to establishing
explanation for the bourgeois ideology which held to the itself as a social scientific law – at least as it pertains
theory that the driving force in society was the ‘equal to capitalist society.
exchange’ on the market between buyers and sellers. This
equal exchange of products on the market also, however, Revolutionary politics
included a particular commodity he called labour-power Marx was not a passive social analyst. He took sides
– the human capacity to work and produce. Once he had instead of standing back seeking objectivity. Together
identified the social phenomenon of labour-power, with his life-long collaborator Friedrich Engels (1820–
conceptualised it and developed a theory of profit based 1895), they co-authored the Communist Manifesto to get
on the economic surplus workers created, he believed the new revolutionary ideas of historical materialism
he had discovered the secret of bourgeois production. across to the new proletarian industrial working class.
Marx and Engels wanted to create an international
The secret of labour-power revolutionary working class political party and
The ‘equal exchange’ between the sellers (workers) and indeed initiated its formation – the First Working
buyers (employers) of human labour-power masked the Men’s International Association (First International)
19

in 1864. The collective agency of the working class – socialism and communism. Once the social class of
would be needed to accelerate the contradictory the bourgeoisie had been replaced by the proletariat,
structural tendency of capitalism to sow the seeds of much in the same way as the bourgeoisie had replaced
its own destruction. Marx thought that as a social and the aristocracy in their own national democratic
economic system, capitalism had deeply embedded revolution, the means of production created under
and fatally contradictory flaws. capitalism would fall under the control of its working
class producers.
Box 1.4 A political party
Find friends and colleagues who are serious about Dictatorship
rigorous and fair intellectual debate based on the When workers replaced the employers there would
provision of evidence and then do this exercise. need to be a political arrangement that Marx called the
Marx and Engels wanted to create a revolutionary dictatorship of the proletariat. This was envisioned as
working class political party and indeed initiated one – a collective democratic dictatorship, not the rule of a
the First Working Men’s International Association (First single person represented by the Nazi Adolph Hitler
International) in 1864. (1889–1945) or the person who would exercise virtually
complete control over society shortly after the Russian
Question Bolshevik revolution, Joseph Stalin (1878–1953). Marx’s
Is there such a political party in South Africa today? vision was that socialism would be a society where
Discuss this in your group and give reasons for people were put before profits and that this form of
your answer. society would be a transitional social arrangement.
This, he thought, would lead to communism – a classless
society where everybody had a say and were different,
The contradiction in capitalism but equal. History, as we all know, has so far turned out
To this day, Marx’s economics, the slew of sociological somewhat differently and regarding which a welter of
concepts he invented and the theories he developed to social theories and explanations continue into the present.
define capital and capitalist society, are controversial.
For Marx, capital was the crystallisation of the labour- The idealistic vision of Marx
power expended and expropriated from previous Despite the materialist basis for Marx’s thought
generations of the working class. His economic and complex interlocking set of theories based on
theory, however, predicted that there was an inherent an extraordinary range of concepts, applying to the
tendency in capitalism for the rate of profit – not the widest possible range of phenomena and issues, there
absolute amount of profit – to decline. This happens is a powerful idealism embedded in Marx’s theoretical
when an entrepreneur invents and introduces a new accomplishment. He certainly assumed – correctly
product to the market and ideally makes a lot of money, or incorrectly – that human nature would change if
but which attracts other entrepreneurs who enter the social conditions improved. He provided a majestic
market and dent the high profits the inventor was first vision that society would improve for the better, but
making. The inventor must drop his prices, improve his understandably and wisely did not sketch what society
product or invent something else or go out of business. would look like in a future transitional socialist and
Marx thought this never-ending process, whereby then finally in the classless communist society he
money was made and capital was accumulated, was predicted. It is virtually impossible to think what
a structural and unavoidable feature of capitalism. human society will be like in a 100, 500, 1 000 or 2 000
This in-built logic of capitalism, Marx theorised, years’ time. Will the state ‘wither away’ as a communist
was responsible for the series of crises capitalism has society is established as Marx predicted? Is a classless
subsequently faced throughout its history and would society in which people are free of exploitation and
be a key factor contributing to its eventual demise. oppression possible? Will humanity look back on
The logic of the structural contradictions within the astounding technological achievements of the
the capitalist economy, combined with fundamentally twentieth and early twenty-first century as remarkable,
antagonistic social relations within capitalism as a yet be appalled by our current lack of moral substance
whole, pointed to the emergence of new forms of society and the continuation of poverty and social inequality
20

in the context of fabulous wealth under capitalism? power of the working class, or what Marx called a
These are questions which evidently appear to go class ‘in itself’, could be transformed into a class ‘for
beyond science when the social world falls under the itself’ – a social class which had (like the bourgeoisie)
analytical gaze. A recent text on social theory has, for become aware and conscious of its historic role to
instance, pointed to this characteristic of sociology. change human society. The significance of the fact a
The sociology of two great American sociologists, revolution occurred in an economically backward
C. Wright Mills and Robert Bellah, has been described country, inspired by Marx’s ideas and led by Lenin,
as ‘moral sociology’ (Seidman 2004: 97–113). was not lost on developing societies elsewhere in
the world.
The emergence of ethical and moral questions in This signals the historical relevance of Marx’s
sociology theory of society in Africa and elsewhere in the
While a sociology aspiring to be a science is required to developing world. The importance of African
stick to the facts as best it can, given the best theories slavery and the slave trade for economic and social
it can advance, the discipline of sociology is peculiar development in North America and Europe cannot be
in that it readily spills over to asking the bigger, underestimated. Slaves were owned body and soul and
ultimate questions about life. When the fact of poverty had nothing of their own. Some Marxist sociologists
is observed, the immediate moral response is that it is would argue that workers are really not much more
wrong. What undeniably exists – the extent of poverty than wage slaves. Low wages and very poor working and
in the context of great wealth – begs the question of living conditions characterised most workers under
whether it ought not to be different. Facts and norms colonialism. Notions of social class, born in European
can quickly become confused. Sociology engenders struggles between contending social groups, were
thoughts about ethics (how to behave well) and imported into a society where race radically dissolved
morality (the principles of living a good life). Science such social cleavages by virtue of all African, Asian
and belief appear to become intertwined. Perhaps and Latin American people becoming subjugated as
much of sociology is ultimately a set of beliefs born workers and forced into subservience to Europeans,
out of a particular perspective and is well described no matter their social class position. What was a
as a secular religion – as has economics (see Nelson matter of social class in Europe was overlaid by race
2001) – and cannot be a science at all. But this matter in Africa and elsewhere. There was the emergence, for
cannot be entertained here and is noted to indicate the instance, of an African proletariat in the South African
complexity of important issues in the social sciences mining industry. The struggles of these workers and
which remain unresolved. The point is that as Comte others against white employers under colonialism,
wished for order in society to be realised, the idealist segregation and apartheid have repeated themselves
element in Marx has encouraged thought about the under employers of all stripes under democracy. These
social world which stretches well beyond what can be developments have both confirmed and seriously
justified empirically – the hallmark of science as we challenged Marxist analyses based on concepts and
have been discussing. theories developed 150 years ago on another continent.
They remain wide open for reconceptualisation by a
The relevance of Marx for developing societies new generation of sociologists – such as those reading
To conclude this brief introduction on Marx, it should this introductory text. A keen student might like to go
be noted that Marx thought a proletarian revolution and find the article by Sarah Chiumbu (2016) which
would break out in the advanced capitalist societies uses Marxist theory to develop a decolonial analysis
where the forces of production were fully developed. of how the media represented workers at Marikana
It did not. It broke out in Russia, the poor cousin of in 2012.
economically advanced and economically developed This chapter started out by discussing knowledge,
European society. The role of the political party of the science and society and has ended up noting ethics,
working class, the Bolsheviks, led by Vladimir Ilyich morality and what a future society might look like. But
Lenin (1870–1924), was crucial. Despite the minute size it is to the strict or hard definition of science that it
of the working class, Lenin argued that the objective must again return.
21

1.2.5 Durkheim and positivist social only a real thing – an identifiable social phenomenon
science – but played a social role in relation to human agency.
Émile Durkheim was a follower of Auguste Comte. Social facts played a socially structuring role due to
He thought sociology could establish itself as a value- their characteristics. Firstly, social facts were general
neutral and objective science (see Noble 2000: 145ff) and as they were in evidence everywhere. Secondly, they
spent his life attempting to achieve this aim, starting by were external to human agency. Thirdly, social facts
becoming the very first professor of sociology. His first exercised a coercive force over people and fourthly,
task was to distinguish sociology from psychology and people were generally unaware of their existence and
philosophy. To do this his theoretical work defined a the coercive power social facts had over them. These
realm of distinctly social facts. characteristics of social facts were a central aspect of
Durkheim’s positivist perspective. Some theorists do
not think there are such things as social facts and it
is not easy at first to grasp this concept. Social facts,
however, can be neatly illustrated by looking at one of
Durkheim’s major works entitled Suicide, published
in 1897.
Studying suicide
Suicide is a gloomy topic, but is instructive to study,
which is what the French government was doing at the
time Durkheim lived. Much statistical data was being
collected, but establishing the cause of suicide proved
to be elusive. Durkheim came up with a remarkable
finding, thereby establishing sociology as an academic
discipline as well as establishing his own reputation,
which endures to this day.
Committing suicide is probably the most deeply
intimate and personal thing an individual can do.
Despite this, Durkheim established that there were
different rates of suicide among different groups of
people. This strongly suggested that broader social
Figure 1.4 Émile Durkheim factors were at work beyond the personality of the
(Source: Image courtesy of Corbis Images) individuals who committed suicide. These different
rates of suicide, Durkheim positively showed, were
Social facts directly related to the degree of social cohesion
The way in which Durkheim defined social facts was within different social groups. The concept of social
broader than the way facts were defined in psychology cohesion – also referred to as social solidarity or social
and philosophy. What psychology construes as facts integration by many sociologists – refers to the bonds,
apply to the individual and the individual psyche. links and ties keeping a social group together. Social
While philosophy has much to say about facts and the cohesion can be considered as the social ‘glue’ that keeps
way in which concepts refer to the external world, in a community or group of people together in an ordered
empiricism especially, a fact is generally understood to manner. Where individuals were not closely tied to a
be an actual state of affairs. Durkheim went further and community or social group, suicide rates were higher
argued that social facts should be treated as external than where there were close bonds of shared norms and
‘things’ in the same way as facts were treated in the values which regulated people’s lives. For Durkheim,
natural sciences. Social facts, Durkheim was to show, this finding was akin to that of the laws in the natural
played a central socially structuring role in society. sciences. Sociology was shown to be nomothetic (law-
The concept, social fact, hence did not just refer to making) and hence mirrored the natural sciences and
some social phenomenon, but was, for Durkheim, not resulted in real scientific knowledge.
22

Durkheim argued that incidents and the rates of suicide Functionalism and structuralism
were closely related to levels of social cohesion. He The surprising finding of Durkheim’s study on suicide
distinguished between egoistic suicide and anomic lies in the explanatory power of Durkheim’s concepts
suicide which occurred when individuals detached and theoretical work. His studies resulted in what is
themselves or were dislocated from social bonds. probably the most coherent explicitly sociological
Fatalistic suicide and altruistic suicide occurred in theory of society – leading to sociological strains of
overly highly regulated environments. During times thought such as functionalism and structuralism,
of economic hardship or where individuals experience which you will find expressed in different ways
becoming separated and dislocated from their social throughout this textbook. Of the many basic concepts
group – such as failing matric – these are examples emerging from theories founded on Durkheim’s work,
of anomic suicide. Where religious or nationalistic a few more will now be introduced.
bonds are overly regulated, suicide is clearly a social
affair. Japanese hara-kiri fighter pilots in the Second Box 1.6 Social theory and social research are two
World War, contemporary Muslim suicide bombers sides of the same coin
and the Tibetan monks who have immolated (set fire Read the following paragraph and then think about
to) themselves in opposition to Chinese occupation how you would answer the question below.
of their country, would be examples of altruistic We trust people with things that are important to
suicide. All types of suicide occurred then when social us, even our lives. We trust that lecturers will mark
cohesion was either very weak or oppressively strong. examination scripts fairly; that the police will arrive
Durkheim hence proved that committing suicide was if we suffer a theft; that doctors will provide proper
more than simply an individual and personal decision. treatment in hospitals; that the cell phone company will
bill our contract correctly, to name a few examples of
Social cohesion organic solidarity. We know that if regulations and laws
Durkheim made a very strong case for the powerful covering such relationships are not adhered to and we
force of social cohesion to qualify as a social fact. The suffer a loss, a legal claim can be instituted.
phenomenon met the criteria of his four-fold definition
of a social fact. Social cohesion was general in society Question
– no group could do without some form of social Do we live in a society in which trust will continue to be
cohesion. Social cohesion is external to the individual a source of social cohesion or one in which we are likely
as it is a characteristic of the social group as a whole. to increasingly resort to litigation (the law) in the event
Social cohesion exercises different degrees of coercion that we suffer damage or loss?
over people and is hence a social force and of which
people are generally unaware. Interestingly, as so
often happens, the concept of social cohesion, like The division of labour
other sociological concepts, has found its way into Society rapidly became considerably more complex in the
popular language. transition from a rural/agrarian to an urban/industrialised
society. Durkheim spells this out in his celebrated text
Box 1.5 Social cohesion and discipline The Division of Labour in Society, published in 1893 (see
When this textbook first appeared in 2014, politicians Durkheim 1964). At the heart of this transition was the
were calling for a greater degree of social cohesion increasing division of labour in modern industrialised
in South African society. Three years later politicians society and its socially destabilising effects. As a result
are calling for discipline within the African National of both population increases and population density,
Congress ruling party. a considerably more complex division of labour – the
distribution of work tasks in society – increased interaction
Question between people in their struggle over scarce resources.
Discuss what this might mean. The form of social cohesion changed. In societies where
there was little distinction between people and they
consequently shared common traditions and values
due to the division of labour being simple, relationships
23

between people were defined by what Durkheim referred social consequences follow when such norms are not
to as mechanical solidarity. adhered to and many South Africans are critical of our
local taxi industry which is regularly seen to flout these
Mechanical solidarity norms. A consequence of such behaviour, the flouting of
Mechanical solidarity was marked by and reinforced anticipated behavioural norms, is a breakdown of law
through shared social rituals in which it was obligatory and order in society. There are social effects – injuries,
to participate. Anyone who did not participate in the fatalities and suffering as a result, not to mention enormous
observed rituals was punished by the law of the clan unnecessary financial costs to society. Individuals are
or tribe. Law was consequently repressive in societies deeply affected and lives are lost and changed forever.
dominated by mechanical solidarity. In modern Social attitudes change. All taxi drivers, even good and
society, which was no longer homogenous (similar) responsible ones, become stigmatised as a result. Other
but heterogeneous (different) due to the increasing motorists’ driving behaviour changes, the phenomenon
division of labour separating into a host of occupations of road rage asserts itself, and so on. Breaking norms and
and professions to perform society’s many tasks, a new socially sanctioned rules of behaviour clearly has serious
form of organic solidarity developed. social consequences.
Organic solidarity Anomie

We trust strangers with our lives when we climb into Durkheim goes further and says that when you break a
a taxi. To enforce such trust, complex regulations norm, you cannot deny the pain you feel. If you do not
are formulated and new laws are passed. If these feel seriously very bad and traumatised after having
regulations and laws are not adhered to and you been responsible for killing someone in a car accident,
suffer loss due to the illegal actions of others, you can that is abnormal. The breaking of norms then has both
institute a claim against the offender. Law is no longer individual and social consequences and effects. When
repressive in a modern society dominated by organic such a lack of social integration occurs on too large a
solidarity, but has become restitutive. Clearly, whether scale, anomie (the absence of norms) is experienced.
repressive or restitutive, these ways of ensuring Much of modern society, characterised by organic
compliance with social norms and ensuring social solidarity, Durkheim concluded, is marked by the lack
solidarity powerfully shapes individual identity. It is of social cohesion and anomie resulting in individual
a social fact that the social structuring power of the and social dislocation and suffering. This threatens
law has a material influence over us as individuals. social order which, like Comte, was his particular
Smokers are prohibited, for instance, from smoking in theoretical interest. With so many competing interests
most buildings. Such a social fact is a material social in complex societies, how indeed does society hold
fact for Durkheim. The fact that there are norms and itself together?
values by which we must abide, shapes our conscience
and would be examples of non-material social facts as Order and social conflict
defined in Durkheim’s sociological theory. Like both Comte and Marx and much of sociology
today, Durkheim was preoccupied with the tension
Norms and morality between social order and social conflict. Like Comte,
Durkheim was primarily a sociologist of morality. He he thought social order was a critical issue, as opposed
thought society, at its very base, was governed by norms, to Marx who analysed society chiefly in terms of social
from which the word ‘normal’ is derived. Trust is such conflict. In the social context of a violent liberation
a norm. People are generally more trusting than they struggle to destroy apartheid, Marxian theories came
realise. Durkheim illustrated, for example, how even to the fore. Now that our young democracy needs to
impersonal economic transactions or dry legal contracts establish a new social order, will we see a resurgence
assume a level of trust. There had to be, in other words, an of Durkheimean theory? Durkheim developed a range
underlying moral stance adopted by members of society of concepts to explain how this tension between order
characterised by organic solidarity. When the norm is and conflict in society – and hence in sociological
broken, social disorder occurs. It is normal to drive a theory – powerfully influences how individuals
vehicle courteously and stop at traffic lights. Serious experience social life itself.
24

The cult of the individual and homo duplex Where conflict occurs, much of this too is normal
In contrast to the strong bonds and tight social and, within certain socially defined bounds, can have
cohesion of pre-industrial, agriculturally based positive effects. Individual members of society and
communities, modern urban, industrially based social groups with competing interests are bound to
societies in Europe encouraged what Durkheim called come into conflict. Where such conflicts are resolved
‘the cult of the individual’. As South African society within the broader normative framework of society,
has become increasingly modernised the importance however, the result is a positive one. Similarities and
of ubuntu – the idea that to be an individual means differences can be recognised, procedures can be put
being integrated into the social group – has largely in place to deal with social conflict and society can be
given way to egoistic individualism. The importance regularly ordered by new sets of institutional norms
of the social group has increasingly been replaced by with which we can in the future be expected to abide.
the glorification of the individual as it has in fully
developed industrialised societies. As a local example The collective conscience
of how this cult manifests itself, just think of the The division of labour and the forms of legal regulation
T-shirts with the faces of political leaders prominently which accompany it results in what Durkheim
displayed. While Durkheim approved of individualism identifies as a further non-material social fact – that
occurring within the bounds of social norms, he did of a collective conscience. This collective conscience
not approve of egoism which glorifies the individual could also be termed a ‘common conscience’ that
at the expense of the social group. Durkheim would encompasses the individual consciences which
approve of good role models, but would disdain the constitute it. The collective conscience is more marked
vain mimicry of celebrities or egotistic politicians. in a society characterised by mechanical solidarity,
Most people have been successfully socialised to yet is still a feature of modern societies in which the
follow society’s norms and values, yet often insist on individual refers to what others do in order to assess
going their own, potentially harmful individualistic the morality or correctness of their own actions.
way. Yet, as individuals, we cannot escape the tension Durkheim later used the more specific concepts of
between following social norms and following our own collective representations and collective effervescence
mind. Human agents hence experience this tension to identify the way in which certain norms and
of being pulled in two directions, the experience values are shared and the way they are expressed.
Durkheim called homo duplex – the competing, dual Executing a ‘Mexican wave’ at a large sports gathering
forces characterising modern social life. Human is an example of collective effervescence in which
beings are constituted of body, desire and passion, but individuals get caught up as in a current in the ocean.
are also socialised personalities (see Coser 1977: 132– Collective representations can be seen as aspects of the
136). These two aspects of the human experience are collective conscience as more specifically manifested
at war with one another. Everybody has experienced in communities or institutions in society such as the
the tension between following their own individual family, the work environment or church and state. The
desires, yet has felt constrained by generally accepted unique character of any specific institution and the
social norms, obligations and values. Durkheim’s ways its norms and values are expressed or represented
theory did go to the heart of how we as individuals cannot be explained by reference to an individual, but
actually often feel, yet provided a social explanation is represented by the collective. Put simply, we share
for it. ways of thinking and feeling with those with whom we
are part of the same social group. Think of the rivalry
Society is normative between two schools, how this is collectively expressed
Despite Durkheim’s insistence that the methods of and how their different collective representations
natural science should also apply to the social sciences, have shaped our own individual identities. This is a
society, for Durkheim, is normative. Without values, powerful non-material social fact which is general,
rules and norms, society falls apart. In this respect, he external, coercive and of which, as Durkheim argues,
was a conservative thinker. Anomie is the result when we are generally unaware.
the regulatory norms required by society are broken.
25

Social cohesion as the function of religion commentators suggested this sense of a collective
Take religion as an example of another way collective South African identity was not developed. Ways could
representations are expressed. The original Latin verb have been found to regularise or ritualise the rather
– religare – means to bind. Belonging to a specific short-lived phenomenon which briefly seemed to bind
religion, whether church, mosque, shul or temple, together and unite our heterogeneous, unequal, multi-
binds or collectively represents something important cultural and still very racially divided society.
about who we are as a definable social group. Religion
is the primary force of social cohesion in society for 1.2.6 Weber and interpretive social
Durkheim. Religions codify, systematise and develop science
society’s many different representations or ‘pictures’ Weber is, for many, the foremost sociological theorist
of the world. Durkheim argues that religions divide the of the twentieth century. Weber’s sociology influenced
world into what is sacred and what is profane. Religion developments in law and disciplines in the social
encourages a set of beliefs about the sacred which is sciences such as economics, political science and
entrenched by a set of rituals – or forms of mechanical religious studies. His historical investigations
solidarity – which are sustained by a community and proved to be very detailed and highly technical. His
what is profane – that which is ordinary or mundane sociological insights, embedded in these writings are
and of no special significance. The source of religion, exceedingly rich and complex and have been subject
for Durkheim, emerges out of the collective conscience to numerous interpretations. This is the reason we still
or representations in a society. This can be understood study and attempt to understand them today.
as our ‘evolving collective social experience’ out of
which all our ideas, including our religious beliefs have The ‘bourgeois Marx’
their source (Noble 2000: 168). In Durkheim’s view, Max Weber was an outspoken public intellectual, even
religion must be understood as a creation of society during the time of war. During the First World War in
itself – a necessary social construction reflecting Germany in 1917 he campaigned for the right of all
human norms, values and needs, which has its ancient to vote and an empowered parliament. Unsuccessful
source in the closest and most immediate collective in his brief foray into formal politics, Weber turned
social experience of the social group. As Durkheim put to scholarly work and like Marx and Durkheim,
it, in 1912, in his seminal text, The Elementary Forms attempted to identify and understand the social
of the Religious Life: ‘Religious force is nothing other forces responsible for driving the changes of a rapidly
than the collective and anonymous force of the clan’ changing industrialising modern world economy
(Bellah 1982: 184). It is generally believed that this and society. He was also an intellectual child of the
force has diminished in modern societies marked by European Enlightenment. His work has been described
organic solidarity, but its role continues through other as one in constant dialogue with the work and ideas
institutions and events. Is this the case in South Africa which cast a long shadow over the world – the work
today? For more on this topic, see Chapter 6 on Religion of Karl Marx. He has even been referred to as ‘the
in this book. bourgeois Marx’ and was a conceptually radical social
thinker – if radical is understood as getting to the root
Applying Durkheim of an issue.
A major event in 2010 in South Africa can be usefully
viewed using Durkheim’s perspective and approach. Bridging ‘either/or’ social explanations
Many South Africans got caught up in what could be Sociology has, as a core theoretical theme, the attempt
described as an outpouring of national pride during to try and understand the many influences that have
the hosting of the soccer World Cup. A great many impacted on us as individuals. As we have seen, this
South Africans, across social classes, were gripped occurs especially via the key socialising institutions
by the collective effervescent excitement and sense of of family and schooling and then of work, more of
togetherness it engendered. South Africans represented which you will find in Chapter 2 on Socialisation and
themselves to the rest of the world in the sparkle and identity. Yet Weber thought we cannot easily explain
bubble of a collective effervescence. Some social society by means of either materialist theoretical
26

conceptual categories following Marx or by employing

idealist ones by following Comte and Durkheim. Weber
insisted that his historical sociology was neither an
idealist interpretation of history (like Comte), nor a
case of historical materialism (like Marx). One can
infer from his work that, for Weber, these ‘either/or’
options were philosophical positions, the concepts of
which did not analyse society sufficiently accurately.
Human actions and interactions could not be
grasped by explaining them solely in terms of the
social circumstances or social structures which caused
them. Weber’s sociology was hence not a structural
sociology which explained the action of the individual
by seeing it primarily as a function of, or as powerfully
influenced by, the broader social context within
which it took place. Given the stress on the power of
social structure in the works treated thus far in this
chapter, you might have wondered how you are to
manage the structuring influence of the educational
process you are undergoing at tertiary level. How is your
own intellectual capacity and agency to be developed
in this context? On this last point Weber had
something to say to university lecturers you may
find interesting. Figure 1.5 Max Weber
(Source: Image courtesy of INPRA)
Values, objectivity and teaching
In his essay Science as a vocation, Weber was very Differentiating sociology from other disciplines
clear that ‘politics is out of place in the lecture-room’ If Durkheim differentiated sociology from psychology
(Gerth & Mills 1974: 145). A student should never be and philosophy, Weber distinguished the new
able to discover the politics of their lecturer from discipline of sociology from the established field
their lectures. Weber valued objectivity highly and so of history. History examined individual events and
thought that lecturers should be able to present social their broader cultural significance. While sociology
analyses without giving away what they really thought, had to be rooted in a close empirical examination of
both personally and politically. Only objectively historical events, it sought to formulate types of human
determined facts, not personal values, were to be interaction. Sociology was to identify generalised
transmitted in the classroom. Weber’s epistemology uniformities emerging from a close empirical study
was hence not focused on the distinction between of historical events. He thought that theories could
natural and social science, but on objectivity. By now only be formulated after having conducted detailed
you know that Marxists would say objectivity is a substantive empirical studies of particular social
‘bourgeois concept’ as ‘facts’ and the ‘values’ learned in phenomena. In such studies he was concerned ‘with
the context of being a member of a specific social class using generalised conceptions in order to understand
cannot be separated. You also know that Durkheim society as subject to lawful regularities’ (Gerth & Mills
thought that the realm of social facts was external to us 1974: 60). This is not the same as saying human affairs
as human beings. Weber, however, avoided this debate are subject to cast-iron laws.
by stressing how we could win through to an objective Instead of searching for laws or establishing
stance in relation to the social world. Weber wanted sociology as a social science, Weber immersed himself
sociologists to engage in sober empirical analysis on in detailed empirical studies. In the debate about
which sociological arguments should be based. whether there are laws of history and society, which
27

both Marx and Durkheim, albeit differently, thought Individual action as the basic unit of social
existed, Weber’s empirical studies led him to believe analysis
and argue that there were no such laws regulating In Weber’s interpretive or Verstehen, ‘under-standing’
history and the economy and society. Sociology could sociology, the basic unit of social analysis was the
also not establish social laws – be nomothetic in other individual and individual social action. Weber
words. Weber’s criticism of theoretical sociological explicitly noted in his 1922 work The Nature of Social
perspectives was subtle. Weber did not think there was Action that [sociology is] …
only one sociology. Being consistent, he even held that
his own sociology was but one type of sociology among the science whose object is to interpret the
others. Bear this in mind in the final section of this meaning of social action and thereby give a
chapter which deals with criticisms of the classical causal explanation of the way in which the action
sociological tradition of Marx, Weber and Durkheim. proceeds and the effects which it produces.
Particularly by making comparisons between (Runciman 1991: 7)
different events to establish the causes for them, it was
more important to try and understand events that had Individual action, for Weber, it should immediately
taken place in the social world rather than formulating be noted, is social. The concept of action is to be
abstract ideas into which the world was thought to fit distinguished from behaviour. Behaviour is a response
or laws with which it complied. to a stimulus, an almost automatic and instinctual
doing, with no intervening thought process or
Understanding society interpretation – like taking your hand away from a
Weber consequently developed the notion of Verstehen flame. Weber’s concept of individual action is not
into a methodological tool to analyse how individuals just something we do out of our socialised habits or
make sense of their world. Verstehen is the root of out of instinct. An act is imbued with intention and
the Afrikaans word verstaan – to understand. If importantly, for Weber, is performed for a reason.
the natural sciences are widely considered to be the An act has significance or meaning lying behind it.
strong, epistemologically ‘hard’ sciences and social This explains why human agents engage in social
sciences are the epistemically ‘soft’ sciences, we could action in the first place. Social action results from the
say the truly ‘hard’ or difficult science is the science of independent agency of individuals. Such social action
understanding or Verstehen for Weber. Because, as we is not passive, but active and reactive. The action is
will shortly see, human beings all try to understand social because it is directed at other human agents. In
the world in their own unique ways, it should not be acting we generally take account of the social context
surprising that there have been multiple interpretations within which we act and the reactions of others around
of Verstehen and which is why Weber assumes such a us. In other words, social action is reciprocal.
central role in sociology (see Ritzer 2000: 112–113). For Weber, to understand society we must
understand how we subjectively create meaning
Weber’s explicit assumption and how we act based on the meanings we attach
Weber wanted to get to the very basis, to the root of to situations, events, and others’ actions. What is
the social. To do this his main unit of analysis was significant about Weber’s emphasis on social action
not the social group like most sociologists, but the is his focus on the individual acting in institutional
individual and individual action. Individualism was settings. Even when examining larger social groupings
hence Weber’s central and explicit assumption. This is such as institutions or organisations, we cannot
because it is individuals who act in the social world. understand social phenomena without recognising that
For Weber, as individuals we all interpret the it is the social actions of individuals which compose
world around us. We seek meaning in our lives. In them. For Weber, only people act: ‘… for sociological
fact, Weber thought human beings were ‘meaning purposes there is no such thing as a collective
making’ animals and that we did so in different ways. personality which “acts”’ (Gerth & Mills 1974: 135) as
Individual meaningful action is central for Weber. Weber puts it in his 1922 work The Theory of Social and
What Weber thought needed to be understood, above Economic Organisation. For Weber, institutions and
all, was why individuals act in the way they do. organisations are, however, ‘collective personalities’
28

which have a meaning for individuals. We become Association and affectual social action
fond of our university and might even get nostalgic for People come together and associate with one another
our old school. Such institutions actually exist and when feelings or sentiments are shared. This is
possess normative authority and we ‘orient’ our action affectual social action. We associate with those
in relation to them (see Gerth & Mills 1974: 135f). This with whom we feel we have an affinity. Some of our
is difficult to understand as we must both grasp how first friendships are formed in this way before we
we as individuals create meaning, how we act based properly think about why and who we associate with
on the meanings we attach to situations and events and socially. This is a very rudimentary and basic form
combine this with the many social actions of others of social interaction. Yet modern society continues to
across society. be characterised by such associations and affectual
Social action is the basis and cause of human (feeling) action. Weber, for instance, criticised the
interaction and social events. This even applies to widely held view that American society was just a
when we want to understand collective concepts such nation of atomised individuals. He pointed out the
as ‘state’ and ‘feudalism’. Such broader conceptual vast array of active voluntary associational groups of
categories of human interaction were to be understood like-minded citizens in American society who share
as the combined actions of individuals. This view something in common. Weber was not too concerned,
immediately combines two seemingly polar opposites however, about this particular form of social action,
which are both essential to incorporate into social but in its two other forms.
analysis – the individual and history, the individual
and society or the individual agent and social Community and traditional social action
structure. Weber’s interpretation of the social world, Weber was interested in what he termed traditional
his sociological imagination – how the actions of the action. This kind of social action is found in any
individual and large-scale social structures are linked close-knit social group going back to ancient times.
– is consequently a complex one. So how did Weber Such social groups were originally simple and the
view collective concepts and social structure? actions and interactions between individuals within
the social group were defined by habit and tradition.
Three basic types of social structure Where habit and tradition predominate, actions do
Weber thought we could only understand society not demand much prior thought and are generally
if we understood social structure in terms of his unreflective. One does things in a certain way because
central concept of social action. With social action that is always the way things have been done. This
as primary intellectual focus, Weberian interpretive form of social action continues today. This is not to
sociology gets to the heart of explaining cause and confuse traditional social action with instinctual or
effect in the social sphere. Individual social actions habitual behaviour. We do many things because we
and interactions possess causal force and have were taught that way and so traditional action was for
organisational effects. Social structure must be Weber a primary type of social action.
explained in terms of meaningful social action. Society
is hence not comprised of ‘things’ (material and non- Society and rational social action
material social facts) as it is for Durkheim, but must This form of social action introduces Weber’s most
rather be understood as a web of meaningful beliefs important distinction: many of our actions are rational,
and practices born out of social actions. while others are not. When human interactions become
Weber divided the social world analytically into more regular as populations become more dense and
three basic social structures: association, community social organisation more complex, society becomes
and (modern) society. To these basic structures increasingly characterised by rational social action.
different forms of social action were linked. It should Unlike affectual and traditional forms of social action,
be noted that methodologically, in Weber’s work, the many of our social actions have an aim or goal. We can
three concepts and related forms of social action were provide a reason or rationale for acting the way we did.
derived from examining historical processes and out These are rational actions and of which, for Weber,
of which these generalised concepts were derived. there are two types.
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We can act in a way that is a means towards a specific than European society. Weber gave an important, if
end. We study hard in order to pass exams. This is what controversial, answer to this question.
Weber called instrumental rationality or instrumental
social action. But sometimes we act because of certain Box 1.7 Testing Weber’s ‘spirit of capitalism’
values that are important to us. We do household thesis
chores because we love our parents and want to help In explaining the triumph of capitalism, Max Weber
or meet our obligations. For Weber, this was value- argued that hard work, thrift, living a frugal life and
rational action. saving and investing were values common to both the
spirit of capitalism and Protestantism.
The limits of conceptual analysis (again)
This is not to say this analytical typology – dividing Question
actions into types or kinds – can always be neatly and 1. Which churches are the Protestant churches?
separately identified. We go off to university or work 2. In your view, are the values of early capitalism and
partly as that has become our routine – traditional Protestantism the kind of values needed in South
action – as well as because we want to get a certificate Africa today to ensure social, political and economic
or earn money – instrumental rational action. We also prosperity?
value education or work that introduces an element of 3. List the arguments – and note the evidence – for
value rationality into our action. and against Weber’s thesis.
When rational forms of action predominate, we
can speak of the collective form of rational actions
as a whole and this, for Weber, was designated by his The spirit of capitalism and religion
concept of formal rationality. Institutions, for instance, Weber addressed the question of why capitalism
which operate to achieve calculated goals or ends arose in the West in one of his most important works,
by using universally applied rules and regulations, The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism
would constitute formal rationality. The law itself and published in 1904. In this work Weber adopted a multi-
bureaucracy, which we all especially encountered to causal analysis of this large-scale socio-historical
register at university, would be examples. The collective phenomenon. His focus was considerably broader than
form of the sum total of the value-rational actions that of Marx, who centred his analysis on capital and
of individuals, on the other hand, would constitute capital accumulation in a capitalist economy.
an instance of substantive rationality. Institutions Economic factors, such as the market, the money
which operate to achieve value-driven goals or ends economy, a formally free labour force and increasingly
using calculated rational means to do so, such as complex accounting and banking institutions, featured
social movements or religious organisations, which strongly in Weber’s analysis of capitalism. Political
embody and promote a set of values and corresponding factors, such as the nation-state and government, and
actions by their members, would be instances of legal factors, such as laws governing private property,
substantive rationality. as well as the role of science and technology, all
contributed to the emergence of a modern capitalist
Rationalisation in society society in his view. More than these obviously
This brings us to Weber’s key insight that modern structural features, what needed most especially
society is marked by increasing rationalisation, both to be factored into a comprehensive analysis of the
in individual actions and in social institutions. The emergence of Western capitalism was the cultural
process of rationalisation then is one in which individual system of norms, values and beliefs regulating the
actions are increasingly instrumentally rational and conduct and actions of people.
where formal rationality is institutionalised in the The foundation of this cultural system, for Weber,
very structure of society. In arriving at this analysis was religion. In Weberian terms, capitalism can be
of modern society Weber asked the question why a defined as an economic system based on the pursuit
rational capitalist economy emerged with modern of profit through exchange in the market, and the
society in the West. Both Chinese and Indian societies accumulation of wealth. In addition, the spirit of
were, for instance, considerably more advanced capitalism was the system of ideas, attitudes and beliefs
30

and related actions required for capitalism in the first world in different and unique ways, depending on the
place. For Weber, the entrepreneurial spirit of early conceptual and theoretical lenses we employ.
capitalism was remarkably similar to the religious Because Marx’s conceptual dichotomy between
ethic of the Protestant churches in Western Europe. the bourgeoisie and the proletariat was too crude a
In particular, Weber identified a clear correspondence conceptual construction for Weber, he introduced
between the values and norms of Calvinism and those the concept of status into his analysis of social
of the early entrepreneurial capitalists. Hard work, stratification. Social status lies at the heart of how
thrift, living a frugal life and saving and investing individuals construct meaning out of their lives. A
were values that were common to both the spirit plumber might earn more than a university lecturer,
of capitalism and the Protestant faith. There was a but the latter has greater social status. When combined
distinct similarity, Weber argued, between the two sets with the concept of social class, a greater degree of
of values which permitted capitalists to aggressively accuracy can be achieved when examining how social
pursue wealth and yet see it as a duty. This strict groups are stratified. In addition, the group or political
religious ethic also provided motivation to a labour party to which you belonged was a further conceptual
force that was disciplined, sober and hard working. distinction which Weber applied in his study of
Even more importantly, inequality was justified as similarities and differences central to investigating
a special dispensation from God in the Calvinist- social stratification or social differentiation.
inspired Protestant religious tradition. The reason is Membership of the ruling party in South Africa,
clear. If you followed the values of thrift, hard work as elsewhere, has always played an important role
and lived a modest lifestyle, you were rewarded with in defining the life chances of individuals. This is
wealth. What happened, according to Weber’s theory, equally true of the National Party under apartheid or
was that capitalism took root. His theory thereby the African National Congress under democracy.
attempted to explain the rise of capitalism in Europe Weber’s typology of social stratification – class,
and why it did not emerge elsewhere. status and party – is an example of how his central
concept of social action enables the analysis of social
Class, status and party structure. Weber has given weight to the motivating
It is clear that, for Weber, social class alone did not force of how individuals seek meaning and status in
define the nature of social groupings in capitalist presenting this explanation of social stratification.
society. His analysis of social stratification is complex You must admit that it is trickier to analyse different
and multi-dimensional. For instance, the complex social groups in terms of Weber’s three concepts as
ways in which modern capitalist society was divided opposed to Marx’s one concept of class. It is, arguably,
into social groups or ‘layers’, for instance, needed a however, a sharper analytical knife.
more sophisticated theory to describe and explain
social stratification. Weber defined class by reference Ideal types
to the market. Class, in Weberian terms, signals the This brings us to the much-discussed heuristic
opportunities or life chances available to an individual device of Weber’s ideal type for which he is famous
in a society dominated by the market where goods, in sociology. The ideal type is a logically constructed
services and commodities were bought and sold. If you conceptual tool developed by the social scientist. It is
do not think the market has an influence over how you hence a mental construct. But unlike a concept which
feel and what your life chances are, just think about is a single knife-like tool, an ideal type is more like
the difference in your attitude to life at the beginning a mental toolbox. Weber constructed a range of ideal
of a weekend depending on whether you have money types to study history, society, social structures and
or not – or whether you have enough money for all social action. Of the ideal type Weber says, ‘it cannot be
your plans if you are from a wealthy family! Note found empirically anywhere in reality’ (Shils & Finch
immediately that the same concept – class – picks 1949: 90) or in social life. Commentators have referred
out a different set of social phenomena from that of to the ideal type as a ‘measuring tool’ or ‘yardstick’ by
Marx’s definition. Concepts and the way in which we which actual social phenomena can be evaluated (see
define them, analytically pick out social phenomena Ritzer 2000: 115). Any social phenomenon will diverge
in different ways. Weber would say we interpret the from its ideal typical features and is best illustrated
31

by way of Weber’s own example – namely that The reason for this, according to Weber, is because
of bureaucracy. Examining bureaucracy also serves there is no other way in which a complex industrial
the purpose of demonstrating the extent of the society can be regulated. Today Weber might say that
process of the increasing rationalisation of modern we only rediscover that it is indeed still an enchanting
industrial society. world when we manage to escape the iron cage when
we go on holiday, can chill, smell the coffee again and
The continuing dominance of bureaucracy don’t have to think and make any decisions!
Everyone is familiar with bureaucracy. Weber defined
the ideal typical features of a bureaucracy as a rational Weber’s view of socialism
form of social organisation which has a specific If Marx was critical of capitalism, so was Weber. But
aim, consists of a continuous organisation of official unlike Marx, Weber was not a revolutionary, nor
functions, is hierarchical, has written rules and did he think socialism would initiate and mark the
procedures and its officials are technically trained end of capitalism and the bureaucratic state. Weber
servants who perform their duty in an impartial and fundamentally disagreed with the view of a socialist
unbiased manner. Bureaucracies were not, however, society envisioned to run on more participative and
only established and organised in a rational manner, democratic lines once political and economic power
but also had legal authority. Do you recognise these had been seized by the proletariat. On the contrary,
features of a bureaucracy as a description of what when viewed historically over the past century,
happened when you last went to the local licensing Weber seems to have better predicted that any society
office, government department or large financial attempting to move towards socialism and be subject
institution? If not, you can fruitfully compare your to greater conscious planning, independently of the
actual experience with Weber’s ideal type. When you organised chaos of the marketplace, would require
do so you will quickly see how your experience with more bureaucracy. Weber argued that no modern,
any actual bureaucracy diverges from the ideal type. complex industrial society could work without
The ideal type, the conceptual construct, not only institutions being organised along bureaucratic lines.
serves as a tool to describe and analyse a specific social His reason was clear. Bureaucracy, for all its pitfalls
phenomenon, but in addition enables a prescription of when actually implemented, was the only and most
how a bureaucratically organised institution could rational way of organising complex societies.
potentially function more efficiently.
Weber’s study of bureaucracy showed how, Box 1.8 Meet the challenge of how sociology
as society becomes more complex, rationalisation encourages social action and social change
increasingly occurs across ever widening spheres It does not require much research to find some
of social life and impresses its legal authority over information – an anecdote, a saying, an event, an
our social actions. This has implications and serious achievement or one of many stories – about Nelson
consequences for how we experience modern life. Rolihlahla Mandela, widely and affectionately known
as Madiba.
Disenchantment
Sociologists can be a depressing lot. For Marx, Questions
capitalism is dominated by alienation. For Durkheim, 1. What evidence of charisma was displayed in the
society is characterised by anomie. For Weber, piece of information you found?
individuals are caught up in ‘the iron cage’ of 2. How might the lesson in charisma be routinised into
increasingly powerful bureaucracies and ever tighter the fabric of South African social life?
rules and regulations which constrain individuals’
free and voluntary social actions leaving them in a state
of disenchantment with modern life. The enchanting Traditional and legal authority
wonder and mystery of the world has been eroded by Part of having been snared in the iron cage of an
the need to constantly have to make decisions in order increasingly bureaucratic and rationalised society
to survive. We have become locked up in a mesh of is the rational legal authority which accompanies it.
bureaucratic regulations, rules, laws and procedures. This is the most efficient form of social regulation
32

and organisation and dominates modern society. This Applying Weber to an everyday action
form of authority – or legitimate domination – replaced To provide an example from micro-sociology, we both
the traditional authority of previous, less complex create and embody meaning when we lift our hand
societies based on kinship, patriarchy (rule by men) to make a taxi stop for us. How we ensure we get to
and patrimonialism (rule by a traditional military university and not go to town is part of a wider social
master). The ideal typical bureaucracy is useful to structure of meaning of how to catch a taxi in South
describe, explain and compare the workings of such Africa. The various meanings of our meaningful
societies with our more familiar one. Instead of a symbolic hand signs are foreign to any non-South
rational aim regulating society, there is the dictate of African and have to be learned. In his work, Weber
the traditional leader. Instead of written rules, there examined how these and other actions are regularised
is the whim and interests of the patriarch. Instead of and patterned in the social structures of institutions
formal training, there are traditional customs. Instead and organisations in society. If particularly modern
of impersonal bias, there is a feared and autocratic society is, as Weber argued, chiefly characterised
personality to confront. by the increasing dominance of rational actions,
Traditional authority and legal bureaucratic especially instrumental rational actions, it has become
authority were for Weber, however, not the only forms part of us to learn such things and make our way in
of authority or domination. the world. As we do this, there are new theoretical
challenges to confront.
Charisma and revolutionary leadership
From time to time on the stage of human history 1.3 Developments and challenges to
members of social groups have reasons for elevating classical sociological theory
an individual who is seen or believed to have special, As you would expect, there have been major
extraordinary and often super-human powers. This developments, criticisms and challenges to classical
is the charismatic leader imbued with charismatic sociological theory over the past century and longer.
authority. Such a person cuts through the ‘red tape’ of One such major challenge in South Africa today is the
bureaucracy, can get things done, is a beacon of light in a call for decolonisation made during student protests
disenchanted world and is treated with god-like status. across South African universities in 2015 and 2016. A
Weber said this can happen to quite ordinary people, key question is how did theorising about society get
but that if members of a group imbue a person with from classical sociological theory to thinking about
these attributes, the process by which this happens decoloniality? What follows here can only begin to
can encourage such a person to manifest extraordinary answer this question. This section briefly outlines
qualities and become the personification of charisma. how the classical tradition emerged, was interrogated,
Charisma is a force for revolution and for changing developed and was criticised. By placing a few stepping
things. Charisma has the capacity to change how people stones in the flow of theoretical developments in social
view themselves and the world around them and to thought, this exercise begins to reveal the roots of
shape it according to their own will. Such collective decolonial thinking, or decoloniality. As Weber taught,
power finds its expression in the charismatic authority you know this will be an interpretation and can be
of the leader. When this happens, the re-enchantment neither systematic, nor complete. In doing so, however,
of the world again seems possible, but to sustain the names and key ideas of a few of the sociologists
this powerful, potentially socially revolutionary discussed in this textbook will also be mentioned.
force it needs to be routinised for it to survive and
realise the ambitious aims its members have for it. 1.3.1 The sociology of knowledge
Does this Weberian image ring any bells and possess Recall the importance of the social context – the
any analytical power to understand South African specific time and place – in which theory develops.
society since democracy in 1994? If the first part of the To examine how social context impacts on knowledge,
question is a resounding ‘yes’, how would you go about whether knowledge is produced or results from
using this heuristic device to explain our current discovery, means to engage in the sociology of
macro-situation in South Africa from a Weberian knowledge. The sociology of knowledge is a theory or
interpretive perspective? approach to talk about how knowledge itself emerges in
33

specific social contexts. For one theorist, this applies in Europe onwards. This was the period characterised
to all ideas, theories and knowledge, including natural by the industrial revolutions and the emergence of
scientific theories (Bloor 1976). It certainly applies to democracy along with the modern nation-state. It was
the sociological theories we have been discussing as a period of momentous social change, crucially marked
well as to the call for decolonisation. The object of by the shift from rural, agricultural society to urban,
investigation is hence the origin and circumstances industrial society. This historical context, importantly,
of the emergence of social and sociological theories gave birth to sociology as a discipline which came to
themselves. While this approach to understanding ‘find a place within’ and ‘reflect upon’ this ‘project of
theory can be traced back to Georg Lucàcs – inspired modernity’ (Smart 2000: 447).
by Marx and who was a friend of Weber – this idea is As you know, for Marx, this period signalled the
strongly associated with Karl Mannheim (1893–1947). rise of the proletariat who would usher in progress
Mannheim was influenced by Marx, but was also a to a class-less society. For Durkheim, modernity
friend of Weber and Lucàcs and who was opposed to a signalled the end of mechanical solidarity between
positivist perspective. For Mannheim, social theories small groups of people marked by homogeneity and
and the assumptions underlying them are bound to the emergence of organic solidarity characterised by
particular times and places. He thought that theory heterogeneity as the division of labour diversified
should seek to understand what people think about immeasurably. For Weber, it would be the emergence
society and not try to develop hypotheses to explain and institutionalisation of bureaucracy and the
society. More than that, Mannheim considered all process of increasing rationalisation that would
thought to further reflect the social position of its dominate industrial society. From the standpoint
thinker. A person’s class position, membership of a of our time and place as South African sociologists
status group and generation (age) locates an individual – and our respective class, status and generational
in a specific social and historical time and place which positions – it is worth continually asking: Do these key
will shape much of how they think. conclusions help explain or express what is happening
This final section of the chapter adopts a sociology in our society – both historically and in the present?
of knowledge approach by locating thinkers in their In reflecting their social and historical context, the
time and place. It will enable us to move from the classical tradition had especially two assumptions in
classical sociological theoretical tradition of Marx, common. They shared a belief in progress, both progress
Weber and Durkheim to noting a few key paradigmatic in human and social affairs and technological progress
shifts in social thought. We will end with some key especially. Despite significant differences, they also
concepts and ideas of contemporary theorists of shared a commitment to scientific rationality and
decoloniality, the Latin Americans Anibal Quijano some form of universalism. Society would progress,
and Walter Mignolo and the South African-based Durkheim thought, as science was based on facts and
decolonial thinker, Sabelo J Ndlovu-Gatsheni. so was value-neutral and objective. Subjective bias
could be eliminated and social science could discover
1.3.2 The assumptions flowing from universal laws of human behaviour. Marx thought his
the social context of classical historical materialist approach revealed the laws of
sociological theory development and progress in human affairs as different
Let us start by making explicit the assumptions of the modes of production succeeded one another. Facts and
classical theorists. Remember that an assumption is values were intertwined as values were reflected in the
something we take for granted, is generally implicit class one occupied during these unfolding historical
and that assumptions are not easy to detect. In fact, periods. Weber, as you now know of course, did not
it is often only in the light of a new perspective and think natural scientific models of thinking applied
experience that the assumptions of previous thinkers to human society, nor that there were strict laws of
can be identified. What were the shared assumptions historical development. But he did think objectivity
of Marx, Weber and Durkheim born of their social and value neutrality could be achieved by rational
context? In brief, their social thought emerged out thinking and a careful empirical, historically sensitive
of and was an expression of the social context of study of society which would lead to progress. In short,
modernity – the period from the late eighteenth century these three ‘founders’ of the classical sociological
34

theoretical ‘canon’ shared the belief in progress and 1979). Parsons sought to combine the stress Weber
scientific rationality. Much social, sociological and laid on the individual and the science of Durkheim
social scientific thinking to follow would share these which aimed at an overarching holism – a unified and
fundamental assumptions. These assumptions would universal theory which explained society as a whole.
also come to be seriously challenged. Parsons thought that individuals generally followed
accepted rules and norms and shared the values of
1.3.3 Applying the sociology of the community and society to which they belong. He
knowledge to sociological theory assumed a shared set of values and norms in American
Fashions change, not only regarding the clothing we society. W.E.B. du Bois showed this was problematic in
wear, but in sociological theory as well. As thinkers try a racially discriminatory society.
to keep abreast of changing social circumstances they Parsons’ sociological theory, nevertheless,
often reflect the key concerns of their social milieu as dominated America and much of sociology more
their theories express what is happening in society. broadly, as his theory reflected the stability of
When many sociologists followed Durkheim in seeing American society after the Second World War. But
themselves engaged in sociology as science in the strict major social events occurred which had a significant
sense, Charles Cooley (1864–1929) formulated the idea impact on social theory in general and on sociological
of the ‘looking glass self’. The individual’s sense of self theory in particular. Some such events are only fully
is like a mirror as we see ourselves as others see us. appreciated in retrospect. The Algerian national
This idea remains contemporary as we worry about liberation struggle (1954–1962) is one such example.
what others think of us and so we adapt what we say Franz Fanon was ‘totally immersed in it personally,
and do accordingly. Who we are is, in an important intellectually and politically’ (Neocosmos 2016:
sense, an expression of our own time and place. The 114). Fanon’s work prefigured the challenge to the
same idea, but reflecting social experience differently, structuralist orientation of much of European and
can be found in the work of the great black American North American social theorising.
thinker, sociologist and social reformer, W.E.B. du Bois Parsonian structural functionalism was, for
(1868–1963). Du Bois formulated the idea of ‘double- instance, unable to explain the challenges to Western
consciousness’ to articulate the perspectives of black society in the 1960s. American society was shaken by
African Americans. Admired by Max Weber, Du Bois the Vietnam war. European society was convulsed in
wrote that: May 1968 when a million workers and students took
to the streets. In the same year the mass musical event
… it is a peculiar sensation, this double- of Woodstock captured the imagination of the new
consciousness, this sense of always looking at ‘hippy’ generation of youth – tragically followed by
one’s self through the eyes of others, of measuring the shooting of students on university campuses in
one’s soul by the tape of a world that looks on in the United States in 1971. New social and sociological
amused contempt and pity. One feels this twoness theorising flowed from these events and signalled
– an American, a negro: two souls, two thoughts, major shifts in the self-understanding and social
two unreconciled strivings; two warring ideals theorising of both Europeans and Americans as
in one dark body, whose dogged strength keeps they needed to find new theories to understand and
it from being torn asunder. (Cited in Scott & explain massive social change. It was in this context
Marshall 2005: 170) that C Wright Mills introduced Marx’s work into the
sociological theoretical ‘canon’ – in direct response to
W.E.B. du Bois clearly deepened Durkheim’s notion the ‘radicalisation of metropolitan university students’
of homo duplex and whose view of sociology as (Connell 2007: 23) even though a conflict perspective
a strict science he also followed. Written in the had been introduced to sociology in the United States
time of ‘the golden age in the sociology of blacks in in the late nineteenth century.
America’ (Ladner 1973: 3), this perspective would In American society in the decade to follow, ‘many
be drowned out in the formal academic sociological assumptions of the academic world were challenged’
tradition which later came to be dominated by the (Blauner & Wellman 1973: 310). In South Africa, the
structural functionalism of Talcott Parsons (1902– mass strikes of workers in Durban in 1973 and the June
35

1976 uprising of high school students in Soweto had tech media society, emergent processes of change and
a similar impact on apartheid society, the struggle for transformation’ (Best & Kellner 1991: 3). An emphasis
political liberation and on social and political theory, on plurality, diversity and difference replaced the
such as writing ‘history from below’ and which impacted modernist aim of attempting to accurately represent
powerfully on university social science curricula. the world through carefully defined universal and
When confronted with fresh social conditions and abstract concepts. Any single or absolute universal
changing social contexts, social theorists must go back ‘truth’ or grand overarching narrative, which tried to
to the past or forge ahead and develop new theories. capture the totality of what was happening in society,
While Marx’s work came to the fore in the 1960s in was no longer deemed possible. ‘Truth’ increasingly
the United States and in South Africa in the 1970s, came to be seen as subjective and knowledge appeared
other thinkers, in Europe particularly, sought new to be relative to social position, stance, standpoint and
theoretical horizons in response to their social context. perspective. Relativism in knowledge hence asserted
What seemed increasingly clear to many was that the itself powerfully. Two central theorists in this wide-
search for a single and unified epistemic project and ranging and multi-disciplinary endeavour were the
way of understanding the world could not be realised. philosopher Jean-Francois Lyotard (1924–1998) and
The assumptions of scientific rationality and progress the sociologist and philosopher, Jean Baudrillard
could no longer be taken for granted. The modernist (1929–2007). Among many other prominent theorists,
project had seemed to fail. The reason for this was clear Michel Foucault (1926–1984), significantly influenced
as ‘… the construction of modernity produced untold both post-modern and post-structuralist thought, but
suffering and misery for its victims, ranging from refused to be pinned down by these labels.
the peasantry, proletariat, and artisans oppressed by The idea that the world had entered a post-modern
capitalist industrialisation to the exclusion of women age relied on three main claims. The first was that the
from the public sphere, to the genocide of imperialist ideas of progress, rationality and scientific progress
domination’ (Best & Kellner 1991: 3). A new theoretical were no longer adequate as they did not and could
paradigm in social theory now conceived of society as not explain cultural differences. The second was
having entered a post-modern age. that ‘high’ culture – including abstract sociological
In response to this major shift in social thinking, theorising – could no longer be held to be superior to
in the 1980s, George Ritzer, the writer of a well-known so-called ‘low’ or popular culture – which would soon
textbook, Sociological Theory (2000), introduced Georg include indigenous knowledge, African philosophy,
Simmel (1858–1918) alongside Marx, Durkheim and Latin American theories of liberation and other ‘Third
Weber as part of the classical theoretical sociological World’ or developing society perspectives. Thirdly, in
tradition. Simmel engaged in micro-sociological a social context in which technologies were becoming
studies and influenced symbolic interactionism you increasingly dominant with the emergence of virtual
will encounter later in this book. While writing over reality – not nearly as seemingly real as it is now – it
a century ago, the flavour of Simmel’s work is even was ‘no longer possible securely to separate the “real”
‘post’-modern. As you will now see, post-modernism from the “copy”, or the “natural” from the “artificial”
holds that there is no overarching universal idea (During 1993: 170).
or theoretical approach that adequately captures This resulted in a major critique of the modernist
and understands the totality of the complexity and project. With the shared assumptions of modernism
unpredictable consequences of modernity itself. rejected, the result was huge disagreement, debate and
‘disputes, even wars, between liberals, conservatives
Post-modernism and post-structuralism and leftists’ (Lyotard 1993:172). Major arguments
Post-modern thinking fundamentally challenged ensued as to who precisely had been ‘truly victimised
the assumptions of progress and scientific thinking. by the lack of development – whether it was the poor, the
Influenced by rapid modernisation after the Second worker, the illiterate’ (Lyotard 1993: 172). For Lyotard,
World War, in France especially, post-modern one thing was clear: ‘… all parties concurred in the
thinking proper emerged out of experimentation belief that enterprises, discoveries and institutions
in art and culture in Europe in the 1960s. These are legitimate only insofar as they contribute to the
cultural innovations were a response to ‘the high- emancipation of mankind’ (Lyotard 1993: 172).
36

Around the same time as the emergence of post- figured this out after much astonishment and huge
modernism, another train of thought was articulated merriment and shared his experience with his students.
– post-structuralism. This challenge to modernist Language is an autonomous system of linking all
classical theory was not the work of a sociologist, but signs (written words themselves and road signs as an
a semiologist – Ferdinand Saussure (1857–1913). We example) with the mental image associated with them.
cannot go into the interesting matter that Saussure was Every language has its own internal structure which
both the grandfather of structuralism and whose work goes far beyond the life and death of the individuals
was reinterpreted as the origin of post-structuralism! who use the language.
In brief, the theoretical work of semiologists such as The point is this: You simply need to note the
Saussure, is to interpret the meaning and significance massive challenge to the assumptions of classical
of signs and symbols. Systems of signs and symbols theory to which post-modern thinking gave rise.
– such as the specific mother languages we all speak, Simply put, the challenge of post-modernism and
have their own rules, criteria and methods which are post-structuralism is that the shared assumptions
internal to them. You can speak a language other than of modernist thought – including the classical
your mother tongue, but only truly understand it when sociological tradition – were no longer tenable. Despite
you grasp its many subtle nuances and inflections raging debate, which continues, note this important
which belong to it alone. Each language and form of point: It enables us to take a further step towards our
speech grasp and understand reality in their own very theoretical present.
specific and sometimes very different ways. If you
speak more than one language – which very many South Anti-colonialism and post-colonialism
Africans do – only a moment’s thought will convince Post-colonial theory emerged out of the social context of
you of this. In short, we do not and are not able, as struggles against colonialism and anti-colonial frames
the classical tradition assumed, to unproblematically of thought. A South African sociologist, Windsor
represent reality with carefully defined concepts Leroke (1998: 54), succinctly summarised the key
which then represent or picture the world accurately. thinkers of anti-colonial discourses and differentiates
Our concepts do not simply name or stand for the between anti-colonial and post-colonial perspectives:
things which they aim to represent in thought. Words
and signs can have meaning without referring to things Anti-colonial discourses were put forth, in Africa,
in the world. Words and signs only make sense within for example, by diverse writers/activists such
the rules of how our respective languages and forms of as Frantz Fanon (psychiatrist) [see 1967; 2004],
speech are used and understood. That simply means Leopold Dedar Senghor (poet) [see 1964], Cheikh
there is no universal or single way of understanding Anta Diop (historian) [see 1974], Albert Memmi
the world. Even if you have grasped this – as you [see 1990], Amical Cabral [see 1973; 1980],
probably have if you have thought about it – this is Aime Cesaire (poet) [see 1972], Walter Rodney
tough theoretical stuff and will not be part of your (historian) [see 1972]. The focus of their critique
first-year exams. But here is a nice, quick example was colonialism and its effects on the lives of
which might make you smile. the colonised. Thus, their critique tended to be
Many years ago, under apartheid, a South African external; it was directed at the colonialists. It is
Sotho language university lecturer went to Lesotho on this point that post-colonialism differs from
and saw a road sign which read: Butle! What? Bootle anti-colonial discourses, in that their criticism is
he thought! This lecturer did not understand a word largely internal. (Our emphasis)
in his own language. Butle in Sesotho means slowly.
He did not understand the road sign as the word butle Leroke (1998: 54) goes on to define post-colonialism
occurred outside his own South African Sesotho and notes key post-colonial thinkers:
linguistic tradition. He could be forgiven as there are
still no road signs in South Africa in an indigenous Post-colonialism is a reflection on the post-colonial
African language. The point is that the road sign – the situation in Africa. Thus, it locates its critique
word butle – only made immediate sense to Sesotho inside the internal conditions of the independent
speakers in Lesotho. The Sesotho lecturer, of course, countries. Its proponents include diverse writers
37

such as Ngugi wa Thiong’o [see 1981; 1993], perspective, in comparing African and African
Valentine Mudimbe [see 1988], Anthony Kwame American intellectuals, Franklin Fraser argued as
Appiah [see 1992], Edward Said [see 1993], Homi early as 1962 that ‘all African intellectuals begin with
Bhabha [see 1994], Christopher Miller [see 1985], the fact of the colonial experience of the African’
Trinh T, Minh-ha [see 1989], Gayatri Spivak [see (Franklin Fraser 1962; 1973: 57) (my emphasis). He did
1991; 1993] and Pauline Houtoundji [see 1983]. not think that Afro-American scholars took their own
As such, post-colonialism means different things experience of racial discrimination seriously.
to different writers. However, what all have in Franklin Fraser was writing when there were
common is a critical rethinking of present Third very few black students in American universities
World conditions. In this sense, post-colonialism – still under 2 per cent at college level in 1969
becomes a reconstructive exercise. (Wilhelm 1973: 136). The social context of the Civil
Rights movement would change this – as well as the
These thinkers articulated the experience of life and university curriculum and challenge white dominated
struggles of African people and contributed to political sociology. Black students of sociology and other
liberation in Africa and across the global South. Central social sciences started asking: ‘Why should we study
to anti-colonial struggles, resistance to colonialism classical sociological theory and be taught nothing
and post-colonial thinking was both Marxism and a about the history of Black sociological thought … ?’
framework of ideas emanating from post-modern and (Ladner 1973: xxv). Tough questions were asked about
post-structuralist theoretical perspectives. The multi- formal sociological theory. From the standpoint and
disciplinary academic discipline of post-colonialism location of Afro-American students, one postgraduate
or post-colonial studies expresses, in different degrees asked: ‘What kind of graduate training or socialisation
and contrasts, these two major influences. The Marxist do Black students majoring in sociology receive?’
orientation emphasises the economic dominance of (Davidson 1973: 23). The short answer was that while
the North over the South. The post-modern and post- the objective situation is the same, ‘the subjective
structuralist orientation places special value on the state is actually quite different for black and white
human dimension, the importance of language and students’, with black students facing racism and what
culture. Both theoretical orientations stress how the Davidson refers to as ‘internal colonialism’ – which
colonial encounter resulted in the division between he defined as ‘the social and cultural expression of
coloniser and the colonised. Of particular significance racism’ (Davidson 1973: 24). Chapter 9 on Race and
is how black scholarship challenged the assumptions its discussion of colonialism, Eurocentrism and the
born out of Euro-North American social theory. ‘colonial encounter’, will permit the framing of this
experience and how these questions are mirrored in
Black scholarship South African universities today.
Sociology only became closely connected to the During these years of the early 1970s, here at home,
black Afro-American people in the social context of Frantz Fanon’s The Wretched of the Earth ([1963] 2004)
emancipation and the end of slavery (Ellison 1973). was being circulated at the University of Natal by
Objectivity and value neutrality then still dominated Steve Biko in his dormitory to ‘friends and comrades
social scientific thinking and scientific method. But – writers, activists, community workers, actors,
instead of failing to treat the experience of black students …’ – described as ‘the intellectual centre of
Americans objectively, in the name of science, sociology the Black Consciousness movement’ (Bhabha 2004:
had justified ‘anti-democratic and unscientific racial xxviii–xxix). Fanon was one of the twentieth century’s
attitudes and practices’ (Ellison 1973: 84). This was only most important theorists of revolution, colonialism
debunked by Gunnar Myrdal’s study on race relations, and racial difference. According to Homi Bhabha,
The American Dilemma, in 1944, which showed that Fanon extended the ‘economistic theories of Marxism
the values social scientists took for granted could not towards a greater emphasis on the importance of
be assumed, but had to be made explicit. In the late psychological and cultural liberation’ (Bhabha 2004:
1940s a black American sociologist, E Franklin Fraser xxix). This is central to understanding Steve Biko’s
(1894–1962), pointed out the importance of social analysis of apartheid society and the experience of
context for social theorising. Prefiguring a decolonial black South Africans as expressed in his philosophy of
38

Black Consciousness. Social theorising cannot simply by whites with South African society’; criticises
be an abstract theoretical intellectual exercise. This Marxian ‘class theory’ and identifies ‘white racism’
theoretical point is an important one. The cold intellect whose ‘greatest racists’ are ‘their agents ever present
and its abstract formulations had to be supplemented amongst us, telling us it is immoral to withdraw into a
by the warm heart of psychological awareness. cocoon’ (ie an exclusively black political association).
In 1978, when Steve Biko’s seminal text, I write Sociologically astute, Biko points out that despite
what I like (2006), was first published, the legitimate there being a ‘few good whites’ and a ‘few bad blacks’,
representatives of the majority of South Africans were his concern is with ‘group attitudes and group
either banned, banished, imprisoned or in exile. While politics’. Biko explains the relation between them
fully recognising these leaders, Biko was critical of their and the resolution for the future (yet to be attained)
analysis of apartheid society, whether coming from a in terms of Hegelian dialectics (Biko 2006: 52–55). To
Marxist inspired critique or an Africanist one. Biko was note only one point in his rich text, Biko employs a
an extraordinarily subtle and nuanced philosopher, sociology of knowledge approach. He argues that it was
social theorist and political thinker. Prefiguring the political independence of ‘so many African states
contemporary decolonial thinking, Biko’s starting within so short a time’ and not ‘the American “Negro”
point was the immediate lived experience of being movement’ which was responsible for the ‘growth of
black in a racially discriminatory white dominated awareness among South African blacks’ (Biko 2006:
colonial society. In explaining the philosophy of Black 75). Biko thereby points to the immediate and familiar
Consciousness adopted in the policy manifesto of the experience of black South Africans as the social basis
organisation he founded in December 1971, the South for his own philosophy and political practice – a rare
African Students Organisation (SASO), he ‘defined feat among social theorists. In having his own and his
blacks as those who are by law or tradition politically, black compatriots as his starting point, Biko’s work
economically and socially discriminated against anticipates decolonial theory.
as a group in South African society and identifying
themselves as a unit in the struggle towards the Decolonisation
realisation of their aspirations’ (Biko 2006: 52). Clear These few stepping stones have brought us to today’s
theoretical thinking is required to align this definition intellectual and political moment. Our grasp of this
with the next sentence in I write what I like: must be theoretical and intellectual, political and
practical. Clearly, we can only make a start.
This definition illustrates to us a number of things: To grasp what the call for decolonisation means
1. Being black is not a matter of pigmentation we need to define and distinguish colonialism and
– being black is a reflection of a mental decolonisation from coloniality and decoloniality.
attitude. The key insight is that the legacies of colonialism, in
2. Merely by describing yourself as black you South Africa for instance, continue to ‘live on’ after the
have started on a road towards emancipation departure of the colonial powers (Jansen 2017: 157).
you have committed yourself to fight against Coloniality is a global power structure (Maldonado-
all forces that seek to use your blackness as a Torres 2007). Coloniality is also an ‘ephochal condition’
stamp that marks you as a subservient being. and an ‘epistemological design’ (Ndlovu-Gatwsheni
(Biko 2006: 52) 2013: 11). Coloniality is thus different from and
survives beyond colonialism (Maldonado-Torres 2007:
In the following three pages of his book Biko succinctly 243). Maldonado-Torres (cited in Ndlovu-Gatsheni
distinguishes between non-white and black; further 2015c: 487) explains how this happens:
defines Black Consciousness as that ‘which seeks to
infuse the black community with a new-found pride Coloniality … refers to long-standing patterns of
in themselves, their efforts, their value systems, their power that emerged as a result of colonialism,
culture, their religion and their outlook to life’ (2006: but that define culture, labour, inter-subjectivity
53); points out the aim ‘to completely transform the relations, and knowledge-production well beyond
system’; shows what ‘liberation’ and the ‘free self’ the strict limits of colonial administrations.
entails; contrasts ‘the colonisation of white countries
39

Recall that knowledge reflects not only the social American-centric modernity’ means. There is much to
context and position of its thinkers, but that significant take in here.
social events, liberation wars, workers’ strikes and The colonisation of Africa (and elsewhere) defined
popular uprisings often have an especially marked Africans (and other colonised peoples) as an uncivilised
effect on social thought. University students’ call anthropos – a biological species – to be differentiated
for decolonisation did this in our context in 2015 from a supposedly civilised humanitas – the sacrosanct
and 2016, even if this process had started during the personhood of collective humanity. In the mind of
apartheid era. Crucially, the call for decolonisation, the Euro-North American, shaped by a totalising
most especially the call for decolonising the universalist epistemic framework, this justified:
mind, decolonising thinking and decolonising ‘Enslavement, conquest, colonisation, dispossession,
the curriculum, is not only political, but also domination, repression and exploitation [which]
represents a serious epistemic challenge post-colonial characterised the dragging of Africa into Euro-North
societies face. American-centric civilisation’ (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2015:
The concept of decolonisation initially referred 19). In short, there was one set of rules for white Euro-
to the process of political emancipation from colonial North Americans who considered themselves superior
rule – in Africa, starting with Ghana in 1957 and to Africans and other colonised societies. There was
ending in South Africa in 1994. Decoloniality, however, another set of rules for those subjected to domination
refers primarily to an epistemic and political project and enslavement whose labour and lives were forced to
(Mignolo 2009). It is best to work through this issue serve Euro-North American society and its conception,
historically and look at the history of colonisation from belief and consequent attempts at ‘human progress and
the standpoint of our current geographical location, promised emancipation, civilisation and development’
namely South Africa. (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2015: 19).
The decolonial scholar Sabelo J Ndlovu-Gatsheni Even after political decolonisation in Africa in the
asks where one must start when examining the ‘long twentieth century, most importantly for understanding
interaction of Africa with outside world’ – one which key concepts, both the effects and practices of
goes back to before Europe existed (2015: 17). Colonial colonisation remained – continued to ‘live on’ in other
invasions of Egypt occurred before the emergence words. What remained and survived was coloniality.
of the Greek civilisation over 2 500 years ago. North In the name of the ‘civilising mission, emancipation
Africa was also subject to invasions before it became and development’ of Eurocentrism, the hidden agenda
part of the Roman Empire by 147 BCE and was later of coloniality ‘enabled racial classification of human
colonised by the Arabs in the seventh century. It is population, enslavement of non-European people,
only in the fifteenth century, however, with the arrival primitive accumulation, imperialism, colonialism,
of Christopher Columbus in North America in 1492, apartheid and neo-colonialism’ (Ndlovu-Gatsheni
that we can speak of a ‘Euro-North American-centric 2015: 19). To ‘decolonise the mind’, as Ngugi wa
modernity’. Citing a range of decolonial scholars, Thiong’o first put it (1981), means to understand
Grosfoguel especially (2011), Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2015: both self and the world from the perspective and
17) describes the emergence of this global phenomenon: point of view of those who have been subject to these
forces. This means taking on the epistemic project of
… the dawn of Euro-North American-centric decoloniality. For if a society is colonised and what
modernity gave birth to a modern world- justifies this is a totalising epistemic framework,
system that decolonial theorists understood as which by definition negates and erases the possibility
constitutively racially hierarchised, patriarchal, of any other views, then this means that knowledge
sexist, imperial, colonial, capitalist, Christian- itself is also colonised. If knowledge itself is colonised
centric, hetero-normative, asymmetrical and there is the need to decolonise knowledge. This entails
modernist … a fundamental epistemic challenge to the way in
which Euro-North American thought and practice
Check the Glossary at the back of this book for the ‘described, conceptualised and ranked’ the world as
meanings of these terms and concepts in order to Walter Mignolo expressed it (cited in Ndlovu-Gatsheni
grasp the extent of what the formulation ‘Euro-North 2015: 20). Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2015b: 22) provides the
40

reason for this need to rethink dominant social or units of analysis to be taken into account. The
scientific theories: first concept is the coloniality of power. This concept
permits analysis of the classical Euro-American
Epistemologically and theoretically speaking, universalist dominant epistemologically rooted
dominant social science theories (structuralism, power structure. It ‘enables delving deeper’ into
post-structuralism, post-modernism and post- how the world was divided by binary thinking
colonialism) are experiencing an epistemic limit. (either/or; good/evil; owner/slave; black/white)
expressed socially and globally as the beneficiaries of
The question arises: How does one go beyond the imperialism, colonialism and apartheid (‘humanitas’/
epistemic limits of classical sociological thinking and allegedly civilised) and its victims (anthropos/
its subsequent development? supposedly uncivilised).
The second concept or unit of analysis is the
Decolonial thinking coloniality of knowledge. This refers to examining
How is one to engage in decolonial thinking? There are epistemological issues and the production of knowledge
two aspects which need to be taken seriously, both of and whose purposes and interests the dominant
which Euro-North American thought ignored, passed global epistemic framework serves. It further permits
over in silence or simply assumed. For Mignolo this examining how indigenous knowledge of oppressed
means taking seriously one’s own geographical location peoples was marginalised and thereby disempowered.
(that of colonised peoples) and one’s own body politics The third unit of analysis is the coloniality of
(being colonised, oppressed, disadvantaged, black) as being. This unit of analysis explores how what it is
the starting point of thinking and theorising. Mignolo to be human was disfigured by colonialism, how
directly challenges what he calls the ‘zero point’ of the construction of modern human subjectivity was
the dominant hegemonic epistemology of Euro-North skewed and how especially Afro-American and
American people and society. Think of Mignolo’s African scholars started looking at the world afresh.
notion of the ‘zero point’ as the European philosopher Notions of ‘negritude’ and the ‘African personality’
in his armchair engaged in thought, but taking his reasserted and restored self-pride and dignity in the
own privileged position for granted. Intellectual work context of a ‘dehumanising colonialism’ by way of
which results from this location and social context the “objectification/thingification/commodification”
all too often neglects to consider the power of social of Africans’ (Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2015c: 490).
context and circumstances which shape thought In short: ‘Decoloniality announces the broad
and knowledge. We need to take our own context ‘decolonial turn’ that involves the ‘task of the very
and position seriously to move beyond this framing decolonisation of knowledge, power and being,
limit of thought. This requires decolonial thinking including institutions such as the university’
– decoloniality to be precise. Ndlovu-Gatsheni (2015: (Maldonado-Torres 2011, cited by Ndlovu-Gatsheni
485c) spells out what the concept of decoloniality 2015c: 490).
refers to: Not to be simplistic, however, it needs to be
understood that decolonisation is itself a social science
Decoloniality is not only a long standing political construct born of its social context. Decolonisation
and epistemological movement aimed at liberation theory assumes a number of perspectives, namely as
of (ex-) colonised peoples from coloniality but also the ‘decentring of European knowledge (shifting the
a way of thinking, knowing and doing. centralised perspective of Euro-American epistemol-
ogy and practice) and the Africanisation of knowledge
Further, ‘Decoloniality exposes the “hidden script” (adopting an African perspective). Decolonisation can
[or hidden agenda] of modernity known as coloniality’ be taken as additive-inclusive knowledge; as critical
(Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2015: 19). engagement with settled knowledge; as encounters
There are three major aspects to decolonial with entangled knowledges and as the repatriation
thinking, knowing and doing. Leaning on Ndlovu- of occupied knowledge (and society) (see Jansen
Gatsheni (see 2015c: 490), there are three key concepts 2017: 156–163).
41

the development of such a pluriversal epistemic

Box 1.9 Decolonising the post-colonial university reconstruction of society will cohere and unfold in
New theories and new thinking present surprises. In the future may well be largely up to the generation
his lecture, ‘Decolonising the Post-colonial University’, of readers of this textbook. In short, this is only the
delivered at the University of Cape Town on 22 start of new understanding and the realisation of the
August 2017, the renowned African scholar and global theoretical task ahead. The age-old ambitions of social
decolonisation theorist, Mamhood Mamdani, said and sociological thinking and practice to achieve
Afrikaans ‘represents the most successful decolonising emancipation failed. It is now necessary in our social
initiative on the African continent’. context to develop a locally contextualised epistemic
(Source: Mail&Guardian, September 8–14, 2017, p 31) for broader liberation in society to come to fruition.
Finally, an important point of departure of this
Questions introduction to sociology is that theoretical thinking
Discuss the following questions with a fellow does not lie in burning theoretical bridges. For ill or
sociology student. good, all thinkers inherit a socialised and particular,
1. Is Mamdani here talking about political decoloni- geographically located epistemic paradigm from
sation or the epistemic and cultural project of within which thinking must start. This book presents
decoloniality? sociological theories and views with Western origins
2. Do you find this statement surprising? If so why? as stepping stones to understand social phenomena. Its
If not, what reasons do you have for holding objective is to empower you, the student of sociology,
this view? in developing your own sociological and indeed,
3. Did you find contrasting and conflicting inter- decolonial imagination, not to impose or subordinate
petations of South African society and history your views to any particular theory or epistemic
coming into your discussion? If so, can you relate framework. Recall how thinkers such as Frantz Fanon
them to the theories in this chapter? and Steve Biko used Western knowledge to confront
Western forces. Can you similarly apply theory and
write it from the vantage point of where you are
Decolonial imaginations sitting now?
One way in which decolonial thinking can be thought
of is as specifying, localising and contextualising Summary
and thereby deepening the ‘sociological imagination’ • Sociological concepts and theory provide the
first proposed by C Wright Mills. Remember that the intellectual basis for social scientific investigation
sociological imagination requires linking our own and social research. Socialised by significant
personal biography with our own social and historical social others in society and powerfully shaped
context. Doing this enables us to see how what we by such and other social contexts, social analysts
think and how we act are powerfully influenced by nevertheless strive to understand society in a
the limits and constraints our socialised upbringing way which transcends common sense, the results
impose on us, but which also reveals the possibilities of which qualify as social scientific knowledge,
our own independent agency and capacity for action however provisional such knowledge, by its very
can achieve. Walter Mignolo’s injunction to start nature in our contemporary times, happens to be.
with the material basis of our own body politics and • The criteria of a good social scientific theory in
own geographical location can be seen as concretely general and sociological theories in particular are
specifying our perspective by making explicit and simplicity, logical coherence and factual evidence.
taking our race, class, gender and location as the This distinguishes them from social theories
starting point of thinking and theory. and ideology.
Adopting this standpoint both builds on, yet • Identifying assumptions underlying theories is
breaks with, traditional classical thinking as it takes instructive. Nothing can be taken for granted,
our own time, place and situation seriously. It also regarding knowledge in general, but especially
means that there is not a single universal decolonial in the social sciences where the social analyst is
imagination, but many decolonial imaginations. How intimately implicated in the object of their study,
42

ie the social interactions and affairs and goings on realise its position as the conceptual framework to
of social life. understand our current social situation.
• The difference between natural and social science, • Introduction to the epistemic challenge to
and whether sociology needs to adhere to the modernist sociological theory via decolonial
methodological canons of the natural sciences, thinking which requires taking one’s own body
demarcates the social scientific perspectives politics and geographical location as the starting
which lie at the basis of sociology. Questions about point of thinking seriously.
science, knowledge and how all human endeavours
are humanly created social constructions, lie at the Are you on track?
basis of all sociology and constitutes its primary 1. What is sociological theory?
epistemological challenge. 2. Did any sociological concept or theory prompt you
• The chapter introduced the generally accepted, to change your view of some aspect of social life?
three main theoretical perspectives of sociology Explain this to someone else studying sociology.
as its foundations, yet which are not exhaustive of 3. Whose theoretical ideas in the classical tradition
a young discipline which is required to keep up did you find of greatest explanatory force – those of
with an ever-rapidly changing social world. Comte, Marx, Durkheim or Weber? Why? Express
• The contribution of the classical theorist, Auguste your view to both a social science and a non-social
Comte, and his formulation of the naming of the science student.
discipline of sociology and the criteria for natural 4. What is decolonial thinking and how is
scientific knowledge that he formulated remains decolonisation related to, but distinguished from,
in practice, it was suggested, to be the basis of what decoloniality?
constitutes knowledge and social science. 5. Does Steve Biko’s philosophy of Black
• Positivist social science, combined with evidence Consciousness prefigure those of the decolonial
of the manner in which some key concepts of thinker Walter Mignolo? If so, how?
Émile Durkheim treat social reality, continues to
stand as a challenge that the aim of certainty in More sources to consult
knowledge, uniquely combined with the view that Berger P. 1963. An Invitation to Sociology. New York:
society is normative, is an epistemic endeavour Doubleday.
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• Introducing critical social science and a few of Penguin Books. Modern Classics. South Africa:
the key concepts of Karl Marx clearly showed Penguin Random House.
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remains relevant to understanding contemporary Theory: An Snalysis of the Writings of Marx, Weber
social issues such as wealth, poverty and social and Max Weber. Cambridge: Cambridge University
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the world’s population and which predominate as McLellan D. 1985. Karl Marx. New York: Harper
features of social life in developing societies such Colophon.
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• Introduction to interpretive social science and Hampshire: Palgrave.
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complex, multi-causal and multi-dimensional Cambridge University Press.
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More advanced reading Mbembe A. 2015 [2000]. On the Postcolony.

Bhambra GK. 2007. Rethinking Modernity: Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand
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Hamshire: Palgrave Macmillan. Turner BS. 2000. The Blackwell Companion to Social
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Humanism for South Africa. Johannesburg:
University of the Witwatersrand Press.
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46

Chapter 2
Socialisation and identity

Khosi Kubeka
Much of our lived experience is shaped by the learning processes of our upbringing. We become socialised into the habits,
traditions and ways of thinking of our particular family, school and university, community, work occupation and society. Some
scholars also call this the process of enculturation. Socialisation is a powerful force shaping the identity of the individual. It
can therefore seem that individuals are a result or product of the culture and society in which people grow up, but which also
constrains us as individuals in powerful and important ways. If individuals are thus shaped by the processes of socialisation, is
it then also possible that we can act with free will? This chapter demonstrates that the very possibility of freedom is the result
of an intensive socialisation process. This socialisation process (or processes) determines and restricts freedom, but at the same
time enables self-awareness for human agents to act in such a way that they can surpass and transcend the limitations imposed
on individual identity.
Philosophers call identity an ‘indexical’. This is a technical term which means that identity is a one-to-one relation. You
can only be identical to yourself. Only ‘I’ can refer to myself as ‘I’. Only you – personal pronoun singular – can refer to yourself
as ‘I’. In South Africa – as elsewhere – we all have discrete, separate and individual identity numbers. Legally speaking, this
unique number defines us as separate and unique individuals. What constitutes individual identity, however, is a much more
complicated issue. Philosophy continues to debate it. Psychology continues to explore it. Sociologists are, unusually, united in
the view that the formation of identity is intimately related to the processes of socialisation.
This chapter explores this central issue which grapples with the perplexing question of what it is to be human. The two
opening case studies starkly illustrate that individuals who are not properly socialised literally fail to become healthy and
useful human beings through no fault of their own. Once you have read these two case studies, spend some time reflecting
on the powerful, if controversial, sociological dictum that the individual is, in a very meaningful way, formed and shaped,
‘created’ even, by society – yet has the capacity to exercise individual freedom. This profound sociological insight remains the
subject of much theorising, discussion and debate. To engage with it does require becoming familiar with the terms of this
debate regarding the extent to which society exercises a powerful influence over the individual. The very early conceptual
distinction made between socialisation and identity in this chapter must hence be taken seriously as we engage in the process
of intellectual self-formation in tertiary education.
Sociologists generally lean to the one side of this singularly important debate. We argue that identity is fundamentally a
social process. As you will soon see in this chapter, this is the ‘nurture’ side of the debate. The other side of the debate considers
‘nature’ as basic and fundamental to the individual identity of persons. In this chapter you will confront various theoretical
perspectives, formulated by modern authors, who have sought to address this matter. Sociologists might agree on the central
idea that the formation of individual identity can only be understood in relation to the processes of socialisation. This does
not mean, however, that they either share a single perspective or agree on which theory provides the best explanation of how
socialisation lies at the heart of how individual identity is formed.
This crucial chapter needs to be read carefully. The text is conceptually dense, especially the first part which tackles a range
of theories addressing this thorny issue. Do ensure that you understand the meanings of the concepts discussed. Consult the
Glossary at the end of the textbook if you are not sure of the meaning of a term or concept. You then need to pay special
attention to how the various concepts in each theory are linked together in order to grasp the overall point and argument the
theories are making. Once you have seriously engaged in this intellectual task – which will take some effort on your part – you
will be in a position to compare and contrast the various theories and be able to express them in your own words. You will then

find yourself enabled to choose and argue, on the basis of reference to the various theories and the evidence they present,
which theory you think best explains the relationship between socialisation and identity.
The effort of grappling with the concepts and theories will be worth it and the slightly easier final third of the chapter will
make greater sense. In the final part of the chapter the agents of socialisation are discussed. The examples taken from South
African life will be familiar to you. You might find the sections on ethnic identity and non-racialism particularly illuminating,
especially if you read these sections together with Chapter 4 on Families and households, Chapter 9 on Race, Chapter 10
on Gender and Chapter 11 on Class. If you do so you will find yourself dealing with the age-old sociological issue of the
relationship between the individual and society. You will be doing so while firmly grounding this complex but fascinating issue
and its debates in the context of our own society. Because we as sociologists – and other social scientists – are part of the
world we study, we inevitably learn about ourselves as we study the social world around us. This chapter enables us to do just
that.
Case study 2.1 Isolation
A little girl named Genie from the United States was kept in isolation by her father from the age of twenty months only
to be discovered at age thirteen. By the time a psychologist, Dr Susan Curtiss (1977), met Genie, her emotional and
linguistic capabilities were severely impaired. She could not walk nor speak and was unable to focus her eyes beyond a
certain boundary. During her time in confinement, Genie spent most of her days naked and tied to a potty seat. At night
she was placed in bed in a straightjacket. The house was often quiet with no radio or television in sight. Genie’s exposure
to abuse during her formative years had harmful effects on her development in later years. She spent the rest of her life
institutionalised.
(Source: Curtiss 1977)
In KwaZulu-Natal, a five-year-old boy, called Saturday Mthiyane, was discovered by the inhabitants of Sundumbili. He had
been living with and appeared to have been reared by monkeys near the Tugela River. When he was discovered, Saturday
displayed strange, animal-like behaviour, climbing trees and rooftops, was aggressive and ate fruit and uncooked raw
meat. He was also institutionalised and placed in a special school for the disabled where he was diagnosed as mentally
retarded. He also has severe speech impediments which appear to be permanent. He now struggles to relate to others
and repeated efforts to teach him social skills have failed.
(Source: Mail&Guardian 2012)
•• Definition of socialisation and identity

•• Theories of socialisation and identity
Key Themes
•• Agents of socialisation
•• Re-socialisation
•• Social identity
•• Identity as construction
•• Identity and globalisation
•• Ethnic identity.
48

Chapter 2: Socialisation and identity
Introduction the environment that makes demands on them to adapt,

The two tragic stories in Case study 2.1 point to the develop and evolve or become extinct. The famous
kind of damage that isolation and lack of socialisation phrase ‘survival of the fittest’ was coined to refer to
can have on human beings. They demonstrate the the competition for scarce resources among all species
significance of the nurturing we all yearn for and deserve as they seek to successfully keep up with the demands
from our significant others, especially our parents of survival. Those forms of life, including homo
and/or guardians in shaping our sense of self and place sapiens, with greater inherent adaptive capabilities
in an ever-changing world. They also demonstrate are more likely to survive and pass on the survival
how most of our human learning occurs through our genes to the next generations. Species lacking in such
interaction with others in our surroundings. In short, features, however, naturally cease to exist and are thus
our very identities – or what sociologists refer to as eliminated from the evolutionary record.
identity formation – are shaped by this social contact. Darwin’s claim sparked a massive response from
In fact, even in the animal kingdom researchers found the entire scientific and religious community. His
that severe isolation and deprivation of ‘social’ contact work saw the beginning of a long, drawn-out debate
in young monkeys led to long-term deep psychological that led to the development of a range of postulations
and emotional distress later in life (Mason 1968). How and theories regarding the development of the human
are we then to understand the critical importance of species. At the centre of what has come to be known
the processes of socialisation? This chapter aims to as the nature versus nurture debate is an effort to
introduce this central question in sociology and which elucidate how human beings have evolved over
will be structured in the following way. The terms time. Two opposing observations are at the centre
socialisation and identity will be defined and a range of the debate. There are those who view humans as
of theories centred on these two key concepts will animals with advanced capabilities that set us apart
be introduced. Such is the central and foundational from other animals (nature). On the other hand, there
importance of these two central concepts in sociology, are those who believe that we are essentially social
this review of key theories will take up half of the beings (nurture).
chapter. The chapter then moves on to discuss the From a sociological perspective, although nature
agents of socialisation, those institutions in which plays a crucial role in human development, especially
the process is embedded, the family, school and peer in the beginning of life, it is our interaction with
groups. The world of work further serves as a powerful our surroundings and our immediate caregivers
socialising agent on the individual. The formative that significantly influences our identity formation
power of the mass media today is so pervasive that and lays the ground for who we become later in life.
it too has been recognised as a powerful socialising In other words, in posing questions about our own
agent. In instances where individuals fail to be fully unique individual consciousness, the interactions
functioning members of society and find themselves and social relationships – which occur within very
in mental hospitals or prisons for instance, we can different environments – are what primarily shape the
then talk about the process of re-socialisation which individual. In addition, to understand both individual
is formally instituted. The question of social identity and shared forms of behaviour within groups of people,
is then discussed and finally, in order to stretch such behaviour needs to be observed within the context
your sociological imagination, individual identity is of specific events, happenings and social processes.
discussed in the current context of globalisation before This means that there are always events (stimuli)
some conclusions are drawn. that precede behaviour (response), which in turn give
rise to consequences (reward, punishment, or neutral
2.1 The nature versus nurture debate effect). So significant is the role of the environment
Scholars have long been engaged in debates about in human development that early philosophers such
what it means to be human. In On the Origin of Species as John Locke (1632–1704) thought that human beings
(Darwin 1859), the English naturalist Charles Darwin were born as a ‘blank slate’ – or tabula rasa – in which
asserted that natural adaptation is at the core of human he compared the mind to a blank sheet of paper. Locke
development. Darwin argued that humans and other believed that each experience a person encounters fills
species undergo a process of evolution in response to the page of the mind with ideas from past experiences
49

that are unique from person to person. This is how identity is constructed. Identity is the socialised part
human beings came to interpret their world differently of the self that comes in a form of meanings that define
according to this theory of human development. Human who we are based on our position in society.
agents, over time, accomplished our interaction with What this chapter now goes on to present is hence a
our societal environment and other human beings who series of sociological explanations of how socialisation,
cross our path. which occurs through our interaction with individuals
This thoroughly behaviourist view of how human and groups at familial, community and societal level,
intelligence developed was, however, to be challenged. inform the development of our sense of identity. As the
Rather than being a blank slate, the mind itself should influential contemporary English sociologist Anthony
rather be viewed as an organ brimming with capacity Giddens (1991) has powerfully argued, socialisation is
to absorb perceptions and generate ideas as it interacts the process whereby we become members of society.
with its immediate natural and social environment as
the socialisation of individuals unfolds. 2.2 Theories of socialisation and
It was the social psychologist George Herbert identity
Mead (1934) of the Chicago school of sociology, who Sociological theories of socialisation and identity
first argued that it is through human interaction that help us understand how our self-concept – the view
meaning and understanding is derived. Who we are, that we have of ourselves – emanates from our social
Mead carefully argued, is determined by ‘the social’. environment in various ways. One long-held view was
Our first acquaintance with and knowledge of the world developed by the influential American sociologist
occurs within a social setting and our place in it is Talcott Parsons (1902–1979) who dominated much of
facilitated through the use of language which develops sociological theorising for over a generation. He called
as human beings interact. Therefore, it is through his theoretical approach structural functionalism.
human interaction that language and the transmission Central to this approach was the view that society
of meaning, derived from the very first learning was made up of institutions in which individuals
experiences at our mother’s breasts, that we become each played different roles. Individuals were guided
members of society. It is these experiences which are by sets of norms of behaviour and which functioned
the first building blocks of identity formation and in interdependently, yet in an integrated manner.
which the new-born human infant plays an interactive This ensured social order and stability in society.
role, Mead argued. As such, new-born humans – as The function of socialisation was to entrench and
well as other mammals especially – are introduced perpetuate social order and stability and ensure its
into some form of pre-existing social organisation. continuity. Here, through key societal institutions
This led Mead to talk of the ‘priority of the social’ such as the family, school and community, among
in the formation of individual identity. In brief, the others, we learn important norms and values as well
behaviour of individuals and the very development of as roles that will enable us to integrate, conform
increasingly complex societies can only be understood and become well-adjusted members of society. Well
through the many daily interactions between human socialised individuals would, in turn, contribute to
agents that make up ‘the social’. These interactions societal stability and social cohesion.
are, in turn, framed by the wide range of particular Conflict theories and the conflict perspective,
environments within which different forms of social on the other hand, do not stress social order and
organisation have developed. the integrated functioning of society as a whole, but
Sociologists firmly hold that we learn ways of focus rather on the impact of social change and social
being and acting through our interaction with those difference. Conflict theorists take the different contexts
present in our lives. This occurs through the process in which socialisation takes place very seriously. Very
of socialisation, which is how we come to understand different environments and different social situations
and internalise the norms, values and expectations of into which individuals are socialised are subject
behaviour that we carry with us throughout our lives. to constant change and often results in competing
These attributes inform the roles we occupy and the claims for resources. This results in conflict between
kind of relationships we form and maintain. It is hence different groups of people in society. The process of
through the processes of socialisation that a person’s socialisation takes place very differently in these
50

different contexts. The different and often competing values are embedded in that process and assist in the
views, norms, values and sets of behaviours into development of self and indeed, self-formation. This
which individuals are socialised reflect not only these has brought us back to the key refrain of the symbolic
differences, but also the unequal power relationships interactionists. Symbolic interactionist theorists such
which develop within societies. In other words, as Mead, Charles Horton Cooley (1864–1929) and Irving
socialisation reproduces differences and inequality. Goffman (1922–1982) help us understand more deeply
To put it crudely, the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ are how we are essentially products of social interaction,
socialised differently. Powerful social groups control how we use other people’s responses to help us shape
and determine the nature and structure of social our self-concepts, and how we present ourselves in
institutions which regulate social life. The foundation everyday life.
of this power, for conflict theorists, generally lies in
ownership and control over the economic resources 2.2.1 Mead and the social self
of society and which is the source of political and In a very important book called Mind, Self and Society
social power. (Mead 1934), which was actually written by students
You might have noticed how George Herbert attending his lectures, George Herbert Mead, following
Mead’s explanation of identity formation and ‘the Darwin, sought to demonstrate how human beings,
priority of the social’ for identify formation and within despite their biological animal status, developed into
which socialisation takes place, underlies both the thinking beings with minds who possessed a sense of
structural functionalist and conflict perspectives self, unlike other animals. Early humans survived and
of society. Mead’s views were central to a cluster evolved as a special kind of self-conscious animal by
of theoretical views which fall under the name of learning to communicate through the development of
symbolic interactionism – also referred to as social language.
interactionism. As must have been evident from what Non-verbal communication first occurred through
was said about Mead’s views, symbolic interactionism the emergence and development of making signs to
holds that socialisation is a major, if not the major each other and developing communicative gestures.
determinant of human nature. This is because Before language developed, a grunt or a growl was a
socialisation involves learning shared meanings which vocal gesture – a symbol for wanting food or warning
lie at the heart of human interaction and which makes of danger. These signs and gestures became significant
social action possible. From this perspective, human symbols of communication. Through such symbolic
behaviour is determined not only by the objective interactions, language gradually took shape. Central
facts of a situation, but also by how people define that to this process was the realisation of what Mead
situation – that is, by the meaning or meanings they called ‘the other’. In learning to communicate through
attribute to it. making signs and gestures, human beings came to
Note how both structural functionalist and conflict recognise that they were each distinct from other
theorists highlight the importance of social structure human beings as they interacted in the early social
in explaining identity formation and the central role group of the tribe or clan in order to gather food and
of socialisation. Individuals reflect the wider social survive. They learned – or perhaps it should be said
structure with membership of social categories based that we learned – to assume the role of ‘the other’.
on a hierarchically structured and well-ordered and Others would respond to our gestures and vice versa.
functioning society for the structural functionalists. From this recognition – a revolutionary moment in
For the conflict theorists, how socialisation takes the development of the human mind – a sense of self
place depends on membership of particular social emerged. Central to Mead’s careful philosophical
groups or social classes. Despite these different views, reasoning as a social psychologist – but who referred
at the core of the relationship between self and the to his own work as social behaviourism – was his
environment are values and beliefs. Although socially powerful insight that ‘mind’ and ‘self’ do not exist
patterned or socially structured, these values are independently of their social environment. For Mead
actually deeply personal. Thus, since personal identity then, society or ‘the social’ as he liked to say, was the
and its formation is built up over time as individuals very foundation for the emergence of individuality. For
navigate their social world to achieve certain goals, Mead, we become individuals by virtue of engaging in
51

social acts. We use each other’s actions, or what he of the brain, the development of which could only
called gestures, to guide our own actions and thus take place within the context of group interaction or,
behave and interact with others in certain ways. During to use Mead’s favourite locution, within the context of
this process, both our actions and those of the people ‘the social’.
with whom we interact undergo a change. It is not just The self is hence not something with which we are
a case of responding to stimuli. We adjust to the stimuli born. Following Mead, we acquire the notion or sense of
and responses we present to each other through the ‘the self’ from our interactive relations with our social
gestures or communicative signs we observe or vocal environment. In addition to language, Mead traces the
gestures we hear. emergence of ‘the self’ (or self) in two stages of childhood
Mead used a famous example of a dog-fight development. He refers to these two stages as ‘play’ and
to illustrate what he called the ‘conversation of ‘game’. During the ‘play’ stage children begin to view
gestures’ which led to the formation of language. The themselves as belonging to an organised community or
behavioural ‘act’ of each dog becomes the stimulus to social group to the extent that they assume the attitudes
the other dog which elicits a response. There is then of others in their social environment.
a communicative relationship established between
these two dogs about to engage in a fight. In response The attitude of the other players, which the
to a growl (a threatening gesture) from the first dog, participant assumes organise into a sort of unit,
the other dog responds – either by fleeing or making a and it is that organisation which controls the
responding challenging growl. The very fact that the response of the individual. (Mead 1934: 154)
second dog is ready to either flee or attack the first dog
becomes a further stimulus to the first dog to change its During the ‘game’ stage, however, children learn how
own position or attitude. The second dog has no sooner to take on the role of many others. It is this organised
done this than the change of attitude in the first dog in community or social group which Mead refers to
turn causes the second dog to change its attitude. We as ‘the generalised other’ that gives an individual a
have here a ‘conversation of gestures’ (Mead 1934: 42– sense of self. Here, individuals use the generalised
43). In this example, Mead argues, the gesture of the attitudes of the other members in their social group
first dog summons up an appropriate response from to define their own behaviour. In other words, they
the second dog and which has a symbolic meaning come to perceive themselves from the viewpoint of the
attached to it. This determines how they then respond generalised other, thereby developing a sense of self
to each other in what is essentially a ‘social’ process of and self-consciousness, the ‘embryo of mind’.
behaviour. When it comes to human beings, a similar In addition to these two stages of development
‘conversation of gestures’ is both a process of learning Mead goes on further to distinguish between the ‘I’
that includes the shaping and development of capacities and ‘me’ as components of the self. This can be quite
of survival, and represents a mutual awareness of what tricky to grasp. Whereas the former – the ‘I’– refers
is happening in our, mutually influencing, social to the unpredictable and creative part of the self that
interactions. It is within this process at the heart of instantaneously responds to others, the latter – ‘me’– is
‘the social’, for Mead, that the emergence of mind takes that part of our selves which constitutes the attitudes
place. The mind, therefore, emerges as we embrace and of others that the individual assumes. The ‘I’ can only
internalise the attitudes of others as they respond to act in the present. ‘I’ is the part of the self which creates
our gestures and actions. the part of the self which becomes the ‘me’ and which
What is important here is that, for Mead, the mind can only then fall under the reflective gaze. In other
and its biological functions are social phenomena. words, the ‘I’ is the creative, selfish and independent
The development of the subjective experience of the part of the self. The ‘me’ is the reflective, selfless part
individual (which we unreflectively take for granted), of the self. The ‘me’ comes to light as we evaluate how
he argues, has its origin in and relates directly to the ‘I’ have done in the light of how others have responded
‘natural, socio-biological activities of the brain in to what ‘I’ did. After we have done something – acted
order to render an acceptable account of mind possible as an independent individual out of the strength of our
at all’ (Mead 1934: 133). This is because our individual ‘I’, we then evaluate and say: ‘How did I do?’ I should be
experiences are only made possible by the workings proud (or ashamed) of myself’. The ‘me’ is powerfully
52

dependent on how we think and assess how others saw a multifaceted entity with its components forming an
us and is hence powerfully dependent on the norms, identity that is closely tied to the social structure. As in
values of our own social group or, in other words, how the drama of the theatre, in life there are actors, scripts,
society itself is organised. stages and props. Goffman presents six components of
What is the significance of all of this? It is quite the dramaturgical analysis.
simply that human society, Mead argues, would The first component is the performance wherein
not exist if it were not for minds and selves. At the we stand in front of others, ‘the audience,’ and act
same time, however, both minds and selves are the out impressions that in turn confirm our identity. A
products of the very social processes that constitute continuous exchange of information and meaning-
the interaction between human beings and their making occurs as actors interact with their audience.
environment. Mead hence argues that at the basis of The performance takes place in a setting represented
all forms of society, regardless of complexity, whether by scenery, props and locations that vary in terms of
primitive or industrialised, lies what he calls the the audience and which thus requires the actor to be
‘socio-physical relations among individual members’ flexible in the delivering of his/her performance. It is
(Mead 1934: 133). Mead goes on to argue that the through appearance, that is, how the actor portrays
family is the fundamental social unit or what we will him/herself, that the audience come to know the actor’s
later refer to as the first agent of socialisation. This is social status. For instance, the way the actor is dressed
because it is in the family where these socio-physical and the props he/she uses serve to communicate race,
relations are most pronounced by virtue of its ability gender, socioeconomic status, occupational status,
to reproduce and maintain the human species. Note age and personal commitments. The manner in which
that even larger institutional units of society, such as actors perform their role serves to make the audience
governments, were originally ultimately extensions of aware of what to expect. Any inconsistencies between
the interactions between families. the manner and appearance can unsettle the audience.
Mead consequently viewed identity and identity This occurs, for instance, when the actor’s behaviour
formation as stemming from the solid web of social or performance goes against or violates socially
relationships that are organised and grouped defined and accepted norms that accompany their
differentially so that individuals are classified by race, social status position. The ‘stage’, also known as the
class, gender and religion, among others. People tend script, forms part of the performance and functions to
to fall within different segments of this classification provide an image or an impression the actor seeks to
simultaneously. At any given time, therefore, human portray. Some social scripts become institutionalised –
agents develop and comprise a multifaceted identity by resulting in stereotypes and expectations. Here, given
virtue of different roles they play and which are deeply their roles, social actors are expected to behave in a
embedded in these social networks. Furthermore, particular way.
given that the positions or social roles people occupy Finally, Goffman observes that the stage wherein
require certain expectations of behaviour, identity then the drama of life is performed is divided into three
become the internalisation of such role expectations. areas: front stage, back stage and off-stage. The ‘front
stage’ is where the actor performs in accordance with
2.2.2 Erving Goffman’s ‘presentation of the values and norms associated with his/her role and
the self in everyday life’ which is meaningful to the audience. The ‘back stage’
If identity can be meaningfully said to be closely is where the actor can behave differently because there
related to social recognition and acceptance, then how is no audience watching him/her. This is where the
we present ourselves in social settings is clearly an actor prepares for his/her performance. Actors get to
important aspect of identity. Erving Goffman (1959) both put on and remove the mask and become who
built on the work of the symbolic interactionists who they really are in the absence of the roles they perform
preceded him and on Mead and Cooley especially. in front of an audience. The ‘off-stage’ is where the
Goffman was interested in elucidating how we individual actors meet the audience members who are
manage our personal identity in our everyday lives. not part of the performance team on the front stage.
In his ‘dramaturgical’ theory of self (a theory using To illustrate how we perform our roles on the
the drama of the theatre), Goffman depicts the self as stage of life, imagine Thembi, a university student
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who is pursuing a Bachelor of Social Sciences degree, Our self-concept is largely shaped by the way in which
majoring in sociology and political science. After a we respond to how we think others view us and behave
difficult transition in her first year, from high school towards us. We interpret and internalise the attitudes
to a university far away from home, Thembi has come of others and how they respond to us. We thus invoke
to a place of comfort in her role as a university student. within ourselves powerful emotions of either pride or
Every day she juggles different roles and performs shame depending on the nature of the reflection we are
according to the stage and audience. Thembi typically focusing on. Hence:
begins her day by attending classes from morning
until lunchtime. When she is in class, she takes on We are ashamed to seem evasive in the presence of
the role of a student watching a teacher perform a a straightforward man, cowardly in the presence
teaching role, while she performs her student role by of a brave one, gross in the eyes of a refined one
sitting, listening and taking notes. During lunchtime, and so on. We always imagine, and in imagining
Thembi switches roles and therefore her performance. share, the judgments of the other mind. (Cooley
She is the chairperson of a student society on campus 1902: 184–185)
promoting human rights. She facilitates events and
runs workshops with students on campus, educating Sometimes we also actively manipulate other people’s
them about respect for human rights and diversity on view of us to serve our needs and interests.
campus. On Fridays, Thembi ends her day by switching The tendency to evaluate ourselves in response to
to her role as a waitress at one of the restaurants off- the judgements of others begins during our formative
campus frequented by students. Here she takes orders years as we interact with our parents or other significant
and serves a lot of different people at the same time. figures. It then extends to the wider social world that
This is how she earns extra money. All these role we navigate as we make the transition into adulthood.
identities involve preparation behind the scenes, Our self-concept or self-understanding evolves as we
preparing props and performing on stage in front of an continue to engage with others and internalise their
appropriate audience. Thembi’s multifaceted identity is expectations and perceptions of us.
thereby formed and developed as she acts out different Cooley’s surprising, yet reassuring, response to the
roles on the public ‘front stage’ of life, each one having question ‘Who am I?’ would be that the question is not
been carefully prepared privately ‘back stage’. a mystical or metaphysical one with no ready answer.
The question now arises how we conceptually link We ultimately understand ourselves in the light of the
the micro-symbolic interactionist account of Thembi’s way in which others see us. We evaluate and assess
experience with a broader social structural level of our behaviour and actions and indeed our very selves,
analysis. How do the activities of the many Thembi’s largely in social terms. We might have strong ideas
relate to the patterning forces of social structure? and differences to those around us. We might see
ourselves as a rugged and independent individualist.
2.2.3 Charles Cooley and ‘the looking glass Yet the extent to which we can realise our view of
self’ ourselves lies in the extent to which we successfully
Only the most unreflective person has never asked negotiate and manage to express these qualities – and
themselves the question: ‘Who am I?’ We all seek to by extension ourselves – in our social context. To
understand who we are, how we fit in, what is going to a large extent who I am or who we are insofar as we
happen to us. Sociology and the views of one symbolic try to fathom the nature of identity – and especially
interactionist in particular provide some thought- our own – could be said to be intimately tied to social
provoking and insightful answers. Charles Cooley recognition and acceptance – even if that takes time.
coined the phrase, the looking glass self (LGS). A leading
sociologist of his day and a close contemporary of Mead, 2.2.4 Peter Berger’s and Thomas Luckmann’s
Cooley (1902) similarly held that self-formation is social constructivism
informed in part by our perception of how others view Given that the mind and the self emerge from
us. In other words, through interpersonal interactions, interaction with the social environment, it is not
we constantly engage in the process of living ‘in the surprising that two sociologists went on to argue
minds of others without knowing it’ (Cooley 1902: 208). that identity is ‘constructed’ by that environment.
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This view is emphasised in the social constructivist individual capacities interact in significant ways to
perspective of Berger and Luckmann (1966), which influence human behaviour. Here structure (the way
stresses that society is a human product. As a social life is patterned and organised) and agency
collectivity of people with ‘different spheres of reality’ (the ability of the individual to make choices) are
and ‘multiple realities’, we engage in meaning-making key determinants in and of human development. The
within a ‘human environment’ marked by complex debate in sociology between structure and agency – in
socio-cultural and psychological components. Such a some ways often an alternative to the nature versus
context is sustained by the presence of order, direction nurture debate – has often been seen as a case of either
and stability. The use of language plays a very critical ‘structure’ or ‘agency’ being the key determinant
role in the process of the creation of a shared sense in explaining human behaviour and social events.
of order and meaning. It enables us to see how our Anthony Giddens sought to integrate ‘agency’ and
individual ‘inter-subjective world’ corresponds to that ‘structure’ and argues that human behaviour, while
of others in our social environment. embedded within social structure and enabled by it,
Furthermore, for these theorists the social contributes to changing it. In what Giddens refers to as
construction of society occurs in three stages, namely: the concept of structuration, ‘the constitution of agents
externalisation, objectivation and internalisation. and structures are not two independently given sets
First, human beings express themselves through of phenomena’ (Giddens 1984: 25). There is continual
language, art and in what they produce. Berger and interplay between agency and structure. In this
Luckmann call this ‘externalisation’. These ‘cultural interplay, the organisation of social relationships is
products’ are then organised in social institutions based on rules (guidelines of behaviour) and resources
and are held together by common values and beliefs. (access to tools and materials) that people have at
When they come to fruition, the products created have their disposal as they engage in ‘the production and
become ‘externalised’ and stand outside of the human reproduction of social action’ (Giddens 1984: 19).
beings who produced them. This is when ‘objectivation’ While human behaviour is shaped by the
takes place. Some thing or product has been created or social environment, people in turn influence this
produced. The products produced – the actual objects environment through their actions. Thus, people are
– take on a life of their own. Social life progresses. not merely passively influenced or restricted by either
New objects are created. As individuals, we overlook imitation or the powerful patterning influence of
or even forget that it is as a result of generally collective social structures, but instead use these as resources
human endeavour which has been responsible for the for independent human behaviour. In essence, the
creation of the social and cultural environment which social structural patterning ‘rules’, ‘resources’ and
we then seek to interpret and understand. ‘social relationships’ of social life are produced and
Precisely because our attempts at expressing reproduced through processes of social interaction
ourselves in the process of externalisation – in creating by social actors who have a strong sense of agency.
or producing – results in objects or objectification, the The relationship between structure and agency is
objective world – the overall product of our collective reciprocal – each influences the other. This relationship
efforts – is taken for granted as a normal part of life. We is characterised by a repetition of a process wherein
then, thirdly ‘internalise’ these ‘objective facts’ through individuals reproduce the structure, but which is then
the process of socialisation. This is how they become a in turn subject to a subtle process of social change.
part of a shared human consciousness wherein members Giddens says we are actively and constantly engaged
belonging to the same cultural group come to share, in constructing our identity and positions because
understand and interpret reality in similar ways. This we are reflexive agents or beings. Reflexivity here
influential view in sociology has been further elaborated highlights our ability to actively reflect on the events,
by giving greater weight to the role of self-formation in experiences and messages we observe and receive from
human agency in the social construction of reality. our environments and make choices about decisions
about how we want to interpret them. Giddens points
2.2.5 Anthony Giddens’s structuration theory out that such a process is even more pronounced
In recent years there has been a shift in thinking that in modern societies where self-identity becomes a
tends to embrace the idea that the environment and reflexive project. He concluded, therefore, that identity
55

is not a fixed set of traits or observable characteristics. direction pointed to how socialisation relates to the
Identity is our own reflexive understanding of our broader analysis of society as a whole. This discussion,
lives. In addition, identity is not static, but is instead you might have noticed, continually moved from
imbued with continuity, which means that identity is the individual to the structural and back again. The
‘a product of the person’s reflexive beliefs about their discussion tied the micro (small) individual and macro
own biography’ (Giddens 1991: 53). (large) structural foci into one single, increasingly
The notion that identity is in fact multifaceted integrated and complex whole. The question which
emerges from the interplay between mind and self, now arises addresses those social institutions which
and self and structure. If one takes Mead and Giddens drive, embody or serve as the agents of the processes of
together, this was further developed by contemporary socialisation. The three most important of these agents
sociologists such as Sheldon Stryker (1980) among of socialisation are: the family, schooling and the work
others. Stryker pointed out that individuals are always environment. In addition, the role of the mass media
acting in the context of a complex social structure out has been seen as an increasingly important and hence
of which a multifaceted identity emerges. Stryker goes fourth agent of socialisation. Before looking at each
further to argue that there is a salient identity that of these agents of socialisation in turn, it is useful to
emerges out of different circumstances and situations. adopt a broad, ecological perspective.
One’s salient identity tends to stand out as dominant One of the greatest contributions to the under-
and is frequently active across different contexts. standing of how external social environments and
It also determines how a person may behave in any contexts influence the operation of families as the
situation. Furthermore, what makes an identity salient primary agent of socialisation, and the implications of
is a person’s commitment to that identity. Commitment such on human development, is the ecological theory
can be informed by the number of people within the of Urie Bronfenbrenner (1986). In Bronfenbrenner’s
social structure with whom one has ties as a result of ecological theory, personal characteristics and
that identity. Commitment may also be informed by the the interaction between the institution of the
stronger and deeper ties that one has to others through family and the environment are significant for the
that identity. A salient identity would be manifest, for development and social adjustment of young people,
example, in a stay-at-home mother who spends most particularly children and adolescents. He identified
of her time tending to the needs of her children and the environmental systems that influence intra-
being with other mothers who are in the same position. familial processes. The first is the microsystem, which
Other examples are a traditional healer who spends describes the set of roles and relationships within the
most of the day engaged in healthcare and training a immediate family environment. The second is the
new generation of traditional healers or a student who mesosystem, which describes how different types of
spends years in a classroom at school taking courses, microsystems, such as home and school environments,
studying and interacting with teachers and peers. All interact to exert mutual influence on children and
of these role identities could be experienced by these adolescents. The influence of the third kind of
people as salient identities across time and space for environmental system, the exosystem, is more indirect
as long as these socially constructing circumstances and a function of the individual’s (especially children
dominate their lives. The most prominent of these and adolescents) exposure to peers, teachers and
‘socially constructing circumstances’ are the institu- community members. Finally, individual development
tional agents of socialisation. is also affected by the macrosystem, which are the
dominant socio-political and cultural patterns of the
2.3 Agents of socialisation larger society in which they live. From this theory’s
Up until now in this chapter we have spoken standpoint, all these systems are intertwined, with
about socialisation and the process or processes of the individual placed both at the centre and at the
socialisation. The discussion went in two directions. receiving end. It is also useful in understanding our
One direction was to show the centrality of socialisation individual socialisation experiences within different
for explaining how individual or personal identity social and broader environmental contexts.
emerges and is shaped in the process. The other
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2.3.1 The family In South Africa, particularly among African ethnic

As the most significant agent of socialisation, the groups (Nguni, BaSotho, BaVenda and Shangaan), such
family context probably has the greatest impact on traditional rituals and ceremonies form part of the
human development. The socialisation that takes place ancestral and traditional family life. They are practised
within the family is known as primary socialisation in both rural and urban families and communities.
and it occurs as soon as children are born, with their While their appearance may differ from one ethnic
sense of self yet to develop. The family is the primary group to the next, the basic principles are similar.
site wherein children learn values, beliefs and norms Pre-adolescent boys and girls are, however, subjected
of behaviour to prepare them for the outside world. to different processes. These rituals always signal
The nature of the interpersonal relationships children the end of childhood and the beginning of adulthood
forge with their parents or guardians is critical in (Nel 2012).
this process. The family’s central positioning as the For the boys, the initiation process usually lasts
first point of entry into the world makes it the only from a few days to several months, after which they
space wherein the strongest of emotional ties are then enter the second phase of their initiation. Among
forged, namely between the child and the parents Sotho, Venda, Ndebele and Xhosa communities for
or other significant family members. It is also where instance, initiation takes place in the mountain where
the imitation of adult significant others is most boys set up camp, concealed from females or children
pronounced. Children are prone to copy parental who are not allowed to be present. They have to build
behaviours they observe around the house, such as shelters out of grass, wood and branches. They are
domestic chores and other activities. then instructed on tribal laws and customs, are taught
As children become youth, they experience respect for their elders and how to hunt and fend for
physical and emotional changes that signal their themselves. The initiation process usually ends with
transition to adulthood. Here, familial socialisation circumcision as a sign that they have entered manhood
plays an even more critical role in enabling the youth (Nel 2012).
to cope with these changes. In many societies youth Girls go through a communal form of initiation
undergo initiation ceremonies as they move from process. Among different groups we find ceremonies
childhood to adulthood, often through formal religious such as vusha and domba (Venda), reed dance (Swazi
ceremonies such as the Christian confirmation service and Ndebele), and bojale (Pedi). Initiation among the
and when Jewish young people become Bar Mitsvah Zulu and Xhosa groups is more individualistic and
(men) or Bat Mitsvah (women). occurs at the beginning of puberty. Here girls begin
lessons on matters relating to sexual behaviour, tribal
etiquette, wifely duties, married life and agriculture
(Nel 2012).
As we can see from these social practices, the ways
in which children and youth are socialised within
families are also influenced by the socio-cultural
environment within which they are located. Old
established traditions, for instance, often dissolve in the
shift from rural to urban environments. In our current
global society, moreover, due to advances in technology
people are able to forge intimate relationships with
individuals more broadly than ever before and indeed,
from other parts of the world. One of the challenges this
presents for parents is that through such connections,
their children may be exposed to values and beliefs
that are contradictory to those they are trying to instil.
Figure 2.1 Xhosa circumcision initiate (Umkhweta) This tension becomes especially pronounced when
photo of kwekudee children make the transition to adolescence and young
(Source: Photograph courtesy of Kopano Ratele) adulthood. In our contemporary information driven
57

society, young people are more likely than before to changes, young people in contemporary societies also
challenge parental authority in their attempts to assert have to navigate institutional changes. These relate to
themselves and define their own identity. changes in school settings during early adolescence
with the transition from primary school to secondary
2.3.2 The school school. For older adolescents the change involves
With increasing numbers of children entering nursery moving from matric to tertiary educational settings,
schools, primary socialisation can be said to continue employment or starting a family (Spencer et al 1988).
beyond the family environment as children begin the
first stage of schooling. A child’s first day of school 2.3.3 The peer group
often marks a critical transition into another important Secondary socialisation continues as peer group
socialising platform outside of the family context which influence becomes more significant in the lives of
also powerfully influences their development. This young people. It is within this context of interaction
is the beginning of secondary socialisation. Unlike that developing a sense of agency, identity and
in the generally private and confined environmental autonomy becomes critical. Young people tend to
space of the family, socialisation within the school be drawn more to their peers at this stage, spending
is considerably more socially open and formal in less and less time with their parents and family.
nature. It is enforced through a set of standards The shared understanding, interests and age groups
and requirements children are expected to absorb. often makes young people feel more comfortable
Through both formal schooling as well as the hidden and understood. Peer groups provide young people
curriculum – those unwritten yet powerful rules of with new and fresh and different perspectives about
interaction – schools prepare children for transition to life. Therefore, adolescents are more likely to consult
adulthood and membership of society at large. their friends on issues that are of value to them, such
Beyond the confines of the family, at school as appearance, lifestyle, fashion, social activities,
children are subject to social interactions which result intimate relationships and sexuality. Furthermore,
in the development of strong bonds which influence beliefs and behaviours that receive disapproval from
their behaviour and shape who they are to become peers – playing the role here of the ‘generalised other’
as fully socialised adults. Obtaining affirmation, to use a concept from Mead’s theory – are less likely to
acceptance and approval from people, such as teachers be displayed again by an individual. Conversely, peer-
and friends, potentially becomes more important for group influence can also have negative consequences,
the development of the individual than during the particularly when the interaction with the peer group
course of primary socialisation. What the individual falls outside of the protective institutional and socially
learns over twelve or more years of schooling is the framing contexts of school or work in which much
meaning and significance of group conformity, social contact originates. Deviant peers have been
belonging and co-operation. It is during this period counted among the strongest models that reinforce
that young people are faced with the challenge of experimentation with risk-related behaviours among
developing the aptitudes and capacities to effectively young people. We might call this negative socialisation.
adjust to changes in their interpersonal relationships
with parents and other significant adult figures in their 2.3.4 The mass media
lives. If socialisation in the family has resulted in what With the advancement in information technology, the
sociologists call a prescribed (or acquired) identity, global mass media is now recognised as a particularly
now the beginnings of an achieved identity take shape. powerful socialising agent. Information transmitted
For instance, even children and certainly young people through media such as television, newspapers,
begin to actively develop the capacity to deal with magazines and more recently, online social networking
potential family tensions that may be triggered by their sites, exerts a strong influence on people’s beliefs
strong desire to assert their independence from their and behaviours. To give one example, studies have
parents or guardians. They also have to maintain self- long found that children who spend a significant
control in the face of peer pressure, while at the same amount of time watching television and playing video
time sustaining strong friendship ties and networks. games with violent content are more likely to display
In addition to these intra-personal and inter-personal aggressive behaviour. With its strong influence,
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beginning early on in life and continuing as people out of kilter within his/her own family. Even reliance
advance into adulthood, the media could be described on the previous informal agent of socialisation of the
as both a primary and secondary agent of socialisation. peer group is often not possible as the peer group itself
Children in contemporary societies, including South would have been central to the school or workplace
Africa, are exposed to educational television shows with which the unemployed person no longer has
such as Takalani Sesame and other game shows aimed contact. After long periods of unemployment getting
at instilling cultural values and norms of behaviour and holding on to a new job can be a challenge. There
that prepare children for adjustment in society. is a sense in which people need to learn again how to
Furthermore, online social networking sites such as live and work with others, to be re-socialised in an
Facebook and Twitter are used especially by young important sense. Re-socialisation can, however, be
people to connect with other people across the globe very purposively implemented and it is to this topic
and develop ‘virtual’ relationships. These networks that we must now turn.
are also used as spaces for the assertion of identity
and are sites to state views and opinions on events and 2.4 Re-socialisation
issues of significance to them. In his groundbreaking work Asylums, Erving
Goffman (1968) examined the ways in which people
2.3.5 Work and employment are subjected to a process of re-socialisation upon
If socialisation is broadly understood as the process entering total institutions. Goffman defines the total
whereby we learn to become members of society, it is institution as:
generally assumed that this process has been completed
by the time adulthood arrives. Yet with entry into … a place of residence and work where a large
the labour market occurring prior to adulthood, the number of like-situated individuals cut off from
experience of work should also be considered as an the wider society for an appreciable period of time
agent of socialisation. Even adults switching jobs have together lead an enclosed formally administered
to re-learn new sets of skills and ways of behaviour. round of life. (Goffman 1968: 11)
They must temporarily undergo a process very similar
to the learning processes embedded in both primary Using the total institution model, Goffman compares
and secondary socialisation. mental institutions to prisons, concentration camps,
The importance of the role played by the formal orphanages and the military within which people lose
institutional agents of socialisation of the family, school a sense of control and independence over their lives.
and work and the informal, non-institutionalised The migrant labour compounds which dominated
socialising role played by the peer group, comes to the South African mining industry have been viewed
the fore when they are absent. Take the example of as total institutions. In order to gain an insider
unemployment. For a very large number of young perspective of life in a total institution, Goffman
people in South Africa today, especially those who relied on the subjective experiences of patients. He
come from socioeconomically disadvantaged family gathered their accounts by using an ethnographic,
backgrounds and who are more likely to drop out of participant observation research method and
school, the likelihood of unemployment and remaining conducted interviews while spending time at a mental
stuck in the cycle of poverty, looms large. Those who hospital. He concluded that people confined in total
are unemployed must somehow develop their own institutions are often detached from the larger society.
coping mechanisms and survival strategies. There is no Their behaviour and movement is strictly monitored
guiding and formal institutional social structure which by authority figures who are appointed to enforce rules
assists them. Such people find themselves beyond the of conduct. The ultimate objective of total institutions
nurturing protection and stability the institutional such as mental hospitals, Goffman observed, is to
agents of socialisation provide. Even the sense of the dismantle an individual’s old self and create a new
passing of time changes for such individuals and every self. In the process, the individual’s sense of identity is
day is the same. The temporal rhythms and patterns of broken down. The social roles they came to occupy and
the institutional agents of socialisation no longer play enact are stripped off through physically and socially
their structuring role. The unemployed person is often abusive institutional practices and routines. The
59

physical structure and the rules and regulations of these 2.5.1 In-group and out-group
institutions also assure that inmates have little or no The social identity perspective emerged from Henri
contact with the outside world. Visitations from family, Tajfel’s 1960s and 1970s research on inter-group
friends and kin are restricted and strictly monitored. relations (Tajfel & Turner 1985). This perspective
Goffman argued that often the usual response from sought to explain the social psychological nature
inmates is that of conversion, wherein they adopt the of group membership, that is, the psychological
official or staff view of them and act out the role of the processes of self-identification with or feelings of
perfect inmate. Goffman claims that among inmates in ‘belongingness’ to a particular group. Belonging to a
total institutions there is a strong feeling that time spent group is a psychological process distinct from being
there is time wasted. The inmate learns that, if released, a sole individual and which bestows social identity; a
life will never again be what it was. symbolic perception of self is shared among members
In his work on prison life in South Africa, of the same group and which determines intergroup
Jonny Steinberg (2004) applied Goffman’s theory to and intra-group behaviour.
demonstrate how total institutions can transform The social identity approach is based upon the
people’s sense of self and behaviour. After conducting assumption that ‘society comprises social categories
research in one of South Africa’s largest prisons, which stand in power and status relations to one
Steinberg concluded that the prison perpetuates a another’ (Tajfel & Turner 1985: 14). In other words,
behavioural subculture. Steinberg identified four people are distinguished in terms of race, class,
types of adaptation in a total institution. First, some nationality, gender, religion and occupation, among
prisoners tended to undergo what Goffman terms a others. Some categories enjoy greater power, status and
situational withdrawal, which is when the inmate prestige than others. The function of categorisation is
mentally detaches from the prison. Here, the inmate to accentuate similarities among individuals belonging
withdraws from everything except events immediately to a particular group or category, while stressing the
around his body. Second, inmates may respond by differences between in-groups and out-groups.
adopting prison life, preferring it to life outside. This Furthermore, people’s self-concept consists of
kind of adaptation is known as ‘colonisation’. Third, a complete set of self-descriptions and evaluations
inmates may choose to act out the role of the perfect which are ‘textured and structured into circumscribed
inmate. Fourth, some inmates may choose to oppose and relatively distinct constellations called self-
the legitimacy of the institution and rebel against identifications’ (Tajfel & Turner 1985: 24). A distinction
authority in various ways, such as embarking on a is made between self-identifications that are either
hunger strike or instigating violence and so on. These social identifications or personal identifications.
are some of the ways in which prison inmates cope with
the dehumanising effect of total institutionalisation. 2.5.2 Categorisation
The fact that societies place people within categories
2.5 Social identity (race, class, gender, occupation and religion) that
Given that identities form and take shape within the often stand in relation to one another in terms of
context of our interaction with those with whom we power, status and prestige, contribute to development
share similar group membership, namely our families, and escalation of inter-group tension. This occurs
communities and the general structuring patterns of especially when the dominant, materially powerful
organised social life, it is important to understand social group imposes its own value system and
intergroup identity dynamics. The fact that we have ideology (designed to benefit the powerful group) in
multiple groups within hierarchically structured seeking to legitimise and maintain the status quo.
societies, inter-group issues such as stereotyping, Socialised under these conditions, individuals tend to
discrimination and separation, have significant effects internalise their membership of these groups, which
on inter-group relations within and among societies. may lead to the development of either a positive social
The social identity perspective provides insights identity (for those who belong to the dominant group)
into these dynamics and their impact on human or a negative social identity (for those belonging to the
development. subordinate group).
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2.5.3 Stereotyping delivery and economic conditions in marginalised

Stereotyping refers to people’s tendency to oversimplify communities in which little had changed in many
or severely limit our perception of other social groups. poor households after democracy in 1994. Local South
This results in generalisation about people and groups African residents perceived that foreign nationals
based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, age, competed unfairly with them for scarce jobs and
gender or sexual orientation. Stereotypes can either income and who were accused by poor South Africans
be positive or negative particularly when they are of ‘stealing jobs’. Another source of tension was the
directed at members of the out-groups, for example competition for trading spaces in the informal sector.
when members of certain subordinate racial, ethnic or The depiction of foreign nationals by the press as
cultural groups are labelled as having low intellectual ‘illegal aliens’, as well as references to ‘alien terror’
capacity. Such stereotypical generalisation about and ‘war on aliens’, who were deemed responsible
other groups is narrow because it ignores individual for the perpetuation of crime in the country, received
differences or the subjective aspects that make each considerable coverage in the media and can be seen as
individual human being unique. Where do stereotypes having had a negative socialising effect on the South
come from? One of the most important contributions African collective psyche.
to our understanding of the nature and impact of
stereotypes as part of intra- and inter-group dynamics Box 2.1 Non-racialism in post-apartheid South
is explained by social identity theory. Tajfel and Africa
Turner, for instance, dispute the popular conception Realising a non-racial society was at the core of the
of stereotyping as a way in which people process activities of the liberation movements that dominated
information. Rather, they view stereotyping as a South Africa during the apartheid era. This was because
tool that members of the in-group use to justify their race, as a category, was used by the apartheid system to
behaviour towards those of the out-group. Therefore, place individuals in groups hierarchically structured with
stereotyping is a critical component of the social unequal access to socioeconomic resources. The divisive
identity process in that it implies perceiving members nature of such a system also created segregated and
of a given category as possessing various common unhealthy inter-group relations that were, and continue
attributes, in other words, being seen as more similar to be, characterised by racial stereotypes and distrust.
to one another than they are to members of another What is the meaning of non-racialism in post-
category. Stereotypes serve a number of social functions apartheid South Africa?
that provide individuals with a social identity. At an In her analysis of data from focus group interviews
individual level, stereotypes enhance our positive with individuals from all racial categories, Kate
view of ourselves as part of a group that is distinct and Lefko-Everett (2012) explored how ordinary people
valuable when compared to others. At a communal and understand the notion of non-racialism in the new
societal level stereotypes function to organise groups South Africa. She found that for most South Africans,
in stratified status positions that determine access to race continues to form a foundation for their sense of
resources and which regulates how groups relate to identity. She noted that most ‘self-describe in terms of
each other. This can result in subordinate out-groups a number of different identities. While for many this
being used as scapegoats for societal problems. includes national identity, it is often coupled with race,
The xenophobic attacks that spread throughout ethnicity, gender and language, and this was a common
most South African townships in 2008 is an example practice’.
of how vulnerable groups in society, in this case Although most participants still defined their sense
African foreign nationals, were targeted and blamed of identity in terms of their racial categories, they were
for contributing to persisting poverty. Clashes between more likely to embrace integration with other groups.
disadvantaged and poor South Africans and foreign This can be attributed to the fact that there is more inter-
immigrants were reported around the world and group interaction taking place in public spaces such as
condemned as criminal behaviour. Social factors schools, recreational facilities and the workplace.
contributed to the violence (Citizens Rights in Africa ➟
Initiative (CRAI) 2009). The post-apartheid government
failed to bring about sufficient improvements in service
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… the transformation of capitalism, and the

People of all different racial groups tend to reject racism demise of statism; and characterized by flexibility
and embrace a South African identity. and instability of work, individualization of
However, racial group stereotyping still persists within labour, network forms of organization, a ‘culture
private spaces. The participants in the study believed of real virtuality’ based on complex media
that non-racialism can only be achieved by the young systems, transformed material foundations of life,
generation who grow up in a more racially integrated space and time, and the rise of new cosmopolitan
society. However, given that social identity is learned ruling elites … (Castells 2010: 2)
through socialisation, the author wonders if children
will be able to discard the stereotypes about individuals
At the same time, identity formation and expression
who belong to racial groups different from their own.
also evolves in a complex, persistent and enduring
way despite the powerful forces of globalisation in the
form of a:
2.6 Identity and globalisation
Contemporary theories of identity stretch our …. widespread surge of powerful expressions of
sociological imagination by explaining how identity collective identity. … [these are] multiple, highly
formation and enactment is shaped by globalisation. diversified following the contours of each culture,
Anthony Giddens (1991) and Manuel Castells (2010) and of historical sources of formation of each
are among notable scholars who theoretically identity. (Castells 2010: 2)
integrate identity into comprehensive analyses of
our contemporary global society. In his analysis of These multiple identities are increasingly acted out
Modernity and Self-Identity, Giddens argues that through the media and telecommunications systems
‘transformations in self-identity and globalisation are and ‘… challenge globalization and cosmopolitanism
the two poles of the dialectic of the local and the global on behalf of cultural singularity and people’s control
in conditions of high modernity’ (1991: 32). In other over their lives and environment’ (Castells 2010: 2).
words, the more globalisation rapidly dominates, the This persistent and enduring ability of an
more local traditions lose their relevance and influence individual’s self-identity, Castells stresses, makes it
on people’s lives. As a result, life is reconstructed ‘in constant, transcending time and space. It continuously
terms of the dialectical interplay of the local and the reinvents itself while maintaining its essential
global, the more individuals are forced to negotiate features, resulting in subsidiary identities and social
lifestyle choices [from] among a diversity of options’ roles that have significant meaning to individuals and
(1991: 5). This is a reflexive process wherein self- the context in which they function. These identities
identity, based on life experience, is structured and their associated meanings are created through
and restructured in the midst of this dialectical the process of ‘individuation’. While the governing
relationship of the global and local contexts. Giddens social institutions, social roles and values may provide
observes that ideally, a stable self-identity is nurtured important foundations for identity construction, they
during childhood through our ongoing interactions only form part of an individual’s identity, however,
with the people in our social environment, but which when and if individuals choose to internalise them.
can be fractured in the context of the rapid changes Identity is therefore seen as an active process of
which accompany globalisation. construction wherein the individuals determine their
As with Giddens, identity forms part of Castells’ own sense of self and the meaning thereof. Castells
analysis of the global age. Castells argues that the is of the view that identities in modern societies are
‘conflicting trends of globalisation and identity’ stand constructed through:
in contradiction to each other and shape and reshape
people’s lives in significant ways. On the one hand, building materials from history, from geography,
the technological revolution that has given rise to from biology, from productive and reproductive
‘the network society’ has made the world even more institutions, from collective memory and from
complex. It is characterised by: personal fantasies, from power apparatuses and
religious revelations. … Social groups process,
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reorganize these materials and their meaning, a state of alienation and rejection of self that tends to
according to social determinations and cultural associate anything positive to whiteness. This ‘self-
projects that are rooted in their social structure, negation’ usually begins in childhood and persists
and in their space/time framework. (2010: 7) throughout one’s life. The only way to rid oneself of
this sense of unworthiness is by refuting the notion
This process of identity construction occurs within that black is a deviation from the ‘normal’, which is
contexts marked by power relationships. He proposes white (Biko 1978). The objective of Black Consciousness
three types of collective identities: legitimising is to raise racial awareness and critical consciousness
identities, resistant identities and project identities. among black people. Black Consciousness encouraged
A legitimising identity is used by dominant groups in black people to refute the perception perpetuated by
society to justify and reinforce their dominant status the apartheid government depicting black people as
over ordinary citizens. In contrast, resistant identities unworthy and inferior as a racial group. These tactics
are appropriated by marginalised groups in society served as impetus for the mobilisation of the masses
who are hurt by their conditions and stigmatised, for political action in black communities across the
‘… thus building trenches of resistance and survival country. In the post-apartheid era, beginning with
on the basis of principles different from, or opposed to, the first democratic elections in 1994, however, Black
those permeating the institutions of society’ (2010: 8). Consciousness and radical political action gave way to
In South Africa’s past one can clearly see the a non-racial ethic and the accompanying sentiments of
emergence, enactment and enforcement of both national unity, reconciliation and the encouraging of
legitimising and resistant identities within both white interracial group tolerance and contact.
and black racial groups. For instance, one may argue The majority of black South African adolescent
that the formation of apartheid as a legalised system of respondents in a study by Farred (2006) were born
racial discrimination was influenced by the emergence during this era of racial reconciliation, often referred
of Afrikaner nationalism, an ideology that promoted to as ‘the New South Africa’ or the ‘Rainbow Nation’.
Afrikaner supremacy and pride in response to British Farred (2006) describes the ‘rainbow’ as symbolising:
invasion and colonisation as well as the threat from the
majority indigenous population, who were resisting … the disjoining of the ‘old’ South Africa from
subordination (Worden 1995). During this period, the new; the rainbow of the present represents a
the Afrikaner nation had endured British colonial “racially” complementary harmony as opposed
rule throughout most of the nineteenth century. They to the Apartheid past where the disunion of the
were sustained by maintaining their cultural identity various peoples was the predominant racist logic.
through their language (Afrikaans) and religion (Dutch (2006: 231)
Reformed Church), in this way cultivating a sense of
group nationalism. Winning political power thus put In the spirit of post-apartheid nation building, the
the Afrikaners in a position to steer the country in the notion of, or efforts to build the ‘rainbow nation’, has
direction which would serve their group and its values. been accentuated in the media and political platforms.
The objective of the National Party was to take over The aim has been to encourage racial reconciliation and
the major institutions, that is, the economy and the tolerance through the emphasis of patriotic sentiments
political and educational systems. In order to achieve among all racial groups. Studies have documented
its goals, it had to design a system which would elevate that, while people embrace ‘South Africanness’ as
whites over other racial groupings through economic an umbrella identity, their racial, linguistic and
and political deprivation (Zungu 1976). religious identities and occupational categories take
During the apartheid era, the Black Consciousness precedence. Therefore, intergroup behaviour, rather
ideology formed a central and critical part of the credo than interpersonal behaviours, is more predominant
of most anti-apartheid political and social movements, in our society (Burgess & Harris 1999). In their
whose mission was to fight against the subjugation of examination of self-categorisation tendencies among
black people in the country. Black Consciousness is a select group of South African youth (‘Birth to
predicated on the belief that because black people are Twenty’) from different racial backgrounds, Norris et
often confined to poor living conditions, they develop al (2008) found that, when compared to their white
63

counterparts who had a more individualistic sense of ethnicity identity as ascribed and fixed, while for
identity, African and ‘coloured’ youth were more likely the latter, ethnic identity is constructed, situational,
to embrace their collective sense of identity as South subjective and instrumental. Edward Shils (1957)
Africans. They had more positive perceptions of the and Clifford Geertz (1973) are credited for advocating
new South Africa. the primordialist view of ethnic identity. For these
A project identity is constructed when members of scholars, ethnic groups are the precursors or constitute
society draw on existing cultural materials to create the core foundation of nations. For Shils, for instance,
new identities so as to reframe their status in society. modern societies are:
Castells cites feminism as an example and highlights
how women’s movements: held together by an infinity of personal
attachments, moral obligations in concrete
move[d] out of the trenches of resistance of contexts, professional and creative pride,
women’s identity and women’s rights, to challenge individual ambition, primordial affinities and a
patriarchy, thus the patriarchal family, and thus civil sense which is low in many, high in some,
the entire structure of production, reproduction, and moderate in most persons. (Shils 1957: 131)
sexuality, and personality on which societies
have been historically based. (Castells 2010: 8) Shils conceptualised family groups as primary
groups and sought to show how these are linked to
While growing, this project identity is relatively larger societal structures. He argued that through
small when compared to other ways in which social interpersonal interaction social groups are formed,
identities are constructed. which in turn expand to form ethnicities. The outcome
is an amalgamation of ethnicities that form nations.
2.6.1 Ethnic identity Geertz concurred with this view and added that the
Notwithstanding our democratic transition in 1994, primordial ties are based on what he calls ‘givens’ of
ethnic identity remains a powerful social identity ‘immediate contiguity and kin connection mainly, but
and which refers to the extent to which we identify beyond them the “givenness” that stems from being
with our particular ethnic group. This identification born into a particular religious community, speaking
provides us with a sense of belonging and strongly a particular language … and following particular
influences our thinking, perception, feelings and social practices’ (1973: 259). The six primordial ties are
behaviour. Components of ethnic identity include an assumed blood ties (based on invisible but commonly
understanding of our own and other groups (ethnic known kinship or quasi-kinship relationships), race
awareness), the labels bestowed upon our group (those phonotypical physical features such as skin
(ethnic identification), our feelings about our group colour), language differences, region or geographical
(ethnic attitudes) and the patterns of behaviours boundaries, religion, and cultural customs and rituals.
associated with belonging to a particular group (ethnic In contrast, constructivists challenge the depiction
behaviour) (Regmi 2003). of ethnic identity as fixed and ascriptive. Rather,
What makes ethnic groups distinct from one ethnic identity is viewed as fluid, flexible and subject
another are cultural attributes such as systems of to constant redefinition. The appropriation of an ethnic
belief, practices, religion, languages spoken and even identity is a means to an end. In other words, ethnic
physical appearance. These attributes are consolidated groups use their collective identity as a tool to achieve
through a shared destiny, status, ideas, behaviours, certain privileges and accentuate their position within
feelings and the meanings we attach to these attributes the social structuring of society. Solidarity within
of our particular ethnic group. Members of ethnic groups and competition among groups is at the basis
groups often make an ‘us’ and ‘them’ distinction to of human interaction in societies. An emphasis is
assert their uniqueness thus setting themselves apart placed on how elites manipulate ethnic identities in
from others. an effort to rally support for materialistic interests.
Two main approaches to the understanding of In such instances, ethnic identities are often evoked
ethnic identity have been documented, namely: and used as offensive and/or defensive weapons to
primordialism and constructivism. The former views protect or realise such interests. As such ethnicity
64

is politicised and manipulated by those in power ‘to urbanization of modernity; and the globalizing
protect their well-being or existence or to gain political thrust of postmodernity.
and economic advantage for their group as well as
for themselves’. It should be clear how very different She stresses the ways in which these students draw
political implications flow from these two different heavily upon Western, particularly African American
sets of theoretical perspectives. ‘icons and symbols of the global popular’ to construct
and express their racial identity. Her respondents
2.6.2 Hybrid identity seem to have discovered ways to engage in processes
If the formation of identity was not already complicated of creating what Massey (1998) calls a hybrid culture,
enough, the notion of hybrid identities further which ‘… involves active importation, adoption, and
complicates matters. Hybrid identities are considered adaptation’ of various sources of influence as they
to be one of the outcomes of cultural globalisation. By construct and make sense of themselves. In other words,
definition, cultural hybridity is ‘… the way in which they have perfected the art of ‘symbolic creativity’
forms become separated from existing practices and in which they combine their indigenous cultural
recombined with new forms in new practices’ (Smith & practices and traditions with global popular culture
Leavy 2008: 3). A hybrid identity stems from a reflexive as they aesthetically enact and re-enact their personal
relationship between the local and the global cultural and communal identity. Blending contemporary styles
practices. The local and the global unite to create new of dress, for instance, with traditional African flavours
identities which are distinct within a specific context. to create a hybrid style is an example of creating a
This results in a form of hybridity that ‘… signifies the hybrid identity. Preserving one’s indigenous accent
encounter, conflict and or blending of two ethnic or when expressing oneself in a non-native language and
cultural categories’ which results in a complex identity doing so with a strong sense of pride, is another. Here
structure that reflects the uniqueness of individuals. we see the autonomous ways in which these young
Most of the research on the impact of globalisation on people frame and use cultural practices to construct
identity formation has had the youth as its focus. These their identities as they ‘… creatively combine elements
studies sought to unpack the impact of broad global of global capitalism, transnationalism, and local
changes on the process of transition from childhood culture’ (Bucholtz 2002).
to young adulthood in nations around the world. The Furthermore, Lene Jensen (2003) highlights
focus has been on the intersection between the context three important issues relating to the formation of
and individual behaviour resulting from changes in multicultural identities. First, Jensen argues that
an individual’s access to especially informational for contemporary youth, a multiculturally informed
resources combined with their specific/personal identity involves having both direct and indirect
attributes during the transition to adulthood. The contact with a diverse set of people. Adolescents
accelerating economic and cultural integration driven are exposed to first-hand contact with people from
by technological changes is said to influence the different cultures as a consequence of migrations and
process of transition in significant ways. At the same tourism within their own countries. They are also
time, adolescents increasingly form multicultural exposed to cultures other than their own traditional
identities because they grow up being aware of and culture indirectly through media. As a result, they
knowing about diverse cultural beliefs and behaviours. develop their ‘local identity’ based on their indigenous
As such, understanding identity formation in rapidly tradition, as well as a ‘global identity’ based on their
changing contexts has become exceedingly complex. exposure to a global (often Western) culture conveyed
A local example is instructive. through the media. In addition, cultural identity
In her ethnographic study of how youth construct formation based on access to media exposure tends to
racial selves within a multiracial school context in be more subjectivised or individualised than cultural
South Africa, Dolby (2001: 63) argues that: identity formation based on first-hand interactions. The
agent-orientated creative use of the media facilitates
African [black] students are poised at a three-way more individual interpretations of identity than first-
juncture: an ever-changing traditional culture hand messages derived from within an immediate
that exists for many, in the imagination; the group context.
65

Second, youth cultural identity formation may take development. The discussion has highlighted the
diverse developmental paths depending on the significance of social context in shaping individual
particular cultures involved. This means that while development and identity formation.
notions of individual autonomy and family obligations • Socialisation is the process wherein we learn
are typically important aspects of people’s cultural to be our unique selves through our interaction
identities, these appear to develop in different ways with significant others in our environment and
and in varying orders across cultural traditions during it is absolutely crucial in our navigation of life
adolescence. This makes cultural identity formation and in establishing our sense of being and role
more complex as adolescents have been exposed to in an ever-changing world. Sociological theories
a considerable number of cultural styles and ways of socialisation clearly articulate the role of
of being. This is because they have to form identities our environment in shaping our sense of self
in the face of cultural traditions that may hold out and role in the world. This is facilitated by our
different goals and different pathways to those goals. interaction with significant people in our lives
Third, there are both gains and losses that occur within societal structures that have evolved over
when youth form a multicultural identity rather time. Key theorists such as George Hebert Mead,
than an identity based primarily on one cultural Erving Goffman, Charles Cooley and Anthony
tradition. Youth may face challenges associated with Giddens, help us understand a) the connection
having to adjust psychologically as they engage in between mind and self and how these interact
the process of forming a multicultural identity. Some within a social environment, b) the importance of
youth experience a form of ‘culture shedding’ which how we are perceived by others around us as we
involves leaving behind or unlearning aspects of their present ourselves and play out our roles in shaping
parents’ culture. This may result in a sense of loss in our sense of identity, c) how we interpret, process
some cases. In others, it may lead to a positive sense and internalise people’s perceptions of us as we
of leaving behind undesirable beliefs and practices. develop our sense of self, and d) the way in which
Other youth may experience a ‘culture shock’ brought this process of acting out roles and reflecting is
on by difficulties in forming a coherent identity in influenced by the structural environment to which
the face of culturally distinct world views that are we are exposed. Our development of self and
difficult to reconcile. Finally, psychopathology may identity occurs within specific contexts and social
be another response resulting in failure to adapt. Here institutions and through our interacting with
youth may be prone to problematic and deviant social significant people in our lives. These are known as
behaviour – the extent of substance abuse, prostitution, agents of socialisation. They teach, guide and instil
armed aggression and suicide which has occurred in a values that inform our sense of self and behaviour.
variety of traditional cultures and may, in part, have • The social identity perspective helps us understand
resulted from processes linked to globalisation and how, through the process of socialisation, our
identity confusion and the sense of marginalisation identities take shape. Here our sense of who we
in the face of diverse cultural values that are difficult are and our position in society becomes clearer
to reconcile. Finally, the extent to which adolescents as we navigate our social lives. Our individual
are able to adjust and form a multicultural identity is sense of identity is also tied to our collective sense
further informed by factors such as age, gender, level of identity. Here our sense of belonging within
of education, degree of social support, inter-group groups of people with whom we share similar
attitudes and discrimination. Such is the complex, but characteristics becomes meaningful. It also
fascinating, set of issues sociologists have dealt with in influences our perceptions of others who belong to
trying to understand how we form our identities in the groups that are different from our own. While this
context of our fast-paced globalised world. is important in nurturing our sense of belonging,
it can also negatively affect the way in which we
Summary interact with people who are different from us, thus
• This chapter sought to outline theoretical frame- leading to tensions based on perceived differences.
works that explain the processes of socialisation • Given the fact that we now live in a global society
and identity formation as determinants of human means that our socialisation is no longer confined
66

within our immediate environment. Through the Are you on track?

global social media, we are exposed to a wide 1. What is socialisation and why does it matter in
variety of cultures, belief systems, lifestyles and human development?
values that have a strong influence in shaping our 2. Discuss each of the agents of socialisation and their
sense of identities. We develop multiple identities role in human development. Provide examples
and hybrid identities wherein we enact both the from your own or other people’s experiences.
local and global ways of living. 3. Compare and contrast the psychological and
sociological explanations of identity formation.
4. What is the difference between ethnic identity and
hybrid identity?
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Chapter 3
Culture
Shannon Morreira
If human beings are in essence social beings, their sociality is expressed by, through and within a specific inherited and learned
set of beliefs, knowledge, skills and practices. The food we eat, the words we speak, the gestures we make, the behaviours
we enact and the social actions in which we engage – and how we do so – are all culturally defined. This is but one way of
trying to describe what culture is. There are many more possible descriptions, understandings and analyses of the concept of
culture. This is due to the social phenomenon it designates encompassing so wide a range of ways of being and shared forms
of social life. As this chapter explains right at the beginning, there is much debate about how best to use the word, term or
concept of culture. If nothing else, however, culture refers to our immediately lived experience and its very many forms and
styles expressed in the language we speak – itself a cultural product.
You will already have discovered that defining terms in sociology and the social sciences more broadly is seldom a clear-
cut exercise. How to define the term ‘culture’ is especially tricky and you will be surprised at how many attempts have been
made in advancing a definition of the concept of culture. The reason is that our very lives are culturally defined. Even families
living in the same neighbourhood will do things slightly differently. Culture is intimately part of our immediate daily experience
and so culture can be described, analysed and sociologically explained in many different ways. Sometimes one has to simply
choose a working definition and work with it. This is what this chapter does and so returns to the definition in the course of
the discussion. This is not the end of the matter and you are encouraged to define for yourself what culture is. This means
that not all the intellectual work has been done for you, partly because no prescriptions are available. There are hence many
avenues you can go down in exploring what is meant by the concept of culture. Consider yourself to have been challenged to
make the concept and reality of culture, which is so much part of our lives and who we are, real and meaningful for yourself.
Incidentally, this is a perfect opportunity to develop your sociological imagination. Discuss with a fellow sociologist how they
understand the concept from their particular vantage point. Such a discussion is potentially the beginning of developing a
series of decolonial imaginations. How does one engage in this exercise and find the necessary distance in order to be objective
in your thinking and analysis if you are going to understand something important about a ‘culture’ which is foreign or strange
to you? If you do manage to do this, however, you will see both how practical sociology can be and how it can lend itself to
analysis of cultural experiences which are very different from your own. To be able to view the world and the life experiences
of others and be able to understand the world from their point of view is critical to social analysis and understanding.
Consider this chapter as your introduction to the world of micro-sociology, which has its focus on small, seemingly
unimportant things. This is the sociology of the everyday. It is also the sociology in terms of which the larger, more expansive
issues must always be explained. The chapters on race, class and gender, each in their own way, presuppose this cultural
bedrock discussed in this chapter. This discussion on culture means that it refers back to the theoretical ideas of the classics
already introduced and points to sociological ideas and theories you will encounter in chapters to follow.
One more note is appropriate. There is not a series of facts to learn here. The exercise is cognitive and intellectual. Consider
this chapter an opportunity to apply sociological concepts to your own lived reality. To modify a current phrase, take this
chapter seriously and it could turn out to be a conceptual ‘game changer’ in your life and you might never view the world again
in quite the same way. Reading and taking to heart what follows could acculturate you into sociology for life.

Case study 3.1 Fast food
The fast food or take-out phenomenon is a global trend that began with eating out or away from home. It has much to
do with our increased mobility, cooking, entertaining guests and experiencing new cultural activities.
The changing patterns of how we eat and what we eat are partly explained by what we want to do with our time,
but are also partly dictated to us by the way our world is organised. We know that take-out began in the USA in the
early twentieth century with the transformation of franchise restaurants into drive-in eateries. This was both a process of
standardisation (same menu everywhere) and mobility (cars and public transport). It may also have had something to do
with leisure time, changing family values, changing tastes and the commercialisation of everyday life.
When we step into a fast food outlet, we step into a sophisticated collection of processes that sociologists find very
interesting. For example, the food we are going to eat will taste almost the same as the last time we had it because it is
pre-prepared according to a formula, and the place where it is cooked looks more like a production line than a kitchen.
In addition, there are no chefs or cooks preparing to excite our taste-buds. More than likely, this outlet is part of a vast
chain of outlets all over the world, making money, providing jobs, using state of the art technology and meeting a lot of
people’s needs to eat and run. It is quick and it becomes a platform for eating and doing other things. We can contrast it
with the ‘slow food’ movement which suggests we spend more time over our food, taking care over the nutritional value
and conviviality of time spent sharing this basic human pleasure of eating.
Fast food is popular. It is a competitive industry, so we will see and hear a lot of marketing and advertising telling us
how clever we are and how tasty it all is. How a picnic just isn’t the same without it. How it brings families together and
tramples the lines between rich and poor. Of course, there are debates about the nutritional value of many fast foods,
debates about the lifestyles associated with fast foods, and concerns about the displacement of long held beliefs and
practices regarding eating.
Spend a few minutes on the Internet and check out the backstory on this apparently simple and convenient phenomenon
– fast food.
•• Culture as ordinary lived experiences

•• Defining culture
•• Theoretical perspectives on culture
Key Themes
•• Structural functionalism
•• Symbolic interactionism
•• Conflict perspectives
•• Post-colonial perspectives
•• Elements of culture
•• Cultural diversity
•• Culture, socialisation and identity.
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Chapter 3: Culture
Introduction academics who left their places of origin to do

From the moment that we wake up in the morning to fieldwork to discover more about the cultures and
the moment we go to sleep at night, everything we do traditions of others. It is because of this history that
is influenced by the cultural patterns of the society in we sometimes think of culture as something ‘exotic’.
which we live. It is not just the food we eat, the clothes But the examples above illustrate that culture is
we wear, how we interact and behave that define our something that everybody has. Our culture is part of
specific learned style of life or culture. In fact, even who we are. The social reality of culture does not lie
when we sleep we do so in a culturally specific way. For in the realm of the exotic, but is in fact in the realm
example, the average number of hours of sleep a person of every person’s ordinary daily existence. This is
gets each night varies in different cultural contexts, as not to say that everyone is the same. There are, of
do the expectations of whether adults and children course, a multitude of different ways in which people
in a family will sleep together or alone. Whatever we experience ‘ordinary’ life. The point, rather, is that
are doing, then, humans are cultural beings. Awake or everyone experiences their own culture as ordinary.
asleep, we are constantly immersed in the patterns of In the social sciences today, the concept of culture
our culture. is used across academic disciplines. Indeed, new
Human beings are quintessentially cultural disciplines such as Cultural Studies have emerged that
beings as all of our actions are situated within the take notions of culture as central to their analysis of
social contexts in which we live. Human beings are the social world. The concept of culture is therefore
social animals. We are also capable of learning. We an analytic category used by social scientists across
learn far more over the course of our lifetimes than the globe. But it is important for us as South African
we are formally taught in schools and universities. sociologists and anthropologists in particular to
Throughout our lives, we are taught particular ways of situate global ideas within our South African context
doing things and ways of being in the world. In other in order to understand the origin and history of these
words, we are constantly taught and learn how to live ideas and the ways in which the local and the global
within the patterns and routines of a specific culture. interact in the present.
Some of these things will be explicitly told to us – for In South Africa, the concept of culture has a
example, respect your elders – while other things will tumultuous past. This is partly because of the academic
be implicit and unspoken, but learned nonetheless. For history of the study of the exotic. Cultural difference
example, the personal space that you feel comfortable was seen as an object of academic interest. Africa in
having between you and another person is something particular was one of the places in which that exotic
that is specific to your cultural context. No one ever difference could be found and studied. But it is also
told you what the right distance for personal space because of the political history of colonisation. During
was, but nonetheless everyone within your cultural colonialism, cultural and racial differences were used
context will know what the comfortable boundaries as the basis for oppression. The ‘civilising mission’
of personal space are. You can test this by standing that accompanied colonialism was one in which direct
a little closer to a friend than you ordinarily would attempts were made to change indigenous cultural
when you are talking to them. The chances are they patterns in order to make ‘the natives’ behave more
will take a small step away from you, possibly without like the coloniser. The assumption here was that the
even being aware of having done so. If you move closer culture of the coloniser was somehow better than or
once more, they’ll move away again. Do it often enough superior to that of indigenous colonised populations.
and you will get an odd look from them, because you These attempts at shifting people’s cultural patterns
are stepping outside of the unwritten and unspoken were sometimes named and justified contributing
code of your culture with regard to personal space. to ‘modernising’ people. The assumption was that
There are thousands of these spoken and unspoken equality would accompany modernity. This turned
rules that we all use each and every day. Some are out to be false. In reality, of course, the project of
more permanent than others. These ways of being and colonialism was a deeply damaging one. Modernity,
ways of doing constitute culture. as experienced both in the past and in the present,
In the social sciences, culture as a unit of study has not been an equalising process. Modern culture
was originally seen to be the realm of anthropologists, introduced with colonialism, instead, created and
71

maintained social hierarchies very different from the to think through how culture could contribute to
societies on which they were imposed. addressing some of the social problems that exist in
In South Africa, culture was a tool used by the our country today.
apartheid government as a way of justifying and
maintaining separation between groups. The apartheid 3.1 Defining culture
apparatus of ‘separate development’ was predicated Sociologists define culture as the patterns that we
on the idea that different racialised cultural groups have for living: the beliefs we hold about how to live
did things differently and so they should be kept in the social world and the practices, behaviours and
geographically and socially separate to ‘develop’ at their material objects that accompany them. While culture
own pace. It was for this reason that different tribes is dynamic, in that it changes over time, it also has
were allocated to different Bantustans. For the same elements of continuity with the past. For whether we
sorts of reasons as have been outlined for the concept are aware of it or not, we all carry beliefs, practices and
of culture, the idea of ‘tribe’ is also a problematic one patterns of behaviour across the generations. While the
in South Africa. While the rhetoric employed during specific patterns of any culture will vary from place
apartheid was one of separate development, in reality, to place and across time, all human societies assume
this was a political justification for the economic and some or other form of culture. Culture consists of both
social oppression of the majority of South Africans. the symbols with which we think – for example, our
Given the role of the idea of separate cultures in our languages or our religions – and the material things
history then, the very concept of culture is rightly a that accompany our thinking – for example, libraries,
contentious one in our social context. books or mosques and churches.
Despite the way in which the concept of different It is worth thinking a little bit about how
cultures was introduced locally, this does not mean sociologists and anthropologists have come to this
that the idea, concept or use of the term ‘culture’ has present-day definition of culture. Understanding
been discarded by ordinary South Africans. In fact, culture as a set of material and non-material patterns
the opposite has happened. The concept of culture that are learned and are dynamic can help us grasp
has taken a strong hold in the popular imagination. the relationship between sociological theories about
Most South Africans will carry some form of cultural how society works and sociological definitions of the
identity they hold as important to them. Garuba and different elements of society.
Raditlaho (2010) argue that it is precisely because of There have been a great many definitions of
our tricky history that this is the case. These theorists culture put forward over time. This reflects both how
argue that, because people were oppressed on the tricky it is to define something as diverse as culture
basis of culture, culture has been a site for resistance and how our understandings of what culture is has
and struggle against oppression, marginalisation changed as our views of what society is and how
and domination. This has also occurred in response society works have changed. As long ago as 1952, when
to globalisation. People have held onto their cultural two academics did a review of definitions of culture,
differences in the face of global forces which push they found that there were 164 different definitions
towards homogenisation. Culture, then, is very much of culture being used by anthropologists at the time
present in South African thought and daily experience. (Kroeber & Kluckholm 1952). The situation has not
With this context in mind, this chapter explores improved today. So how did we come to the definition
how culture can be defined and looks at the different we are using in this textbook? Let us begin by looking
theoretical perspectives on culture used by sociologists at the history of culture as an academic concept. Then
and anthropologists. The chapter then moves to ideas we can think a little more about the concise definition
of cultural diversity and how they might play out given above in relation to the South African context in
in a ‘multicultural’ setting – and, indeed, what the which we live and work.
idea of ‘multiculturalism’ might tell us about how The anthropologist Susan Wright (Wright 1998)
people imagine similarity and difference in a time of has examined the ways in which the concept of culture
globalisation. The chapter also explores how cultures has been used. Wright differentiated between what she
change over time. It concludes by returning to a calls ‘old’ and ‘new’ ideas of culture. The ‘old’ ideas of
consideration of South Africa in particular, in order culture tended to see culture as a bounded whole, with
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Chapter 3: Culture
a checklist of defined attributes. These attributes or

Others argued that animal rights should be taken into
characteristics were self-reproducing and stable over
account. The example shows that culture changes over
time and led to groups of homogenous individuals
time and that views on cultural rituals and practices
who shared an underlying system of meanings. The
are not homogenous: there is room for debate. (For
patterns of life, what beliefs were held and their
more on Ukweshwana, see Boonzaier & Spiegel 2008;
impact on behaviour and the practices of daily social
Rautenbach 2011.)
life sharing common material resources, what we
have called culture in other words was similarly
experienced by all in a similar way. In this version South African theorist Robert Thornton has thus
of culture, being a Zulu person would mean that you argued that the problem with the use of the concept
came from a particular geographical place, spoke the of culture in South Africa in the past was to do with
same inherited language and shared the same norms the idea of seeing cultures as separate ways of being in
and values with all other Zulu people. You would go the world, rather than thinking about culture as a set
on to have Zulu children who all shared those same of resources to which people had varying degrees of
cultural attributes. access. ‘The problem,’ writes Thornton, ‘is the little s
If we pause, even for a moment, however, and that makes cultures from culture’ (Thornton 1988: 18).
consider contemporary South African society, it By this, he meant that the modes of thinking instilled
becomes evident that this definition is not entirely in the academy by colonialism and apartheid insisted
satisfactory. Are you only a Zulu person if you are in creating and maintaining the idea of separate,
born in KwaZulu-Natal? Of course not! Many people bounded cultures. This was a dangerous idea that
who ascribe to a Zulu identity come from elsewhere in detracted from the realities of similarity and instead
South Africa and from beyond the country’s borders. Is had difference as its key focus.
Zulu culture unchanging and stable? No! For, to be Zulu
today carries a different set of meanings than it did a
hundred years ago. And is Zulu culture homogenous? Box 3.2 Fluidity between cultural groups
No! There have been debates, for instance, over So-called separate cultures are not as separate as we
something like Ukweshwana (first fruit ceremony), might think. The anthropologist David Webster (1991)
which reveal many diverse views within this single conducted research that showed that women living in
societal grouping. Do Zulu people only marry other a KwaZulu border region during apartheid identified as
Zulu people and have Zulu children? Of course not! Zulu in some contexts and Thonga in others.
The point is that the world cannot be so easily divided Women presented themselves as Zulu in relation to
into separate cultural groups as was once imagined. the apartheid state, regarding pension payouts and
in their dealings with the Inkatha Freedom Party. But
they identified as Thonga when it came to marriage.
Box 3.1 Cultural change and internal variation as This was because Zulu rules of hlonipha (respect) were
seen through Ukweshwana more patriarchal and allowed women less autonomy in
Umkhosi Ukweshwana, or the festival of the first fruits, marriage than did Thonga practices. As such, women
is a festival that was revived by King Goodwill Zwelethini embraced the Zulu parts of their heritage at some times
Kabhekuzulu in the mid 2000s. Ukweshwana had not and Thonga at others.
been practised since the colonial period when it was This example shows us that we are not stuck in a
outlawed. The Zulu king revived it in keeping with a single cultural category but that our cultural affiliation
move to reinstate pre-colonial practices in the post- can change according to context. It also shows us that
colonial period. However, one element of the festival, in categorisations and power relations within a group – in
which young men kill a bull, came under severe public this instance, those of gender – can influence our views
scrutiny and led to a great deal of debate in South Africa, on cultural practices (see Webster 1991; Boonzaier &
including being the subject of a court case. Proponents Spiegel 2008).
for the killing of the bull argued that the festival should
be as true to the original as possible.
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You can thus see that even the act of defining what we of Auguste Comte, Herbert Spencer and, after Comte’s
mean by culture is fraught with conceptual difficulties death, Émile Durkheim (see Chapter 1 on Sociological
when analysing complex sets of beliefs and practices, theory). The central idea behind functionalism as a
not only when comparing cultures, but when doing so social theory was the notion that society is comprised
within a specific cultural environment. If we define of a number of institutions that function as part of an
a culture as a way of life distinctive to a particular interrelated whole. The different parts of society – for
group of people, then we are faced with the dilemma example, the family, political structure, economic
of deciding who is included and who is excluded structure – were all seen as working together to create
from that particular group and on what grounds we and maintain order and stability. Society was seen
do so. We also have to decide what the substance of as composed of a series of social structures, all of
that culture is – what practices are ‘authentically’ which worked together towards establishing societal
Zulu, and what are not. Because of issues like this, equilibrium. Through this theoretical lens society was
definitions of culture have become considerably more seen as fairly orderly and as stable.
nuanced, or complex. In functionalism, culture was seen as a stabilising
According to Wright, these new definitions of mechanism. The elements of culture that received
culture share the following features: most attention were the values and norms of any given
• Culture is seen as an active process of meaning- society. These values and norms were held to shape the
making within which there is room for debate and everyday and bring together the members of society to
contestation. work towards common goals. We can define values as
• The sites of culture are not bounded by geography the standards people have about what is considered
– people draw on local, national and global links good and what is considered bad. Norms are the
in making culture. behaviours that accompany the value system: the rules
• People are situated differently within society and about what is the normal or correct way in which
will use the resources of their culture differently. we do things. In structural functionalist thinking,
cultural practices were thus seen as part and parcel
When we define culture as the patterns that we have of the interrelated whole that was society. Our learned
for living: the beliefs we hold about how to live in behaviours and values were seen as linked to the core
the social world, and the practices, behaviours and structures that made society function.
material objects that accompany them, we therefore Structural functionalism also proposed the idea of
understand that these patterns shift over time. There cultural universals: cultural traits that exist in every
may be different views on the patterns of behaviour culture. While the way we do things might differ
within any society. We can therefore think about these across contexts, all cultures have to deal with similar
cultural patterns as a set of resources people draw on problems. For example, the kinship network, or family,
for various purposes. would be considered a cultural universal: all societies
Ideas of culture thus differ depending upon time, organise themselves in terms of some formalised idea of
period, place and theoretical perspective. This is how its members are related to one another by descent
because when social scientists try to understand the or marriage. In the last half of the twentieth century in
phenomenon of culture, they do so through the lens the West, the nuclear family (some version of biological
of varied theoretical approaches or paradigms. The mother, father and children) has become marked as the
influences of these paradigms have, in turn, shifted norm, while the extended family (encompassing more
over time and place. It is these perspectives which now than two or more generations and involving cousins,
become our focus. aunts and uncles as well as mothers and fathers) is
more likely to be the norm in most rural areas across
3.2 Theoretical perspectives on culture southern Africa. In southern Africa, ancestors also
play a prominent role in ideas of family organisation
3.2.1 Ideas of culture in structural as they did in ancient Greece over three thousand
functionalism years ago, while currently in Western societies this is
Functionalism was a school of thought that was seen no longer the case. However, despite these differences,
most prominently in sociological theory in the work the concept of family is still a universal one, in that
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Chapter 3: Culture
the two different versions of family both organise their In the words of the symbolic anthropologist Clifford
societal contexts in such a way that society is able to Geertz,
function smoothly. Whether this is achieved through
a nuclear family or an extended one and whether it Man is an animal suspended in webs of
includes only the living or the living and the living- significance he himself has spun. I take culture
dead, in a functionalist view the family always works to be those webs, and the analysis of it not to
to provide a means of socialising the next generation. be an experimental one in search of law but an
As in most theoretical frameworks, approaches or interpretive one in search of meaning. (Geertz
paradigms, some elements of structural functionalist 1975: 5)
thinking have continued to carry weight in academia.
For example, most sociologists would agree that it is In this view, culture is not seen as interesting or worthy
heuristically useful for purposes of analysis to break of study because of the ways in which it contributes
down society into its component parts or institutions, towards the smooth functioning of society, as it is in
such as the family, the economy, political organisations structural functionalism. Culture is rather viewed as a
and so forth. Other elements of structural-functionalist way in which humans create meaning and make sense
theory are seen as simplistic or outdated. For example, of their social world. For example, where a funeral
structural-functionalist views of culture have been rite from a functionalist perspective might be seen as
subject to critique for their emphasis on cultural something that is done in order to make sure that grief
stability, which limits this theoretical approach is dealt with in such a way that society continues to
from being able to explain social change, especially function uninterrupted, a symbolic interpretation of
major structural transformation, when it does occur. a funeral rite would focus on the ways in which the
Furthermore, an underlying assumption of this view different cultural elements within the funeral work to
of culture is that everyone within the society embraces create meaning for people as they deal with their grief.
its norms and values with equal enthusiasm. If we are The focus is on the people and the way in which they
to think of Wright’s taxonomy of ‘old’ and ‘new’ ideas of make and find meaning in their social world through
culture, as mentioned above, a structural-functionalist the shared symbols that constitute culture.
analysis would be situated as an ‘old’ one that does not In terms of Wright’s (1998) taxonomy, the ideas of
adequately account for power differentials, conflict culture used in symbolic interactionism can be seen
and the fluidity of culture over time. as a mixture of the ‘old’ and the ‘new’. While culture
is not necessarily seen as a bounded or homogenous
whole, there is nonetheless the idea that culture
3.2.2 Symbolic interactionism consists of a set of underlying meanings everybody
While the theory of structural functionalism is shares. Furthermore, there is more room for change
concerned with large-scale structure, the theoretical than in a theory such as structuralism. Meanings
perspective of symbolic interactionism falls under the are interpreted by people and those interpretations
umbrella of ‘micro-sociology’ in that it is concerned can easily and inevitably do change over time. There
with individuals and the everyday. The symbolic is further a recognition of the power differentials
interactionist perspective sees society as primarily between people in society. Not everyone has the same
a space of meaning-making. A symbol is any shared access to symbols of meaning-making or is able to draw
cultural representation of reality. Language, for on symbols in the same way. For example, a symbolic
example, is a symbolic system, in that words come to interactionist analysis of gender in a patriarchal
stand for objects or behaviours or places. Clothes can society would argue that the symbols and meanings
also be symbols, in that they carry meaning for the associated with women and femininity carry a different
person wearing them and the people looking at the set of entitlements than those associated with men and
person wearing them. In symbolic interactionism then, masculinity. As symbolic interactionism emphasises
our social world is composed of the ways in which the meanings people attach to their own behaviour, as
we make meaning and interact with one another. It is well as the meanings other people ascribe or impose
through these everyday acts of interacting with one on them regarding their own behaviour, there is
another that society gets made. thus the recognition of change and of power. Despite
75

having been powerfully influenced by Weber, who has Alexander (2013: 160) hence argued that we still have
strong emphases on economic class and domination, a ‘racial habitus’ ingrained in our behaviours in South
it is perhaps surprising that the role of power is fairly Africa. By this Alexander meant that our very habits,
covert in symbolic interactionist perspectives. It has reactions, thoughts and attitudes are unconsciously or
been largely left to another theoretical perspective consciously affected by race and the social hierarchies
on culture in which power plays a central role: the we associate with different racial groups.
conflict perspective. It is to that approach which we One way in which we can think about this is
now turn. through the notion of cultural hegemony, an idea that
stems from the conflict perspective. Cultural hegemony
3.2.3 Conflict perspectives on culture is the idea that despite societies being composed of
In contrast to the ideas of stability contained in diverse interest groups, one way of being, or one set
structural functionalist thinking, or the focus on the of interests, comes to be held as more important than
ways in which people make meaning in symbolic others. This results in the values and interests of one
interactionism, conflict perspectives have focused group of people being imposed on and considered to be
on the power tussles in society. Conflict theories see the norm, in other words, the universally valid way of
society as composed of different groups who have doing things. South African social intellectual Steve
fundamentally different interests and who thus are Bantu Biko was speaking out against notions of white
either covertly or openly in opposition with one another. hegemony in South Africa in the 1970s, for example,
Some of the interests that might lie behind social when he argued that black is beautiful. The idea that
groups clashing in any society are those of different lay behind Black Consciousness was that centuries
social classes, genders, nationalities, sexualities and of oppression during colonialism and into apartheid
age groups. The conflict paradigm emphasises that had resulted in black people internalising a cultural
society is composed of groups with starkly different identity which devalued their own blackness and held
means of access to or little or no access to social power. whiteness in high esteem. Biko wrote that, ‘the African
Marxism (with its focus on class), feminism (with its child learns to hate his heritage in his days at school.
focus on gender), queer theory (with its focus on sexual So negative is the image presented to him, that he
orientation), black scholarship (with being black as key tends to find solace only in close identification with
focus), post-colonial theories (which have race and the the white society’ (Biko 1978: 29). Black Consciousness
colonised as key foci) and decolonial theory (with body was a political philosophy that set out to change this
politics and geographical location as starting point), by challenging the cultural hegemony of apartheid
are all conflict perspectives. A conflict perspective society by celebrating elements of black South
assumes that the composition of society is not equal, African culture.
but rather that social structures generally privilege Contemporary South African political theorist
some groups over others. Thiven Reddy has argued that South Africa has
Unfortunately, given South Africa’s history seen a resurgence in ideas of Black Consciousness in
and its present position as one of the most unequal popular rhetoric in the last decade or so. He argues
countries in the world, it is all too easy, in one sense, that this is because social inequality has remained
for us as South African sociologists and students to a key feature of South African society (Reddy 2008).
understand conflict theories. Apartheid was a system Archbishop Desmond Tutu had this same notion in
that wrote differential access to power and resources mind when he said in 2006 that, ‘We still depressingly
into law on the basis of race. While the laws may have do not respect each other. Black Consciousness did not
changed, we are still living with their after-effects in finish the work it set out to do’ (Tutu 2006). Within
the present. A great many of our cultural repertoires this viewpoint, practices such as people straightening
– or our ordinary ways of thinking and acting – are their hair are seen as due to centuries of oppression
influenced by this history. This is particularly the in which straight hair was seen as more respectable
case as apartheid was a system that conflated race than kinky hair because straight hair was associated
and culture. Being designated black or white meant with whiteness while kinky hair was associated with
it was also assumed you carried with you particular blackness (Erasmus 2000). A social conflict perspective
ways of acting and doing (Erasmus 2008). Neville of culture would see the resurgence of Biko’s ideas in
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Chapter 3: Culture
contemporary South Africa as a direct result of our generally hybrid ones where a great deal of mixing of
society being composed of social groups with differing cultural forms takes places. For example, most South
access to power. At present, young black people in Africans are comfortable consulting both biomedical
particular use cultural symbols, such as clothing practitioners and traditional healers to deal with
and hairstyles, to challenge what they see as the illness. Homi Bhabha’s (1994) idea of hybridity sees
continuation of a dominant white cultural hegemony the mixtures of cultural forms used by previously
in democratic South Africa. colonised people as a subversive way of challenging
the dominant narratives of imperialism.
3.2.4 Post-colonial perspectives on culture
One form of conflict perspective that is particularly
pertinent to democratic South Africa is post-colonial 3.3 Elements of culture
theory. Broadly speaking, post-colonial theory is We can see from all the different theoretical
concerned with analysing the social realities of spaces perspectives presented above that culture has been
that were colonised during the imperialist expansion a concept which has engendered much critical
of Europe. Post-colonial theory has undergone a engagement by sociologists and other social scientists.
number of permutations since its inception, but all While the perspectives may differ, at their core is a
have involved a focus on culture. concern to analyse and understand people’s ways of
The first wave of post-colonial theory drew being in the world.
attention to the fact that the society and culture or We can summarise the key elements of the complex
ways of life of colonised people had been positioned concept of culture from the theoretical perspectives:
as inferior by colonising societies. As with Biko, who • Cultural forms vary hugely, yet culture itself
prefigured decolonial theory given his emphasis on contains universals which will exist in all cultural
body politics, theorists from this school showed that settings – family or kinship structures, political
the cultural hegemony of imperialism impacted upon arrangements, economic structures, language,
the way in which colonised people thought about symbols, norms, beliefs and values, as well as
themselves and their culture. Post-colonial theory material culture (food, clothing and shelter and
showed the ways in which culture in colonised and time for work among others). The specific form
previously colonised spaces worked to maintain these cultural attributes take will vary, but all
hierarchies of privilege. The work of the Palestinian- cultures are composed of similar sets of institutions
American scholar Edward Said, for example, showed and practices that help to organise society.
the patronising ways in which ‘the East’ or ‘the Orient’ • Culture can be divided into non-material and
was represented by ‘the West’. During the nineteenth material forms for the purpose of analysis.
and early twentieth centuries, ‘the Orient’ was used Non-material culture refers to the symbols and
as shorthand for the many middle-Eastern and Asian behaviours that we use in our daily lives. Material
countries and cultures that lay to the east of Europe culture refers to the ‘things’ that accompany these
and were perceived as particularly ‘exotic’ in relation practices. Sociologists analyse both material and
to Europe. Said (1978) did very detailed textual analysis non-material culture. Furthermore, within any one
of European literature to show that the cultures of ‘the cultural setting, the forms taken by non-material
Orient’ were not only portrayed as exotic, but also as and material culture will be linked. For example,
static and unchanging and as less advanced than those a capitalist society is founded on a particular
of imperial Europe. economic system. How the economy is organised
Building on this foundation, the next step taken is an example of non-material culture. But it leads
by post-colonial theorists with regard to culture was to particular forms of material culture. A shopping
the recognition that people in post-colonial settings mall, for example, or the fashionable clothing it
needed to strive to reclaim cultural autonomy. In other houses, is a form of material culture intimately
words, people should make their own decisions about linked to the capitalist economy.
what is valuable and celebrate their ways of doing • Culture does not stay still; it changes. It provides
things and ways of being in the world. This in turn us with a link to the past, a shifting template for
led to a recognition that post-colonial spaces were the present, and a map to the future.
77

concepts are linked – a dominant culture would be

Box 3.3 Amakrwala, material culture and the one that was considered ‘normal’ within society,
hybridity with people who belong to other minority cultures –
The formal clothing worn by amakrwala – isiXhosa men or subcultures – seen as doing things in a way that is
who have been through initiation rites – for six months somewhat different from the norm. A subculture, then,
after they have finished initiation school is a form of is that segment of the population who follow slightly
material culture. Amakrwala are expected to wear a different cultural patterns to the dominant culture. A
particular style of smart Western clothing. The (material) counter-culture refers to a segment of the population
clothing acts as a marker for the (non-material) shift who ascribe to ways of doing and ways of being that
between childhood and manhood that happens during directly oppose those which are widely accepted
initiation. The formal clothing worn by amakrwala also within society. The Numbers Gangs, which originated
gives us an example of hybridity as discussed above, within South African prisons, and operate both within
as ‘Western’ clothing of a particular form is being and outside prisons, are an example of a local counter-
used to mark an African practice. The clothing brand culture. The gangs are highly ritualised, and operate
maxhosa (www.maxhosa.com) takes this a step further according to a strict code of conduct. It is an extremely
by designing amakrwala-styles with traditional isiXhosa violent code of conduct, however, and one that goes
patterns and iconography on them. against many of the usual norms of social life in South
Africa. For a vivid, yet balanced, ethnographic account
of prison gangs the work of Jonny Steinberg (2004) is
3.4 Cultural diversity worth tracking down.
A core thread running through this chapter so far It is common in today’s globalised societies to
has been the idea that all around the world people do regularly encounter difference. The challenge for
ordinary life slightly differently to one another. Even people is to avoid ethnocentrism. Ethnocentrism refers
within any one geographical setting, there will often to evaluating other ways of being and doing from the
be groups and sub-groups who perform daily life in viewpoint of your own cultural setting, rather than
slightly different ways. They might speak different understanding them as part and parcel of a different set
languages, ascribe to different religions, or hold of norms. An example of ethnocentric thinking would
slightly (or very) different norms and values to one be if a Christian South African from an own viewpoint
another. Sociologists refer to this as cultural diversity. unreflexively disapproved of polygamous marriage
Cultural diversity, or multiculturalism, has been (having multiple wives, as practised by multiple social
exacerbated by the rise in migration (people moving groups in South Africa) instead of recognising it as a
between places) and urbanisation (people from all over legitimate different cultural form.
the country or world settling in towns and cities). The concept of cultural relativism is in some ways
It is worth bearing in mind, however, that even the opposite of ethnocentrism. The central tenet of
without migration, no single culture is homogenous. cultural relativism is the idea that a culture can only be
Even if people do speak the same language, follow judged within its own terms. In other words, cultural
the same religion and manifest many of the same relativism maintains that things like morality, values
behaviours, they do so from differing perspectives. We and beliefs can only be judged in relation to the culture
could also argue that the very idea of multiculturalism in which they originate. From within a Christian
– many cultures in one place – comes from the ‘old’ cultural and moral ethic it is immoral to have more
idea of culture (Wright 1998) which assumes bounded than one wife. Within certain traditional African and
cultures are linked to geography. Islamic communities polygamy is a socially accepted
Nonetheless, the concepts of cultural diversity normative practice. There is no external arbiter to
and multiculturalism can allow us to analyse how pronounce on the moral status of either of these marital
the structures of society work with regard to culture. practices. A cultural relativist stance is not a morally
The notion of dominant culture refers to the group neutral one. Such a position does not distinguish
within society that carries the most social power or between good and evil. It is not an amoral position
is the most influential. If we think back to the idea which takes neither morality nor immorality into
of cultural hegemony above, we can see the two account. Cultural relativism simply maintains that
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Chapter 3: Culture
the measure of good or bad can only be decided by the (whether legal or illegal) contributes to a stronger
standards of the culture within which a practice takes economy (Peberdy 2016). In other words, ‘foreigners’
place. This idea, in a certain sense, reflects the ‘old’ are creating jobs rather than stealing them. It is also
version of culture as it assumes homogeneity within worth noting that the boundaries of contemporary
a cultural group. The ‘new’ stance regarding culture, nation-states in Africa stem from colonialism and the
unsurprisingly in a heterogeneous context in which great deal of shared cultural continuity between South
there is often a great deal of debate and contestation Africa and neighbouring countries. In some ways,
over morality in society, nevertheless tends to favour xenophobia in South Africa is an example of prejudice
the powerful whose moral norms are advantaged over working to create ideas of cultural difference that are
those of other social groups. exaggerated.
Xenophobia can and does, lead to violence. In
Box 3.4 Legislating for difference. The South its worst guise, disregard for cultural difference can
African Constitutional Court and culture lead to genocide: the mass slaughter of a large group
Article 30 of South Africa’s Constitution protects every of people on the basis of their cultural or ethnic
person’s right to participate in the cultural life of their affiliation. Africa has seen numerous genocides, from
choice – but with the caveat that no one can exercise the lesser known genocide of the Herero people in
this right in a manner that is inconsistent with other Namibia carried out by Germany in the 1900s, through
rights protected by the Constitution. to the well-documented genocide in Rwanda in the
South African law thus constitutes a balancing act 1990s. Here, ‘culture’ is used as a marker of social
between validating the legitimacy of different cultural difference, and intolerance of difference is so great
practices. This has meant a number of cases have come that death is the result.
to the Constitutional Court with regard to culture.
For example, in 2007, the Court heard a case in which 3.5 Culture, socialisation and identity
a Hindu learner’s family argued that it was her cultural Sociologists and other social scientists often break
right to wear a nose stud to school. The case first went down society into different aspects, themes or
to the Equality Court, which found the school had not conceptual categories in order to make sense of and
discriminated against the girl. The case then went to analyse the social world. While conceptually distinct,
the High Court, which overturned the Equality Court’s social phenomena are often entangled and linked
decision. The case finally went to the Constitutional in terms of how they actually operate or are lived in
Court, which upheld the High Court’s decision. practice. It is perhaps useful to see how sociological
Chief Justice Langa argued that even though the concepts are linked and related when attempting to
practice was voluntary, the school still had an obligation grasp the complex phenomena of social life.
to reasonably accommodate cultural differences (MEC A previous chapter in this textbook examined the
for Education: Kwazulu-Natal and Others v Pillay 2007). relation between socialisation and identity. These two
concepts are closely linked to the hazardous concept
of culture. It is consequently worth concluding
Another challenge faced in contemporary South this chapter by considering the connections, links
African society is that of xenophobia. Xenophobia and relationships between culture, socialisation
refers to an unreasonable fear or distrust of and identity. The explicit concern here is to explore
strangers or foreigners. In South Africa, xenophobic briefly how social science in general and sociology in
attitudes are extremely common. The derogatory particular can help understand our society in order to
term makwerekwere has been coined to refer to address some of the problems and issues it faces.
black African foreigners and ostensibly stems from Culture is intimately bound up with and
the unintelligibility of non-South African African inextricable from the processes of socialisation. The
languages to South African ears. Xenophobia has also processes of socialisation must assume some or other
been attributed to the competition over scarce resources cultural form and content. Socialisation can also be
– justified on economic grounds that foreigners are understood as the process of enculturation – becoming
‘stealing’ jobs from South Africans. Research done by familiar with, acclimatising to and internalising
social scientists has shown, however, that migration norms and values when learning how to live within
79

a set of practices and traditions. No human being is economic mission. The civilising mission sought
socialised in the abstract. There must be a context to to ‘improve’ peoples’ cultures, while the economic
the processes of socialisation. We learn from those thrust of colonialism brought Africa more closely into
around us and we belong to many different social an unequal system of global capitalism. Decolonial
groups who socialise us into different norms and theorists, therefore, consider modernity to be a deeply
values for different contexts. We can hence substitute hierarchical and oppressive system (see Mignolo 2011;
the word ‘enculturation’ for socialisation, which gives Ndlovu-Gatsheni 2013).
a better sense of the link between the two concepts. Other elements of modernity that have been
If we go back to our definition of culture as the examined by sociologists focus on the way society is
patterns that we have for living: the beliefs we hold organised and the effects this has upon how we view
about how to live in the social world, and the practices, culture. Stephen Crook, Jan Pakulski and Malcolm
behaviours and material objects that accompany them, Waters (1992 cited in Haralambos & Holborn 2004), for
then we can see that we are socialised into many example, argue that modern culture consists of three
different patterns, practices and behaviours across our main characteristics: differentiation, rationalisation
lifetime and in different social contexts. The culture of and commodification.
our homes is thus likely to be different to the culture Differentiation refers to the ways in which society
of our primary or high schools; and this in turn will is split into separate parts, such that the economic,
be different to the culture of college or university political and social spheres come to be viewed as
or the workplace. Within all those spaces or aspects separate from one another in ways that they were not
of social life we will also encounter dominant and in pre-modern societies. One element of differentiation
minority ways of acting and thinking. Socialisation or was that some of the products of culture – like music
enculturation is hence a lifelong process and assumes and art – came to be seen as distinct from other
multiple forms. elements of life, and came to be labelled as high
It is worth pausing here for a moment to think a culture and valued more highly. A distinction was
little about how social life has changed or shifted in therefore made between ‘popular culture’ – the things
different historical eras. There is a debate at present, that everybody did – and ‘high culture’ – the things
for example, as to whether global society can be said that were produced by specialist individuals, trained
to have moved from a modern to a post-modern era. in specialist institutions to be artists or musicians.
This may be true of some societies, but not others. In Following Weber, for Crook et al, modern culture
social science, modernity refers both to a particular is also shaped by rationalisation, the process whereby
period of time, as well as the trends and socio-cultural systems are made more efficient and rational. For
norms that accompany that historical period. In terms material culture like music or art, this has happened
of time-frames, modernity, or the modern era, is said through the rise of technology which allows for mass
to have begun with the European Renaissance in production and reproduction.
the 1600s. In terms of the norms that accompany it, Rationalisation leads to the third element of
modernity marks a period in time where the authority modern culture: commodification. With the rise of
provided by tradition came to be questioned and where global capitalism, everything becomes a commodity
individualism came to be prioritised over collectivism which can be bought and sold. Culture does not
(Giddens 1998) – and when sociology itself emerged as escape this process. Cultural forms become part of
a discipline which permits us to reflect on the world commodity chains.
we make as human agents. In addition, modernity Crook et al argue that we have entered into a new
saw the rise of a belief in science and progress and a historical era, the post-modern. These theorists see
move towards industrialisation and the rise of global post-modernity as intensifying some of the processes
capitalism. Of particular relevance for us as southern of modernity, such that we enter an era of hyper-
African social scientists and scholars is that for many differentiation, hyper-rationalisation and hyper-
parts of the world modernity was accompanied by commodification. In short, these processes are taken
colonialism. Colonialism carried with it two main to their extreme limit.
projects, both of which were part and parcel of We see hyper-differentiation in that there is a huge
modernity: the so-called civilising mission, and the variety of cultural forms available for people. Rather
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Chapter 3: Culture
than just having a few styles of music to choose from, Chapter 2 on Socialisation and identity if this crucial
there are multiple genres and subgenres available to us. point is not crystal clear.
Hyper-rationalisation means that the rise of The close links between culture, socialisation and
technology allows for cultural forms to become more identity can now be seen more clearly if we turn to the
widespread and easily shared. People can become example given in Box 3.2. Women identified in some
more individual in their consumption of cultural contexts as Zulu and in others as Thonga. This is not
forms, through having individual music players or an unusual case. We all identify differently in different
televisions or computers through which to make social situations all the time. Sometimes you are a
their choices. daughter and sometimes you are a student. Cultural
Hyper-commodification refers to the fact that all identities are fluid and shift according to context
aspects of social life become a commodity. Previously and are often subject to individual choice. While
private aspects of social life are also turned into we think of South Africa as multicultural because
commodities. The rise of reality television is a good of our different linguistic, ethnic, tribal, national or
example of this. Advertising also enters into our indeed our cultural origins into which we have been
private spheres, so that we are always immersed socialised, every society is in some important sense
into the capitalist market in ways that we previously multicultural, especially in our era of globalisation.
were not. We step in and out of different social roles and the
Post-modern culture, in other words, leads to practices that accompany them in different contexts.
a process of fragmentation in which we have a great Culture, then, has led to being the subject of some
deal more choices open to us, many of which are contention and contestation in South Africa. Go back
commodified. This brings us to the notion of identity to the debates around Ukweshwana in Box 3.1 to the
and its relation to culture and socialisation. With the Constitutional Court cases noted in Box 3.4.
possibility of virtually unlimited choice available Our various cultures are, however, also an
to us, we can engage in the self-formation of our important resource we can use to address the social
individual identities in ways which were previously problems we face as South Africans and as global
inconceivable. Identities are therefore not fixed. citizens. There has been a recent push in the social
People can change their lifestyles and the identities sciences from the global South in particular to ensure
that accompany them multiple times. Taste is no longer that social science is harnessed for the good of local
dictated by one’s background. Whilst Crook et al argue communities (Tuhiwai Smith 1999; Connell 2007;
that processes of post-modernity are clearly underway, Zeleza 1997) rather than simply to analyse the social
other social theorists such as Giddens (1998) see the world for the sake of analysis. Sociology and its ever
present as a new phase of modernity, as the underlying developing – albeit often contested – understandings
norms of the modern moment are not significantly of culture is well-poised to explore solutions to South
changed, but are rather just speeding up. African problems by drawing on our widely varied
Whether we categorise our contemporary condition cultural resources. For example, non-adherence to
as post-modernity (Crooks et al 1992) or high modernity treatment regimes for illnesses such as TB has been
(Giddens 1998), there is little doubt that the world posed as a social problem. Social scientists have
has undergone qualitatively significant shifts and emphasised that if we take culture and cultural
changes in the last century. These external changes understandings into account such problems might not
and attendant cultural forces have had an immense be intractable. Social scientists in Ghana, for instance,
impact on both individual and collective cultural have explored the ways in which beliefs in witchcraft
identities and identity formation. It is increasingly impacted on adherence to allopathic TB treatment
clear to sociologists that our cultures give us identities (Danso et al 2015). This piece of social science could
– in the plural – to draw on. Expressed differently, therefore allow us to find ways to adjust pre-treatment
we are socialised into multiple identities across our counselling to fit the cultural context in Ghana.
lifetimes and in different contexts. Yet socialisation or Social sciences such as anthropology and sociology,
enculturation is not something which simply happens with their grasp on the nuances of culture, are thus
to us. Human agents are capable of choice and self- well-positioned to bring about positive social change.
formation. Do go back to George Herbert Mead in No one has all the answers, let alone sociology. Yet if
81

we continue with trends in the discipline that push in the social world and the practices, behaviours
towards culturally sensitive problem-based research, and material objects that accompany them.
address issues of power and grapple meaningfully However, these patterns shift over time, and there
with that complex interaction between social structure may be different views on the patterns of behaviour
and individual agency which assumes cultural forms within any society. We can therefore think about
of expression, the next generation of social scientists, these cultural patterns as a set of resources people
such as those of you reading this book, might be able draw on for various purposes.
to seriously contribute to addressing the pressing • There have been many theoretical perspectives
problems society faces today. on culture. We have discussed structural
functionalism (in which culture acts as a stabilising
Summary function to keep society in equilibrium/order);
• Human beings are quintessentially cultural beings symbolic interactionalism (where culture is seen
as all of our actions are situated within the social as a way of meaning-making through symbols);
contexts in which we live. Throughout our lives, conflict perspectives (which emphasise the power
we are taught particular ways of doing things and struggles within society between different groups);
ways of being in the world. In other words, we are post-colonial and decolonial perspectives (which
constantly taught and learn how to live within the recognise culture imperialism and the struggle
patterns and routines of a specific culture. for cultural autonomy in post-colonial settings);
• In South Africa, the concept of culture has a and post-modern perspectives (which recognise
tumultuous past. This is partly because of the that in society at present, people have many
academic history of the study of the exotic. cultural options open to them, many of which are
Cultural difference was seen as an object of commodified).
academic interest. Africa in particular was one
of the places in which that exotic difference Are you on track?
could be found and studied. But it is also because 1. What is culture? Does it stay the same, or change
of the political history of colonisation. During over time?
colonialism, cultural and racial differences were 2. Is culture something we are born with, or
used as the basis for oppression. something we learn?
• Despite the way in which the concept of different 3. What theoretical perspective on culture do you
cultures was introduced locally, this does not think carries the best explanatory capacity?
mean that the idea, concept or use of the term 4. Do you find Wright’s (1994) taxonomy of ‘old’
‘culture’ has been discarded by ordinary South versus ‘new’ ideas of how culture works to be a
Africans. In fact, the opposite has happened. The useful one?
concept of culture has taken a strong hold in the 5. Does where a theory originates from matter to how
popular imagination. Most South Africans will it explains culture? Might some theories better fit
carry some form of cultural identity they hold as ‘the West’ and other theories better fit ‘the rest’, for
important to them. example?
• Sociologists define culture as the patterns that we
have for living: the beliefs we hold about how to live
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Chapter 3: Culture
References
Alexander N. 2013. Thoughts on the New South Africa. Johannesburg: Jacana.
Bhabha HK. 1994. The Location of Culture. London: Routledge.
Boonzaier E, Spiegel AD. 2008. ‘Tradition’ in The New South African Keywords. Shepherd N, Robins S (eds). Ohio:
Jacana.
Connell R. 2007. Southern Theory. The Global Dynamics of Knowledge in Social Science. Sydney: Allen and Udwin.
Danso E, Yeboah Addo I, Gyamfuah Ampomah I. 2015. ‘Patients’ compliance with tuberculosis medication in
Ghana: Evidence from a periurban community.’ Advances in Public Health, doi:10.1155/2015/948487.
Erasmus Z. 2000. ‘Hair Politics’ in Senses of Culture. Nuttall S, Michael C (eds). Cape Town: Oxford University
Press.
Erasmus Z. 2008. ‘Race’ in The New South African Keywords. Shepherd N, Robins S (eds). Ohio: Jacana.
Garuba H, Raditlaho S. 2008. ‘Culture’ in The New South African Keywords. Shepherd N, Robins S (eds). Ohio:
Jacana.
Geertz C. 1975. The Interpretation of Cultures. New York: Basic Books.
Giddens A. 1998. Conversations with Anthony Giddens: Making Sense of Modernity. Stanford, CA: Stanford
University Press.
Haralambos M, Holborn M. 2004. Sociology: Themes and Perspectives. London: Harper Collins.
Kroeber AL, Kluckhohn C. 1952. ‘Culture. A Critical Review of Concepts and Definitions.’ Cambridge, MA. Papers
of the Peabody Museum XLVII: 1.
MEC for Education: Kwazulu-Natal and Others v Pillay (CCT 51/06) [2007] ZACC 21; 2008 (1) SA 474 (CC); 2008 (2)
BCLR 99 (CC) (5 October 2007).
Mignolo W. 2011. The Darker side of Western modernity. Global Futures, Decolonial Options. Durham, N.C: Duke
University Press.
Ndlovu-Gatsheni S. 2013. Empire, Global Coloniality and African Subjectivity. New York: Berghahn Books.
Peberdy S. 2016. ‘International migrants in Johannesburg’s informal economy’. SAMP Migration Policy Series No.
71. SAMP: Waterloo and Cape Town.
Reddy T. 2008. ‘Black Consciousness in contemporary South African politics’ in State of the Nation: South Africa.
Kagwanja P, Kondlo K (eds). Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Said E. 1978. Orientalism. New York: Pantheon.
Steinberg J. 2004. The Number: One Man’s Search for Identity in the Cape Underworld and Prison Gangs.
Johannesburg: Jonathan Ball.
Thornton R. 1988. ‘Culture: A contemporary definition’ in South African Keywords. The Uses and Abuses of Political
Concepts. Boonzaier E, Sharp J (eds). Cape Town: David Philip.
Tuhiwai Smith L. 1999. Decolonizing Methodologies: Research and Indigenous Peoples. London: Zed Books.
Tutu D. 2006. ‘The Annual Steve Biko Memorial Lecture’. Cape Town: University of Cape Town.
Webster D. 1991. ‘Abafazi bathonga bafihlakala: Ethnicity and gender in a KwaZulu border community’ in Tradition
and Transition in Southern Africa. Spiegel AD, McAllister PA (eds). Johannesburg: University of Witwatersrand
Press.
Wright S. 1998. ‘The Politicization of “Culture”.’ Anthropology Today, Vol. 14(1):7–15.
Zeleza P. 1997. Manufacturing African Studies and Crises. Dakar: CODESRIA.
83

Chapter 4
Families and households

Marlize Rabe
The family is the oldest and most enduring of all social institutions. It has consequently assumed a multiplicity of forms and
instituted the bedrock of society long before it was even thought of as an institution. Yet the concepts family and household
are both difficult to define and you will be challenged with various expressions of these concepts in this chapter. The family is
the primary source of that most powerful process, socialisation. Identity formation cannot therefore be understood without
surveying the family’s impact. For the majority of people, whether it is the family or the household, this primordial institution
is the original source of the experience of social cohesion. It is hence no wonder that the family and households are often
regarded as at the core of both society and the study of it. In brief, the family is often believed to be central to the health of
social life. What this chapter will alarmingly show, however, is that a significant number of South Africans have not enjoyed
the benefits of family life in a stable household. Despite the longevity of the family as an institution, families are often at risk
and alarmists regularly warn us that it is under threat.
Due to the fact, already noted in this textbook, that sociologists are part of the society they study, the family as a concept
is not readily subject to analysis because, for the most part, we are so intimately related to it. The emotional bonds to the family
and the household in which we grew up remain with us throughout our lives regardless of whether the lived experience of
socialisation was positive or negative. Being adaptable, despite enormous external pressures exerting themselves upon it, the
family remains a reference point for most people. Do read the opening case study in this chapter carefully since it exemplifies
the profound impact the passing of a beloved family member has on the individual.
This chapter will challenge you to grasp the social implications of the fact that so many children have not had the nurture,
comfort and benefits of the critical process of socialisation the family can offer. The realities of dysfunctional families should
be acknowledged and dealt with without trying to romanticise family life or clinging to only certain positive notions of it. In
fact, idealised views of family can easily inspire narrow ideological notions of what families should be, and it will be shown
how such narrow views can even undermine dealing with the realities families have to face.
This chapter invites you to examine the individuals within the life course of families by focusing on childhood, parenting
and being a grandparent. The various stages within an individual’s life which may include living with or away from a partner
are also briefly introduced to provide you with insight into the dynamic nature of family life.
As ever in sociology, the view of the family expressed here can be critically examined from a range of theoretical perspectives
– the bases with which you are already familiar. Whatever theoretical perspective(s) you are developing or favouring as you
progress in your sociological studies, they have to be critically analysed here in relation to families and households. Likewise
the usefulness of concepts such as social class and race in framing the current state of families and households in our society
should be critically evaluated.
Families and households are experiencing stresses and strains as they have for centuries. Our society is no different. It is,
however, an explicit aim of this chapter to alert students and scholars of society that understanding the causes and reasons
for abuse and violence within the family is an important starting point in preventing their occurrence. In this case, as often in
sociology well practised, an objective assessment of the facts evokes a moral response. When it comes to the factual study of
families and households, social science and moral conscience, it seems clear, are intricately intertwined.

Case study 4.1 A grandmother
Read the case study below and answer the question that follows.
By mid-morning medical staff confirm that Grandma is no more. She was 97 … She remains to this day, the most
resilient, the most constant, most consistent and most reliable presence in my life. With no real memory of my own
mother, Grandma was the only tangible evidence that I did really have a mother once upon a very short time. But Grandma
was more. Grandma was mother. Upon the death of my mother, she took over the motherhood function so seamlessly, it
took me a long time to realise she was not my mother … Grandma was an ordinary, rural, illiterate South African woman.
I have no hope that a monument will ever be erected in her honour. She will never receive a National Order. She was not
perfect either. She sniffed copious amounts of snuff and took traditional beer as well as the odd non-traditional beer
from time to time. Playing with matchsticks one day in my toddler years, I burnt an entire winter’s harvest of rondavel
roof thatch that she had harvested and collected by hand over many months. She was livid. On that occasion, she said
things to and about me that are simply unprintable. Yet it all ended with her lovingly embracing me even as she watched
the blazing fire consuming months of her hard work in an instant. We were both crying … The old woman who brought
me up with her bare hands and a heart pulsating with love was my greatest teacher. I have encountered few people as
forgiving. Again and again, at various stages of my life, she has snatched me from the jaws of hell. For me she was and
will always be a great South African woman.
(Source: Maluleke 2011)
Question
List differences and similarities between this story and the family in which you were raised.
•• Complexities in defining households and families

Key Themes
•• Overview of families in South Africa

•• How different theories of the family provide different outlooks on families
•• The importance of families for individuals from birth to death (intergenerational relationships)
•• Patterns of joining and dissolving unions (marriage, cohabitation and divorce)
•• Family violence in South Africa.
Introduction distorted knowledge about families. You can look at

The overwhelming majority of people grow up in the gross overestimation of divorce rates as a case in
families. In fact many people live with or close to point (see the discussion on divorce in Section 4.2).
their family members their entire lives. Based on this If we were to collect the different personal responses
familiarity with families, introducing the ‘sociology of to Case study 4.1 above, we would find a myriad
families’ seems unnecessary. We all know what family of experiences being described. In this chapter on
life is about and the fact that there are different types of families, you are firstly invited to look at this diversity
families also comes as no surprise. Why then a chapter of families but also to move beyond only general
on families? Although some people believe that it is observations of families and understand the reasons
a waste of time to study something as mundane and for this diversity. Specific theories will be explained to
well known as families, it is often more difficult to help you identify underlying assumptions, entrenched
look at such a familiar phenomenon in a systematic values and links between broad socioeconomic
manner. Either broad generalisations about families dynamics and families. Intergenerational relations in
(based on no systematic information) or very specific families will be addressed by highlighting childhood,
knowledge about a few families are used in everyday parenthood and grandparenthood. Attention will then
conversations to make assumptions about families. be paid to the different ways in which people constitute
Similarly, the mass media present information on relationships such as marriages and cohabitation
families in a haphazard fashion which may result in followed by pertinent notes on divorce (one of the most
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Chapter 4: Families and households
prominent ways in which marriages end). Finally, since black people were legally prohibited from living
information on the different types of domestic violence with their families in so-called white areas. In this
will be provided. The different theories of domestic regard, Spiegel, Watson and Wilkinson (1996) coined
violence will be considered and the current views and the term stretched households, which refers to the joint
practices which deal with domestic violence in South financial commitment to a particular household even
Africa looked at. though the individual family members are not able to
eat together and sleep in the same dwelling on a regular
4.1 To be or not to be … a family basis. In such stretched households the financial
It is difficult to define families in general. In order to aspect becomes the ultimate criterion for defining
avoid the ‘fuzziness’ of a term such as family, certain the household. Although all such legal prohibitions
researchers prefer to use the term household. A on where South African citizens may live have been
household is commonly defined as a group of people abolished, there are still practical and preferential
living in a dwelling. It usually includes the sharing reasons that divide families geographically. Examples
of meals and other resources. Household members of family members living in more than one household
pool their resources, which implies that certain could be a husband and wife who cannot find
decisions have to be made about how the income of the employment in the same city, a couple who prefer to
household will be used to provide for the needs of each live separately from one another or parents placing
of its members. Economists and statistical surveys their children with family members who live near a
focusing on households often explore the income and good school.
expenditure patterns of households in great detail. Now that we have some perspective on the
It is important to note that household members may definition and complexity of households, what then
be family members, but they may also not be related is a family? More importantly, do we really have to
to one another in any way. Households can therefore define families? Certain family researchers prefer not
be subdivided in two main forms, namely family to define families and only work with the definitions
households, for example a husband, wife, dependent provided by research participants themselves.
children and a grandparent living together, and non- Although this is a workable strategy for some research
family households, for example university students projects, a common understanding of families is still
sharing a residence. Of course households do not sought by some such as policy-makers, financial
always fall neatly into these two types as a family institutions and maintenance courts. In each of the
household may also have a household member that latter cases, benefits have to be extended to specific
is not related to them. Also, in the case of students family members and clear definitions are needed to
sharing a house, two of them may be brothers. One inform decisions on who should benefit and who not.
other type of household is a single-person household, Furthermore, dependent family members such as young
which refers to a person living alone. children, the frail elderly and mentally handicapped
A further complication with the definition of individuals need specific care. Responsibility for
households is that family members not sharing them is assigned to family members even though the
the household may contribute to the income or the responsibility may be (or should be) shared by the
expenditure of the household. For example, parents state. If a competent family member who is willing to
with dependent children may not live with their share in the care of such dependent individuals cannot
children, but they may still support them financially be found, it usually becomes the responsibility of the
by sending them money on a regular basis. Such state. Important aspects can be deduced from this –
a pattern of financial resources flowing between family members have enduring intimate relationships
households is particularly important in the South that include certain responsibilities (such as care)
African context due to our long history of widespread and rights (such as financial entitlement) towards
migrancy. Breadwinners of households often do not one another.
live with their families. Consider live-in domestic At the core of all definitions of the family is the
workers or mineworkers living in hostels on mine parent–child bond and/or the bond between those
premises. During the apartheid years in South Africa adult members of the family who can be described as
this pattern of migrancy was particularly common a couple and usually have sexual relations with one
87

another (often believed to be of an exclusive nature). levels) or in polygamous marriages where more than
Usually it is only in cases where these primary bonds two marriage partners share a household (multiple
are non-existent (due to death or abandonment) that ‘horizontal’ levels). You may notice that there is an
relationships with other kin become important. Much overlap between households and families in these two
clearer definitions of families have been formulated by definitions (as is the case with the other definitions of
distinguishing between the different forms of family, families) and other terms were developed to describe
which will briefly be defined in the next section. the relationships between households with strong
A nuclear family refers to two adult members family ties such as the modified extended family.
living with their dependent biological or adopted In this latter type of family the family members live
children in one household. Originally this term in different households, but they exchange services
referred exclusively to heterosexual couples, but and goods on a regular basis. An example is where
homosexual couples with adopted children also fit this grandparents who are living near their adult children
description. Another major family form is the extended might assist them by babysitting their grandchildren
family where at least three generations of a family and in return they might get help from their adult
live together in one household (multiple ‘vertical’ children with general repairs to the house.
Figure 4.1 Extended family

(Source: Photograph courtesy of the extended Pheiffer family)
There are many variations of the modified extended Another family form termed surrogate families refers
family in South African society, including assisted to unrelated individuals providing support for one
families. These include live-in domestic workers, another, such as runaways forming gangs.
nurses or nannies responsible for childcare or frail A single-parent family refers to a single parent
care. Clearly only more wealthy families will be able who lives with dependent children in a household.
to include such help while poorer families may make Although the single parent may be either male or
use of survival kinship networks. In these networks female, women are the heads of such families in most
the parents send their dependent children to other cases. Single-parent families may also have different
family members, for example to relatives on farms resources nearby, such as a divorced woman whose
for better food or to relatives in town for schooling. ex-husband helps in taking care of the children and
88

makes a substantial financial contribution to the be raised (children born from polygamous marriages
upkeep of the children, or parents who live nearby – discussed under Section 4.5.1 – may also experience
and help practically and financially to raise the such complicated family relations).
children (see the concept of the stretched household It is possible that over the lifespan of an individual
mentioned earlier). However, a single-parent family various types of families are lived in: You may be
may also imply that a mother (or father) has no other born within a nuclear family, your parents then get a
help and raises the children alone. Another related divorce and you live in a single-parent family. After
term that is increasingly common in the South a while you move with your mother to live with your
African context is a child-headed household. In these grandparents, which means living in an extended
households the parents have either passed away family. Your mother then remarries a widower with
(often due to AIDS-related illnesses) or are unable children and you live in a reconstituted family. As
to look after their children. As there are no other you become a young adult you move out of the house
adults that can assume full-time responsibility for to live on your own in a single-person household.
the household, older siblings will then take control of Although some people may live in extended or
the household with varying support from other kin or nuclear families their entire lives, changes in the
community members. types of families we live in over a life cycle is very
The last major family type that we will define likely for the majority of people living in present-day
here is a reconstituted or joint family. Such a family society.
is formed when divorced, widowed or never married
parents marry or cohabitate. The newly formed couple 4.2. An overview of family life
may also have children together and this gives rise to a The variety of family forms is almost overwhelming
situation where there are ‘my children, your children yet certain family patterns are more common than
and our children’. Complicated extended family others. In this section we will focus on such common
patterns may also be involved here with various sets patterns by taking a bird’s eye view of the South
of grandparents, uncles, aunts and cousins who may African scenario and looking at certain historical
all have different ideas on things such as how much to trends that gave rise to the current family patterns as
spend on gifts for children and how children should can be observed in Table 4.1.
Table 4.1 P
ercentage distribution of children aged 0–4 years by year and living arrangements with biological
parents, 2002–2012
2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012
Unspecified 0.1 0.0 0.0 0.2 0.3 0.2 0.2 0.6 0.6 0.6 0.4
Lives with neither parent 16.9 18.7 17.6 17.1 20.8 19.4 19.9 22.3 18.8 18.4 18.7
Lives with biological 41.8 41.3 43.0 43.6 40.4 42.7 41.6 39.9 43.2 44.3 42.5
mother only
Lives with biological 1.7 1.4 1.5 1.8 1.5 1.6 1.3 2.7 2.1 2.2 2.0
father only
Lives with both biological 39.5 38.6 37.9 37.4 37.0 36.2 37.2 34.5 35.4 34.4 36.4
parents
In Table 4.1 (StatsSA 2013a: 26) an overview of family who live only with their biological mothers and those
households of young children in South Africa over an who live with neither biological parent, it transpires
eleven-year period is provided. It can be seen that less that over 60 per cent of young children do not live with
than 40 per cent of South African children younger their biological fathers. These same trends continue
than four years live with both their biological parents. for older children. If this phenomenon is analysed
Further, when adding the percentage of young children according to racial category, it is found that 69.3 per
89

cent of black African, 45.1 per cent of coloured, 15.5 Before discussing these results in more detail, we
per cent of Indian/Asian and 21.5 per cent of white should also consider another interesting aspect of
children under the age of 18 years do not live with South African household arrangements, namely the
their biological fathers (StatsSA 2013b: 9). These living together patterns of adults.
percentages require explanation. Why do you think so In Figure 4.2 (in StatsSA 2013b: 7 compiled from the
few children in South Africa live with their biological 2011 census) it is shown that people who are married or
fathers? ‘live with a partner’ are likely to share a household.
100 93.3 93.7

89.5 91.1 90 88.2
90
79.8
80 73.6
70
Percentage
60
50
40
30
20
10
0
Black/African Coloured Indian/Asian White
Female Male
Figure 4.2 Percentage of people married or living as husband and wife whose partner is a member of the same
household, by sex and population group, 2011
This would imply that children living with their certain parts of the world, including Africa. In southern
biological mothers, have a good chance to live with Africa the San, or Bushmen, exemplified this hunting-
stepfathers or ‘social fathers’. In order to make sense and-gathering lifestyle until relatively recently. In such
of these statistics, let us consider the histories of South societies families are often simple units consisting of
African families in a little more detail. parents and their offspring. It is suggested that since
ownership of property is not common in these societies,
4.2.1 Selected historical trends amongst women are also not regarded as being ‘owned’ in the
families way they may be viewed in strict patriarchal societies.
We will cast light on the above family trends if we The second type is ‘primitive’ horticultural
employ a historical lens to show how different patterns societies where agricultural activities emerge and
emerged and replaced others over time, even though a division of labour between men and women is
all of these patterns are still discernible today. observed. For example, men may clear land for planting
Coltrane and Collins (2001: 66–69) describe five crops while the women may take responsibility for the
general types of societies (dominating in certain planting and harvesting of certain crops. Marriages in
historical periods and in different geographical such societies nestle within large kinship networks
locations) and the families commonly found within that determine complex marriage rules. Matrilineal
each of them. or patrilineal descent (meaning heritage through
The first type is hunting-and-gathering societies the maternal or paternal line respectively) as well
which are characterised by small groups of people as matrifocal or patrifocal residence (living with the
moving around in search of food and water. Such mother’s or the father’s family respectively) help to
nomadic groups are particularly associated with the regulate the society. Herding or fishing societies may
Stone Age even though they are still found today in still be structured along these lines today.
90

In the third type of society, advanced horticultural At the same time the San (Bushmen) had no such
societies, larger populations (from 10 000 to 1 million views of ownership. Complex stratification systems
people) live together and stratification becomes (whether based on kinship or not) were also foreign
prominent. Stratification is linked to the owning of to the San. Concurrently with these diverse views
land and other resources (such as cattle) and the social of not owning property (Bushmen) and wanting to
positioning of families. Such societies are characterised enforce views of a foreign state (European countries),
by complex family structures. An example of such a various African groupings of people lived in different
society is the Incas empire in Peru prior to its contact stages of horticultural and agrarian societies where
with the Spanish people. kinship structures were of huge importance at the
In the fourth type, agrarian societies, the state southern point of Africa (South Africa today). Such
may emerge. The establishment of the state is made diversity in the same geographical area led to inter-
possible by the diversification of tasks in a society. group relationships that ranged from trading to
Such diversification is dependent on the cultivation violent clashes over access to land and livestock. In
of a surplus of food. This implies that farmers have the process, indigenous African people and imported
to be able to produce enough food for a large number slaves (eg from Malaysia) ended up working for
of people who are freed from farming activities and families of European descent. Working full-time for
therefore able to focus on different tasks. In agrarian other families often transformed their own family
societies the production of such a surplus of food lives, but relatively small sections of African families
was made possible by ploughing techniques that were affected by this.
used animal power as opposed to the exclusive use The discovery of mineral riches towards the
of human labour. If a central state developed in such end of the nineteenth century in South Africa and
agrarian societies, the importance of the complex the sudden demand for large numbers of labourers
kin structures eroded. Specific families, for example profoundly disrupted family lives of Africans in the
the military aristocracy, became important and such ensuing decades, often with the help of the state and
powerful families employed various other categories of industry (capital). The migrant labour system that
people that were not related to them, such as servants became synonymous with the mining industry in
and/or slaves, in their households. The class structure South Africa was one of the most prominent examples
thus replaced the kin structure as the most prominent of this. The majority of Africans were not keen to
stratification system. An historic civilisation, such as leave their families to go and work on the mines (or in
the Roman Empire, is an example of such a society. white households, on farms or in other industries) but
Lastly, industrial society emerges where non- by imposing various forms of taxes and withdrawing
animal sources of power are used with the invention of access to land, able-bodied men (and later women) were
technology relying on steam power and electricity. In forced into the cash economy by working for wages.
industrial societies the bulk of production moved from This practice took people away from their established
taking place within the family system to factories. In kinship structures and new family patterns emerged.
industrial societies, the family system is characterised The process continued, even though it went through
by simplified structures where monogamy and nuclear different cycles, throughout the greater part of the
families are commonly found. twentieth century to the increasing detriment of
The above simplified account of societies and African families (Rabe 2006).
family structures helps to illuminate the historical While colonialism, and later apartheid,
dynamics of families in southern Africa since different dramatically affected the lives of families in southern
societal and family patterns could be found at the Africa, the development of sociological theory as
same time in one place. When Europeans arrived in applied to families was formulated in different parts
the Cape in the middle of the seventeenth century, they of the world. The first prominent sociological theories
brought with them notions of the importance of the of the family focused in particular on the relationship
state and owning property. To them, class structure between growing industrial capitalism and families.
was largely determined by a person’s family of origin.
91

4.3 Family theories members, heterosexuality as a norm and children are

In the previous section it was postulated that industrial all characteristics of Murdock’s version of a family.
societies are associated with simple family forms Murdock (1949: 10) also ascribes four functions to the
where production is segregated from family life. As family. These are sexual regulation, economic tasks,
the industrialisation process intensifies, urbanisation reproduction and education. Murdock explains a
follows since workers are needed in a central place. ‘polygamous family’ as nuclear families that are joined
Nuclear families thus accompany the workers and through plural marriages and extended families are
the so-called fit between the nuclear family and the explained as nuclear families strung together through
industrial society was often highlighted by family extended parent–child relationships.
theorists. The sociologist Talcott Parsons (1902–1979) The sociologist Talcott Parsons, in collaboration
in the United States of America (USA) was especially with Robert Bales, expanded on these premises of
prominent in developing the theoretical foundations family life as explained by Murdock, but focused his
for how the nuclear family was understood in terms attention on families living in the USA in the mid-
of structure and function. These ideas of Parsons are twentieth century. Structurally, Parsons and Bales
outlined in the next section after which the critical (1955: 10–12) regard the nuclear family as isolated
perspectives on family life are highlighted. Most due to the separate dwelling that it occupies and
notable are the criticisms of the conflict approach its economic independence that is made possible
of which the groundwork was laid in the work of by the earnings of the father. Parsons and Bales
Friedrich Engels (1820–1895), a friend and colleague (1955: 16–17) state that in a ‘highly differentiated
of Karl Marx, and the criticisms by feminist theorists. society’ the family has lost certain functions (such as
Although the views developed by feminism are economic production and comprehensive education
paramount for an understanding of family theory, of children) and the two primary functions assigned
only a short overview will be provided here and it is to families in such societies are the ‘primary
recommended that this section be read in conjunction socialisation of children’ and ‘the stabilisation of the
with Chapter 10 on Gender. adult personalities’. The diversification of tasks was
Both the conflict and structural functionalist believed to be best divided according to gender. Thus
theories developed by analysing large structural the mother/wife took care of the expressive aspects
elements of society (macro theories), but elements such as emotional support to all family members
of these theories also operate at the interpersonal or and the father/husband of the instrumental tasks by
micro-level of societies. Another general sociological earning an income through employment (Parsons &
theory that has been applied to the family is the social Bales 1955: 46).
exchange theory, which will be the fourth theory It is clear that Parsons is assuming that all
focused on here. Lastly, the life course approach which families have one male breadwinner. He does
developed in specific relation to family life will be concede in his discussion that not all families have
highlighted. male breadwinners, yet he considers such cases as
deviant and as such ‘scarcely needs mentioning’
4.3.1 Structural functionalism (Parsons & Bales 1955: 12). Although the data Parsons
The anthropologist George Murdock (1897–1985) was working with were very different from the data
analysed data on family and kinship from 250 available on families today (in the USA, globally and
societies. The author admits that he only had extensive in South Africa), it is clear that Parsons worked with a
data on 85 of these societies and that the data from the rigid gendered view of the family.
remaining societies were of varying quality. Despite Structural functionalism in its original form and
these misgivings, Murdock confidently proclaims subsequent developments add to our understanding
that ‘the nuclear family is a universal human social of the family. Unfortunately, the application of some
grouping’ (Murdock 1949: 2). Murdock’s definition of of the central views of the nuclear family became
a nuclear family presupposes that at least two adults ideological and even detrimental to the well-being of
of the opposite sex live together, have a socially families in certain cases as we shall see below when
sanctioned sexual relationship and have at least one highlighting family life in the Zambian Copperbelt
child through birth or adoption. Cohabitation of family during colonial times.
92

Parsons’ theory was influential in the USA and beyond Note that not only the nuclear structure but also foreign
during the 1950s, but it was increasingly criticised for middle-class roles were enforced on these families.
focusing on white, middle-class families. For example, Prior to colonisation, Zambia was characterised by
in many so-called working class families in the USA, matrilineal descent and Vaughan describes how
women had little choice but to work. Further afield this derailed the nuclear family housing schemes
evidence suggested that a much greater variety and in Zambia:
complexity of family forms existed in pre-industrial
Europe and England (Cooper 1999). Furthermore, Colonial experts looked on in dismay as their
distinct trends were identified in different European neat lines of nuclear family housing took on the
countries. In South Africa fierce debates developed more familiar appearance of an African village
between prominent family scholars on whether (or to settlement with new huts erected next to brick
what extent) the nuclear family existed amongst all houses and the ‘colonial village’ fragmented into
racial groupings (Ziehl 2002). The absence of proper what was essentially a set of lineage settlements.
censuses amongst all racial groups (the first census (Vaughan 1998: 173)
inclusive of all racial groupings took place in 1996
in South Africa) meant that such disputes could not Ferguson has demonstrated how traditional family
easily be resolved in a satisfactory manner. patterns were typecast as ‘pathological’ and nuclear
Over the years the nuclear family advanced from families as being ‘normal’, but eventually the reality
being a commonly observable phenomenon in certain (matrilineal families with many unfulfilled economic
sectors of specific societies to an ‘ideal family’ for needs) and the ideology (nuclear families with
some. A deplorable example can be seen when, during assigned roles to men and women) clashed. Clearly,
colonial times, the mineworkers of the Copperbelt in when studying family life, ideology and reality should
Zambia were encouraged to settle with their families not be confused. The nuclear family is thus only one of
near the mines. Such families were regarded as different family forms that may be the most common
‘stabilised families’ or ‘modern families’ (note that this in specific contexts.
is the exact opposite approach to the migrancy pattern Another prominent theory of the family is the
of mineworkers in South Africa) and the observed systems theory that developed within the discipline
nuclear family model that Parsons identified (husband of biology and then spread to the social sciences. This
as provider and wife as homemaker in the 1950s in the theory has remarkable similarities with the structural
USA) was encouraged. The absurdity between such an functionalism of Parsons’ grand theory in which
‘ideal’ nuclear family and the reality experienced by families form part of a subsystem of broader society.
Zambians is shown below: Similar to Parsons’ theory, systems theory is criticised
for not being able to explain radical change (although
The image of Copperbelt women as housewives was it must be noted that later formulations of structural
already a bit hard to swallow. With the economic functionalism and systems theory addressed the
crisis, women were less likely to be staying home criticism of not dealing adequately with change in
and looking after the housekeeping than to be society in a comprehensive manner).
trading in used goods, making smuggling trips to The next theory has no such problem with
Zaire or Malawi, or juggling lovers who might be explaining change; in fact, bringing change about
persuaded to help out with the bills. Many women as well as the reasons for doing so are central to the
were, indeed, struggling to keep afloat at all; some conflict theory.
were losing children to disease and malnutrition.
The juxtaposition of such realities with an 4.3.2 Conflict theory
unselfconsciously stereotypical image of smiling The conflict theory of the family has its roots in the
1950s happy homemaker seemed little short of writings of Karl Marx and Friedrich Engels. At the heart
ludicrous. But there the women were, sitting in of Marxian theory is control of material production in
classrooms, being taught how to bake angel food society where two positions are possible – people who
cake or to sew a tea cosy. (Ferguson 1999: 167) own the means of production and others who sell their
labour to those who own the means of production.
93

A scarcity of resources would result in conflict over interpersonal conflict in families. Georg Simmel
such resources with the aim of gaining power over the (1858–1918) gave a different slant to conflict theory
limited resources. With the development of the conflict by regarding the family not as a microcosm of society,
theory, both conflict between and within groups is but as units that are comprised of special, small group
focused on. The ‘European family’, as an example interpersonal relationships such as dyads and triads.
of conflict within a group, is regarded by Engels as Mother–father–child-triads (relationships consisting
a microcosm of society where the first opposition of three people namely the mother, the father and the
between two parties or classes appeared in the form of child) and sibling-dyads (relationships consisting of
the division of labour according to sex. The oppression two brothers or two sisters or a brother and sister) are
experienced by women in the marriage is described examples of specific groupings that are formed within
as the historical, original, class oppression (White & families. Power dynamics, alliances and ties to one
Klein 2008). It should be noted that Marx and Engels another are formed within the family just as in other
developed their observations and views at a time when small groups. Conflict in such relationships is a type
many Western European countries were experiencing of catalyst for emotional growth and it may result in
the effect of the Industrial Revolution where poverty ‘love, partnerships, hate, and solidarity’ (White & Klein
was rife among the working classes. 2008: 198–192).
Similar to structural functionalist views of Similar to the conflict theory, feminist theories
the family, the conflict approach to families also also argued that families have to change for the benefit
became blurred with ideological aspirations. Unlike a of the family members and society at large.
structural functionalist approach that saw the nuclear
family as an ideal fit for capitalist societies, the conflict 4.3.3 Feminist theories
approach was furthered in communist countries (eg Feminist theories are discussed in more detail in
China and Russia in the mid-twentieth century) where Chapter 10 on Gender. Yet they are briefly discussed
the family was at times regarded as an obstacle to the here because feminist thinking has had a huge
advancement of a classless society. The unpaid labour impact on the way families have been understood.
of women within the domestic sphere was believed to Feminist theories have a critical approach to families
make life bearable for the male worker and therefore since the family is identified as a major site for the
less likely to take up the revolutionary ideas in fighting oppression of women and a central aim of feminist
for a classless society. In this regard wives were even theory is to change such oppression. When reading
famously described as nothing more than prostitutes about feminist theories, keep in mind that feminism
exchanging domestic labour and sexual services is an interdisciplinary approach that also has various
for a stable family income. Abolishing the family links with activist groups. Furthermore, feminism
itself or the power of parents over women were both contributes to our understanding of the overlap
experimented with in specific communist countries. between the private/family/domestic sphere and the
Such examples of ideology were manifest in the 1920s public sphere, which will also become clear when
in Russia where there was a move to abolish families. discussing domestic violence (see Section 4.6).
In one of the most deliberate attempts to manipulate Feminism is usually described as consisting of
people into abandoning primary relationships formed three waves. The first wave of feminism took effect
within families, the fertility rate dropped dramatically, in the beginning of the twentieth century and is
juvenile delinquency increased and many children and associated with the general rights of women such as
young women found themselves destitute. The Russian voting and owning land. The second wave of feminism
state made a U-turn in their policies in the 1930s became prominent in the 1960s partly in reaction to
where the importance of the family and marriage was a singular view of the nuclear family where the man
dramatically reinstated to counter these unforeseen is the breadwinner and the wife the homemaker (a
results of their initial policies (Timasheff 1960). view much supported by structural functionalism
There is thus also a link between families and larger as described above). Women’s rights to employment
ideological projects in the conflict approach. and equal pay for the same work were further issues
Apart from such a macro analysis, the conflict that the second wave of feminism advanced. The
approach also operates at the micro level of third wave of feminism emerged during the 1990s
94

and the main theme is to acknowledge the diversity conducive for dramatically changed gender relations
of women globally within varied local contexts. The within families and beyond.
previous waves of feminism were often experienced as Different strands of feminist theory developed
the project of white middle-class women in Western and each viewed patriarchal power and the family
societies, which excluded the experiences of many differently. Certain strands of feminist theory viewed
women. There is no unified ‘sisterhood’ but rather the relationship between the state and the family as
a variety of experiences linked to the local context problematic. Marxist feminism, for example, viewed
where identities other than a gender identity intersect the nuclear family as serving a capitalist state where
with being a woman. This latter point is of particular the class position of the family determined the role of
importance for South Africa since the majority of women. Overthrowing the state and replacing it with a
women in this country suffered from combined racial, classless society would therefore address the plight of
gender and class oppression. These combined forms women as well. In contrast, radical feminism moved for
of oppression, or ‘triple jeopardy’, were especially the overthrow of patriarchy on all levels, identifying
apparent in the lives of live-in black domestic workers men (and not the state or the economic system) as the
(see Chapter 10 on Gender for further detail). However, root cause of women’s oppression. The different strands
for the purposes of family theory, the second wave of of feminism are discussed in more detail in Chapter 10
feminism is of particular importance. on Gender, but it is important to note that all feminist
Early feminists of the second wave described a theories (except certain expressions of conservative
prescribed role for women restricting them to the feminism) identified the specific family relations of
domain of family life. The nuclear family was believed the mid-twentieth century as a major stumbling block
to be the ideal place for women where they could raise for the advancement of women.
children and be ‘happy homemakers’ (as described The previously mentioned three theories are
within a structural functionalist approach). However, linked to one another. Conflict theorists and feminist
the nuclear family is associated with patriarchy where theorists both criticised the basic assumptions of the
the husband had legal, sexual, physical and economic original structural functionalist theory on families
power over his wife. Private individual patriarchy with its said strong link to capitalism and specific
within the family was backed up by larger societal gender roles within a nuclear family. The following
institutions such as legal and financial organisations. two theories developed largely independently from
The next section on domestic violence illuminates the these discussions and therefore different focal points
most extreme examples of how patriarchal power can of families are identified.
undermine the rights of women. Furthermore, since
middle-class women were discouraged from seriously 4.3.4 Rational choice and social exchange
pursuing a career, many women found the isolation theory
imposed on them by the structural constraints of the Rational choice and social exchange theory, as applied
nuclear family unbearable. It was described above to families, provides explanations for decisions of an
how economic production mostly took place within individual and interpersonal nature – the micro level
families in non-industrial societies. In industrialised of human interaction. The rational choice and social
societies in the mid-twentieth century middle-class exchange theory makes a number of assumptions
women had no specific economic purpose and effective about human nature. Firstly, it assumed that the
family planning methods meant that women had fewer larger social phenomena are constructed through
children than in previous generations. In addition, the actions of individuals. The family is therefore
the education of children was taken over by schools regarded as a collection of individuals or actors.
and a growing number of household appliances meant Secondly, it is believed that in order to understand
that women had less labour-intensive household human interaction, the motivation of the actor should
chores. In South Africa, which was characterised by be understood. Thirdly, this implies that humans are
large economic inequalities, cheap household labour rational. To be rational within this tradition means that
was readily available, which meant that middle-class individuals weigh up costs and rewards. Rewards are
(especially white) women had fewer household duties. anything the actor (or the acting individual) believes
Together these factors created an environment that was is beneficial to his/her interests while costs are
95

regarded as detrimental to the actor’s interests. Lastly, 4.3.5 Life course approach

it is believed that actors are motivated by self-interest. One of the strengths of the life course approach is that
Even in cases where it may appear that individuals are it links individual and family narratives with larger
acting altruistically, closer inspection will reveal that societal changes. The life course perspective focuses
self-interest is still at the heart of the action (White & on change or transitions and development over the
Klein 2008). lifespan. The unique circumstances of an individual’s
The above theory may seem rather simplistic but life are linked to the broader socio-historical context
the idea of profit makes the theory more complicated. to form a clear picture of the agency of individuals
White and Klein (2008: 71) define profit ‘as the ratio of within such a specific context. The life course
rewards to costs for any decision’. Actors will therefore perspective is concerned with transitions while
take the different ratios of rewards and costs attached taking individual differences and generalisations into
to actions into consideration when making a decision. consideration. Within families one person’s life course
The action carrying the greatest profit will be chosen influences and is influenced by another person’s
by the actor. This general theory is then applied to (White & Klein 2008). The timing of a transition which
families especially when important decisions have the individual or the family undergoes (such as the
to be made regarding marriage, divorce or the care of birth of a baby or the death of a family member) in
dependent family members. For example, if a woman relation to historical events (such as the outbreak of
is dissatisfied with her husband’s behaviour and she a war or the discovery of gold), and the cumulative
considers divorcing him, she may decide to weigh the impact of earlier transitions on current transitions,
advantages and disadvantages of being married and are central to this theory. The multiple identities of
being divorced against each other. If she decides that the individual, such as employee or spouse, are all
there are more disadvantages to being divorced than taken into consideration when discussing individual
married, she considers that there is ‘profit’ in being transitions (Elder 1978). The changing nature of the
married (according to this theory) and decides against social context and the agency of the individual are
a divorce. thus focused upon simultaneously.
The next theory is again concerned with The above five theories approach the study of
understanding individual actions within larger socio- families in very different ways and the aim of a specific
historic milieus. research project will influence the type of theoretical
approach used by a researcher.
Structural Conflict theory Feminist theories Rational choice and Life course
functionalism •• Friedrich •• Different social exchange approach
•• Talcott Parsons Engels historical theory •• Links
•• Focuses •• Family is seen waves of •• Focuses on individuals
on specific as a microcosm feminism micro level of and family
functions of of larger class •• Different family narratives
the family divisions strands of •• People are with societal
•• Concerns with •• Family is feminism regarded as changes
fit between regarded as •• The patriarchal rational and •• Focuses on
family an obstacle family restricts motivated by transitions and
structure and to a classless women’s life self-interest development
society society opportunities •• Within family over the
relationships lifespan
rewards and
costs are
calculated
Figure 4.3 Comparison of initial formulations of theories as applied to families
96

4.4 Intergenerational relations cultures with distinct tastes in things such as music,

The relationships between different generations is the clothes and leisure time activities.
focus of this next section. For children, families are In economic terms children can be regarded as
usually the primary socialisation agents and caretakers an ‘asset’ in a rural, non-mechanical agricultural
and therefore relations with parents, siblings, environment, but a ‘liability’ in an urbanised
grandparents and other family members are hugely industrialised setting where they are expected to
important. Becoming a parent or grandparent are attend school. Caldwell (in Weeks 2005: 95) explains
two additional, clearly identifiable stages in families this view in the wealth flow perspective: in pre-
which constitute new intergenerational relations. Each industrial societies, wealth flows from children to
of these will be given attention. parents by children supporting parents in old age and
taking part in family labour throughout life. However,
4.4.1 Childhood and youth in a society where income is linked more with formal
According to the 2001 South African census, 32 per cent educational levels, the cost of having children far
of the population was under the age of fifteen (StatsSA outweighs the possible financial rewards they may
2003: 30), but this figure dropped in 2011 to 29.6 per provide (compare with rational choice and social
cent of the population (StatsSA 2012: 28) demonstrating exchange theory discussed in Section 4.3.4).
the continuous decline in the South African fertility How do these large percentages of children/
rate. A World Development Report on the youth (World youth (and their specific needs) tie in with families?
Bank 2006) stated that in 2006 1.5 billion people were The family is often described as a primary socialising
in the age category of 12 to 24 and of these, 1.3 billion agent of children where the parents play a particularly
people were in developing countries. It is the largest important role by instilling valued qualities in relation
number of people in this age category ever and it will to the social context in which families live. However,
probably never be repeated since populations are ageing children can also be seen as socialising agents of their
and fertility rates are declining worldwide (although parents as adults become parents, grandparents, uncles
there are a few developing countries with different and aunts with the birth of children. Specific examples
population trends). Such a staggering number of young of children socialising their parents include the use of
people, in particular in developing countries, requires technological equipment (in many families children
a well-grounded understanding of this life stage to try know more about the use of social network sites,
and achieve a quality of life for this generation and for such as Facebook, Twitter and Instagram, than their
the future. parents). Many children learn languages that are
Seeing childhood as a distinct age category different to that of the family (children often learn
and children as having specific needs that are not new languages quicker than adults do) and many
exactly the same as those of adults is a fairly recent illiterate parents depend on literate children to help
phenomenon. Until recently (and in some contexts them with various forms of written material. Parent–
even today) children were considered similar to child relationships can thus be described as complex
adults and expected to work and contribute to the processes with reciprocal influencing (Peterson &
family’s upkeep in the same way as adults (Coltrane & Hann 1999: 327–328; 341).
Collins 2001). Contributing to the view that children
have different needs to adults is the increased 4.4.2 Parenting
complexity of contemporary societies. Ever more Thousands of South African children grow up without
skilled and educated workers are needed and hence the benefit of living with their biological fathers on a
children have to spend progressively longer periods in daily basis and much less than half of South African
formal educational environments. In 2011 more than children live with both their biological parents (as
95 per cent of children aged 7 to 14 attended school can clearly be seen in Table 4.1). As a young scholar
in South Africa (StatsSA 2012: 47) and 73 per cent interested in sociology you may ask yourself, firstly,
of people between the ages of 5 and 24 attended an why this is the case and, secondly, whether we should
educational institution (StatsSA 2012: 46). Spending a be concerned about this picture of parenting.
lot of time with peers in schools and other educational The first question is easier to answer since a vast
institutions facilitated the development of youth amount of anthropological and historical literature is
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available to illuminate the reasons for these family Motherhood

household patterns. The long history of apartheid As we have seen in Section 4.3.3 when discussing
where employed men were not allowed to settle with feminist theories, gender relations have been
their families at or near their workplace certainly still dramatically reshaped in the past sixty years. Yet
contributes to family arrangements in the twenty- researchers find a continued role division according
first century. The huge differences between the to gender in which women are primarily responsible
different racial categories also support such a view. for childcare (Ramphele 1993; White 1999) to such an
A pattern of oscillating migrancy (moving between extent that women are socialised into believing that
one’s workplace and home on a circular basis) became ‘having children is a primary source of self-identity’
entrenched in the lives of many people as can clearly (Newman 1999: 268). The term ‘intense mothering’
be seen with certain employment sectors such as (Hay in Ranson 2004: 88) captures the notion that
mining and domestic work (although both sectors children need the constant attention of their mothers
are slowly changing with more employees living at and often mothers set extremely high expectations for
home). The fluidity of households became a dominant themselves in this regard.
theme in understanding the family lives of especially An active attempt to place motherhood on a
poor black people towards the end of apartheid and pedestal can be seen in the 1950s, after the Second
beyond. Often children are moved from household World War (which ended in 1945). After women took
to household to ensure that they have access to adult on the role of ‘workers’ during this war, returning
supervision (grandparents, uncles, aunts) and that soldiers had to reclaim their roles as breadwinners and
they are close enough to schools. Furthermore, there is women were encouraged to take mothering seriously
not a close link between fertility and marriage (or even by regarding it as a full-time occupation (especially
cohabitation) in South Africa (as will be discussed in in the USA and Western European countries) leaving
Section 4.5 in more detail) which in practice, often the available jobs to men. Women’s roles as caretakers
implies that children grow up with their mothers or within nuclear families were emphasised (note
maternal grandparents. that this was also the time in which the structural
The second question of whether we should be functionalist theory became prominent). In South
concerned about this pattern of children living away Africa, during the apartheid years, similar processes
from their parents, is more complicated. There are could be seen among Afrikaners where ‘volksmoeders’
definitely activist groups that are trying to convince (mothers of the nation) were encouraged to build a
especially biological fathers that they should take up ‘nation’. Among a different section of South Africa,
their parenting role within households, but this is not but in similar vein, the famous uprising against pass
a realistic option for many families. Below we will look laws in 1956 by mainly black women was at times cast
at the different ways in which parenting can materialise as being inspired by their roles as mothers and being
and it will be clear that biological parenthood can be primary caretakers of children.
distinguished from other parenting roles. Not living Motherhood is often narrowly defined as biological
with biological children does not mean that parents motherhood since women are not only expected to
are not involved in their children’s lives. Parents who have children, but also to raise those children. A view
are not able to live with their children on a daily basis that biological mothers are ‘real’ mothers easily flows
may still be active parents who undertake various from this latter premise as illuminated by Downe
parenting tasks. (2004: 165–178) when reflecting on her status as a
Let us now consider different views on motherhood stepmother. Since she had not undergone the rites of
and fatherhood keeping in mind that in various biological motherhood, she often experienced that
contexts the following still holds true: ‘[w]hile women’s her motherhood status was not regarded as real. She
lives have been characterised primarily in terms of struggled to get time off from work while other women
motherhood, men’s lives have been characterised with less urgent child responsibilities were easily
largely without reference to fatherhood’ (Bruce et al granted time off. Although policies may accept wider
1995: 49). categories of motherhood, experiences of mothers who
are not biological mothers (including grandmothers)
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point to far less support from employers and other other family members (even to the point of domestic
community members. violence, see Section 4.6) and controlling the family’s
Next, the distinctions between different forms of interaction with external institutions (eg school, legal
fatherhood will be analysed. services and social networks). In other versions of
patriarchy a man may consult his wife and children
Fatherhood and have a more compassionate bond with them, but
The roles of fathers towards their children have been the decision-making power still rests in his hands.
subdivided into economic, social and biological Being a breadwinner can overlap with patriarchy
fatherhood. Biological fatherhood refers to the or new fatherhood, but the importance of this role is
procreation of children. Although this does not seem central to evaluating the worth of fathers in various
like a complex aspect of fatherhood, multiple sexual South African communities. If financial support
partners may obscure, and in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) is the only link men have with their children, the
cases where donor sperm is used, may complicate the father–child relationship is at huge risk in cases of
identity of a biological father. Economic fatherhood unemployment. The migrant worker often has no
refers to the financial upkeep of children where more choice but to take on only the breadwinner role but
than one man can be involved in providing financial even in cases of resident fathers (men living with
contributions to children. This aspect of fatherhood their children on a daily basis), some fathers provide
is often referred to as the breadwinner role, which little direct care towards or have little interaction with
is easily equated with being a responsible father. their children.
In industrial capitalist societies the breadwinner The so-called new fatherhood refers to a man who
role is mostly linked to waged labour. High levels of takes on the various social roles towards children
unemployment imply that financial support by fathers referred to above. Such a father may be able to meet
is not always feasible, yet fathers themselves, mothers the material needs of children but, more importantly,
and children easily regard fathers as irresponsible or he has an emotional and caring relationship with a
even ‘worthless’ if they are not able to meet the material child. It is referred to as new since it is believed that
needs of children sufficiently. Social fatherhood men generally did not fulfil such roles towards their
implies multiple roles which may entail living with a children in the past. It is argued that within industrial
child or taking care of a child in some way – including capitalism the absence of emotional and caring ties
teaching, playing with and nurturing them. As it is in between fathers and their children became more
the case of economic fatherhood, social fatherhood can apparent (Smit 2005). This argument is strengthened
be undertaken by more than one man in relation to a if it is taken into account that industrial capitalism
specific child (Morrell 2006; Rabe 2006). also implies that the educational role of the father
The above three roles of fatherhood summarise the diminishes (in agrarian or horticultural societies
relationships between men as parents and children, but trades and skills are often directly transferred from
how does fatherhood manifest itself in South African fathers to children). However, there are also clear cases
society? Rabe (2006) identified three expressions of where fathers deny their fathering responsibilities and
fatherhood that are dominant in different communities refuse to take up the demands of fathering.
in different time periods in South Africa. These three From this, it seems as if men have more options in
manifestations of fatherhood are patriarchy, the terms of parenting compared to women but the lack of
breadwinner and ‘new’ fatherhood. Patriarchy, within a constantly involved father figure may be contributing
the family context, refers to the power men exert over to such accepted multiple father identities. The absence
women and children by taking decisions on their behalf of material well-being for many South African children
that largely determine the way they live. However, may also contribute to emphasising the breadwinner
Bozzoli (1983) had already indicated three decades ago role associated with responsible fatherhood. A general
how patriarchy denotes a dynamic relationship that negative perception of fatherhood exists in South
can adapt to changing circumstances. Patriarchy can Africa and the extreme levels of domestic violence
therefore imply that a man can control almost every by men certainly contribute to this. Abandonment of
aspect of his wife’s and children’s lives by owning all children by fathers is equally detrimental to the view
property and other assets of the family, dominating of fathers. Yet, not all fathers are uncaring towards
99

children and specific portrayals of ‘positive fatherhood’ pattern of age-condensed families implies that people
are launched from time to time to boost the general become grandparents at an early age in South Africa.
image of fathers in South Africa (eg Fatherhood Project Grandparenthood can take many forms that range
HSRC). Instead of trying to vilify or idolise fatherhood, from a ‘fun-relationship’ to that of being the permanent
it seems that more realistic portrayals of fatherhood caretakers (in effect parents) of grandchildren. The
are needed where the joys, obstacles, responsibilities latter is a very common pattern in South Africa when
and mundane aspects of being a father are addressed. parents have to work away from their children, when
parents may have passed away or when parents abandon
4.4.3 Grandparenthood their children. In cases where parents are alive, they
Since large numbers of people live increasingly usually control the amount of time grandchildren
longer, the population of elderly people (or older spend with grandparents. Other factors that
persons, which is the preferred term in United Nations influence this relationship between grandparents and
documents), is growing fast (Kalache, Barreto & Keller grandchildren include the physical distance between
2005: 30). Despite the AIDS pandemic and reduced life them, the age and gender of both the grandchildren and
expectancy at birth in Africa, the actual number of the grandparents. Young and healthy grandparents (who
elderly continues to grow rapidly since the majority of are not full-time caretakers of children) are more likely
African countries are growing in size due to a current to have a ‘fun’ relationship with their grandchildren,
or recent high birth rate. According to a WHO report, especially among the middle- and upper-class families
the number of older adults (older than 60 years) in sub- (Roberto & Stroes 1995: 141–142).
Saharan Africa will increase from 46 million in 2015 These three main generational positions in families
to 157 million by 2050 (WHO 2015: 43). According to are largely dependent on the way in which couples are
the South African Census of 2001, persons aged 65 and joined whilst they can be hugely influenced by the
older comprised 4.9 per cent of the total population splitting up of couples.
– approximately 2.2 million people from a total of
45 million (StatsSA 2005: 156). In ten years’ time the 4.5 Patterns of joining and
number of people older than 65 grew to 2.7 million, dissolving families and
or 5.3 per cent of the total South African population, households
according to the 2011 census, with a staggering 1.3 A demographer, John Weeks (2005: 402), stated that
million people in the age category of 60 to 64 years the dominant pattern of households being created
(StatsSA 2012: 28). by marriage and dissolved by death, with children
The growing number of elderly people gives rise between these two events, has been transformed.
to a general ‘verticalisation’ of family relations where This described dominant pattern has been replaced
the number of families comprising three generations with a variety of household and family forms due to
or more is increasing (Hodgson 1995: 155). The family dramatic changes that are often referred to as a family
structures of developing countries in relation to age and household transition. It has already been noted in
categories is often characterised by age-condensed Section 4.2 of this chapter that South African society
families. Such families have small age differences has always contained complex patterns of households
between the generations due to early fertility patterns. and families, and the patterns of joining and dissolving
In contrast, the pattern in developed countries is families are no less so. The current variety of these
characterised by age-gapped families. Age-gapped patterns is indicated, among other things, by the fact
families refer to families where there are big age that South Africa legally acknowledges customary
differences between generations as a result of late marriages (Customary Marriage Act 1998) and same-
fertility (Lowenstein & Katz 2010: 190). South Africa sex couples (Civil Unions Act 2006). Unlike the
is characterised by women who give birth to their first ‘dominant pattern’ Weeks refers to, a variety of trends
child at an early age (StatsSA 2013b: 25) although age- could be seen in South African society for more than
gapped families may be found among more wealthy a century that can be attributed to phenomena such
families where specifically women spend long periods as migration. Yet, ‘newer trends’ that gave rise to the
in formal educational institutions and pursue careers family and household transition are also affecting
that require long working hours. However, the general South African families and households. These trends
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include the general increased longevity of people, (fluctuating between 28 and 30 years). The validity of
which implies that marriages also became longer since the figures has been questioned (Budlender et al 2004),
partners are less likely to die before old age, the general but if other sources of data, such as census data and
emancipation of women over the last few decades the South African Demographic and Health surveys,
(see also Chapter 10 on Gender) and the growing are examined, the same pattern is observed (although
secularisation or at least ideological changes regarding the median age may be slightly lower). Namibia
marriage itself (see also Chapter 6 on Religion). Such and Botswana (Garenne 2004) share this atypical
factors contributed to the diversity of living conditions African pattern of late marriage with South Africa.
as can easily be noticed in certain statistical trends The influence of migration patterns is once again
such as the number of children born out of wedlock considered as a possible reason for this phenomenon.
and the divorce rate. You may wonder why this high age at first marriage
should be of interest to sociologists. In North American
4.5.1 Cohabitation and marriage and West European countries a general rising trend
The use of certain terms helps us to understand the of age at first marriage has been observed for the past
intimate and sexual relationships between people few decades. This pattern is the result of a variety of
(as was the case when defining families). The term general societal changes, such as the increasingly
monogamy refers to one man being married to one longer education periods young people are engaged
woman. Homosexual couples may also refer to their in, women who are more career orientated and not
unions as monogamous, but that would only be accurate wanting an early marriage to interfere with their
if they were legally married. Being monogamous career aspirations and the greater permissiveness of
therefore implies a marriage and it should not be non-marital sex that separated the close link between
confused with the term fidelity, which refers to being marriage and sex. Such factors that indicate the ability
committed to a sexually exclusive union. Polygamy of especially women to choose between different life
refers to a sanctioned marriage between one person options certainly play a role in South Africa since older
and several partners of the opposite sex at the same women tend to have married at a younger age than
time. This term should not be confused with bigamy, younger ones, but it cannot explain the trend entirely.
which refers to a person being illegally married to Kalule-Sabiti et al (2007: 95–99) state that the link
more than one person and the persons involved are between nuptiality (marriage rate) and fertility (bearing
unaware that their partner is married to another children) is particularly weak in South Africa. In other
person. Polygamy can be subdivided into polygyny and words, although South African women (especially
polyandry. Polygyny refers to one man being married from the black and coloured racial categories) have
to several wives at the same time and polyandry refers children at relatively young ages, they marry later in
to one woman being married to several husbands at life if they marry at all. Late age at first marriage is thus
the same time. Polygyny is associated with customary not necessarily an indication of women’s emancipation
African marriages in southern Africa while polyandry as is the case in many other countries.
is not. It is important to note that in societies that allow Single-parent households are common in South
polygamy, monogamy is still the norm. Africa and this is partly due to marriage at a late age of
Serial monogamy refers to being married several especially black South Africans and partly due to the
times, but with one partner at a time. Apart from the high number of divorces among especially white South
death of a partner, serial monogamy is only possible Africans (see discussion in Section 4.5.2 on divorce in
in the case of divorce since one has to legally separate this regard).
from one’s partner before being married again in the When discussing marriage and cohabitation,
case of monogamous relationships. heterosexual couples are usually the focus of
Studying the marital patterns of South Africa the discussion. This tendency has been labelled
reveals that South Africans tend to marry very late heteronormativity, meaning that heterosexual couples
(StatsSA 2005: 77; StatsSA 2016: 3). For at least the are the norm and hence the families of homosexual
past decade the median age at first marriage for men couples are ignored or even denied. When looking at
was in their early thirties (fluctuating between 32 and the number of registered civil unions, it is reported
34 years) and for women three to four years earlier by StatsSA (2016: 31) that 1 144 such unions were
101

registered in 2014 compared to 888 in 2010. There is earlier in this section). One of the main reasons for the
thus an increase of people choosing to legally register higher incidence of divorce is that ‘no-fault divorce’
homosexual unions or marriages. A growing interest legislation became the norm in many countries. This
in the family dynamics of same-gendered couples is simply means that people can get a divorce if they
also noticeable in South Africa, and often challenging wish to and, unlike previous times, they do not have to
the way we think about nurturing, mothering and prove that either party is to blame for the breakdown
fathering (Lubbe 2007). In certain sectors of the of the marriage. The increasing longevity of people is
South African society, such as heterogeneous urban regarded as a driving force for this changed divorce
environments, same-sex couples are more likely to live legislation. Many marriages dissolved because one
with their children in a supportive environment. partner died, but with higher life expectancy, marriages
became longer. Longer marriages mean that unhappy
4.5.2 Dissolution of relationships marriages are more likely to dissolve in divorce rather
Apart from death, relationships come to an end than death (Weeks 2005: 419–420).
when people separate. The only way in which the In South Africa there are wide disparities in the
dissolution of relationships are regularly measured, divorce rates according to race: The white population
is by calculating divorce rates. We simply do not have has a divorce rate of 11.6, the Indian or Asian population
reliable South African figures to determine the number 6.7, the coloured population 6.3 and the black African
of people who break up after cohabiting or separate population a rate of 2 per 1 000 married couples. The
informally without obtaining a divorce (although overall divorce rate is 5.3 per 1 000 married couples
regular censuses may start to shed some light on these (StatsSA 2006). (Subsequent reports on the official
patterns in future). Even when calculating the divorce marriages and divorces in South Africa by StatsSA
rate, certain problems arise. Divorce rates are regularly do not give the divorce rate per 1000 couples, only
mentioned in popular media discussions (eg talk the crude divorce rate.) In 2014 it was reported that
shows and articles in ‘women’s magazines’). Steinmetz, 55.4 per cent (13 676 couples) of divorces registered
Clavan and Stein (1990: 481–482) discuss three ways in 2014 were by couples who had children under the
of calculating the divorce rate. The first method, age of 18 (StatsSA 2016: 42). The emotional, financial
often used in the mass media, involves comparing and practical implications of divorces are substantial
the number of divorces with the number of marriages and clearly large numbers of children are affected
in a given year. The divorce rate is thus calculated in by this. Of course other forms of dissolution, such
relation to the number of new marriages in a given as abandonment, separation and living with a new
year. This method is not advisable since various partner, also exist, but it is even more difficult to form
population factors may influence this calculation a reliable and valid statistical picture of these patterns
such as the number of marriages for the particular in the South African society.
year (eg a downward trend in the marriage rate will
result in the divorce rate appearing higher) and even 4.6 Domestic violence
changed divorce legislation. A second method is to South Africa is often described as one of the most
report the number of divorces per 1 000 members of violent countries in the world and the staggeringly high
the population, known as the crude divorce rate. This numbers (see discussion in the next section) of domestic
calculation presents an unrealistically low rate since violence against children and women contributes to
children, widows/widowers and never-married people this view of the country. The Domestic Violence Act
are also included (in the youthful population of South (1998) is the most important legislation for protecting
Africa such a method will present a particularly skew people from various forms of violence by family
picture). A third method is to calculate the number of members or partners. In addition, the Older Persons
divorces per 1 000 married couples. The latter method Act (2006) and the Children’s Act (2005, amended 2007
provides a more accurate reflection of the divorce and 2008) provide further specific legislation for the
rate since only the population at risk (the married) rights of the aged and the young. Although important
regardless of the length of the marriage is included. legislation to protect people is in place in South Africa,
Generally divorce rates are much higher today than these Acts and Bills are not always enforced, partly
in previous generations (hence the statement by Weeks due to the reluctance to interfere with ‘private affairs’.
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Activists have campaigned to transform domestic sexual violence against women. However, in South
violence from a private matter to a public concern Africa marital rape is recognised as an act of domestic
(Harne & Radford 2008: 1), yet there is reluctance to violence although it is difficult to prove and therefore
intervene in the private family sphere (Kurst-Swanger to convict a partner of such an offence.
& Petcosky 2003: 27). This results in domestic violence Coercion and control involve a range of acts such
often carrying on for years without any intervention as screening a person’s phone calls, preventing them
from outside the family. from visiting friends or family on their own or making
them believe that everything (including the violence)
4.6.1 Types of family violence is their fault. This type of violence is the most difficult
Domestic violence can be categorised as physical to prove. Coercion and control should not be confused
violence; sexual violence; coercion and control; and, with the socialisation of children where certain rules
economic control and material deprivation. are laid down and punishment is given when rules
Physical violence may involve the perpetrator are disobeyed, for example when a child is prevented
using body strength alone (eg kicking or punching) or from attending a party because they hit their siblings.
it may include the use of weapons and objects (eg guns Although specific manifestations of coercion and
and knives). The availability of certain objects, such control are used in the socialisation of children,
as widespread gun ownership, as is the case in South extreme forms are regarded as abuse, such as when
Africa, or having an argument in the kitchen where children are never allowed to visit friends. Any form
many sharp objects are at hand, easily leads to more of coercion and control between adults is most likely a
serious physical harm being inflicted on the victim of form of abuse.
domestic violence. Economic control and material deprivation is
Sexual violence includes rape and any other not related to poverty but to the unequal distribution
sexual act in which a person is forced or pressured of resources in the family. It can again include a
to partake. Sexual violence is often accompanied by wide range of actions from the absolute control of
physical violence and verbal abuse or threats. Marital all financial resources by one partner to actually
rape may not always be regarded as a valid form of rape depriving someone of food or other necessities. This
in all communities since women may be ‘expected’ type of violence is often accompanied by the threat of
to fulfil their partner’s sexual desires at all times. physical violence (Harne & Radford 2008: 3–7).
Clearly, such reasoning may contribute to widespread
Micro Meso Macro Multidimensional

level level level models
Focus on individual Focus on Focus on larger Focus on micro,

family members relationships structural aspects meso and macro
between family within society levels
members
Assumed Socio-psychological Socio-cultural Try to

psychopathology models models incorporate
at individual level elements of the
three levels
Mental illness Traumatic bonding Culture of violence General systems

Alcoholism theory theory theory
Hormonal Resource theory Patriarchal-feminist Ecological theory
imbalances theory
Individual character
Figure 4.4 Different theoretical approaches to domestic violence
103

4.6.2 Theoretical views basis in extreme cases of physical and sexual violence.

A multitude of theories aim to explain domestic Domestic violence as gender violence, child abuse
violence. To make sense of all these theories, Kurst- and abuse of the elderly will each be discussed in
Swanger and Petcosky (2003: 34–35) divide the more detail.
different theories into three levels of theoretical
models. Firstly, on the micro level, the individual Gender violence as a form of domestic violence
family members are under scrutiny. At this level the The term gender violence refers to the worldwide
focus is on the assumed psychopathology amongst pattern in which women are the most likely victims
individual family members, which may include of domestic violence due to the unequal power
mental illness, alcoholism, hormonal imbalances or relations that exist between men and women (Harne
specific characteristics of the victim. Secondly, at the & Radford 2008: 17). Theories at the micro and meso
meso level, socio-psychological models focus on the level help to explain why specific people are victims
relationships between family members. Examples on or perpetrators of domestic violence, but the culture
this level include the traumatic bonding theory that of violence theory and the patriarchal-feminist
highlights the unique relationship between the victim theory on the macro level, postulate that the general
and the abuser and the resource theory that explains high level of violence against particularly women
family violence in terms of the person with access to enhances the risk of domestic abuse in a society. The
most of the social, personal and economic resources in South African figures for intimate partner violence
the family. Thirdly, at the macro level socio-cultural (IPV) that result in death, the most extreme form of
models analyse larger structural aspects. One of the domestic violence which is most likely the final act in
most prominent theories on this level, that is applicable years of abuse, support such a view. The availability
to South African society, is the culture of violence of guns, mainly owned by men, is a risk factor in
theory. In terms of this theory, family violence can domestic violence as guns are used to control, hurt
be attributed to the general norms and values within or kill partners. The latter is referred to as intimate
a particular society that condone violence. A further femicide, which is murder by an intimate partner.
explanation for family violence at the macro level Based on large representative South African studies
emphasises structural inequalities within a society (including national homicide studies), Abrahams,
that is based on aspects such as race and socio- Jewkes and Mathews (2010) report that 2.7 per 100 000
economic status. The patriarchal-feminist theory, women are killed through gunshot by an intimate
which attributes gender family violence to general male partner in South Africa, which is almost double the
domination in society, will also be categorised under rate of all gunshot killings of women in the USA.
the macro level. Also take note of the general systems Interestingly, almost a fifth of men who kill their
theory and the ecological theory that are considered wives in South Africa with a firearm, commit suicide
multidimensional models. Multidimensional models within a week after shooting a partner. A similar
try to incorporate all the above-mentioned variables high number of women reported being threatened
(psychological, socio-psychological and socio- or attacked with guns. Based on another national
cultural) in explaining family violence. study of mortuaries, Abrahams et al (2009) report that
8.8 per 100 000 women (14 years and older) died as
4.6.3 Perpetrators and victims a direct result of IPV (not only caused by gunshot).
In the majority of cases of family violence, the This rate is two and a half times higher than any other
perpetrators are the more powerful members of the reported study of IPV in any other country. In such
family and the victims the less powerful members. cases where South African women died from IPV,
Physical strength often plays an important role in almost a third had reported IPV with the police at
the different forms of family violence since family least once before.
violence often carries the threat of physical violence Internationally women are far more likely to be
even if it does not involve physical violence in every victims of domestic abuse than men and if being a
instance. Children, frail elderly people and women are woman is coupled with another minority status (for
therefore particularly vulnerable, and they are also the example not having full citizen status, such as ‘guest
most likely to be in need of medical care on a regular workers’ or refugees, or being forced into prostitution
104

by family members), it makes abused women even domestic violence against them. Men sometimes
less likely to be able to seek help. The experiences of have to face ridicule against them when they report
women with disabilities sheds some light on the added domestic violence. Men as victims of violence have not
difficulties women with minority status encounter received much attention, they are not receiving much
when faced with domestic violence. There are two support from helping professions and it is likely that
patterns in this regard. Firstly, women with disabilities their needs are very different from those of women
are particularly vulnerable to domestic violence and (Kurst-Swanger & Petcosky 2003).
they have to face additional barriers in accessing Gendered violence may not only occur between
services and protection from domestic violence. men and women but also between women and
Perpetrators of domestic violence may also create between men in lesbian and gay men’s relationships
more barriers for women with disabilities by hiding respectively. Although there are claims that domestic
or removing certain aids (eg wheelchairs or special violence is as common in homosexual relationships
communication systems designed for deaf people) or as it is in heterosexual relationships, there is not
reinforce stereotypes of certain conditions (eg mental enough conclusive evidence to support this. In the
illnesses) when women do seek help. Secondly, women case of lesbian relationships in particular, researchers
may also become disabled or experience permanent tend to use wider and more inclusive definitions
impairment due to injuries from domestic violence. of what constitutes domestic violence compared to
Disabilities therefore heighten women’s vulnerability definitions used when looking at domestic violence
to domestic violence and in some cases it is the result amongst heterosexual relationships (Harne & Radford
of domestic violence (Harne & Radford 2008: 14–15). 2008: 16–17).
The most effective programmes to reduce IPV are
enhancing gender equity by targeting boys and Child abuse
men, changing institutional cultures, policies and The four main forms of child abuse are neglect (eg
laws (addressing domestic violence on the macro inadequate care or abandonment), physical (eg injuries
level). Further interventions include a reduction in or corporal punishment), sexual (eg rape or sexual
alcohol abuse, restricting access to guns and better exploitation) and emotional (eg kidnapping) abuse.
mental health services (thus addressing domestic Identified immediate risk factors associated with child
violence at the micro and meso levels) (Abrahams et abuse include factors such as alcohol and drug abuse,
al 2009: 553). teenage pregnancies and inadequate accommodation
Men are also victims of domestic violence but or overcrowding. These factors fit in with theories at
it is believed to be far less widespread compared to the micro and meso levels of explaining the incidence
domestic violence against women. If we look at the of domestic abuse. At the macro level contextual
number of women who die from IVP (the most severe factors such as poverty and a lack of daycare facilities
outcome of IVP) and suffer detrimental physical, contribute to the prevalence of child abuse (Makoae
emotional and financial consequences due to IVP, the et al 2009). Yet, it should be kept in mind that even
belief that men are more likely to be perpetrators than though some situational factors contribute to a greater
victims of domestic violence is justified. However, the likelihood of children being maltreated, child abuse
much lower incidence of domestic violence against takes place within families from all socioeconomic
men does not make the violence less serious for the groupings.
men concerned. Child neglect can be divided into deliberate
Domestic violence against men is sometimes neglect and situational neglect. The former refers to
complicated to understand and should not be confused wilfully ignoring the needs of the child while having
with women who defend themselves against abusers the means to fulfil those needs, such as not providing
or retaliate after years of abuse. Rautenbach (2006) balanced meals to children on a regular basis.
found in a qualitative study on violence against men Situational neglect results from not being able to meet
that victims may experience verbal, psychological and the child’s basic needs. Not feeding a child regularly
physical violence on a daily or weekly basis. Although due to family poverty is an example of the latter.
such violence may be embedded in broader familial Not all forms of neglect are physical, for example,
conflict, it is not the result of women retaliating to not ensuring that a child receives education can be
105

described as educational neglect and withholding injustice or inequality that older persons perceive is
medical treatment as medical neglect (Makoae et al discriminatory of themselves’ (Ferreira & Lindgren
2009: 6–7). 2008: 103). The structural inequalities of South
Where child neglect refers to the failure of doing African society that are categorised under the macro
something, child abuse is the active maltreatment of level theoretical explanations of domestic violence
children physically, sexually or emotionally. Physical described above, are thus contributing heavily to the
abuse refers to non-accidental injury of children. experiences of abuse by the elderly.
Sexual abuse involves not only any sexual contact An NGO that has campaigned for the rights of
with a child but also non-contact sexual abuse, such as the elderly, Action on Elder Abuse South Africa,
exposing them to pornographic material or voyeurism has installed a national toll-free telephonic service
(Makoae et al 2009: 8). in South Africa named the Halt Elder Abuse Line
The extent of child abuse in South Africa is (HEAL). The aim of HEAL is to try and prevent elder
difficult to determine as it is underreported. Screening abuse, provide general information, intervene in cases
young adults and school children on their experiences of elder abuse, link victims with sources of assistance
of child abuse often exposes much higher incidences in the case of abuse and do follow-up work on reported
of child abuse than what is ever reported (Andersson & cases of abuse if possible. Physical abuse is the most
Ho-Foster 2008). Promoting the well-being of children likely to be reported, followed by financial abuse. In
through putting policies in place is important, but research among the aged, older people also identified
resources are needed for such policies to make a marginalisation and disrespect in addition to violence
difference in the lives of children. There is a general re- and exploitation as part of discriminatory practices
orientation in South African policies and approaches against them (Ferreira & Lindgren 2008: 99–104;
towards child abuse by focusing on prevention of Marais et al 2006: 188).
such abuse and trying to identify children at risk. South African society thus has the challenge to
Such an approach aims to minimise the extreme act address domestic violence by eradicating structural
of removing children from families, known as tertiary violence, replacing the general climate of violence with
intervention, when they are maltreated and no other tolerance, making more quality care facilities available
options are available (Makoae et al 2009). to children and re-educating men in particular in
finding acceptable ways to express themselves in
Abuse of the elderly relationships.
Defining what constitutes elder abuse is difficult as
varied definitions exist where some focus on abuse by Summary
close relatives or people in whom trust is placed while • The aim of this chapter was to introduce and
others focus on human rights in general. The latter sensitise you to the complexities inherent in
definition complicates estimating elder abuse in South studying families. Despite the difficulties
Africa with its long history of the violation of human encountered within families, it remains one of the
rights of black people in general for decades. When aged most enduring institutions of all times. In times of
research participants are asked to report forms of abuse, need, celebration, birth or death, family members
general infrastructural deficiencies are mentioned. are often the first people that we turn to in order to
All poor communities suffer under these deficiencies share our problems, joys, grief or responsibilities.
and not only the elderly. Where the needs of the white • Although there is often an alarmist view that
elderly started to be addressed towards the end of the describes ‘the family as if it is in crisis’, families
twentieth century, systemic abuse (arising from the are able to adapt to the demands of the time
system) towards the elderly is still ingrained in South by changing in structure and losing or gaining
African society – for example struggling to access functions along the way, as was noticeable when
social grants and being treated poorly in residential describing the different family and household
care facilities for the aged (Ferreira & Lindgren 2008). forms as well as the different patterns of joining
Due to the lack of empirical data on elder abuse in and dissolving relationships of couples.
South Africa, ‘… “elder abuse” has become a veritable • In order to understand families we have to look
catch-all term for any social, economic or political closely at what happens within families. At the
106

same time we have to form a broad picture of the 2. Discuss five theoretical viewpoints of families.
trends of family life in specific societies. Include the origin, basic premises and weak points
• General theoretical views and specific statistical or criticisms of each theory.
information of stages in the lives of family 3. Explain intergenerational relationships within
members were given. Our hope is that you were families by highlighting childhood, parenthood
able to simultaneously gain a more in-depth and and grandparenthood.
wider view of families than the one you have of 4. Write an essay on domestic violence in general and
your own family or those of the few people you then focus on child, gender or elder abuse in your
know well. discussion.
• In the last section of this chapter domestic violence
within families was looked at. An overview of More sources to consult
the types of theoretical views on the causes of Amoateng AY, Heaton, TB (eds). 2007. Families and
domestic violence was provided, with the focus Households in Post-apartheid South Africa: Socio-
on the dynamics of specific forms of violence. The demographic Perspectives. Cape Town: HSRC.
aim is to use such information to curb the alarming Lubbe-De Beer C, Marnell J (eds). 2013. Home
trends of domestic violence in this country. The Affairs: Rethinking Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and
available policies to protect different vulnerable Transgender Families in Contemporary South
members of families should be strengthened by Africa. Johannesburg: Fanele and GALA.
supporting families in more proactive ways before Makiwane M, Nduna M, Khalema NE (eds). 2016.
domestic violence escalates into an uncontrollable Children in South African Families: Lives and
and damaging force within specific families. Times. Newcastle upon Tyne: Cambridge Scholars
Publishing.
Are you on track?
1. List and define different terms that are used to
describe various family, household and marriage/
cohabitation forms.
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109

Chapter 5
Education
Pragna Rugunanan
The origin (or etymology) of the term ‘education’ comes from the Latin verb educare, which means ‘to lead out of’ –
ignorance. After procreation, teaching the young in the family household is the most fundamental activity in which
human beings engage. Without education of some form, individuals are not socialised, families cannot cohere, work
cannot be performed, nor can society develop. Ever since the introduction of mass schooling in nineteenth century
Europe, however, education has become formally institutionalised and plays a central role in modern societies. Needless
to say, without having successfully been through primary and secondary education, you would not possess the skills to
study this book. This chapter enables you to stand back and examine this process you have undertaken over the past
12 years of your life. It also examines the tertiary educational system in South Africa, both before and after democracy.
This chapter on the sociology of education is another opportunity to exercise and develop your own
sociological imagination.
After having defined the sociology of education and the role education plays in society, the chapter begins by
reviewing how the three classical perspectives in sociology understand and analyse education as a key institution in
modern society. This part of the chapter should leave you with a growing sense of how these perspectives lie at the
basis of sociological understanding and analysis – which will deepen as you progress through the study of this book.
The chapter then turns to the historical narrative of education in South Africa. This review of the background to studying
education as an institution reveals the importance of the social context in the study of any social phenomenon, thereby
showing how sociology needs to be sensitive to history.
There are at least three reasons why this historical background is particularly important in this instance of studying
education from a sociological perspective. The first reason is the important role of Christian missionary education which
provided black Africans with their first experience of Western culture and education. The impact of missionary education
and the acculturation of Western culture which accompanied it under colonialism are, of course, open to much debate. Its
impact, however, cannot be denied. The second reason relates to how black South Africans, across all social classes, were
denied a decent education under apartheid which, among other things, closed down the mission schools. The serious
consequences of this part of the story of education in South Africa can hardly be denied. The impact of over 40 years of
the massification of black education, but which was of an inferior quality, continues to make its influence felt. The third
reason for the importance of the historical narrative is to highlight and celebrate the significant contributory role played
by secondary school students in the liberation of our country, signalled by the student uprisings of June 1976. The fact
that it was high school students whose collective social action in June 1976 challenged the ‘high’ period of apartheid, is a
remarkable chapter in the history of our country. It speaks volumes about the broader role education can play in society.
If you want to gain insight into the tertiary educational process you are undergoing right now, the critical discussion
of the restructuring of education post-apartheid, is essential reading. Apply each of the three sociological perspectives
to this part of the chapter as an exercise in developing a sophisticated and nuanced sociological imagination of
your educational experience. You will be able to apply your now rapidly developing sociologically informed mind
to the social institutions of the state, society, schooling and the family in this regard. This is an exercise you can do
for yourself or together with your colleagues. Perhaps your lecturers will set this as a task in developing your own
sociological perspectives. Ultimately, however, at tertiary level only you can educate yourself – or lead yourself out
of the state of which you were previously ignorant. Carefully applying your mind to this exercise in the sociology of

education will go a long way to ‘understanding your country’ and being able to position yourself within it as an active
citizen. For without education and the meaningful contribution of those who have the privilege of enjoying a university
education, empowered and able to authoritatively discuss this critical social issue, the prospects for a better life for all
could be bleak. If that sounds like a preaching lecture, it is not intended as such. It is rather a call to take our precious
education seriously. It is sorely needed. There is much evidence in this textbook which could be cited to support this
claim. Just do it!
Case study 5.1 ‘Just One Bag’
‘Jordan van der Walt, a pupil at St John’s Preparatory College in Houghton, Johannesburg, started a school feeding
campaign called ‘Just One Bag’ back in March 2011, which has seen 100 tons of South African food staple mealie meal
delivered to schools all over the country. It started after calls for the annual Easter egg collection to be made at the school
– the donations would be delivered to underprivileged schools. But Jordan had a better idea – based on a documentary
he’d seen stating that three-million children in South Africa go to school hungry each day, he felt that Easter eggs wouldn’t
make a difference to those children and suggested to his principal, Patrick Lees, that instead of Easter eggs, perhaps each
boy could bring a bag of mealie meal instead. By the end of 2011, 50 schools had committed to Just One Bag, 30 of them
in Johannesburg, involving 30 000 children.’
(Source: www.mediaclubsouthafrica.com)
•• Formal education
Key Themes
•• Informal education
•• Role of education
•• Hidden curriculum
•• Bantu Education System
•• Restructuring of education – post-apartheid South Africa.
Case study 5.2 The textbook saga
‘Non-delivery of textbooks to schools in Limpopo, a province placed under national administration in December
2011, provoked a storm of anger and outrage between May and July this year about the fact that eighteen years after
1994 South Africa still hadn’t got something as basic as delivery of textbooks to schools right. Litigation by Section
27, an NGO, for delivery of textbooks precipitated a textbook crisis of unprecedented proportions. Compounding the
picture were simultaneous shocking pictures of usable textbooks and recently produced workbooks, the flagship of
the national department, being shredded, dumped into rivers or fluttering in the wind outside warehouses.’
(Source: Chisholm 2012)
112

Chapter 5: Education
Case study 5.3 Kliptown hero
‘A South African man from Kliptown in Soweto is one of 10 finalists for the 2012 CNN Hero of the Year award …,
Madondo was nominated for his work with the Kliptown Youth Programme (KYP). Madondo is a founder of the
organisation and its chairperson. The main focus of the initiative is its tutoring programme, which runs four days
a week. It provides tutoring for grade two to seven pupils, and uses professional teachers to help grade eight to
12 children with subjects such as maths and science. Madondo is Soweto’s ordinary hero who has made it his life
mission to change his community. Growing up in Kliptown, in a one-room shack that he shared with seven other
siblings, he knows the challenges of young people in this area. His family didn’t have enough money to keep him
and all his siblings in school, but he was determined not to drop out. He washed cars to earn enough money to
pay his school fees, and went on to become the first member of his family to graduate from high school. With his
schooling behind him, he wanted to become an accountant, but his family didn’t have the means to send him to
university. Looking back on his childhood, Madondo realised that education is the most powerful tool to empower
people, and this led him to co-found the KYP. “We feel education is the only key out of these challenging conditions
that people live in,” he says. Kliptown is one of the oldest residential areas of Soweto and is home to about 45 000
people. Here people live in informal housing, some don’t have access to services such as electricity and there is a
high rate of unemployment. Many children from this community drop out of school because they don’t have school
uniforms and textbooks.’
(Source: http://www.sagoodnews.co.za/)
Introduction circumstances, runs an organisation that provides

Education is a formal social institution that plays meals for children, helps with their school fees and
a decisive role in society by transmitting society’s provides after-school tutoring and assistance to
values and morals, shaping its views, upholding about 400 children.
traditions, regulating our behaviour and bringing The case studies highlight that although
about change. The aim of this chapter is to show how education is such an integral component of society,
one institution can contribute to the benefit of the our education system is part of a transforming
entire society. The value of education is such that society that is still marked by vast inequalities and
the right to education is a fundamental human right poverty. Learning begins the day we are born and
enshrined in the initiatives of the United Nations continues throughout our lives. The act of learning
Declaration of Human Rights (United Nations 1948) can be found in every society and is transmitted
and the Millennium Development Goals (United both formally and informally. The process of
Nations 2000). learning can be taught in classrooms or in the fields,
The three introductory case studies provide verbally, visually and orally. The act of formalising
different viewpoints about schooling and education. learning as an institution in the form of education
In the first case study we observe how a twelve-year- has become a central feature of modern societies.
old is moved to do something constructive after he Not all children receive a formal education in a
learns that three-million children in South Africa formal setting. Without formal education, many
go to school hungry each day. He is galvanised into children are still left to their own devices and are
action and encourages children to bring just one bag left severely disadvantaged for the rest of their lives
of mealie meal to donate to underprivileged schools. as a result. This is simply because education opens
The second case study reflects how the state, under up opportunities of personal growth, social mobility
a system of democracy, is perpetuating inequality and the capacity to be useful members of society. In
in the schools in Limpopo and disadvantaging the words of Nelson Mandela, ‘education is the most
its learners. The third case study reflects how an powerful weapon which you can use to change the
ordinary citizen of South Africa, despite his deprived world’.
113

5.1 Definition of sociology of of the early scholars to examine education from a

education sociological perspective, reflected on how education
The sociology of education can be defined as the equipped children for their positions in later life
systematic study of the formal learning institutions (Hallinan 2000: 2). The functionalist approach has
and the interrelationship between these institutions always used the popular analogy of the human body
from a sociological viewpoint. Education can be to understand society. The human body consists of
viewed from a broad or macro perspective. Such numerous organs with specific functions all working
a perspective focuses on how institutions such as together to create a harmonious whole. If one part breaks
economics, politics and religion influence and mould down, this has an effect on the entire system. Similarly,
the education system. Education prepares young education makes up one part of the system in society;
people for participation in society and is a powerful it is inherently linked and contributes to the larger
agent of socialisation. At the micro level, sociologists functioning of society as a whole. The economy, family,
want to understand how basic factors such as having political and religious systems are interconnected and
a meal, school uniforms, school fees, and access to interdependent on one another. The way each of these
public or private schooling can affect individuals and institutions work is towards maintaining social order.
their interaction at schools. Education was particularly important for Durkheim in
Thus, the study of the sociology of education the maintenance of social order.
provides an understanding of the following: Durkheim’s foremost contributions to the sociology
• The role of education as a transmission of culture of education reside in his works entitled: Moral
in society Education, The Evolution of Educational Thought and
• The function of education in society Education and Sociology (Ballantine 1989). He placed
• The role of schools in society significant weight on the position of values in society
• The role of higher education institutions in society and the function of schools in transferring those
• Education and the labour market. values to the students. Further, his work focused on
analysing the relationship between schools and other
The sociology of education is characterised by two public institutions, the interplay between education
dominant streams of thought; those who view education and social change and ‘between schools and the
as imparting science and those who argue that education function of a social system’ (Hallinan 2000: 2). Critical
serves broader social functions. To fully understand to Durkheim’s sociology is the ‘notion of (the) primacy
this distinction, we examine how early theorists came of society over the individual’ (Meighan 1981: 232).
to understand the role of education in society. Durkheim holds that a moral order is created by
members of society, to guide our actions. As one of his
5.2 Theoretical frameworks of commentators argues:
education
When looking at education from a sociological point Society commands us because it is exterior and
of view, the traditional three distinct theoretical superior to us, the moral distance between it and
perspectives or frameworks can be identified. These us makes it an authority before which our wills
are the positivist, the critical and the interpretivist defer. (Meighan 1981: 232)
perspectives. As you know from the first chapter in
this textbook, the writings of early theorists such as Durkheim insisted that it was not possible to divorce
Durkheim, Marx and Weber serve to lay the foundation the educational system from society. Education and
for sociologists of education who used these theoretical society replicate each other. He emphasised the view
underpinnings to understand the roles of education that ‘any change in society reflected a change in
and schools in society. education and vice versa’ (Ballantine 1989: 8). The
highly influential American sociologist Talcott Parsons
5.2.1 Positivist perspective supported this view of Durkheim. Parsons (1959)
From this theoretical perspective, strands of understood schools as a social system and examined
functionalism can be found in structural functionalism how schools transmitted values and promoted social
and consensus or equilibrium theory. Durkheim, one order and stability in society (Hallinan 2000: 2).
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Functionalists consider the educational system as system to work, the functionalist perspective tends to
working or functioning to transmit the traditions, ignore the diversity of interests, thoughts, ideologies
rules, values and skills from one generation to another and opposing interest groups in society. Society is not
(De Marrais & LeCompte 1995: 7). Structural in fact a homogenous entity. Society is instead highly
functionalists argue that education maintains the heterogeneous and many of its subgroups each have
‘accepted’ culture (De Marrais & LeCompte 1995). This their own interests which they wish to advance.
view of ‘accepted culture’ infers that there is a consensus
on what this ‘accepted’ culture is. Collective values or 5.2.2 Conflict perspective
consensus is important in order to keep the system in While functionalists view education as contributing
balance. Sever (2012: 652) contends that knowledge positively to social order in society, conflict theorists
must work toward ‘solidarity and integration rather adopt a different stance. The conflict approach points
than pluralism and differentiation.’ In Sever’s view of out the tensions in society, resulting from both
Durkheim’s understanding of education, teachers are individuals and social groups competing for resources
seen as ‘agents of legitimate knowledge transmission’ (Ballantine 1989). Two main groups are identified: the
while occupying themselves with teaching ‘only for dominant and subordinate groups with differential
societal goods’ (Sever 2012: 652). In line with this access to power in society. Some authors refer to these
thinking, schools are also used to prepare students groups as ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’. The dominant group,
for work roles in adult life and to allocate and train or ‘haves’, command power and privilege and have
a future workforce. This is the open or manifest access to resources and goods. The ‘have-nots’ lack
intention of education. The latent or hidden function, power in society and this power dynamic between the
however, is to train a future workforce by teaching two groups results in tensions and conflict between the
skills and inculcating values and the attitudes of competing groups (Ballantine 1989). Conflict theorists
punctuality, co-operation and conformity, encouraging are concerned with the type of education given to
socially appropriate behaviour and the acceptance of children of the working classes and how the education
authority. Schools further function to sort or grade they receive operates to serve ruling class interests.
learners in terms of academic ability by measuring The conflict theorists share the view with the
their performance in assessments. The same principles functionalists that education prepares learners for
apply to all students, irrespective of ascribed factors their future roles in the family, the economy and
of sex, race, family background or class. In this way, society in general. It transmits the values of society
schools create a meritocracy whereby status is realised to learners and serves to produce productive citizens.
on merit alone. A meritocracy is a system based on Marx had a slightly different view, arguing instead that
an individual’s ability and achievement. This creates the education system perpetuated the dominance of
a social hierarchy based on ability, and students or one class over another. Two Marxist theorists, Bowles
learners are distributed along this hierarchy in terms and Gintis (1976), contend that schools are used by the
of academic achievement. dominant class to retain power and control in society.
Given South Africa’s legacy of apartheid and Schools support the status quo (the social order as it
Bantu Education, the conflict perspective’s critique of is) and preserve inequality in society, especially under
functionalism is highly critical of Durkheim’s stance. capitalism.
Both conflict theorists and interactionists argue that Education is known for exhibiting both manifest
Durkheim’s theory did not address ‘the function and (obvious, stated) and latent (concealed, covert) functions
allocation of adult roles; the gap between societal of society as stated above. The manifest function is
expectation of schools and actual school performance’ recognised and intended to provide skills and prepare
(Ballantine 1989: 8). The functionalists’ emphasis on learners for their future roles in society. The latent
value consensus, integration and stability all work to is unrecognised and unintended and is sometimes
keep society in balance. Societies today are multicultural referred to as the hidden curriculum which prepares
with highly diverse communities and schools reflect students to accept what is given and not to be critical
this diversity. The concept of a shared culture in schools or question things. The hidden curriculum is referred
needs to be replaced by recognition of a multicultural to as all the things that are learned at schools that are
one. While consensus and balance are required for the not blatant or obviously taught. Teachers teach a set
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curriculum with a specific object in mind, yet at the status provided for a macro overview of how schools
same time unconsciously transmit a hidden meaning are organised while also providing for an interpretive
or subtext. For example, what is acceptable behaviour perspective on how these situations come about and
or not and whether debate is encouraged or not. how we define them (Ballantine 1989). Weber’s structure
The education system in America, according of an ideal type organisation with its characteristics of
to Bowles and Gintis, is moulded by the capitalist division of labour, administrative hierarchy, rules and
economy to reproduce its particular needs. Education regulations, formal relationships and rational behaviour
is thus shaped by economic needs and reproduces did, hence, enable him to provide a framework for the
citizens to serve the capitalist economy. Education formal organisations of schools (Ballantine 1989: 2).
hence perpetuates class inequalities in society. Bowles Weber also considered the issue of ‘status cultures’ and
and Gintis (1976) show how schools train learners for how schools perpetuated this relationship amongst
their future occupational positions based on their groups both inside and outside of schools. Power was
social class position. While the manifest function is an important component and together with conflicting
to train students for a useful productive life based on interests and groups in society, could sway and put
merit, working class children are encouraged to be pressure on the education system in the interests of the
subservient, take orders and be obedient. Children of dominant group. Weber pointedly argued that teachers
professional and more affluent parents, on the other and academics should keep their values under control in
hand, are treated differently and encouraged to pursue a classroom. The teacher or academic should only teach
leadership roles in society. For conflict theorists this facts. Marx would disagree with this view saying that
is the manifest function of education. In contrast, fact and value are closely interwoven (Ritzer 1992). Weber
the latent functions are the unintended and hidden also disagreed with Marx’s analysis of stratification in
outcomes of the objectives of the institutions. The terms of economic factors only. For Weber, the concept
manifest function of the Bantu education in South of stratification was multidimensional and society was
Africa was to produce a docile, unskilled and obedient stratified in terms of economics, status and power (Ritzer
workforce. In contrast to the functionalists, Bowles 1992). His work, along with that of Georg Simmel (see
and Gintis did not believe that education in capitalist Ritzer 1992) did, however, lay the basis for interactionist
societies was meritocratic. Instead, class background perspectives on education.
served as the important determining factor. The Symbolic interactionists put a lot of emphasis
education of the African working class under apartheid on how meanings are constructed. The focus of
in South Africa is a clear example of this. interactionist theory concentrates on the interactions
Conflict theorists also take issue with the concept of individuals and the behaviour of small groups. The
of credentialism. Credentialism is the idea that some macro theories of functionalism and conflict theory
people are better than others based on their educational focused on large-scale broader institutional patterns
credentials. It is a status marker and denotes knowledge or of interaction. Those individuals sharing a culture
expertise in an area. While the functionalists insist that have much in common in terms of their immediate
credentialism rewards people for their achievements, experiences and norms and values. But differences
conflict theorists argue that credentialism perpetuates are also recognised because of the individual’s
and further creates social divisions in society and experiences of class and broader social experiences
rewards people unequally on the basis of their class (Ballantine 1989). Educational perspectives using
position. Conflict theorists argue that schools merely the interactionist approach tend to concentrate on
propagate social inequality in society. Although race interactions between teacher, student, parental and
was a major determining factor in South Africa, basic peer-group relationships. Tracking and labelling
inequalities centred on social class. Education in South theory are found within the interactionist perspective.
Africa was part of a racist, capitalist system and major Tracking or streaming is a sorting mechanism used
change was needed to bring about its transformation. to assign students to particular programmes or
educational streams on the basis of evaluations. While
5.2.3 Interpretivist perspective some educators believe that this approach is beneficial
Although Weber’s writings did not explicitly relate to to students, as their specific needs can be catered
education, his work on bureaucracies, organisations and for, the approach has also been critiqued for creating
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and reinforcing inequality in society. Tracking can in the interior and were not very concerned about the
also lead to ‘labelling’ when educators distinguish government in Cape Town (Christie 1985). These first
between children as either ‘gifted’, ‘bright,’ ‘dumb’ or settlers operated under the umbrella of the Dutch East
‘slow’. Labelling, it has been shown, can lead to a self- India Trading Company (DEIC). Not much heed was
fulfilling prophecy where students either aspire to the paid to education and this was left mostly in the hands
teacher’s high expectation of the learner or perform of the church. Johnson (1982: 215) confirms that the
poorly due to the low expectation of the teacher. The only schooling available for the Boers was limited to
interactionist perspective has been criticised for a few church-run schools and ‘two slave schools’ were
failing to acknowledge the agency of individuals in available for Africans.
the education process. The emphasis on an exclusively In 1815, the British, who were seeking more
micro perspective by the interactionist perspective permanent residence in the Cape, managed to
also fails to acknowledge how macro-level factors, gain control of the Cape from the Dutch. A form of
such as the control of access to resources, can affect a government was set up in the Cape to secure the
school and its learners. running of the Cape Colony as part of the British
In the section that follows, a brief historical Empire’s economic interests. A number of wars
background of education in South Africa will be given were fought subsequently until 1877, when the local
to provide an understanding of how the apartheid state indigenous peoples were dispossessed of their land
used education to create and perpetuate an unequal and were forced into labour, either for the farmers or
society in South Africa. The move to democracy in for the British in the Cape. It was during this period
1994 required a transformation of the education system that a number of missionaries came to South Africa to
and a reconfiguration of the institutions of learning. pass on the Christian gospel (Johnson 1982). The first
organised attempt at providing a formalised system of
5.3 Historical background of education was put into place by the British in 1806.
education in South Africa However, they used this formal process as a tool to
In 1945, a National Party politician, JN le Roux, said: enforce the language and culture of the British. Here
‘We should not give the natives any academic education. we can begin to see the establishment of a dominant
If we do, who is going to do the manual labour in culture being put into place by the British. The
the community?’ This view resonated with the even enforcement of English as the official language, with
earlier views of British colonialists on the provision of schools being organised in the British tradition with
education to the indigenous population in the 1800s. teachers from Britain, illustrates the dominance of one
Given these views, it is not surprising that formal group over another. In 1812, a system of free schooling
schools did not exist in pre-colonial African societies. was put into place by the British with English as
Instead, learning took place through observation, the medium of instruction. The British enforced a
storytelling and the transmission of oral history. deliberate plan of Anglicisation towards the Afrikaners
Children learnt alongside their elders by observing and resulting in the near extinction of Dutch as a medium
copying tasks, taking instruction and past traditions of instruction (Johnson 1982: 215). Afrikaner culture
were passed on through the medium of songs, stories and language was systematically excluded from the
and poetry (Christie 1985). Before the arrival of white formal educational system. It can be seen here how the
settlers from Europe in 1652, the land was inhabited British were using education as a form of social control
by different ethnic groups. The Khoi hunters and as discussed by the conflict theorists.
San herders were based around the Cape, the Xhosa- In 1839, a Department of Education was set up
speaking people occupied the Eastern Cape, whilst the that funded local schools. A sporadic establishment
Nguni-speakers lived in what is currently known as of schools began mushrooming with no control over
KwaZulu-Natal. Sotho-speakers lived further inland. the quality of education. Private schools, a few state
All these groups were subsistence farmers who lived schools, some state-aided schools and mission schools
off the land. Once Europeans from different countries emerged (Christie 1985: 34). Access to schooling along
arrived to settle in the Cape as farmers and traders, social lines was already taking place. Wealthier families
they dispossessed the indigenous groups of their land. sent their children to private schools. While primary
Some farmers, known as the trekboers, set up farms far schools were free, secondary schools restricted access
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to those whose parents could afford to pay school fees. Afrikaner community insisted upon being taught
After 1893, the government ensured that the mission in their mother tongue (Johnson 1982: 216). The
schools received funding to provide education for Afrikaner community was larger than the British and
poorer white communities. Class cleavages were also this strength in numbers allowed them to successfully
becoming apparent between schools in towns and resist the British plan for assimilation. This protection
those in rural areas (Christie 1985). The schools were and safeguarding of their language and culture
initially racially mixed, providing for learning to led to the rise in Afrikaner nationalism. While the
whites, Africans and those of mixed race. This reflected competing interests of these two groups underplayed
the liberal thinking of the time. Functionalists would the racialised character of colonial society, poor white
argue that this was an attempt to establish social order communities, mostly Afrikaners, were educationally
and achieve value consensus in society. By firmly disadvantaged in the process. This resulted in conflict
placing English as the medium of instruction, however, between the poor whites and Africans who often
it also served to establish the dominance of European competed for the same jobs. This in turn led to strong
culture. The conflict perspective would regard this as Afrikaner opposition to the provision of education
the domination of one group over another. for Africans (Johnson 1982). A growing demand
According to historians of the era, schools for the segregation of education by particularly the
functioned to provide basic reading, writing and Afrikaner group, led to a separate set of public schools
arithmetic. This was the open, stated aim of the for whites so their children did not have to attend the
schools at that time. But on a subliminal level it same mission schools attended by the Africans. The
enforced ‘discipline, obedience and the value of work’ interests of the British and the Afrikaners reflect the
(Christie 1985: 36). This is the overt manifest function conflict theorists’ views of domination of one group by
of mission education. Part of the agenda of mission another, but in the case of South Africa, it was also a
education was to instil a Western, more ‘civilised’ racial domination. Control and access of resources was
life for the Africans and to impress upon them the also controlled by the dominant groups. Education was
value of hard work and a Christian way of life. The used as a tool to subjugate a black labour force that was
British government assisted the mission schools with denied both political and social rights. Christie and
funding and contributed to teachers’ salaries. This Gordon (1990: 402) report that schooling for Africans
had the dual function of having some sort of control was neither free nor compulsory; it was ‘largely in
over the mission schools and in turn bringing the the hands of missionaries; … poorly funded, sparsely
Africans under their power. This illustrates the social provided and of varying quality.’ In aligning itself
control function of schools at the time. This is not to with the pressures from the Afrikaner community, the
say that all Africans attended schools or even attended British withdrew their support for African education
regularly. But the British governors were also anxious and promoted segregated education. This meant that
at providing education to Africans as they were seen as Africans needed to finance their own education. The
a pool of cheap, unskilled labour (Johnson 1982). Here significance of this tacit complicity between the British
we can see the latent function was to effectively create and the Afrikaners against the Africans show how
a subservient, docile and racialised labouring class. race, lines of hierarchy and stratification were being
The discovery of diamonds in Kimberley in 1868 established here and how they used the educational
and gold on the Witwatersrand in 1886 reconfigured system to reinforce these differences in society as well.
the political and economic structures of South This brief introduction to the establishment of
Africa and beyond quite profoundly. The thrust to an education system in South Africa demonstrates
an urban industrial economy highlighted the intense how education was used to cultivate social and racial
competition for this newfound wealth, which was cleavages since 1800s. It also shows how the control
based mainly in the Boer colonies. The bitter conflict of education, whether by the state or the church
between the British and the Afrikaners resulted in ,was contested during the eighteenth century. More
what historians now call the South African War of recently, there are a further number of pivotal dates in
1899–1902. As victors, the British continued with South Africa’s history which had a significant impact
their enforcement of Anglicisation in education. on the development of education. One such date is the
Recognising the ‘socialising power of schools’ the victory of the National Party in 1948 and its immediate
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implementation of the policy of apartheid. By 1948, a Christian National Education was embodied
system of segregation was already firmly in place. The within the white education system and enforced
victory of the National Party merely institutionalised in all former white schools, especially in Afrikaner
it. While education for whites was freely available schools. The official value system was that schools
and compulsory, education for the majority of black should have a broad Christian and national
South Africans was marked by the lack of funds, (meaning Afrikaner nationalist) character. The
insufficient schools and teachers and only a very non-official value system was that of inculcating
small proportion of black children attending schools. ethnocentrism and attitudes of both superiority
The Eiselen Commission was appointed in 1949 to and obedience … towards the state. The aim was
review African education. Part of its recommendations obvious – namely to legitimise an own separate
was the passing of the Bantu Education Act in 1953, education system and maintain white supremacy
providing the mandate that all black South African and privileged social and economic positions.
schools be registered with the state. The term ‘Bantu’
in the policy of Bantu Education was a derogatory After the establishment of Bantu Education, the
term and disrespectful to black people (Nel & Binns numbers of African children attending schools
1999). This referred to an inferior system of education increased, but the dropout rate was equally high.
when compared to that of whites. The enforcement The education system represented 12 years of formal
of the Bantu Education Act did, however, result in a schooling with a matriculation certificate being
significant growth in the number of black children written in the last year.
attending school. In 1953, some 800 000 black children The apartheid educational system firmly
attended school. In 1963, this had risen to around 1.8 established patterns of segregation, discrimination and
million and thereafter the growth rate was even higher. inequity across the different race groups and served to
This Act, however, effectively closed down all church entrench social cleavages across South African society.
missionary schools which had provided a reasonable From 1948 to 1993, the system of education was used to
education to many black children, many of whom were reflect the ideology of those in power and to cement their
to go on to assume the country’s political leaders over racialised control over society. Schooling for Afrikaans
forty years later. Control of education was securely and English children was free, and incorporated books
located in the Department of Bantu Education. The 1953 and stationery. It was also compulsory from age seven
Act effectively removed the financing of education for until sixteen or ‘passing the school leaving certificate’
Africans from state funding to the direct taxation paid (Johnson 1982: 219). On the other hand, education for
by Africans themselves. Given the poor wages and dire Africans was not free or compulsory and the medium
conditions of the vast majority of black South Africans, of instruction was in an African language. The
significantly less money was spent on black children choice of subjects differed greatly between the white
in comparison to white children. and African students, thus providing access for the
During the period 1954–1955, black teachers Afrikaans and English children to better job prospects
and students protested against Bantu Education. while limiting access for African students to menial
Segregating education even further in line with jobs. White students had a superior quality of education,
apartheid policy, the Coloured Person’s Education while education for African students was of a poor
Act was passed in 1963 regulating the education of quality, with under-resourced schools, overcrowded
people of mixed race. Schooling was made compulsory classrooms and poorly trained teachers (Johnson 1982).
under the Department of Coloured Affairs. Similarly, The conflict perspective of dominant and subservient
the 1965 Indian Education Act was passed with class positions can be clearly seen, while the function
education for Indian children being made compulsory of training workers for their roles in society is also
and with control of Indian education falling under apparent. The control of access to resources further
the Department of Indian Affairs (Christie 1985: 55). served to strengthen the dominant class’s superiority
In 1967 the National Education Act was promulgated, over the poorer classes. The institutionalisation of this
enforcing the principles of Christian National stratification which legitimately empowers one group
Education. A summarised view of Christian National over another reinforces the conflict view of dominant
Education is provided in Van Niekerk (1999: 18): and subordinate groups in society.
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Figure 5.1: The Hector Pieterson Memorial in Orlando West, Soweto

(Source: Photograph courtesy of Ina96 on Wikimedia)
However, in the 1970s the need for a better educated When the high school students, protesting against
and skilled black workforce compelled business to Afrikaans as a medium of instruction and for a better
put pressure on the apartheid government to build education, took to the streets, police responded with
new schools in Soweto. This was in contradiction to live bullets and teargas. The unleashing of anger by
the government’s stance that students should attend the youth in one of the most brutal riots against the
school in their relevant homeland. Under pressure, apartheid state and the equally aggressive reaction
40 new schools were constructed in Soweto. This saw by the South African police ushered in a new era of
a significant surge in students attending high school action against the state. Over 660 black South Africans
with the numbers increasing from 12 656 in 1972 to 34 were killed in the uprising and both black schools
656 in 1976 (http://www.sahistory.org.za/topic/bantu- and universities were burned down and buildings
education-policy). destroyed as a result of the revolts (Hare & Savage 1979).
With an increase in the development of urban The shocking pictures made international headlines
schools and the rise in numbers of young black South and pressure on the South African government to
African students continuing their education, schools amend its policies intensified. It all came a little
in predominantly black areas became the organs of too late. June 16 is now observed as a South African
protest and politicisation of the youth. One of the national holiday, called Youth Day, which honours the
organisations in the forefront of this struggle was the countless young people who gave up their lives in the
South African Student Organisation (SASO), formed in struggle against apartheid and Bantu Education. With
1969. A defining moment in history, on 16 June 1976, the 1976 uprising putting the spotlight firmly on Bantu
the Soweto uprising ruptured a nation and brought Education, the 1980s saw an intensification of the
home the glaring disparities of the education system. struggle for liberation. Very little formal schooling took
The seams in the apartheid system were coming apart. place in the black schools. The motto was ‘liberation
The 1976 Soweto Students Representative Council’s first, education later’. These students became known
stance on Bantu Education was unequivocal: ‘We shall as the ‘struggle generation’ or the ‘lost generation’.
reject the whole system of Bantu Education whose aim Student boycotts and student protests, together with
is to reduce us, mentally and physically, into “hewers brutal acts of violence by the South African police
of wood and drawers of water”’ (http://africanhistory. against students, became commonplace. During the
about.com/od/apartheid/qt/ApartheidQts1.htm). period 1988–1994, about 6 000 young people under
120

the age of 25, lost their lives and a number of schools a multi-campus institution called Vista University
were burnt down in the KwaZulu-Natal area (Jacobs (1982). The independent ‘homeland’ states created by
1999: 117). the apartheid government, founded the University
Due to the politicisation of black schools in the of Transkei (1977), University of Fort Hare (1916),
1980s, the schools were characterised by a ‘boycott University of Bophuthatswana (1980) and University
culture’. This inherited legacy continued in the early of Venda (1982) (Hugo, 1998).
1990s with the absence by both teachers and students The apartheid-led South African government also
at schools, political stand-offs by both groups, lack of openly supported and comprehensively funded some
resources and inequalities in school resources (Nel institutions over others creating further divisions
& Binns 1999). Schools in townships and working among universities. This reinforced the privilege of a
class areas had overcrowded classrooms and low select group of white South African institutions over
matriculation pass rates between 1994 and 2006 other institutions. The conflict perspective’s view of
(Chisholm 2012). These schools were also fenced one privileged group having access to better resources
off for protection and shown to have high learner over another is clearly evident. The universities of
absenteeism rates. Coupled with this, the long-lasting Cape Town, Witwatersrand, Stellenbosch, Rhodes,
effects of Bantu Education were ‘underdevelopment, a Natal and Pretoria and technikons such as Port
poor self-image among learners, economic depression, Elizabeth, Witwatersrand and Pretoria became known
unemployment, crime and a highly unskilled and as Historically Advantaged Institutions (HAIs). In
poorly educated workforce’ (http://www.sahistory. contrast, 17 institutions, comprised of universities
org.za/topic/bantu-education-policy). These findings and technikons restricted to the enrolment of black
support Johnson’s (1982: 214) argument that education (African, coloured and Indian) students, became
was ‘manipulated for stratification purposes’ and known as the Historically Disadvantaged Institutions
served as an ‘instrument of social engineering’. The (HDIs). These institutions were under-funded and
discussion above is a clear example of how education under-resourced in comparison to the HAIs. Further,
can be used as a form of social control and stratification the obvious ‘unequal funding regimes’ for the HAIs
as argued by the conflict perspective. and the HDIs, produced different results for the two
The higher education sector did not remain sectors (Barnes 2006).
unscathed by the apartheid government. As all areas Although the HDIs were academic institutions,
of learning were racially grouped, universities were the freedom of academics was severely curtailed
also created in the 1960s along the lines of being under apartheid. Many of the students attending these
‘racially/ethnically separate and unequal’ (Hugo institutions came from underprivileged backgrounds
1998: 11). The geographical location of universities and fell into arrears. Compounding this situation,
reflected the spatial divisions and geographies of the were limited educational facilities, administrative
apartheid state. The English-medium universities incapacities, reduced academic offerings, with few
of Cape Town, Witwatersrand, Natal and Rhodes sporting and cultural facilities and opportunities, high
opposed the formation of these racially designated teaching loads of undergraduate courses. Junior and
universities. The Universities of Cape Town and inexperienced academics, insulated from established
Witwatersrand were regarded as ‘open universities’ academics, were often appointed at HDIs and looked
and permitted students of colour to register on the down upon by the established HAIs (Barnes 2006).
basis of academic merit (Hare & Savage 1979). However, The academic institutions thus also became sites of
after 1959, the government passed the Extension contestation. They came to represent a microcosm of
of University Education Act that restricted black apartheid society. Students gave voice to their anger
students from attending the ‘open universities’ except by protesting against their perceived inequality at the
under special conditions. The Act instituted separate HDIs. But these forms of protest represented a larger
universities for blacks at the University of the North call for the inequality in society as a whole. Thus,
(1960), University of Zululand (1960), University of the HDIs experienced high levels of unrest, boycotts
Western Cape (1960), University of Durban-Westville against the bureaucratic administration and served as
(1960), Medical University of South Africa (1976) and sites of violence and brutal police action.
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5.4 Restructuring of education – were unskilled and therefore could not ask for a
post-apartheid South Africa living wage. Training was viewed as an important
The transition to a new democratic South Africa step towards improving workers’ skills. Training is a
necessarily implied a complete overhaul of the country’s form of learning that can take place at the workplace
major educational institutions and schooling system. to improve the skills, knowledge and competencies
This was required to take place within a framework of workers to improve their work performance. Part
of transformation to address the three main issues of of the vision of the National Training Board was to
access, equity and redress. How can a new sociology integrate education and training and to view learning
of education begin to address these changes and as a continuous and lifelong process (Erasmus & Van
which theoretical standpoint best describes this new Dyk 2003). In line with this, in 1995, the Ministers of
framework? The reality of 1994 was that a large percentage Labour and Education established a statutory body,
of South Africa’s workforce was unskilled – one of the the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) to
manifest functions of the Bantu Education system. oversee the development and implementation of the
McKay (2007) argues that a high number of adults were National Qualifications Framework (NQF). The NQF
functionally illiterate. Literacy levels were so poor that is a framework wherein all education and training
many were unemployable. There was a severe shortage bodies in South Africa must affiliate themselves to
of professional, technical and skilled expertise in the the principles and guidelines of the qualification
country. Even after the year 2000, skills were still in short framework. It records levels of learning achievement
supply (Kraak 2007; Ray 2008). Medical, engineering, and ensures that the skills and knowledge that have
nursing and teaching graduates were being lured by been learned are recognised throughout the country.
lucrative work offers in foreign countries, leaving a The objectives of the NQF as outlined in the NQF Act
growing and severe skills shortage in the country, which 67 of 2008 are:
further compounded the skills shortage problem. • to create a single integrated national framework for
The new government recognised that the previous learning achievements
educational system was dysfunctional and that it • to facilitate access to, and mobility and progression
failed to address the needs of a new democratic South within, education, training and career paths
Africa. At the same time, the restructuring of education • to enhance the quality of education and training
must be contextualised within the contradictory • to accelerate the redress of past unfair discrimination
pressures South Africa was facing. On the one hand, in education, training and employment opportunities
it needed to reconstruct every sector of society and (NQF Act 2008).
on the other, it needed to meet the demands of the
global economy and education had to produce skilled In December 2012, the Minister of Higher Education
knowledge workers to meet this demand. In line with and Training published a notice in the Government
the transformation of the broader education system, a Gazette recognising amendments to the NQF Act.
new curriculum was being engineered with a variety In line with the objectives of the NQF, it is now
of stakeholders under the auspices of the National recognised as a ‘single, integrated ten-level system for
Training Board, during 1991–1997. The stakeholders classifying quality assured national qualifications’.
included COSATU, several government institutions The NQF is now made up of three sub-frameworks,
such as Transnet, Eskom, Technikons, the National managed by a quality council (QC). The first is the
Education Department and Industrial Training Boards General and Further Education and Training Quality
to create a curriculum that would effectively prepare Sub-framework, which is developed and managed by
learners for beyond the classroom and to make them Umalusi, the second is the Higher Education Quality
productive citizens (Jacobs 1999: 118). Here we can see Sub-framework, which is developed and managed by
evidence of a structural functionalist approach being the Council for Higher Education, and the third is the
applied as many different stakeholders were involved Trade and Occupations Quality Sub-framework, which
in the development of the new curriculum. is developed and managed by the Quality Council for
As early as the 1970s, black trade unions Trades and Occupation.
demanded a living wage from employers; but these The link between schooling, tertiary education
demands were refused on the basis that workers and training cannot be over-emphasised. The new
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government sought to ensure that learning should take Countries that have successfully implemented the OBE
place at every level in society and was one of the ways system are Canada, Australia, New Zealand and the
to upgrade the skills of workers in a post-apartheid United States of America. In many of these countries,
South Africa. In this regard, a core principle of the NQF a period of ten years was taken to implement such a
was to ensure a new way of thinking about education, system; the government wished to introduce the new
a paradigm shift that viewed education as a process system in just four years. One needs to question the
of life-long learning. A further aim was to remove not haste at which the government sought to implement
only the traditional barriers between how education such a policy given the state of the schooling
and training was viewed but also the barriers between system post-1994. The prerequisites of a successful
‘different knowledges, disciplines or subjects’ (Ensor implementation of an OBE system are well-trained
2004: 340). Ensor hoped that this would erode a deeper teachers and well-resourced classrooms. The ushering
barrier based on race and class as well. We begin to in of outcomes-based education in schools in 1997 was
see how education under the new framework is very founded on the view that teachers would develop their
different to how education was viewed in the past, own curricula and supplement their teaching and
both from a functionalist and conflict perspective. learning resources from a wide array of references and
A further important objective of the NQF states sources (Chisholm 2012). This belied the assumption
that it is ‘designed to contribute to the full personal that teachers in the majority of schools had access to
development of each learner and the social and the available resources. The opposite was in fact true.
economic development of the nation at large’ (NQF Act In 2002, the then Minister of Education requested a
2008). In line with this objective, the aim of the NQF review of the OBE system known as ‘Curriculum 2005’.
was to bridge the chasm between formal academic The Review Committee found that implementation of
education and vocational training (Ensor 2004: 340). the system was compounded by factors such as:
Learning here also encompasses different types of • a skewed curriculum structure and design
learning; part-time, full-time, adult basic education, • a lack of alignment between curriculum and
in-company training (Erasmus & Van Dyk 2003). This assessment policy
essentially linked the worlds of training and education. • inadequate orientation, training and development
From the view of the government this was an important of teachers
step as it recognised that learning and education • a lack of learning materials and variation of the
were intimately connected to the development of the quality of learning materials
person as a whole and to prepare graduates for the • policy overload and limited transfer of learning in
workplace and society in general. This sounds like a classrooms
functionalist view of education. How would a conflict • shortages of personnel and resources to implement
or interactionist theorist argue differently? and support Curriculum 2005 and inadequate
In line with these changes, South Africa elected recognition of curriculum as the core business
to introduce a system of Outcomes-Based Education of education departments (C2005 Review Report
(OBE) in schools. This system was to be phased in by 2000: 11,12).
1998 and was officially known as ‘Curriculum 2005’.
OBE is primarily learner centred in that it: The Committee also found that the system needed
• takes the learner’s needs into consideration ‘sufficient resourcing, manageable time-frames for
• takes the learner’s differences into account implementation and consistent monitoring and
• encourages parents and learners to participate review’. Teachers in the majority of the poverty
democratically in their experience of education stricken areas had neither the resources nor had been
• focuses on responsibility given adequate training on how to use the varied
• allows learners to achieve their full potential resources available in the classrooms (Chisholm
(Erasmus & Van Dyk 2003: 4). 2012). Furthermore, the teachers themselves had been
trained in a ‘rigid, authoritarian education system’ (Nel
The decision to implement OBE was a political decision & Binns 1999: 121). This move from an authoritarian
taken by the new government with the aim of removing functionalist orientated model to a participatory
racial inequalities inherited from apartheid education. democratic approach involved a variety of stakeholders
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and required a paradigm shift or new way of thinking. concerns for change in the higher education sector
What theoretical viewpoint do you think best interprets impacted on the sector both at home and globally.
the decision to implement OBE? Do you think the The massification of higher education put additional
functionalist approach describes this approach as it is demands on an already pressured higher education
supported by the capitalists as being positive for the system. Universities were compelled to be accountable
economy and for the social development of society? Or for their products and services to the public. Students
do you think a combination of the functionalist and were becoming selective consumers of knowledge
symbolic interactionist can be applied here, as the OBE and choosing courses that would gain them entry
approach is focused on the interaction of the learner into the marketplace. But among the black students,
and the teacher and learner with other learners? the emergence from decades of apartheid education
However, in 2010 the Department of Basic Education and the success of the 1994 democratic elections,
decided to introduce Curriculum Assessment Policy created an enormous expectation amongst students,
Statements (CAPS) to strengthen the current National particularly those immersed in the struggle; of free
Curriculum Statement (NCS). This reformulated policy access to universities and hope for a better future. This
was a comprehensive policy document that provided expectation was not to be realised soon. Universities
what teachers needed to teach and assess on grade-by- still continued as sites of struggle with renewed class
grade and subject-by-subject basis. One of the aims of boycotts, damage to university property and demands
this revamped policy was to reduce the administrative for free education taking place (Hugo 1998). The HDIs
load on teachers and to provide for more consistency were still under-resourced and experiencing problems
across teaching. The new curriculum provided ‘week- alluded to earlier in the chapter. The economy could
by-week planning for teachers to follow and clear not afford in an era of neo-liberal globalisation, to
guidance in terms of pacing and progression and inject more money into an already over-burdened
in terms of assessment requirements’ (http://www. system. Any demand for additional money had to be
oxford.co.za/page/about-us/newsroom/489550-CAPS- justified on the ‘basis of historic need but also “post-
What-you-need-to-know). These guiding documents 1994” performance’ (Barnes 2006: 160). It appeared
have subsequently been updated. that the HDIs were still being disadvantaged in a
The discussion above briefly illustrates the far- democratic South Africa. From a conflict perspective
reaching efforts of transforming the education system this can be viewed as though previously advantaged
post-1994. It explains the path that the current South institutions were still being privileged over the
African government chooses to frame its educational historically disadvantaged ones. So even under a new
policies in. The education system was restructured democratic dispensation, privilege over access to
in line with the democratic government’s views on resources existed and certain groups were being given
transformation and principles of access, equity and preference over others.
redress. New structures such as SAQA and the NQF In 1994, the higher education system consisted of
were put into place to steer this change in the education 36 separate institutions in South Africa. Historically,
sector. At a school level, these changes manifested in SA HEIs reflected the racial make-up of the country;
the forms of Curriculum 2005 and OBE. Curriculum resulting in ‘black’ and ‘white’ institutions. In 2004,
2005 was the framework through which this change the system was changed substantially, resulting in
was managed and OBE was an approach looking at the mergers of some institutions, some remained
what is being learned and how is learning taking place untouched and some institutions were closed down.
(De Waal 2004). The CAPS system was put into place From 36 institutions, this was reduced to 23 publicly
in 2012 to strengthen the current national curriculum funded universities. Transformation was urgently
and to reduce the administrative load on teachers. The required as well. The universities were faced with
changes to the higher education immediately after many problems: there was a disproportionate level of
transition will now be briefly discussed. access and opportunities for staff and students across
The higher education sector found itself in a race, gender, class and even geographical locality. There
state of immense flux as it welcomed the ending of were disparities in the ratio of black and female staff
the isolation of apartheid. At the same time pressing compared to whites and males. Essentially the racial
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profile of university councils, staff and student profiles the education sector in particular to understand the
needed transformation. In line with the discriminatory impact of the transformative educational policies that
practices of the universities, there was also a shortage the government has put into place.
of skilled graduates in science, engineering, technology
and commerce as well as black and female graduates in 5.5 The current scenario: challenges
these fields (Strydom & Fourie 1999). Suitably qualified facing the education system
black academics across all disciplines were in short Current research and literature on education in South
supply and many institutions implemented affirmative Africa indicates that the state’s education goals have
action programmes to redress this. This situation was not yet been achieved. The majority of the population
further compounded by an ‘academic brain drain’ where continue to reside in poverty and unemployment
black academics were snapped up by more lucrative remains a pressing concern. The interconnection
posts and higher status in government and substantially between the state, broader socioeconomic issues and
better salary packages. Universities could not compete society in general and impact on the individual and
with these salary packages and lost highly skilled black the family within the context of education cannot
academics to the government and private sector, as be avoided. From the discussion in the previous
drives to recruit people of colour and pressure to change section, does the functionalist, conflict and symbolic
across all institutions increased. Lucrative salaries interactionist perspectives begin to provide for
were not the only factors. University environs were an understanding of the transformative agenda of
not as welcoming to change and the bureaucratisation education in a democratic South Africa? Do we
of academia together with large teaching loads and need a new theoretical approach to understand how
pressure to publish meant that black academics were educational institutions must serve society in a
drawn into the government or private sector (Hugo transformative context? The following section will
1998). The sector was also characterised by low staff contextualise the many challenges facing education
morale, uncertainty and large-scale resignations were within a framework of the state, society, schooling and
taking place (Maree 2010). the family. The relationship between these institutions
The section above highlighted the transformation and education will be elaborated upon.
and challenges facing the higher education sector A graphic illustration of the framework with the
in South Africa post-1994. The next section will key themes is given in Figure 5.2 and will be discussed
elaborate on the current scenario in South Africa and further in the next section.
State Society
•• Legacy of apartheid •• Exclusion
•• Education policies •• Inequality
•• FET colleges •• Public/Private schools
•• National Central Applications system •• Student retention
•• Teaching as a profession
Family
Schools •• Poverty
•• Vacant teacher posts •• HIV/AIDS
•• Textbooks •• Single and child-headed households
•• Sexual abuse •• All-inclusive dialogue
Figure 5.2 Framework for education

(Source: Adapted from Maree 2010)
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5.6 State 40 per cent and three subjects with a minimum of 30

Almost twenty years into democracy, there is growing per cent; one of these must be a home language with a
awareness of the increasing problems with all levels minimum of 40 per cent. In 2012, the Minister of Basic
of the schooling and higher education in South Africa. Education Angie Motshekga was quick to congratulate
The government has successfully reconstituted the the 592 704 matriculants who wrote their matric exams
education system into a single unified national system. on achieving a 73.9 per cent pass rate. However her
Statutory bodies such as SAQA and the NQF have been enthusiasm hid the reality that out of this total figure,
put into place to monitor and oversee quality assurance only 26.6 per cent achieved a university exemption pass
in education, skills development, adult education and rate. Only 54 per cent passed mathematics; this figure
early childhood development. Thus the state embraces is up from 46.3 per cent in 2011 (Nkosi 2013). While
education from the perspective of early childhood celebrating the achievements of the 2012 matric pass
development, to adult basic education through to rate, slipping through the cracks are those children
skills development at the workplace and ensures called the ‘born frees’ who began their schooling
quality assurance bodies are in place to monitor and career in 2001. By 2012, 618 526 had dropped out of
evaluate these processes. This reflects a functionalist the system, vacating school between grades 10 and 12.
perspective to ensure that the different parts of the This essentially means that only 33 per cent of those
education system cohere and create consensus in who started school in 2001, passed matric in 2012.
society. The government has also been proactive and The Basic Education Minister made no reference at all
implemented ‘pro-poor education policies such as the to this missing group of students. What happened to
fee-free schools, nutrition and transport programmes’ them? Why did they leave school before completing
(Motala 2007). This can be interpreted from an matric? How did the Minister miss 618 526 students?
interactionist perspective where factors such as the Some of the reasons for these missing students are
lack of school fees, basic food and transport services widespread poverty, lack of finance to fund schooling
could have a negative effect on the development and higher education, the high prevalence of HIV and
of learners. AIDs and single-parent households. Thus schooling
But there remain deeper tensions in society. Almost and education cannot be understood without
twenty years into democracy, the wealth distribution considering the context within which education
in South Africa remains largely in favour of white functions. A conflict perspective would argue that
South Africans. The majority of blacks still experience the unequal opportunities and pervasive inequality in
endemic poverty, high unemployment rates and wide- society privileges one group over others.
ranging income disparities. This inequality is evident This lowering of standards has been criticised by
in the public schooling sector as well. The country widely respected educationists and raises concerns
has 25 000 public schools. Some of these schools about the quality of learners entering higher education
are in a decrepit state with certain basic rights such and their ability to cope at tertiary level. In turn, some
as sanitation, running water and safe buildings still universities have put into place their own entrance-
sorely lacking. Equal Education, a non-governmental level assessments to filter students. This has impacted
organisation (NGO), highlighted the state of public the quality of graduates produced by higher education
school by stating that 93 per cent of public schools institutions and length of time taken to complete a
have no libraries, 2 500 have no water supply, 46 per qualification. In higher education, about 40 per cent
cent still use pit toilets and 913 schools still have no of registered students drop out of their studies during
toilets (John 2013: 6). or at the end of their first year of study and only 15
Besides infrastructural concerns, studies show per cent complete their studies in the minimum time
that South African learners are far behind their required. There are debates in the Council of Higher
contemporaries in language literacy, language skills Education about the possibility of extending some
and reading tests (Maree 2010). The Department of undergraduate degrees to four-year degrees (Prince &
Basic Education decision to lower the requirements to Yeld 2012: 28). This would go some way into alleviating
achieve a National Senior Certificate (matric) pass has the ‘articulation gap’, the jump between schooling and
been widely criticised and debated. To pass matric, a higher education that remains a problem in South
pupil needs to pass three subjects with a minimum of Africa (Prince & Yeld 2012). The move to a four-year
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degree would go a long way to assisting students sought to implement the first phase of a national
manage the gap and transition from school children central applications system by 2013. The Department of
to young adults at higher educational institutions. Higher Education and Training publicised the central
Extensive preparation in terms of career guidance applications system in 2012 as a mechanism to deal
and counselling needs to be provided to assist with with the complications arising out of the large volumes
this transition. The section below discusses this of late applications. The CHE is hoping to have a fully
point further. functional central admissions system in place by 2015.
Just after the 2012 matric results were released, This will provide for a one-stop application where
it was reported that school-leavers and their parents students can apply at multiple institutions on one
remained unconvinced that further education and form and with one application fee. While the central
training (FET) colleges could compete alongside a applications system will be phased in, it will not resolve
university qualification. The government has in the last the problems of lack of space in tertiary institutions, eg
few years, spent billions in an effort to sway potential in 2013, the Tshwane University of Technology received
school-leavers about the merits of FET institutions and 80 000 applications but could only accommodate 14 000
their qualifications. The previous Higher Education first-time students; the University of Johannesburg
and Training Minister Blade Nzimande strengthened received 89 000 applications but only had space for
the drive towards attracting students to the 50 public 10 500, while the University of Witwatersrand handled
FET colleges and the spread of 248 campuses across 34 000 applications and could only allocate 5 500
South Africa. undergraduate positions (Magubane & Goko 2013: 3).
The FET option is viewed as a poor second cousin This raises important questions about our higher
to earning a university qualification. For the post-1994 education system and the provision of access to these
generation and especially first-generation entrants institutions. Who controls access to these institutions
to university, graduating at a university is seen as a and how can one institution receive 89 000 applications
matter of immense honour and prestige especially for and only have space for 10 500 students? The central
students from previously disadvantaged backgrounds. admissions system will also eliminate the problem
There is a social expectation that university degrees of late applications taking place at the beginning of
are valued higher and will allow for greater mobility each year where long queues of hopeful applicants
in society. The value of achievement as espoused line the doors of many tertiary institutions. On a
by the functionalist view is clearly evident here. deeper level, the sheer numbers of these applications
The view from students and parents alike is that a indicate a hunger for education and the expectations
FET education is a ‘lowering of one’s standard’ and of what a tertiary qualification can do, not only for that
will disadvantage these students against university individual but also the family and community that
qualified graduates. The view by parents is that the individual comes from. Maree (2010: 87) refers to the
government is ‘trying to provide a dumping site, trap that learners and communities find themselves
while pretending to help our children access higher in, that is, ‘inequality, unemployment and poverty’,
education’ (Nkosi 2013: 6). The conflict view of which appears to be more prevalent now than in
education, as maintaining the status quo in society 1994. Education is seen as key to overcoming these
by reproducing workers that society needs, perhaps traps and as an opportunity of uplifting oneself out of
needs to be given further thought. poverty. Thus there is this huge demand for a tertiary
This negative view of a FET education indicates level education, together with the view that a degree
that the media campaign promoting FET did not pay offers more prestige and will make the graduate more
off and that the role and instrumental value of FET employable. This above discussion also negates the
colleges still needs greater attention. Credentialism as functionalist view of meritocracy where the point is
critiqued by the conflict theorists show that the value that opportunity is available for everybody and we all
of a university degree is given more prominence than compete on equal terms. Bowles and Gintis (1976) refer
that of a FET qualification. to this as the ‘myth of meritocracy’ and that inequality
Alongside the valuing of a university education are is still too pervasive in South Africa. The three case
contending notions of space and access to universities. studies in the beginning of the chapter speak to
In this regard, the Council on Higher Education (CHE) this myth.
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5.7 Society qualified and experienced teachers (Van der Berg et

South Africa is still a society marked by deep cleavages al 2011). Overcrowding remains a concern in schools
of disparities in income. Research by the Social Policy located in quintiles one to three and the lack of maths
Research Group at Stellenbosch shows that ‘the and physical science teachers in these schools is also
persistence of these patterns of income distribution worrying (Nkosi 2013a). While the Department of
… overlap between race, language, culture, education Education has emphasised that school infrastructure
level and neighbourhood’ (Van der Berg et al 2011). The and development is a priority, there are still 300 mud
research further emphasises how the quality of teaching schools in the Eastern Cape (Nkosi 2013a). The legacy
and schooling in poor communities further embeds of the apartheid system still remains prevalent in
‘exclusion and marginalisation’ in society (Van der society. While the equality of opportunity under
Berg et al 2011). Various authors indicate that resources democracy is available, social class inequalities still
in township schools are still lacking compared to persist and this acts as a barrier to growth for all.
those in formerly white schools (Nel & Binns 1999; The private or independent schools as defined by
Vally & Dalamba 1999; Motala 2006; Ndimande 2006). the Schools Act 84 of 1996 comprises about 2 per cent
Early in the 1990s many black parents took to either of the entire schooling population (Motala & Dieltiens
moving to former ‘white’ areas or transporting their 2008). Some analysts were critical of the expansion of
children over long distances to better resourced and private schools, arguing that the state resources would
wealthier schools in these suburbs (Nel & Binns be better directed at those schools in abject poverty.
1999; Ndimande 2009). They were convinced that The private schools were seen as hurdles to nation
the quality of education and resources were superior building and regarded as elitist (Motala & Dieltiens
in former ‘white’ or ‘Indian’ areas. Jansen (2012) is 2008). Functionalists see education as providing for
concerned about the ‘gap between the schools of the upward mobility, but for the conflict theorists, this
privileged and the poor’. While the privileged schools mobility is restricted because of the lack of access
remain fairly established, poorer schools are targeted to resources and the privileging of certain groups
by gang violence and civil society problems. Thus the in society.
inequalities in the disadvantaged communities seem The Independent Schools Association (Isasa) has
to persist and seem embedded in the schools as well. made it a pre-condition that if schools wish to remain
This is explained further below. members of the organisation then they should commit
The public schools are structured in terms of to diversity and hire more black teachers. This was
‘quintiles.’ The lowest or poorest 20 per cent of the cognisant of the fact that the growing black middle
schools are in quintile one and the richest in quintile class was a key determining factor in the growth
five (Nkosi 2013a). The poor and under-resourced of private schools (Govender 2012: 6). It seemed
schools are found in quintiles one to three and can that race was still being equated with quality and
be found in the rural areas and townships. These that ‘whiteness’ was synonymous with excellence,
schools remain under resourced and as a result according to the head of Isasa, Dr Jane Hofmeyr
perform much more poorly. Research by Van der Berg (Govender 2012). Divergent views are offered for this
et al (2011) shows that by the age of eight, children statement. The association argues that both black
in the top 20 per cent of the population (top quintile) and white parents originally argued against the
far outperform those children in the bottom four employment of black teachers, and black parents in
quintiles. Thus from an early age obvious disparities particular still held the belief that ‘white teachers
are apparent in the performance between children provided a better quality of education’ (Govender
from poorer communities and those from well-off 2012: 6). Private schools also found it difficult to
homes. The results of the education system then seem recruit and then retain black academic staff. However,
to reinforce the social classes in society and reflect black teachers employed by private schools end up
the conflict view that education serves as a tool teaching African languages or subjects such as Life
for reproducing the class structure in society. The Orientation or Technology rather than subjects in
schooling environments in these poorer communities which they specialise. Race here has been equated
exhibit poor discipline, weak management and poor with ‘whiteness’ and excellence. Black parents are
administrations, coupled with a lack of suitably themselves perpetuating discrimination by arguing
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that black teachers are not suitably skilled. Thus the become teachers. However, teaching as a profession
deep-seated views of racial prejudice have not yet is not highly regarded in society, and the salary
been overcome by twenty years of democracy. scales are low in comparison to the important
Adding to the problem is the lack of a sufficient function of teaching and education in society. Greater
pool of black graduates who choose teaching as a effort needs to be made by the state in uplifting the
career. Initiatives are being made to address these profession and value of teaching and remuneration
challenges and internships at some private schools associated with it.
have been implemented to groom young people to
Figure 5.3 An example of inadequate school infrastructure

(Source: Photograph courtesy of Francois Sieberhagen)
5.8 Schools have enough teachers. Unlike urban schools, they

Problems in the schooling sector have already been are unable to employ additional teachers with funds
alluded to in previous sections. There are still from their school governing funds. This reinforces
many pressing issues that need attention. Research the conflict view where education is used as a status
reported in 2012 that more than 21 000 vacant symbol and it provides unequal opportunities for
teacher posts would remain unfilled in 2013 (Nkosi different social groups and communities. Further, it
2012). This means that poorer schools will have to is estimated that there would be a shortage of 94 000
limit their range of subject offerings because they teachers by 2015, and it was even suggested that
will not be able to afford the teachers and deal by that time 18 000 will have died of AIDS-related
with larger class sizes, all impacting on quality of illnesses (Maree 2010: 89). Thus the problems in the
delivery (Nkosi 2012). The South African Democratic teaching sector remain grave. How do we begin to
Teachers’ Union (Sadtu) criticised the funding model address these? The problems stated above do not
used by the Department of Education to determine only pertain to the education department but reflect
posts as it focused on numbers of pupils as opposed the structural inequalities still prevailing in society.
to the ‘subject needs of specific schools’ (Nkosi 2012). How does the functionalist and conflict theory begin
Township schools and rural based schools do not to explain the problems in the schooling sector?
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Case study 5.4 Excellence thrives in rural isolation
Consider this case study and relate it, together with the foregoing discussion, to the theories on education discussed
earlier in the chapter. Examine why education cannot be studied in isolation from the rest of society.
This case study is from a video series filmed by documentary filmmaker, Molly Blank. The video series titled ‘Schools
that work’ focuses on disadvantaged schools that, despite facing incredible odds, go on to achieve remarkable results. The
series was envisioned by the University of the Free State Rector at the time, Professor Jonathan Jansen. In the heartlands
of rural Limpopo, lies poverty stricken Mutale. A new school, Thengwe Secondary School, was built by the education
department in 2007. Despite its excellent results, the school was asked to reduce the school enrolment from 1 500 to
1 200, because of the limited number of classrooms. Long queues mark the beginning of each new school year, with
parents desperate to secure a place for their child at the school. In 2013, the school had 2 221 pupils registered.
At nearby Mbilwi, principal Cedric Lidzhade encounters a similar problem, with countless pupils awaiting entry into the
school. This shows a hunger not only for quality education, but the knowledge that education is the stepping stone out
of poverty. In 2012, the matric pass rate at Mbilwi was 99.3 per cent. Of the 412 matriculants, 325 got a bachelors pass
enabling them entry to attain a university qualification. Both principals as well as the community know that a matric pass of
‘30 per cent to 40 per cent does not represent mastering the curriculum or skills and will not get young people a job in the
formal or informal sector’. Lidzhade declares, ‘It will not help our children and it won’t help our country.’ Although classes
are brimming over with children, both Mbilwi and Thengwe secondary schools still manage to achieve excellent results.
Part of the secret is the approach of the teachers. Martin Tinoziva, a teacher at Mbilwi, dispels the view that science can be
hard. Instead he energises the class by fielding difficult questions to them, engaging with the pupils by allowing them to
use the chalkboard to work through their problems. He inspires his pupils by stating ‘there is no wrong answer in science,
just mistakes that need to be corrected’. But Tinoziva also has this to say about teaching: ‘there is what we call the hidden
curriculum and there is what we call the formal curriculum. Now, the hidden curriculum is very important … in the sense
that kids learn from even the appearance of their educator, their emotions and the behaviour of the educator, regardless
of the formal learning in class. So, basically, that’s what controls how I deal with my learners.’ The deputy principal at
Mbilwi, Banu Sankaran, confirms that many children begin secondary school with ‘very poor English’ and the school has
to put extra measures in place so that pupils master this subject, for example, extra support classes are provided in the
afternoons with smaller student to teacher ratios. Blank feels that ‘this is a failure on the part of the feeder schools, but
more so a failure on the part of the system that is failing them’. In Mbilwi, there were 478 pupils in the 2013 matric group.
Classes were organised in terms of ‘academic ability and performance’ with about 68 pupils to a class. The top pupils were
placed in 12A while those students needing more attention were placed in 12G. The rationale for this grouping was that it
allowed the fast learners to progress at a rapid pace whilst providing for more attention to the slow learners. At Thengwe
Secondary, students are combined together regardless of their level. The principal, Nkhangweni Nemudzivhadi, states
with class sizes numbering 70, pupils are ‘given subject tests and profiled by performance’. Here teachers tailor make their
classes to the specific needs of the pupils. While slower learners are given ‘step-by-step instruction and more attention,’
faster learners are given increased workloads to manage their progress. Molly Blank’s video series attests that ‘many South
African educators are doing extraordinary work under the most trying of conditions.’ She only hopes that educators such as
Lidzhade, Sankaran and Nemudzivhadi and countless others will realise that they ‘are already working miracles every day’.
(Source: http://mg.co.za/article/2013-03-28-00-excellence-thrives-in-rural-isolation.)
One of the more controversial highlights of the 2012 corruption and fraud. The problem needs to be taken a step
school calendar was the non-delivery of textbooks in further and analysed in terms of access and perpetuating
Limpopo Province as mentioned in Case study 5.2. The inequality in society. From the conflict view, access to
textbook crisis not only highlights some of the problems resources is still being controlled by a dominant group.
in the provision of education, but in fact reveals deeper But how can a new sociology of education begin to argue
tensions in the country as a whole regarding lack of for a change in access to resources and provide some
service delivery, problems of mismanagement of funds, answers to the above dilemma?
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Deeper concerns in the schooling system relate to parents, teachers, community organisations and NGOs
the increasing rate of sexual abuse at schools. A 2001 so that together they can talk about how to support
Human Rights Watch report on sexual violence and each other’s initiatives and contribute to the holistic
sexual harassment of female pupils in South African development of the learner. Witten (2012) illustrates
schools report that the high rate of teenage pregnancy how this ‘inclusive education dialogue’ is taking place
results from ‘sexual harassment or rape by male pupils in the Eastern Cape, a province known for its poverty
or teachers’ (John 2012b). At a conference held in 2012 and systemic education crisis. In the area, basic needs
attended by civil society organisations, education and such as provision of basic, nutritious food, school
child’s rights NGOs, the conference detailed alarming uniforms and fees are lacking in households. This
figures and information relating to issues such as: affects the cognitive and developmental functioning
of school pupils. These are the social problems that
pupil-against-pupil sexual violence, the selling learners face at home and are brought to school as well,
of sexual videos, the development of ‘taxi-queen’ adding to the already heavy load on teachers. But if
pupils who offer sex in lieu of taxi rides, incidents a collective effort is made to address the issues, then
of violent rape cases, to other cases involving the the problem does not only lie on the shoulders of the
exchanging of sex for marks. (John 2012b: 13) Department of Basic Education and educators but all
parties concerned.
These stories are indicative of deeper problems in our As can be seen from the discussion above, the
social fabric manifesting in the abuse of children. role of education in a new democratic South Africa
How do we begin to explain this from a sociological is closely intertwined with the development of the
point of view? From a functionalist perspective, is it nation-state. To what extent can the functionalist
a breakdown of norms and values of society or from view of education promote a sense of national identity
a conflict perspective does it reflect a lack of social and social solidarity? Or in a society divided by such
power from certain groups in society? Is the prevailing deep poverty and inequality, can we still talk of social
social inequality in society contributing to this solidarity?
problem? How does a new sociology of education begin
to address these issues in South Africa? Summary
• The disjuncture in the social contract between
5.9 Family government and society on the delivery of basic
Education in South Africa is now compulsory for all services on something as fundamental as education
children of school-going age. However, the Department and basic services such as water and electricity is
of Education remains concerned that a large number of indicative of wider fissures in society.
children of school-going age are not attending schools. • The rapidly modernising and global world has a
Some of the factors identified are poverty, HIV/AIDS, direct effect on patterns of education and South
unemployment, poverty and household responsibilities Africa has not remained unmarked from the effects
(Patel 2006). Other pertinent issues affecting learners of globalisation and neo-liberal state policies.
are over-crowded homes and the increasing number of • The massification of higher education, pressure to
single-parent families and child-headed households publish, growing student numbers, bureaucratisation
that are prevailing in South Africa. Parents from poor of schools and academia, increasing administration
socioeconomic backgrounds are also under pressure overload, the demand for tertiary education coupled
to bear the ‘indirect costs of schooling in terms of with the lack of space and access, are all indicators
transport, school fees, and uniforms’ (Motala 2007). of a system under pressure.
Education as an institution thus cannot be divorced • Huge income and poverty gaps reinforcing the
from the rest of society. The learners, the parents, the privilege and domination of a few over the majority
teachers and the educators are all intimately linked. of the country’s citizens makes this situation worse.
Witten (2012: 39) talks of an ‘inclusive education • Education is intimately linked to employability,
dialogue’ where all stakeholders, not only important which in turn reflects on the country’s economic
role-players like academics, education officials, policy- well-being. This means the better educated workers
makers are involved, but at a micro level, involving the are, the more productive a work force is, which
131

increases living standards for the country and See http://www.create-rpc.org for further articles
makes the economy more competitive. Investment and research.
in education is thus a win-win situation for the Pillay J. 2004. ‘Experiences of learners from informal
country as a whole. settlements’. South African Journal of Education,
• NGOs, community organisations, business 24(1):5–9.
organisations, individuals far and wide in the This article explores the experiences of learners
country have pledged their support and in their from informal settlements at predominantly
own small way have begun to make a difference in Indian secondary schools in Lenasia, and their
educating others. experiences within the informal settlements
• The case studies of Madondo and ‘Just One Bag,’ themselves.
illustrate the stories of numerous unsung heroes Rassool N, Edwards V, Bloch C. 2006. ‘Language
who make an effort in a small way by contributing and development in multilingual settings: A
to change in South Africa and helping others grow. case study of knowledge exchange and teacher
education in South Africa’. International
Are you on track? Review of Education/Internationale Zeitschrift
1. Provide a definition for the sociology of education. fürErziehungswissenschaft/Revue Internationale
2. Explain the functions of education. de l’Education, 52(6):533–552. [Online] Available
3. Identify the manifest and latent functions of at: http://www.jstor.org.
education in your schooling career. Report on the Ministerial Committee for the Review of
4. Compare the different theories of education as the Provision of Student Housing at South African
outlined in the chapter. Universities. Pretoria: DHET. See this review for
5. How have ordinary citizens in South Africa resources on housing among tertiary students at
helped communities with teaching and learning Department of Higher Education and Training.
resources at schools? 2011. Forgotten schools of the Eastern Cape left
to rot: http://mg.co.za/article/2013-03-08-00-
More sources to consult forgotten-schools-of-the-eastern-cape-left-to-rot
Atkinson MP, Buck AR, Hunt AN. 2009. ‘Teaching Reviews of National Policies for Education: South
Sociology’. American Sociological Association, Africa – 978-92-64-05348-9 © OECD 2008.
37(3):233–244. Soudien C. 2011. ‘Quality’s “others”? The politics
This article provides an interesting view of teaching of bordering and re-bordering our educational
sociology in the college classroom. It applies standards’. International Review of Education, 57:
sociological theory and concepts to understand 261–275.
how social phenomena can be understood at the
level of the classroom. Websites
Molly Blank is a documentary filmmaker. She filmed a African History. Available at: http://africanhistory.
video series, Schools That Work, on disadvantaged about.com/od/apartheid/qt/ApartheidQts1.htm
schools that achieve exceptional results. The Media Club of SA. Available at: http://www.
series was conceived by the then University of mediaclubsouthafrica.com/index.php?option=com_
the Free State rector Jonathan Jansen. For more cont ent&view=article&id=3276:one-small-bag-mak
information go to vimeo.com/schoolsthatwork or es-a-big-difference&catid=69:youth-and-education&
email schoolsthatwork@gmail.com. Itemid=153#ixzz2NAGTQeg6
Lafon M. 2009. The impact of language on educational National Qualifications Framework. Available at:
access in South Africa. CREATE Pathways to www.nqf.org.za/
access, Research Monograph No. 24. NGO Pulse. Available at: http://www.ngopulse.org/
This monograph explores the impact of language in article/education-most-powerful-weapon-change-
gaining access to education institutions in South world
Africa. The CREATE Pathways to Access Series RealMagick. Available at: www.realmagick.com
addresses a range of issues pertinent to education
research and access to education in South Africa.
132

SA Good News. Available at: http://www.sagoodnews. UNO Millenium Goals. Available at: http://www.
co.z a /i ndex 2.php?opt ion= com _ content &do_ un.org/millenniumgoals/
pdf=1&id=5171 Western Cape Government. Available at: http://
SA History. Available at: http://www.sahistory.org.za/ www.westerncape.gov.za/eng/directories/serv
archive/education-bill-1906 ices/11479/14923
UNO. Available at: http://www.un.org/en/documents/
udhr/index.shtml
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Chapter 6
Religion
Johan Zaaiman
Religion is a feature of all societies, whether past or present. The word religion comes from the Latin religio – fear of the
supernatural. Some scholars argue that this may stem from religare – to bind together. Since time immemorial, religion was
the chief source of social cohesion and constituted the ‘glue’ which holds society together. Even today in a society such as
ours, in which the vast majority lay claim to being a member of some or other faith community, religion continues to serve the
purpose of binding communities together. It is hence no accident that both Durkheim and Weber paid studious attention to
religion in their scholarly work.
But religion can also have a negative impact on society. Religious conflict and wars raged through ages and influence
global politics today. Marx thought that religion was ‘the opium of the people’ as it deflected the working class from their
daily struggles to liberate themselves from the shackles of exploitation. Religion, as a topic of sociological inquiry, is therefore
clearly of significance.
It is not easy, at the best of times, to stand back from cherished beliefs and study and analyse them sociologically. This is
especially true of religious beliefs. But this is what this chapter does in presenting a sociological perspective on religion. Do,
however, take immediate note that, as the introduction makes abundantly clear, sociology does not pronounce on the validity
of religious beliefs – whether they are right or wrong, true or false. The first few paragraphs of this chapter make this point
very clearly. Religion is here presented and studied as a social phenomenon in all its rich diversity and complexity.
There are a diverse number of religions in South Africa. Religion and the performance of religious rituals was a prominent
feature of the earliest communities in southern Africa and to which were added many more as this chapter describes. The
variety and diverse ways in which society can be bound together by religion is responsible for the difficulties in defining religion,
but with which this chapter grapples. The word ‘grapples’ is intentionally used here as the roots of religious experience run
deep in the collective psyche of humanity. For despite the promise of science to provide certainty in the human mind and in
social affairs, as this chapter will show, the need for certainty continues to make its presence felt as the preliminary nature
of science did not live up to its early promise. There has been renewed interest in moral guidance, and religion continues to
be a socially binding cultural resource as two contemporary social theorists, discussed in this chapter, argue. Alongside this
traditional function of religion in contemporary society, however, religion has lost much of its traditional power and so this
chapter also deals with topics such as the relation between religion and inequality, its role in gender relationships and discusses
in some detail what is known as the secularisation debate. The relatively recent upsurge in religious fundamentalism and the
relation between religion and social change are topics which are also broached.
These topics in the sociology of religion provide the background to looking, as always, at how the three main sociological
perspectives treat the social phenomenon of religion. There is much room for serious thought here in discussing this profound
subject. There is also, as usual, more than one conclusion that can be drawn from studying religion sociologically. Does religion
have greater functional or dysfunctional social effects? Does religion distort social reality? Was religion the motivating force
for the emergence of capitalism in the West or was it a result of early capitalism? How can or does religion as a system of
meaning contribute to progressive social change in our society? These are all weighty questions with no easy answers, but
which demand the serious application of the scholarly mind and sociological investigation.
Whether you are of a religious disposition, agnostic or atheist, or fascinated by, but do not know much about Zen
Buddihism, the Hare Krishna movement or Sufism, this chapter can do no other than excite your interest in the study of a
social phenomenon which cannot be ignored. The sheer depth and power of religious beliefs, the profound nature of religious

socialisation, the impact on social behaviour of religion and the importance of faith communities in South African society are
all almost certainly paid insufficient attention in sociology today. Perhaps it is because these are difficult issues, but in grappling
with them the insights sociology reveals enables it to present itself as a discipline of unparalleled fascination. Taken seriously,
the diligent student cannot fail to be enthralled by studying the social phenomenon of religion introduced in this chapter.
Case study 6.1 Skin taken off the religious practice
In South Africa a traditional custom, informed by religious motives, has a detrimental impact on its society and the
environment. The Nazareth Baptist Church, also known as the Shembe, is a mixture of Christianity and Zulu culture. In
this religion leopards are seen as a symbol of pride, beauty and wealth. Leopard skins are therefore viewed as essential
for church elders who wear them around their necks during traditional ceremonies. The Shembe is one of the largest
traditional religious groups in South Africa (approximately five million members). As the church grows, it could push
Africa’s leopards, already listed as ‘near threatened’, towards extinction.
According to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES) the sale or possession of leopard
parts is illegal in South Africa. Those who do wear a leopard skin as traditional gear need permits issued by the state. At
Shembe church gatherings, however, skins are traded openly and there are no laws enforced. Increasingly poachers kill
leopards to profit from this huge demand.
Tristan Dickerson is a conservationist at the Phinda Game Reserve in KwaZulu-Natal. He attempted to solve the conflict
between traditional values and contemporary environmental responsibility by using modern technology. He got the idea
to manufacture fake leopard skins (made from nyala skin). He travelled as far as Beijing in China to produce the most
acceptable fake leopard fur.
In Ekuphakameni, where the church was founded, Tristan visited a church gathering and showed his fur samples to a senior
preacher. The conservationist understood that he had to target the older generation and the leaders to accept his proposal.
The preacher responded: ‘It’s beautiful, but it’s not the real thing. It’s like a blanket. After some time, it will wear out.’
The senior preacher was not aware that the trade in leopard parts was illegal. He conceded that the continuing
demand for church attire may lead to the extinction of leopards. He agreed that it would be a shame that the following
generations will not have the privilege to experience these proud animals. But as an elder of the religion he could not
wear a fake costume. However, as church membership continued to grow and the price of leopard skin escalates, he
could see a possibility among the membership: ‘It will help the congregation and protect the leopard from extinction.’
Although there is a growing awareness amongst the younger generation of the need to conserve our natural resources,
this cultural custom is entrenched in the religion. It was thus back to the drawing board for manufacturers of fake leopard
skin attire.
(Source: Mabuse & Ko 2012)
Questions
1. How does religion impact on society and the surrounding environment?
2. Which shift in focus occurred in modern-day society from traditional values to those of a society with inter-
dependent systems?
3. How do your religious practices differ from those of the previous generations (eg your parents or guardians and
grandparents)? Talk to them about this if you do not know. Copy Table 6.1 from this chapter and complete it to indicate
the shift in the different aspects:
➟
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Chapter 6: Religion
Table 6.1 Changes in the religious practices of people across generations
Religious practices Similarity and difference to your Similarity and difference to your
parents’ practices grandparents’ practices
Worshipping practices
Reading of sacred texts
Dress practices for worshipping
Religious dietary practices
Celebration of sacred days
•• The development of the diverse religions in South African society

•• The tension lines between traditional African belief systems and other religions that were introduced to the country
•• The sociological approach to the study of religion and how these views build on a definition of religion’s unique
contribution to society
•• Religion’s role in modern-day society and the three basic viewpoints
Key Themes
•• The relationship between religion and inequality and the basic social themes
•• The two points of entry for the secular debate and secular theory and its impact on religious theory and
practices in society
•• The emergence of religious fundamentalism as a countermove to defend traditional beliefs and how religion can
indeed bring about social change
•• The three classical sociological perspectives on religion and how they still influence the approach to
religion today
•• The organisation of religion and the three basic types, the elements, as well as relevant criteria to measure religiosity.
Introduction understand the challenges of seeing religion as part of

This chapter introduces you to a sociological larger social interrelations.
perspective on religion. Due to sociology’s interest in Instead of attempting to define religion as an
social phenomena it evaluates religion from a social isolated entity – either as a function of society or as
perspective. It therefore focuses on the social aspects a sacred substance within society – the sociological
of religion and attempts to interpret the nature and view relates religion to other social factors, such as
role of religion from the perspective of its place in social class or socioeconomic position in society.
society. This therefore implies a specific perspective In this way specific sociological questions can
on religion. Sociology studies religion as an embedded be asked:
aspect of societal functioning. This means that • What is the relationship between religious theory and
sociology does not evaluate the validity of a religion or practice, and internal contradictions (eg inequality)
aspects thereof. Its aim is rather to interpret the role of in society?
religion in a society. • How does religion affect social change?
In this chapter you will first be introduced to the • How are religious institutions organised within
historical development of the diverse religious systems society?
in South Africa. The focus will then shift to a study
of religion as a social phenomenon. The reader will
139

When studying religion in terms of its interrelatedness These religions included Christianity, Islam, Judaism
to modern-day society, religion can also be analysed as well as Hinduism and Buddhism from the East.
and assessed against the theoretical frameworks of European settlers brought the Christian religion to
modernity and postmodernity, and measured against Africa. During the colonial period in South Africa each
the threat of secularism. colonial power established its religious preference as
From a sociological perspective of religion, readers the official faith. A characteristic feature of this period
get acquainted with the three classical theorists and was the intolerance shown by the Dutch, French
their different angles on religion’s contribution to (Huguenot) and later the British settlers, towards
society: as social function, conflict dynamism and Catholic settlers. Catholic priests were forbidden to
unique system of meaning. live or minister in the Cape colony. The Catholic Order
Through case studies, this focus on religion as of Jesuits was allowed to visit the Cape in 1685, but
a social phenomenon is contextualised in the South they were not permitted to perform Mass. This was
African social environment with its diverse religious mainly due to the religious wars that raged in Europe
systems, which reflects the rich and complex between the Protestants and Catholics.
pluralism of diverse religious societies in modern- Eventually freedom of religion was extended to all
day society. citizens in South African society. This was entrenched
in the different constitutions of South Africa: first in
6.1 The development of South the constitution of the Union of South Africa in 1910,
Africa’s diverse religions then in the amended constitution of the Republic of
South Africa in 1961 during the apartheid system,
6.1.1 Indigenous beliefs and finally in the constitution of the new democratic
The first indigenous people of South Africa, the San, government after 1994. However, in the earlier
had a deep awareness of the supernatural realm constitutions this freedom in practice meant tolerance
consisting of a god or gods and evil spirits. They rather than equality.
named their high god !Kaggen. The San portrayed The Dutch permitted only the Reformed Church
their awareness of the supernatural communally to operate in the Cape Colony. Despite the prohibition
through their powerful ritual dance. In a San camp, of other faiths, the Islamic faith was introduced to the
some members acted as medicine men and mediated Cape with the arrival of a number of Malay slaves not
between the groups and the gods. long after the Dutch had established their settlement
Of the early indigenous people the Khoi emerged as a at the Cape. Sheik Yusuf, who was banished from
later grouping. They also entertained a variety of beliefs. Malaysia in 1758, formally founded the Islamic faith
To a lesser extent than among the San, the medicine in South Africa together with other followers. This
man also played the role of mediator between the Khoi was done even though the public practice of Islam
people and the supernatural forces. The Khoi recognised was prohibited by the Dutch. It was only in 1804 that
and revered three supernatural beings: the Tsui Guab (a freedom of religious expression was recognised by the
good being), Guanab (an evil being) and Heitsi Eibab, an Dutch colonial power. In 1789 the former Indonesian,
ancestral figure influencing the fortunes of individuals. ’Abd Allah ibn Qadi ’Abd al-Salam, who had been
The indigenous African people of South Africa imprisoned on Robben Island, managed to establish
believed in a continued existence after death. They the first Islamic mosque in Cape Town.
therefore had an awareness of family ancestral spirits Another world religion, Hinduism, was brought
with whom interaction is possible. This was an to South Africa in the mid-1800s. In the 1850s the
important feature in their religious rituals. They were sugar-planters in the British colony of Natal (currently
also aware of other supernatural beings and of a supreme known as KwaZulu-Natal) began to experience labour
being, whom they named Modimo or Nkulunkulu. shortages. In 1859 they persuaded the authorities to
import labourers from India. With the immigration of
6.1.2 Religions introduced through 150 000 Indian people between 1860 and 1911 to work
immigration as labourers, Hinduism was introduced to the country.
Immigration, whether voluntary or forced, helped to Approximately 60 per cent of these workers were from
introduce the world religions to South African society. the lower caste – mainly Tamil and Telegu speakers
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Chapter 6: Religion
from southern India. Others formed part of the higher beyond the homestead and the chiefdom. Such an
caste and these were mainly Hindi and Gujerati extended god-concept was provided by the Christian
speakers from the north of India. These divisions of and Muslim missionaries. The problem was that the
class, language and place of origin resulted in diverse missionaries equated Christianity with European
forms of Hinduism in South Africa. The first Hindu cultures. Africans had to adopt both the religion
temple was erected in Durban in 1869. and the culture. This state of affairs divided African
societies along Christian and traditional lines.
6.1.3 Missionary activities Bishop Stanley Makgoba described how his village
The first known attempts at Christian missionary was literally divided by a donga (a cleft in the land
work in southern Africa were carried out by the caused by erosion). This physical divide ran between
Jesuits of the Roman Catholic Church in the vicinity converts to Christianity and people with more
of Zimbabwe (as it is now) in 1560. After the Cape traditional beliefs.
was occupied by the United East Indian Company, These tension lines between the two forms of
the Dutch Reformed Church became the official beliefs can be illustrated further by the tragic events
church in the Cape. This church initiated some that took place in 1856–1857. There had been a long
missionary work in 1737 but it was only in the 1800s and bitter conflict between the amaXhosa and the
that missionary work started to flourish in South colonial powers in the Eastern Cape. The amaXhosa’s
Africa. Initially the British colonial rulers, who beliefs were also being challenged by the missionary
took over the Cape in 1806, acted antagonistically teachings, European technology and the outbreak of
towards Roman Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists lung disease among their cattle. A negative reaction
and Muslims. Roman Catholics were only allowed was brewing among the amaXhosa. It is alleged
to enter the Cape colony in 1820. The first resident that in 1856 the ancestors addressed Nongqawuse,
Catholic bishop, Raymond Griffith, arrived in 1838 a niece of Mhlakaza, who was a councillor to the
and the first Anglican bishop in 1848. This religious Paramount Chief Sarhili. She received the message
intolerance by the British administration also affected that the ancestors would rise from the dead on
other Christian denominations. The first Methodist 18 February 1857 and a whirlwind would sweep
minister who arrived in 1806 was not allowed to all white people and the non-traditional amaXhosa
preach. Eventually the British opened up the field into the sea. But for this to happen, all cattle had to
for other denominations to do missionary work. This be slaughtered and no lands were to be cultivated.
resulted in British, German, French, Scandinavian, Then the people had to dig new granaries and erect
Finnish, Swiss and American missionary societies strong cattle-folds to house the plenitude which they
establishing missionary centres in South Africa. would then receive from the ancestors. Historians
After slavery was abolished in the Cape in 1834, estimate that about 300 000 head of cattle were
these missionary societies ministered actively to the killed between April 1856 and May 1857. On the
liberated slaves and helped enhance their livelihood. predicted day, however, nothing happened. The
From early on Christian and Muslim religious amaXhosa was then faced with a severe crisis. It is
leaders were intolerant towards traditional African believed that about 30 000 died of hunger, 30 000
beliefs and culture, which they saw as ‘uncivilised’. had to migrate and only approximately 30 000 people
This caused a split between Western religion and remained. The result of this tragedy was that both
African beliefs. Beliefs in ancestors supported Chief Sarhili and Sir George Grey, the then governor
traditional political and economic systems, and of the Cape, were accused of engineering the crisis
maintained age-old customs. In this sense traditional through Nongqawuse. Nongqawuse was arrested by
African religions could be employed to mobilise the British authorities and imprisoned on Robben
resistance against colonialism. Island. After her release, she lived on a farm in the
Alexandria District of the Eastern Cape. She died in
6.1.4 Binary tension 1898. This incident demonstrates the tension that the
Political and economic conditions in nineteenth introduction of new religions had on worshippers in
century southern Africa required the image of a South Africa.
superordinate god whose authority would extend
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6.1.5 Dynamic relationship certain forms of Afrikaner culture were elevated to be

However, the binary tension of Christian faith and afforded an almost sacred status. Such forms of culture
traditional beliefs did not remain static. Numerous include the commemoration of the Day of the Covenant
African people adopted the Christian religion but (16 December) and the Voortrekker Monument. This
indigenised it (translated it to fit their indigenous type of civil religion was also used to rally white
beliefs). The result was the establishment of a South African citizens against ideological opponents,
variety of so-called independent churches that such as ‘godless communism’. In that sense, religion
combined traditional and Christian beliefs. The was employed to justify military involvements in
independent churches that originated at the states such as Angola, Mozambique, Zambia and
beginning of the twentieth century can be seen as Zimbabwe from the mid-1970s to the mid-1980s.
an assertion of Africanist identity. The Ethiopian This form of civil religion continually played a
churches were established as a response to white part in motivating the colonial powers to introduce
dominated mainline Christian denominations. The their civilisation and the Christian gospel to the
Zionist churches reinterpreted Christian teachings African continent. Presently, there is in general
within an African context. They offered care and a stronger division between state and religion in
fellowship which the mainline congregations African countries. The 1996 Constitution of South
could not match. Throughout the twentieth century Africa defines the country as a secular society in
the charismatic movement grew in South Africa which religion is neither suppressed nor supported.
and later on established loose alliances among
themselves, such as the International Fellowship 6.2 The sociological study of religion
of Christian Churches (IFCC). The affinity between To study religion is a challenging undertaking for
the charismatic movement and the churches with the sociological imagination. The reason is that a
an African identity is that both emphasise direct wide diversity of beliefs and rituals are to be found
contact with the supernatural. in various human cultures. Within this sociologists
During South Africa’s colonial period Christianity must show sensitivity towards the convictions of
enjoyed a privileged position over other religions, believers. Social scientists must respect their ideals
although it did not act as an official religion. Under that are built on eternal and mundane goals. This
British rule the bond between the state and the diversity of religious beliefs and modes of conduct
Christian religion was severed. Under the Nationalist must therefore be recognised and respected, but the
government this bond was reinstated. The government nature of religion as a general social phenomenon
claimed that it stood for and would defend Christian must also be probed.
values and integrated this in a system of Christian-
Nationalism. This sanctification of the Nationalist 6.2.1 A sociological approach
government’s ideology introduced a civil religion in Sociologists do not study religion as believers of a
South Africa. Civil religion can be viewed as a quasi- particular faith. They do not view religious beliefs
religious faith in which beliefs, values, rituals, texts, as being true or false. Émile Durkheim viewed all
symbols, sites and heroes are accentuated to ensure religions as true in their own fashion. Sociologists
cultural and social integration. Robert Bellah (1967) therefore have a very specific approach to religion. This
argued that America also had a civil religion. This approach holds a number of important implications for
entailed a religious orientation that supported the the sociological study of religion as outlined below.
American societal dispensation at that time. Such • Sociologists view religion as a social phenomenon.
a religious orientation masked petty interests and They study expressions of a religious faith as
harmful passions that were rife in American society. a socially constructed entity. Sociologists are
In the apartheid state religion played a similar therefore not concerned about whether beliefs are
role. Religion was used to justify apartheid. It was true or false. The personal beliefs of social analysts
assumed that God took a special interest in South are therefore not relevant when they study religions
Africa and that the country had a special, elevated through a sociological lens.
destiny. South Africa was seen as a new Israel and • Sociologists do not focus on the personal, spiritual
the Afrikaners as the new chosen people. Therefore or psychological factors that may motivate
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Chapter 6: Religion
religion. They are more interested in the type of 6.2.2 Defining religion

social forces that may have caused the formation Defining religion in sociology is a difficult task. A
of a religion. For people, religious beliefs can be definition assists the researcher in explaining the field
a deeply personal experience that includes a of study. The difficulty in defining religion is how to
sense of connection with forces transcending outline satisfactorily what religion entails in society,
their everyday life. However, sociologists focus and to include the wide variety of religious beliefs and
on the factors in the social order that contribute practices. Such a definition should also demarcate
to the formation of religions, rather than examine the phenomena to be excluded, those which are not
the individual’s psychological response to these normally thought of as religion. There are two main
deeper experiences. approaches that could be followed in defining religion
• Sociologists view religion as an important sociologically. On the one hand there is the functional
element within the functioning of society and approach and on the other hand the approach that
as a phenomenon that can be studied. Many focuses on substance.
sociologists point out the important role that
religion plays in society. Religion creates social Functional system
solidarity by providing a common set of norms One way to define religion is by describing the function
and values. Religious beliefs, rituals and bonds it fulfils for society and individuals. For instance, JM
are therefore viewed as important guidelines Yinger defined religion as follows:
that inform people how to behave towards
one another, and by doing so, create a ‘moral A system of beliefs and practices by means
community’. of which a group of people struggles with the
• Sociologists are interested in the wide variety of ultimate problems of human life. (Yinger 1970: 7)
social forms that religion presents. Religion presents
many forms and changes over time in terms of This definition defines religion in terms of the function
beliefs and practices. It is important for sociologists it performs where it supplies an answer to the ultimate
to study this religious diversity, seeing that religion problems in society. In this sense religion is viewed
is such an important institution in society. as part of culture; it consists of beliefs, norms, values
• Sociologists view religion as an institution which and ideas that create a common identity among a group
is an integral part of society and also a source of people within a society. This identity is upheld by
that provides deep-seated norms and values. certain behavioural patterns. Such behaviour entails
Because religions are among the most important ritualised practices in which believers take part
institutions in society, sociologists are particularly and which identify them as members of a religious
concerned with the social organisation of the community. These beliefs, symbols and rituals help
social phenomenon of religion. humans to experience life as ultimately meaningful
and contributes to the sense that the universe has a
Although religion is such an integral part of societies purpose. All of these features unite the adherents of a
the original nature of religion within societies is religious experience.
unknown. Archaeology discovered early evidence The function religion provides to society is to
of religious practices at burial sites. At these sites explain comprehensively and compellingly those
the dead were buried with gifts and food for use in otherworldly aspects that overshadow everyday life,
a next world. Remains of altars used by early peoples and to bind people together. For instance, according
indicate religious practices. This evidence was found to African traditional beliefs, respected ancestors
at archaeological sites where human societies existed are bound to the family and so create a broader
previously. This indicates that religious beliefs were community and identity. Religious beliefs guide
present in every known human society. However, people to transcend material reality. Religion answers
the variety of religions seemed to be endless. This existential questions, such as ‘Why am I here?’ It also
provides challenges in defining religion. provides answers to deeper questions with which
people often struggle – why they exist, the meaning
of birth and death, anxiety about the future, ageing,
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illness, suffering, tragedy, injustice or uncertainty or secular aspects of life, that which stands apart from
about life. the sacred. Usually contact between the sacred and
Religion therefore also helps to define rites of the profane is viewed as dangerous, subversive and
passage, such as births, weddings and death in a something that must be avoided.
community. Initiation of the youth in some African Other definitions based on substance focus on
communities is an example of religion’s input in the existence of supernatural beings or culturally
the sphere of cultural practices. Religion also gives postulated superhuman beings. (In other words, the
these practices absolute moral significance and existence of such superordinate beings is assumed
provides definite standards. In that sense, religion as evident within certain cultures.) The problem
is a yardstick for judging people’s ideals and with such definitions is that certain belief systems
actions. Other cultural aspects cannot provide this which are also commonly regarded as religions (eg
dimension. Buddhism) do not hold a belief in supernatural beings.
A difficulty with such a definition of religion in Such a definition of religion could therefore be too
sociology is that the ‘ultimate problems’ in societies exclusive. To counter this, such a definition often has
are to a large extent determined by culture and a more precise description.
environmental conditions. Therefore, these problems Typically, where religion is defined by content it
vary strongly between different countries. Another refers to the following:
difficulty encountered by a functional definition is
its large scope. Such a definition can even include A system of beliefs and practices by which a
ideologies, such as communism, that also aim to group of people interprets and responds to what
present society with ultimate answers to its critical they feel is sacred and, usually, supernatural as
problems, although communism explicitly rejects well. (Johnstone 1997: 13)
religious beliefs. Lastly, the definition is undermined
by the vagueness of ‘ultimate problems’, which would This kind of system has an organisational structure
be open to a wide range of interpretations. The issue in which members are socialised. Adherents to
here is that some ultimate life problems can also be religions are therefore organised around beliefs,
dealt with by medication. The definition based on practices and symbols. This gives religion an
religion’s societal function is therefore too inclusive. institutional character in society. It is also in the
The functional definition is, however, widely context of defining religion as a response to what is
employed by sociologists because it is a useful tool to sacred that civil religion can be defined as a set of
describe religion. At the same time the weaknesses of beliefs, rituals and symbols that sacralises (makes
such a definition must be taken into account. sacred) the values of society. Civil religion presents
the nation as the ultimate system of meaning.
Sacred substance Therefore the nation’s values and national events
Another way to define religion in sociology is to focus assume a sacred quality.
on its substance or content. Religion would then be A way out of this difficulty in defining religion
defined as that which is sacred in society over against is to focus rather on the questions sociologists would
the profane aspects in society. The sacred in society like to answer about the phenomenon of religion in
are those aspects which are holy, supernatural and societies. Relevant questions are:
extraordinary, and which create a sense of respect, • How are religious belief and religious practice
veneration and awe among believers. These sacred related to other social factors, such as social class,
features can, for instance, be objects, places, ceremonies race, age, gender and level of education?
or states of consciousness which are protected • How are religious institutions organised?
by specific rituals and rites. The rituals and rites • How does religion influence social change?
prescribe how people should behave in the presence
of that which is sacred or supernatural. These can The following sections present an overview of some
include songs, chants, prayers, offerings, purifications, of the sociological thought expressed on religion. The
commemorations and sacrifices. Over and against the questions posed above will be addressed in the course
sacred is the profane. The profane refers to the worldly of this discussion.
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Chapter 6: Religion
Case study 6.2 Nation building depicting civil religion
After the National Thanksgiving Service held on 8 May 1994, the rainbow symbol gained widespread popularity in the
new democratic South African society even to the level of a civil religion.
Thousands of people from very different religious and political backgrounds gathered in solemn confession, mutual forgiveness
and common reconciliation. In front of the crowd with the television cameras of the world trained on him, Archbishop Tutu
announced: ‘We are the rainbow people of God. We are free – all of us, black and white together!’ This was the birth of a new
syncretistic civil religion to which all South Africans could subscribe. (Møller et al. 1998: 252)
Newly elected President Nelson Mandela again referred to this symbol of the rainbow when he was inaugurated as
President of South Africa on 10 May 1994. Since then, South Africans are known all over the world as the ‘rainbow
people’. It also became commercialised:
The rainbow symbol has been exploited for commercial purposes as well as political ends. It features in the title of business and
community enterprises and adorns products boasting South African origin from clothing to coffee cups to band-aids. (Møller
et al. 1998: 246)
Robert N Bellah, who ‘revealed’ the American civil religion, defines civil religion as:
a genuine apprehension of universal and transcendent religious reality as seen or, one could almost say, as revealed through the
experience of the … people. (Bellah 1967: 12)
In 1996 a study on national pride and happiness was undertaken as part of the Quality of Life Trends Study by Valerie
Møller, Helga Dickow and Mari Harris. According to them:
the study showed that the unifying civil religion of the ‘rainbow people’ is more than a superb feat of social engineering; it has
captured the public imagination. It has promoted national unity and harmony, inspires happiness as well as pride, and commands
a wide following among diverse groups in South African society. Moreover, supporters of the rainbow symbol of peace are also
optimistic about the future. (Møller et al. 1998: 276–277)
Figure 6.1 National celebration – depicting civil religion?

Questions
1. How did the religious symbol of the rainbow – representing a covenant between God and a chosen people – become
a political symbol?
2. Taking into account Robert N Bellah’s definition of civil religion above, which features of a civil religion can you point
out in this ‘rainbow people’ symbol of nation building?
3. How was the unifying movement of the rainbow people more than ingenious social engineering built around a myth?
Give a reason for your answer. (Hint: keep in mind the link between national identity and social well-being.)
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6.3 Religion and society and the globalisation of social life resulted in social
Religion can be found in every society. The general relationships being played out between people who are
fact that religion exists in society can be related to its separated in time and space. People develop globally
relevance to the basic aspects of the human condition. close relationships with others in the absence of face-
Religion presents humans with the following: a sense to-face interaction. Locality is not as important or
of significance, meaning, support, consolation, and necessary for relationships as in the past.
help in transitional stages, a transcendence of everyday A third feature of modernity that flows from its
reality, identity and purpose. Other practices, views radicalisation is the experience of disembeddedness.
and institutions can undeniably also provide humans In other words, people have the feeling that their
with meaning in their lives. Examples of these are the lives are not determined by what happens in their
family, friends, neighbourhood ties, occupation and immediate locality, but rather by distant events. People
nation. However, religion presents people with a unique can therefore not depend on those in their immediate
transcendental orientation that plays a continuous locality for the functioning of their lives. Their fate is
and unique role in human lives. This holds true for to a large extent determined by expert systems that
stable societies. However, in times of social upheaval are out of their reach and by events that occur outside
or during natural disasters new religious movements their locality.
frequently develop, or people fall back on established Giddens argues that this form of high modernity
religious institutions. There exists therefore a close provides the conditions for the resurgence of religion.
relationship between society and religion. The next A revival of religious or spiritual concerns seems to
subsections discuss aspects of this relationship. be fairly widespread in modern societies. The one
condition that leads to a resurgence of religion is
6.3.1 Religion in current society people’s radical doubt about any certainties. This
Different views exist on how current society can be deep-seated doubt exists in radicalised modernity.
described. This leads to diverse views on how religion’s This is accompanied by the situation in high
role in society can be explained. This subsection will modernity where existential questions are separated
examine the views of three sociologists: Anthony from everyday life. The increasing doubt among
Giddens, Zygmunt Bauman and David Lyon. Each people stems from the fact that modern knowledge
of them poses a specific understanding of what is is not final, but preliminary. Knowledge claims are
important in present-day society and how religion fits presented as the truth, but are in principle continually
into it. open to revision. As a result, nothing can be seen as
permanent. People thus develop an interest in religion
A need for certainty due to their need for certainty.
It is the view of Anthony Giddens (1990) that modern This links closely to Giddens’ second condition
societies moved into a new phase of high modernity for the revival of religion: the fact that existential
(that is modern society developed its modernity to questions are not addressed in high modernity. People
the point that it radicalised certain features of it). are separated from experiences and situations that
One such feature is increased reflexivity (thoughts link their lives to issues of morality and finitude. They
and actions ‘bend back’ towards themselves). Any are isolated from thought about death or from intrinsic
society is continually monitoring itself with the aim ethical motivations for their actions. Therefore, in high
of improving its functioning. The result is that people modernity, people function in a moral vacuum. This
within that society are increasingly willing to change vacuum can be filled by religion, spirituality, self-
their practices, beliefs and institutions in the light of actualisation programmes or commitment to a cause
new experiences and knowledge. Although these new that gives a sense of fulfilment. In this sense Giddens
developments seem to offer certainty through scientific also views religious fundamentalism as a reaction
knowledge, people are unsettled by the uncertainty of to uncertainty in life. Fundamentalism presents an
the constant change confronting them. alternative world view in which no compromise is
A second feature of radicalised modernity is the tolerated. Against the openness of high modernity, this
fundamental changes in people’s organisation of view presents a closed system to people by simplifying
time and space. Modern communication technology reality – as if it is based on certain knowledge.
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Giddens identified the conditions that may presently consumer approach that also impacted on people’s
support a religious or spiritual awakening. The general search for insight into their existence. People want to
critique against his viewpoint is that it overemphasises be able to choose their own narrative or story for their
function; he views religion solely from the function it lives. They want to be free to choose their own options
fulfils in society. Other viewpoints on religion are also in religion. This does not mean that religion is at
possible, as will be indicated later. present losing ground. Religion merely changed from
being a social institution to being used as a cultural
Renewed interest in moral guidance resource. As cultural resource religion remains
Zymunt Bauman (1997) follows a very similar argument important in people’s lives. In this sense, religion is
to Giddens’ argument. In Bauman’s view society is not confined to worshipping within church buildings
not in a state of modernity or of high modernity as anymore, but rather expressed in contemporary
Giddens argued, but rather in a state of postmodernity. culture. Thus, religion has been loosened from tradition
Bauman distinguishes modernity from postmodernity (detraditionalised) and from set rules (deregulated).
in the sense that in modernity universal truths were Furthermore, with regard to religion in current
sought, whereas in postmodernity posited truths are society, some sociologists of religion argue that people
deconstructed. People do not have the same blind are attracted to theologically conservative churches
respect for authority as in the past; they do not accept because of the clear and consistent practice and steadfast
any situation in which external authorities can doctrine these institutions advocate. However, where
impose rules on them. Such an absence of rational mainline churches have attempted to accommodate the
rules guiding people’s lives can lead to an emphasis modern secular world, this seems to have lessened these
on personal ethics and morality. There are only two churches’ appeal. A number of people also change their
sources for establishing true moral beliefs: religious membership during their lifetimes. The main
• People can make use of experts to justify their reasons for this change may be young peoples’ desire to
moral choices. leave mainline churches, the decision to adopt the same
• People can follow the masses in their choices and religion of their spouse, or to worship with people of
thereby follow the trends. similar socioeconomic status.
It is clear that Giddens, Bauman and Lyon view
Religious leaders are viewed as experts in morality religion as important in present-day society. However,
and therefore people will seek guidance from them. it is also their opinion that the function, role and
The lack of moral guidance produced by postmodern place of religion in society has changed. In the next
society renews people’s interest in moral agencies and subsection, the place and role of religion within society
ethical debate. is viewed from a different angle. An important aspect
The critique against Bauman’s argument is that he of contemporary society is the awareness of inequality.
identifies the need for expertise and moral guidance It is important to view religion in the light of forms of
within the context of the postmodern era. But he points inequality.
out that in this era people actually resist expertise
and guidance from authorities. Therefore, although 6.3.2 Religion and inequality
Bauman’s argument about the renewed interest in This subsection focuses on the relationship between
moral guidance seems to make sense, the anomaly religion and inequality. Studies have already indicated
indicated in this paragraph undermines his argument a relationship between religion and marginality.
to some extent. This is the first theme of this section. Secondly, the
subsection examines the issue of women and religion.
Revalued as cultural resource
According to David Lyon (2000) postmodernity Marginalised groupings
introduces two social changes in particular. Firstly, Max Weber (1922) argued that from marginalised
information has developed a global character. groups in society religious groupings will emerge that
Technology makes it possible for information to be have no ties with established churches. If groups are of
globally available, which undermines the inflexibility the view that they are sidelined in society with regard
of belief systems. Secondly, this contributed to the to prestige and/or economic rewards, they may seek
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explanations for their situation. Sects are religious intense debate is also raging in sociology on whether
organisations that stress emotionalism and individual religion is indeed continuing to play any significant
mystical experiences (the use of the term ‘sects’ in role in society. This matter is discussed in the next
sociology will be clarified later in this chapter). subsection.
Such religious organisations can present members
of marginalised groups with reasons for the inequity 6.3.3 Secularisation debate
they have to suffer and provide them with a promise Do people partake less in religion today than previously
of a better life in the afterlife or in a future new world. in history? Secularisation refers to a process in which
Sects can also provide spiritual relief from the a society becomes less religious. This tendency can be
experience of relative deprivation. Relative deprivation viewed in different ways.
is a feeling of being economically deprived in comparison • Firstly, it can be done by measuring the extent
to other groups. This experience can also exist in the to which people are members of a church and
middle classes. People enjoy material wealth but may feel attend services. The decline of membership and
that they lack a sense of community, which sects provide. participation can then be viewed as an indicator
Bryan Wilson (1982) is of the view that sects arise of secularisation.
in times of disorder. When traditional meaning is • Secondly, it can be viewed as the extent to which
undermined and social relationships lack coherence the prestige and social influence of religious
and consistency, sects come to the fore presenting a organisations decline in society. In earlier
sense of security and order. This is an indication of societies religious organisations had considerable
how the disruption of traditional norms undermined influence. Religious organisations as such do not
conventional institutionalised religions. This dis demand the same respect in society as in the past.
ruption encouraged people to consider alternatives that • Thirdly, secularisation can refer to a diminishing
are not as traditional. People became more tolerant of effect that religious beliefs and values have
diversity and religious pluralism – multiple religions on people’s lives. People orientate their lives
in one society. The result was that the popularity of less according to what they believe about the
cults increased. It is important to remember that social supernatural.
studies have a distinct view on cults that differs from
the traditional view. From a sociological view cults Favouring secularisation
are seen as religious groups lacking organisation Auguste Comte believed that human history passes
and receiving their inspiration from outside the through three consecutive stages:
predominant religious culture. They require fewer • the first is the theological state where religious
sacrifices and commitments than churches and sects. beliefs would be important
• the second is the metaphysical stage where
Inequality in gender relationships philosophy is dominant
Another kind of inequality that stands out in many • in the final positivist stage science will be the
religious organisations relates to the relationship leading principle.
between men and women. Men can use religion to
dominate and oppress women, but at the same time Another sociologist from earlier times, Émile Durkheim
women are compensated for their second-class status. (1912), also argued in favour of the secularisation
Radical feminist theory argues that religion is a product process. His view was that in an industrial society
of patriarchy – a society under male domination where the division of labour is highly specialised. In such a
the father figure has a prominent place. Women are society religion will lose its significance as a force that
given a false belief of compensation in the afterlife and integrates society.
in that way they are kept subjugated. However, some Max Weber (1930) also anticipated the decline
scholars argue that in many cases religion actually of religion. His view was that increasing rationality
protects women from the excesses of patriarchy and will undermine religious influence. Karl Marx
from abuse. believed that religion legitimised the inequality in
In contrast to those who emphasise the active class societies. He therefore did not expect religion to
role that religion continues to fulfil in society, an decline under industrial capitalism that entrenched
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Chapter 6: Religion
inequality between the workers and the owners of This decline in religion’s influence led to a situation
capital. However, according to him, when capitalism where religion only retained its influence within the
is replaced by classless communism, then religion will family environment. Religion is seen to be largely
cease to have any social purpose. irrelevant in the circles of government, the marketplace
Bryan Wilson (1982) defined secularisation as and education. Nationalism and political and secular
the process whereby religious institutions, as well as ideologies became the cohesive forces in societies.
religious thought and practice, lose social significance. Religion became a matter of personal conviction
Contemporary sociologists supported the views of rather than an expression of a social reality. Religious
the founders of sociology by indicating that modern norms and values do not function on a societal level.
society is incompatible with a context in which the The concepts of sin and salvation, or heaven and hell,
central role of religion is retained. Several factors have lost much of their importance in modern-day
undermine the significance of religion. Among these society. Moral rules that are enforced by religious and
factors is the increasing specialisation of labour, the supernatural sanctions have become less strict. The
ascendancy of science and rationality, as well as the realm of the supernatural is viewed as not important
decline of traditional values in society. for the modern world anymore.
People’s belief in a personal god or some sort Rationality involves action to achieve a goal that
of spirit or life force is decreasing. People are is thought out. Capitalism places a primary emphasis
increasingly sceptical about religious beliefs. The on maximising profit. In the light of such a goal-
social fragmentation of society led to a plurality of orientated emphasis, religious beliefs tend to fade into
religious and cultural groups. This situation caused the background. Society is then desacralised. This
individuals to view their beliefs as a matter of personal means that supernatural forces are no longer seen to
preference. Religious commitment has become a matter control society. People’s actions are not directed by
of choice and is not a necessary part of being a member religious beliefs but by secular goals. The world is
of society, as is the case in religious societies in which characterised by disenchantment. Magic and mystery
there is only one faith and one church. are not leading powers in society anymore.
This condition is helped along by the fact that According to Bryan Wilson (1982) a rational world
people in modern-day society do not have a sense of view is the true adversary of religion. Motives and
building a community. The reason is that people’s meaning that determine action are in this case taken
lives are dominated by impersonal bureaucracies. as rational. Rational procedure and the testing of
Therefore it is difficult for people to relate to the arguments are the basis for meaning in modern-day
closely knit communities provided by religious society. Truth is assessed by what can be measured
organisations. People explore in a wider sense the objectively and quantified. Religion is viewed only as
cultural services and the cultural diversity that are an option that comes into reckoning when scientific
open to them. The result is that they hold their beliefs alternatives have all been exhausted.
with less certainty. Secularisation, on the one hand, refers to the
Social scientists view the process of secularisation declining power of religion. On the other hand,
as well advanced and irreversible. The belief in secularisation also points to the effect that ideas of
supernatural powers as a cultural trait is viewed as the modern world have on religious policies and
doomed because scientific knowledge is becoming doctrinal views, for instance those on the role of
increasingly diffuse and is deemed adequate to provide women and gays. Traditional religious institutions
answers to life’s problems. The notion developed that increasingly have to accommodate outlooks from the
science would ultimately answer questions that had modern world view.
previously been in the realm of religion. This is due to In a global society religion does not present an
the rapid growth in technological solutions to the daily overarching set of beliefs and values. In such a society
problems of living and the scientific understanding of religion takes on a relatively marginal, limited and
them. The result is that religion’s influence on thought privatised role. In this sense religion can only deal
and behaviour are gradually reduced or removed. with personal questions, such as the meaning of life
Societal elements become separated from spiritual or for an individual.
religious influences or connections.
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Critique of secularisation of its followers’ culture and gives members reason to

Currently among sociologists there is a strong critique defend their culture.
of the idea of secularisation. It is their opinion that Gilles Keppel (1994) argues that Islam, Judaism
a decline of religion in its institutional state does and Christianity have experienced a resurgence
not necessarily indicate a decrease in religious in the modern world. These religious revivals are
commitment and belief. It is not essential for people reactions against modernity and represent a process
who hold religious beliefs to belong to a religious of re-sacrilisation: restoring religious meaning or the
institution. In today’s world people can express their quality of the sacred to society.
religious beliefs in different ways. Polls indicate that Rodney Stark (Stark & Bainbridge 1985) views
many more individuals hold religious beliefs than the religious dimension as more dynamic than it
those who belong to religious organisations. Religion is depicted in typical secularisation theories. He
still shows a surprising vitality. Conservative and suggests that secularisation thrusts religion into new
fundamental religious groups, in particular, have directions. Some religious organisations become
growing numbers of followers. In these organisations orientated more towards the world, while others evolve
good and evil are clearly distinguished and individual to fill the vacuum produced by secularisation. Through
effort is emphasised and sometimes rewarded. In innovation there emerged new kinds of religions and
many cases such groupings use the mass media and forms of religious organisation. Many organisations
social networks effectively to spread their message. shift their emphasis away from the supernatural, but
This conservative reaction attempts to defend beliefs they still satisfy people’s religious needs. Thereby
and structures against secularisation. It can be religion still retains a form of otherworldliness by
viewed as a counter-secularisation response. It stems presenting people with an escape route from the
from uncertainty and anxiety about the danger of demands of the modern world. In modern-day society
secularisation undermining their religious position. different patterns of religious practices develop
They maintain only a practical and instrumental continually in all parts of the world.
relationship with the secular world and resist moral The problem with the secularisation theory is
relativisation. This position is found among groupings that it is not clear what the extent of spiritual fervour
that resist secularisation within Christianity, Judaism or scepticism was among tribal societies in the past.
and Islam. They build a strong counter-culture in order The nature of religious practices and beliefs was not
to maintain a steadfast religious identity among future studied throughout the centuries before the social
generations by means of a committed and continuous sciences were established. But since the development
religious socialisation. of the social sciences, the ways in which religion
Talcott Parsons (1949) argues that society has is to be measured remain a contested terrain.
evolved through a process of structural differentiation. Measurement depends on what definition of religion
During this process parts of the social system have is being employed, an aspect on which scientists differ
become more specialised. This specialisation resulted significantly.
in the parts performing fewer functions, without The existence of a secularisation process in society
lessening their importance. Therefore, religious is therefore not evident in a straightforward manner.
beliefs can still provide significance and meaning to The identification of such a process invariably depends
an individual’s life. Such specialisation does limit the on how religion is defined. Against those highlighting
church’s involvement in non-religious matters. This a secularisation process, others do still view religion
enables the capitalist logic of efficiency, calculability as a critical force in the social world. It seems that
and profit to play a more dominant role, while the roles religion will still appeal to people for a long time.
of religious faith and that of morality diminish. Religion provides people with meaning and answers to
Furthermore, religion can play an important role complex questions about life that cannot be explored
in defending cultures or by lending support during when limited to a rational perspective.
cultural transitions. In such cases religion helps Samuel P Huntington (1997) is of the opinion
people cope with change or in times when their culture that religion will become more important in global
is threatened. Religion also supports the world view terms. People tend to identify themselves in terms of
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civilisations which are made up of history, language, 6.3.4 Religious fundamentalism

culture, tradition and religion. In the light of this Religious fundamentalism is a term that came into
identification, clashes between civilisations will common use only in the last two or three decades.
increase, because they exist geographically close Modernisation undermined traditional elements of
to each other. In such an environment the divide in society. Thus, religious fundamentalism developed
relations between ‘us’ and ‘you’ will enlarge and breed as a countermove to defend these traditional beliefs.
continual conflict. A huge part of this conflict will Religious fundamentalists interpret basic scriptures
be related to religious divisions. Therefore, globally or texts literally. They view such texts as sacred and
religion will become more important, rather than less therefore believe in their timelessness and authority.
important. In this conflict the identity of Western Fundamentalists believe that their own interpretation
Christian civilisation will be increasingly challenged. and doctrines are correct and no other interpretations
Sociologists further argue that global politics, are possible or permissible.
science and economy do not offer an identity to Religious fundamentalism is a learned disposition
individuals or to social groups. People do not have and is dependent on the insight of privileged
a single or general sense of who they are in modern- interpreters who thereby have considerable power
day society. Within this lacuna religion can be used in religious and non-religious matters. All aspects of
to provide an overarching identity. Religion can be life are interpreted in terms of faith-based answers.
abused to assert one group’s superiority over another Therefore, this social grouping views their doctrines
group. Or it can be employed to mobilise marginalised as fully applicable to family, political, social and
groups to seek influence or power within a global economic life. To them history is not merely a sequence
world. Religion can also be used to bring together of events, but rather a cosmic struggle between good
people of different beliefs and faiths. Globalisation and evil. The good is outlined in certain principles and
limits the influence of religion but does not lead to the the evil is identified as that which digresses from those
end of all religion. principles. Such a divisive imagery does not take into
Rationality caused the modern world to become account that human life is complex. Truth is viewed
fragmented to such an extent that many people find as unchanging and knowable. According to this view
it difficult to draw a satisfying identity from their truth does not vary over time and place.
public life. Work became a means to an end and does This way of dealing with reality can fuel hate
not offer people lasting satisfaction and fulfilment. and conflict, and thereby produce martyrs and
People do not sense a calling to their work and may not deadly foes. Religious fanaticism can thus stem
identify strongly with their co-workers. In such cases from fundamentalism. If such religious fanaticism is
religious movements can restore a sense of fulfilment in embodied in the state, then leaders can use military
people’s lives. power, government structures and propaganda to
In order to construct an idea of secularisation wield total power. Such exertions of power can lead
an ideal religious society has to be envisaged against to crimes against humanity. Religious fundamentalists
which the idea of secularisation can be measured. tend to be highly patriarchal. The power of men and
Such an ideal religious society is to a large extent the subordination of women are notions that are
the product of a particular researcher’s judgement. emphasised in fundamentalism. Gender equality is
This should caution readers in how they interpret viewed as a symptom of a declining moral order that
conclusions drawn in the secularisation debate. needs to be reversed.
In modern-day society the religious field changes All fundamentalist movements believe that secular
continually. Alternative religions develop, Christian values aim to wipe out their religions completely. Such
and Muslim political parties are established and the movements therefore develop in reaction to a perceived
Africanisation of Western religions takes place in Africa. threat or crisis, whether it is real or imagined.
Outside of the mainstream institutions, charismatic and Fundamentalism is found among Christians,
Pentecostal groups and religious movements function Jews and other religious groupings. But it is Islamic
with vitality. These trends could slow secularisation fundamentalism that currently plays an important
or reverse it. The future of the relationship between role in world politics and is shaping world history.
religion and society is thus not clear. The Islamic faith involves the whole of human life.
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For Muslims their religious prescriptions cover all movements. Some churches in this instance
aspects of their life. In this faith a clear distinction functioned in a similar way to civil-rights movements
is made between what is sacred and what is secular. and raised the consciousness of people to understand
Western values are viewed as a threat to what their state of oppression in order to engage in acts of
Muslims view as sacred. The radical faction in Islamic resistance.
fundamentalism views their religious traditions as The potential of a religion to affect society
under threat from a degenerate Western society and depends on the overlap between the religion and the
often take extreme measures to protect their religion. culture of the society, as well as the social location
Other religions are not tolerated and Western culture of religion in such a society. The more influence
is vilified. religion exerts in a society, the more it can impact on
This religious fundamentalism is a response to that society. If an influential religious belief system
experiences of failures of legitimacy and authority in promotes change, then the society will be directed
modern Muslim states. It views Islam as a way of life by this focus.
that is relevant to the whole of society. Therefore the
subversive, secular and materialistic Western view of 6.4 Sociological perspectives on
life cannot be tolerated. Islamic law must be introduced religion
and Islamic values must be reflected in the use of The three classical sociological theorists, Durkheim,
science and technology. Islamic fundamentalists range Marx and Weber, still influence sociological approaches
from those who would want to promote an Islamic state to religion strongly. All three these theorists expected
within current political arrangements, to the fanatics the significance of religion to decrease in modern times.
who want to establish political change in a violent way. Each of them believed religion was fundamentally
The motivation for the establishment of an Islamic an illusion. This means that they viewed religion as
state is not driven solely by religion. It is a complex a false image or representation of what is real. This
matter which includes the revival of traditional ways view stems from the period in which they lived
of life combined with modern lifestyles. where rational thought was valued more highly than
The rise of fundamentalism can be attributed religious beliefs.
to people’s experience that their belief system is
challenged. People feel they cannot tolerate the 6.4.1 Structural/functionalist perspective:
challenge, and have to reaffirm their belief. They often Religion and social stability, product
use political means to further their cause. of society
Worshipping society itself
6.3.5 Religion and social change Émile Durkheim (1858–1917) studied religion,
The practice of religion can change over time. For particularly in small-scale, traditional societies.
instance currently the practice of much religious He published his work The Elementary Forms of the
activity is highly commercialised. A large industry Religious Life in 1912. This provides us with one of
has developed through selling religious music and the most influential interpretations of religion from a
‘spiritual’ publications. functionalist perspective.
Theorists debate the changing role that religion Durkheim studied the totemism of Australian
plays in society. Most functionalists, Marxists and Aboriginal clans as the most basic form of religion. A
feminists generally dismiss the possibility that totem is an object, plant or animal that is revered by a
religion is able to transform society. They view clan as a symbol, and therefore viewed as sacred, in
religion as a conservative force. In their view it is contrast to what is seen as profane. A totem is used
society that rather changes religion and not vice versa. for rituals and is treated with respect. In the case of
In this context fundamentalism is presented as an the Australian Aborigines the totems differ among the
example of religion playing a counter-revolutionary clans. The clans select a totem for themselves, which
role. However, religion can indeed play an important is usually an animal or natural object. Examples of
role in liberation movements. This is what happened totems are kangaroos, trees, rivers, rock formations
in South Africa during the time of the anti-apartheid and other animals or natural phenomena.
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Chapter 6: Religion
A clan is like an extended family. The members share Coping mechanism for stress
duties and obligations and practise exogamy – members Bronislaw Malinowski (1884–1942) used data he
are not allowed to marry within the clan. Within these obtained from studying small-scale, non-literate
clans the totem is represented by drawings in stone or societies to interpret religion. He did his fieldwork
wood. These drawings are considered as equally sacred mainly in the Trobriand Islands off the coast of New
as the figure they represent. The totem distinguishes Guinea. As with Durkheim, Malinowski (1948) was of
the clan from all the other clans. As such, the totem the opinion that religions reinforced social norms and
is the most sacred object used in the Aboriginal values and promoted social solidarity. However, he did
clan ritual. not view religion as the worshipping of society itself.
Durkheim concluded that each totem is a symbol of For him religion is rather concerned with situations of
the group itself. It represents the cohesion and values emotional stress that threaten social solidarity within
of the group. The respect shown towards the totem is the society.
in fact respect for the values of the group and for the Malinowski noted that religious rituals are
group as such. The ceremonies and rituals related to associated with life crises and events that cannot
the totem are essentially meant to bind the members of be controlled or predicted. Life stages such as birth,
the group together and to express the group’s unique puberty, marriage and death all are enclosed in
identity. The collective ceremonies create, reinforce religious rituals. Life crises tend to disrupt social life
and express group solidarity and unity. or produce tension and anxiety. Rituals tend to reduce
In Durkheim’s view, this applies to small the anxiety, provide confidence and strengthen group
traditional societies, as well as to modern societies. unity. Malinowski was critiqued for exaggerating the
He therefore views religion as a cultural universal that role of religious rituals in this matter. Other studies
can be found in all societies because it meets basic indicated that many rituals merely maintained
human needs and serves important societal functions. the prestige of the custom and were not related to
Religion establishes a collective consciousness that strengthening solidarity and addressing fear and
gives people a sense of belonging and guides them to uncertainty.
let go of individual self-interest. In religion members
of society communicate, express and understand the Providing answers to ultimate issues
moral bonds which unite them. Within the religious Talcott Parsons (1902–1979) argued that beliefs, values
rituals, full of reverence and drama, the integration of and systems of meaning directed human action in
that particular society is strengthened. In this sense the social system. These guidelines were provided by
religion can be seen as a worshipping of society. The the cultural system of which religion formed a part.
actual object of religious worship is the society and the The function of religion was to provide guidelines for
members who depend on that society. human action within this system. Human life can be
Critics of Durkheim do not support his view that disrupted by unforeseen circumstances and is therefore
religion is in general the worship of society as such. characterised by uncertainty due to uncontrollable
This observation may be applicable to small, non- factors. To cope with such possible crisis situations,
literate communities where culture and religion people need religion. Religion provides answers to
largely overlap. But it is less applicable to modern, those issues that cannot be understood. Religion
industrial societies. Modern-day society is diversified, presents meaning in view of events and problems
with different cultures, religions, institutions and that threaten to shatter people’s meaning of life. An
social groups. This pluralism stands in direct contrast example of this is suffering, for which religion can
to Durkheim’s theory of religion’s role to ensure unity provide answers to a person’s piercing questions. From
and solidarity. It is also pointed out in the critiques that a religious perspective suffering can be presented as
Durkheim studied only a small number of Aboriginal a test of faith, a punishment for sins or as temporary
groups and these groups were somewhat atypical of hardship that will be rewarded in the afterlife.
other Aboriginal tribes. It may therefore be misleading A problem with the functionalist perspective
to make generalisations based on the Aboriginal groups of the theorists above is that they tend to emphasise
Durkheim studied and on this basis to try and work out the positive contributions of religion and neglect the
universals for religion. dysfunctional aspects. According to this perspective
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the focus is on functional aspects such as solidarity, punishment or bad fortune. These sanctions extend
integration and harmony. However, the many ways in to unseen deviance as well. In this way religion is
which religion can be disruptive and divisive are not a major influence on an individual’s conscience.
placed under scrutiny. For instance, in the religions In religion there are also ways of forgiveness so
of the ancient Greek and Roman Empire the gods did that transgressors can be received back into the
terrible mischief to one another and to human beings. religious community. This ensures social control
The social order had to stand on its own moral and and reduces tension.
ethical laws. The gods (from the supernatural realm) • Religion presents meaning to human life. It places
were portrayed as uninterested in the mundane doings the lives of people in a universal context. This is
of human beings. especially true of poor and oppressed people who are
The idea that the supernatural is deeply involved presented with deliverance from their hardships and
in the lives of human beings is to be found in the major inequality by a message of social salvation. Religion
world faiths, such as Christianity, Judaism, Islam presents the destitute and downtrodden with a
and Hinduism. Not all religions acknowledge the high moral status. This compensates for their low
existence of a god or gods. Taoism, Confucianism and socioeconomic status. Religion can also influence
ancestor worshipping have a belief in an overarching the higher classes to be more conscious of inequality.
mystical force that governs life. The effect of religion They are called to acts of kindness, charity, mercy
on individual morality depends on the images people and sharing with those who are less fortunate.
have of the supernatural. Only when the supernatural • Religion gives family life special meaning.
is viewed as morally concerned will the religious rites Marriage rituals are important in most religions.
and rituals help impose human morality. Morality Religious norms on marriage include the following:
depends, therefore, primarily on the people’s view it prescribes the way in which sexual activity
of how important the supernatural is for moral should take place, it discourages divorce, equalises
behaviour. couples’ norms and limits mistreatment of
spouses. According to the oral traditions, familial
Religion: functional or dysfunctional effect? relationships are also present among the divinities
The functional perspective’s main contribution is of different religions, for instance the father–
that it sensitises people to the functions religion can son (filial) relationship between God and Jesus.
fulfil in society. However, religion can also have a In ancestral veneration the aim is to appease the
dysfunctional effect on society. Below is a list of some deceased male family members so that they will
functions religion can have, and thereafter a list of continue to care for the clan. In some instances
possible dysfunctions. The important functions that these ancestors can also be female family members.
religion can play in societies are the following: Mother figures are also worshipped, as seen in the
• Religion can promote social cohesion and a case of the Hindu goddesses, and also with the
sense of belonging. It can thereby emphasise the veneration of Mary, the mother of Jesus according to
importance of shared symbols and practices. tradition. The family has a special place in religious
Religion can bind members of a society together rituals and worship and is closely associated with
through rituals and rites. It assists people to it. Religion can therefore determine the normative
experience on a subconscious level the power functioning of families’ lives – a functioning that is
society exerts over the individual. in most cases transmitted to new generations.
• Religion strengthens society’s norms and values. • Religion can play an important role to legitimise
It controls human behaviour and provides a the authority of government. In this sense,
foundation for social organisation. If personal religion stabilises societies and persuades people
wishes conflict with society’s requirements, to accept government laws. Such legitimisation is
religion offers rewards to those who subordinate very prominent in Islamic countries. The South
their desires to society’s interests. In that way African Constitution has a secular grounding and
religion controls deviant behaviour and sanctions religion is therefore not directly supportive of the
conformity. If people deviate from the religious government. However, religious groupings can
norms they may expose themselves to supernatural align themselves with the government and thereby
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support government initiatives. Traditional chiefs primary function in society to be a stabilising influence,
in rural areas can also uphold traditional rites the conflict perspective underscores the problematic
and rituals. In their area they can legitimise their effect that this function can have on society.
authority by means of appealing to religious views.
6.4.2 Conflict perspective: religion and
In general, the functionalist perspective does not change
point out the dysfunctional effect that religion can Karl Marx (1818–1883) did not study religion directly.
have on societies. However, it is clear that religion He derived his ideas from Ludwig Feuerbach (1804–
can contribute to a society being more dysfunctional. 1872) who viewed religion as ideas that humans form
Below are some examples: during their cultural development. They then project
• Religion can encourage the subordination of these ideas and needs as personalised religious forces
women to men. A submissive position for women and gods. Through this projection people alienate
is prescribed in some religious groupings. This themselves from their own cultural creations. Karl
usually implies that women are excluded from Marx accepted this notion of alienation as being central
certain religious activities. Among the Nguni who to religious practice. Marx argued in a famous phrase
practise exogamy (marrying outside of the group), that religion is ‘the sigh of the oppressed creature, the
the women remain strangers in the homestead heart of the heartless world, and the soul of soulless
and can more easily be accused of witchcraft. conditions. It is the opiate of the masses’. By this he
In groups that practise endogamy (marrying meant that religion promises happiness in an afterlife,
within the group) like the Venda and Sotho, and thereby causes people to accept the existing
the wife is normally not accused of witchcraft conditions of life. Religion helps to alleviate the pain
by her husband. However, women can also play of their living conditions. Marx views religion in this
an important role in religion as seen among the sense as an illusion that makes the world bearable
Venda and Swazi. Women sometimes fulfil the for people who place their hope in supernatural
role of prophets in some African Independent intervention. This also makes suffering a virtue.
Churches and also act as diviners (isangoma) It is clear that, according to this view, religion
among the Zulu. actually distorts reality. People are led to accept
• Religion can make it difficult to resolve political blindly the existing conditions of life because
conflicts. Political struggles are occasionally religion justifies such acceptance of the status quo.
about valued resources such as land and water. This preserves the social order, as well as the social
When the opposing parties identify with different inequality inherent in this order. In this way religion is
religions the political dispute becomes difficult to a force that encourages resistance to change and gives
resolve. The struggle is then elevated to a higher capitalists the opportunity to mislead the workers
level of conflicting values and beliefs. This is the whom they are exploiting. Religion then becomes a
case with the dispute between the Palestinians tool for class oppression and a mechanism for social
and Israelis in the Middle East. control. Thus, religion coaxes the oppressed to accept
• Religion can prevent change. When the religious their socioeconomic constraints and simultaneously
establishment supports the prevailing culture, creates a false consciousness by explaining and
norms and values, it presents the status quo with justifying these social conditions. The purpose is
a revered character. In such instances it becomes to blind members of the subjected class to their own
difficult to motivate the population to work for interests and to persuade them to support the capitalist
change of the existing conditions. The support of system, even to their detriment. In this way they do not
some religious groupings for the apartheid system realise their oppression and help the ruling classes to
made it more difficult for these groupings to maintain their capitalist power.
consider the possibility of changing the system. In contrast, in a classless society, religion would
not be necessary, because people will not have the
The next angle on religion, the conflict perspective, need to escape reality. In such a society the means of
focuses on religion and its role in resisting change. production will be communally owned. Therefore, no
Where the functionalist perspective views religion’s social conditions will exist to produce religion. All of
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the illusions and distortions within the social reality relationship between religion and social change.
will disappear, according to Marx. Weber describes how religions have often produced
Some evidence from our time confirms religion’s social transformation. He explained in particular how
role in resisting change. Typically, the conservative Protestantism, and especially Calvinism, contributed
Protestants in the United States of America, the so- to the capitalist outlook of the modern Western world.
called New Christian Right, support the right-wing Max Weber pointed this out in his book The Protestant
political candidates in the Republican Party. From Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism (1930). Weber argues
this political platform they attack the more liberal as follows: Whereas development in manufacturing
candidates in the Democratic Party, who champion and commerce, as well as urbanisation did take place
socioeconomic transformation. in traditional India and China, it did not fully develop
The critique of Marx’s theory of religion is directed because the religions in those societies inhibited
towards his view that religion cannot contribute the process.
towards change or towards a revolution in society. In contrast, Christianity contributed to the radical
Religion can indeed play a significant part in helping social change in the Western world. Weber regarded
to bring about change and the total transformation of Christianity as a religion built on salvation. That
society. Examples are the religious wars, terrorism and means that humans are sinners who can only be
genocide that contributed to some of the many violent rescued by God’s grace. The psychological tension
and tragic episodes in world history. created by either being lost or saved did not exist in
Many national revolutions were fuelled by the Eastern religions and this impeded change. The
religious beliefs. Examples of these are the Protestant origins of the belief system within Christianity that
Reformation of the sixteenth century and the lead to capitalism were identified in Protestantism by
current Islamic militancy that foments radical Weber. He posed the question why capitalist leaders
social upheavals. The Protestant Reformation united were overwhelmingly Protestants. He claimed that
diverse groupings of people who were dissatisfied this tendency stems from the religious teachings of
with the existing social system. It drew support the Protestants. Particularly the Calvinist branch of
from the city and country, as well as the lower and the Protestant tradition contributed to an ethic that
upper classes. Within the Reformation all of these supported the orientations required by capitalism.
groupings could be united to become a strong force in Weber pointed out that the founder of Calvinism,
reshaping society. John Calvin (1509–1564), emphasised a doctrine of
Another example where religion contributed predestination. This is a belief that God decided in
to a national revolution was the fall of the Iranian the beginning who will be saved and who will perish.
monarchy in 1979. This revolution was driven by Because people cannot know for sure whether they
Shiism, a fundamentalist branch of Islam. The leader of are saved they look for earthly signs of their salvation.
the Shiite clergy, the Ayatollah Khomeini, engineered This psychological problem of Protestants led them
the revolution from exile, became the new leader of the to search eagerly for clues of ‘being elected’. High
country and transformed the country into an Islamic income due to hard work was believed to be a clue
republic. This fusion of religion and the revolutionary of believers being elected by God. The Protestants’
movement successfully ensured the overthrow of the work ethic was not an attempt to ‘get to heaven’, but
Shah of Iran. The religion of Shiism provided the to convince themselves that they were ‘chosen for
revolutionaries with communication, supporters, heaven’. Protestants therefore toiled hard but did not
structures and ideas to fulfil their mission. indulge in the fruits of their labour. They maintained
the belief that the present world is temporary and that
6.4.3 Interpretive perspective: religion as a it is more important to focus on heaven as the final
system of meaning goal of life. This meant that they practised asceticism.
The interpretive perspective views religion as a They abstained from the pleasures and luxuries of this
socially constructed belief system. Max Weber (1864– world and developed an austere lifestyle. They did not
1920) studied different religious systems: Hinduism, collect luxuries or enjoy possessions.
Buddhism, Taoism, ancient Judaism and Christianity. Key features of the Protestant ethic were hard work
In studying these religions he concentrated on the and self-denial. The adherents criticised laziness,
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time-wasting, sexual pleasures and unnecessary sleep. In such an economic interpretation of religion in society
Recreation was only permitted to improve health to it is said that the greater the number of competing
be fit for the individual’s calling. Calling refers to the religious groups, the greater will be the proportion of
work that God expects of one to accomplish on earth. the population who will be active in religion. A variety
Anything that may distract people from their calling of religious groups that cater for ‘niche markets’ can
was condemned. This methodical and single-minded satisfy a greater scope of religious needs and tastes
pursuit of a calling led to an ethic that produced a in society. On the other hand, if only one religious
stockpiling of wealth. Due to this ethic Protestants institution exists, it will not satisfy everyone’s religious
invested their wealth in their businesses and did needs and participation levels will therefore be lower.
not spend it on themselves. In combination with the For a religious organisation to be competing
development of steam power and mechanisation successfully in the economy of religion its beliefs and
at that time it lead to an astronomical increase in rituals have to be appealing to the religious ‘consumers’.
production, which ensured surplus income to develop Such a religion should compete successfully with
the businesses further. The result was, according to other religious groups, and must therefore have
Weber, the development of capitalism. This production efficient ‘sales representatives’ who spread the word
system eventually developed its own norms and and display good marketing skills.
became a socioeconomic force in itself. The dynamics of this theory hold for societies with
From the Marxist viewpoint Weber was criticised a variety of religious organisations, which give people
for granting Calvinism such a prominent position in the opportunity to make a free choice. In societies
the development of capitalism. The Marxists indicated where religious pluralism is not as prevalent, with
that Calvinism developed in cities where commerce fewer deeply committed believers, there may be less
and early industrialisation already existed. They view religious mobility. It is likely that people will rather
Calvinism rather as a result of early capitalism than practise their childhood religion without considering
the cause of this economic system. alternatives. Such a society will therefore have a rigid
It is clear from an interpretative perspective that economy of religion.
religion is described as a system of meaning that is The motive for using economic terms in a religious
developed to interpret the position of humans in context is to give a general description of how religious
relation to the supernatural. This presents religion as organisations function in society. More generally,
a dynamic process of interpretation and in that way sociologists attempted to distinguish different types
religion can indeed contribute to change in society. of religious organisations, their elements and the
members who participate in these organisations.
6.5 Organisation of religion
The language of economics can be used by sociologists 6.5.1 Types of religious organisations
to describe the way religion is organised in society In sociology, religions can be classified in different
(Stark 2007: 395). This is called economy of religion. ways. One way is to classify them in terms of the object
In the same way that the economy has markets and of worship. For instance, the major religious groups
firms, there is a demand for religion (market) with in the West – Christianity, Islam and Judaism – are
religious organisations (firms) fulfilling the demand. characterised by worshipping only one god. This type
In accordance with economic language, religion in of religion is described as monotheist. In contrast to
society can also be characterised by a free-market the monotheist religions there are polytheist religions
system or by monopolies. There can be an active where more than one god is worshipped. Hinduism
interplay between different religious groups, or could be seen as a polytheist religion, however, the
the ‘market’ can be dominated by one or only a few different ‘gods’ that are worshipped are also seen as
religious organisations. Religious pluralism stands in manifestations from the ‘One Spirit’. Other religions
opposition to religious monopoly. A religious monopoly such as Confucianism, Buddhism, Shintoism and
is only possible with strong support from the state that Taoism can be seen as expressions of transcendental
enforces an adherence to one religion. idealism. Adherents of these religions do not worship
157

a god, but rather focus on a set of moral, philosophical and religious-based controlling position. Membership
and ethical principles of an ideal life. Other forms of commences with birth and is not voluntary. An
religion that can be highlighted are: example of this is Islam in Iran presently.
• ancestor worship – the reverence granted to
deceased relatives Denomination as religious organisation
• animism – the belief that spirits inhabit the The second type of religious organisation is called a
material world and operate actively in this world denomination. This is similar to a church and displays
• totemism – the veneration of an object from nature. the same hierarchical organisational structure together
with formally trained leadership. A denomination
For an extended period in sociology the typology differs from a church in the following fashion:
used mostly to study religions focused on the • It does not appeal to the whole of society.
types of religious organisations that can be found. • It approves of the separation between church
Sociologists used different ways to categorise the and state.
types of religious organisations. However, it is indeed • It does not claim monopoly on religious truth.
a question whether, with the increasing pluralisation • It co-operates with other religious organisations
of religious organisations, they can all be categorised towards a greater cause.
in a meaningful way. For a while some theorists • Denominations do not define the values of the
in sociology categorised religious organisations society but rather accommodate such values.
according to four types. The types or categories were • Members largely share the values of the
church, denomination, sect and cult. host society.
• Members are mostly drawn from the middle and
Church as religious organisation working classes.
Th e o r g a n i s a t io n of c hu r c h d e pic t s a l a r g e, • New members are mainly the children of present
bureaucratically organised religious organisation that members with more flexible commitment.
accommodates all the members of the society concerned.
This organisation is fully integrated and institutionalised Examples within South Africa are the Catholic Church
into the dominant culture of the surrounding society. in South Africa, Anglican Church of Southern Africa,
The following features can be highlighted: Methodist Church of Southern Africa, and the Dutch
• Churches are organisations with a strong Reformed Church.
intellectual and teaching tradition.
• The organisation has a clerical and administrative Sects as religious organisation
hierarchy, and it is founded on elaborate dogma The third type of religious organisation, sects, refers
which is expressed through detailed rituals. to religious groups that are not part of mainstream
• It draws its membership from all classes of organisations. They are actually the opposite of
society, but especially from the middle and churches. Elements that are important in this kind
upper classes. of organisation are emotionalism, purity of faith,
• The members can participate fully in social life mystical experiences and less structure. Features that
and need not reject the present world in favour of can be highlighted are the following:
an afterlife (‘heaven’). • Sects are generally small organisations that reject
• The church generally represents the country’s aspects of the established religion.
official religion and has a close relationship with • They call for a return to purity – unblemished
the government. moral conduct.
• It does not tolerate challenges and therefore guards • They believe God is present and active in
its monopoly on religious truth. members’ lives.
• The members form a close-knit community in
The current upsurge in religious pluralism put which they experience solidarity and a stand in
pressure on these types of monopolies. This caused opposition to the world.
such religious structures (churches) to act strongly • In view of the previous point, the membership
in a protective mode and to maintain their primary of sects usually includes those persons who are
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Chapter 6: Religion
disconnected from their positions in life and who • The goal is to present the adherents of this religious
oppose the direction of the state and society. formation with a spiritual experience.
• Sects actively recruit members and only admit • The cult can offer services directly to their clients
truly committed converts. or make use of the mass media, social networks
• Children do not automatically become part of and conferences.
the sect, but join the sect willingly as adults and
accept its prescribed lifestyle. Three kinds of cults can be distinguished:
• In many instances sects are formed by members who • Countercultural cults are offshoots of especially
severed ties with existing religious organisations. Asian religious traditions. Examples are Zen
• Sectarian leaders usually lack formal training but Buddhism, the Hare Krishna movement and
exercise personal charisma. Sufism. They have a charismatic leadership and
• Members are actively involved in the organisation emphasise direct personal religious experience.
and the structure has very little hierarchy. • Personal-growth cults have a Western origin and
are more quasi-religious in nature. They want to
The difficulty in defining sects is that as the put their followers in touch with the ultimate
membership increases the structure can become more meaning of life. Scientology, Transcendental
hierarchical and starts to display the characteristics Meditation and the New Age Movement are
of a denomination. As the children of the original examples of such cults. Members are not fully
members of a sect grow up and become members, involved in these cults, but rather follow them to
they may not be able to sustain the fervour of the solve specific problems in their lives.
initial generation. When the sect begins to take on the • Neo-Christian cults include groups such as the
form of a denomination, the result is that members Children of God and Jews for Jesus that emphasise
become dissatisfied and break away to form a new direct religious experiences.
sect. Sects can also come under pressure when the
charismatic leader dies, or members can improve their Sociologists agree that sects and cults are the result of
socioeconomic status in society and the marginality of people’s reaction to swift social change or their attempt
a sect loses its attraction to them. However, sociologists to relieve feelings of deprivation. The deprivation can
differ on the point whether all kind of sects will tend be social and can stem from lack of prestige and status,
to develop into denominations. There is a view that or economic because of the struggle to make ends meet.
this will depend on the nature of the sect. Such deprivation can also be psychological where
somebody feels rejected from mainstream society
Cults as religious organisation or alienated from the values of the society. The view
The final type of religious organisation is cults. Sociology exists that sects develop especially in an environment
assigns a specific meaning to this concept. This meaning of economic and social transition and deprivation,
differs from the popular usage that views a cult as a small and that cults thrive on psychological deprivation. If
and unconventional religious grouping that provokes circumstances change and the deprivation disappears,
social disapproval. In contrast, sociology uses this term the related sects or cults tend to dissolve or turn into
to describe a group without a fixed religious doctrine. different organisations.
The following features can be pointed out: Roy Wallis (1984) differentiates between new
• The beliefs that members of a cult hold are vague religious movements that reject, accommodate or
and members tolerate individualistic beliefs. affirm the world.
• The cult has a charismatic leader and a loose • World-rejecting new religious movements carry
organisational structure. a definite conception of God. The movements
• Whereas sects call people to return to a pure belief are critical of the outside world and expect their
system, cults devise new belief systems with members to break with conventional life; some
accompanying symbols and rituals. even encourage a communal lifestyle. Contact with
• The cult’s belief system may be based on a new the outside world is not allowed. These movements
insight or revelation from a prophet. actively seek societal change and expect God to
intervene in bringing about this change.
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• World-accommodating new religious movements In religious conduct a ritual is an established formal

are, in contrast, new formations (secessions) that pattern of behaviour that is associated with the sacred.
broke away from existing religious organisations. Rituals are practised to show reverence to the sacred
Their aim is to re-establish morally pure conduct and clearly set it apart from the profane. In religions
in religion. the rituals are also practised to ensure the goodwill
• World-affirming new religious movements offer and blessings of supernatural beings towards the
members success in terms of the dominant values worshippers. Ritual also brings the believers in a
of society. Personal achievement is emphasised group together and the repetition of rituals creates
and is seen as a solution to personal problems. They feelings of solidarity, integration, security and
use courses and training to unlock the spiritual identity. The close association of the rituals to the
powers within individuals. These movements have dimension of the sacred can cause worshippers to
weak control over their members. World-affirming view rituals as also sacred.
new religious movements can be based on Western The system of religious beliefs in elementary
psychotherapy or on oriental spiritual views. religions links the rituals to those aspects which are
viewed as sacred. This belief system explains the
The examples above indicate how sociologists tried purpose and meaning of rituals. In more complex
to compose typologies of people’s religious activities. religions the systems of religious beliefs go beyond
However, sociologists at present agree that such such a linkage and include moral propositions. These
typologies are only vague descriptions of all religious moral propositions are considered to be truths that
activities. The diversity of religious activities makes ought to be the foundation of the particular society.
meaningful typologies very difficult. Therefore, In this way the believers of those truths may expect
sociologists tend nowadays not to identify types of the moral propositions to inform the different aspects
religions. Nevertheless, to distinguish religions in of that society: family life, gender relationships,
view of their characteristics will remain an important the economy, politics and education. Societies with
research endeavour in sociology. diverse religions therefore rather opt for constitutions
that do not favour a single religion in order to create
6.5.2 Elements of religion less chance of religious conflict.
In religion a distinction is made between the profane –
elements of everyday life – and the sacred – that which 6.5.3 Religious organisations and their
evokes awe and respect. The separation of the profane members
and the sacred is typical of any religious orientation. Religious organisations can have systems of religious
The basic religious orientation is to worship that which beliefs, rituals and sacred objects. Such organisations
is viewed as sacred. What is the source of viewing are only significant to the extent that its members adhere
something as sacred in religion? This can be ascribed to it. It is therefore important to consider members’
to supernatural beings or to authoritative declarations. religious participation and their religiosity.
People experience the sacred when they are in the
presence of something that exposes them to a power Religious participation
larger than themselves. This power surpasses their Religious participation must be distinguished from
ordinary life experiences. Therefore the sacred becomes religious preference and membership. In general far
desirable and attracts people. However, the dimension fewer people participate in religious rituals than
of the sacred can also raise feelings of dread. those who indicate that they are affiliated with
the religion. Attempts have been made to attribute
Box 6.1 Things that are sacred the variation in church attendance to the fact that
In religions the spectrum of objects that are viewed people belong to different socioeconomic classes. For
as sacred are very broad. Sacred can refer to people instance, it was argued that upper classes need fewer
with rare abilities (eg a prophet), material objects (eg benefits from religion and will therefore participate
a cross, totem), locations (eg a cave, spring), unusual less in religious activities. Similarly it was noted
occurrences (eg a flood, lunar eclipse) or particular that there may be less involvement from the lowest
times (eg sunrise, Easter). classes due to economic factors. It could be that they
are unable to afford clothes for church attendance
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Chapter 6: Religion
or are not able to support the church financially. • The fourth is the experiential dimension that refers
However, it seems that the factor of class does not to the degree of emotional attachment the believer
explain adequately the different patterns of religious has to the supernatural.
participation. Attempts have therefore been made • The fifth is the consequential dimension that
to examine other factors that lead to a variation in reflects how the believer’s behaviour is determined
religious participation. by religious participation in and commitment to
One such a factor is gender. A difference in the organisation.
religious participation has been noted between
men and women. Women seem to be more likely Therefore it is no simple task to measure religiosity.
than men to practise religion and hold religious The practice of religion presents various dimensions
beliefs. Different arguments have been set forward to consider.
to explain this tendency. One reason may be that
boys and girls are socialised differently. It may also Summary
be argued, as in theories on crime and delinquency, This chapter described religion from a sociological
that men demonstrate more risky behaviour and less perspective. The following aspects of religion were
self-control than women. Religious belief may be dealt with:
regarded as encouraging a lifestyle with fewer risks, • How the diverse religions were introduced and
making it therefore less attractive to men (Stark then developed within the South African society.
2007: 394). • The tension lines between the traditional African
belief systems and the other ‘imported’ religions.
Religiosity • The sociological approach to the modern study
In their study of religion, sociologists are eager to of religion based on two different definitions of
measure religiosity. In attempting this they encounter religion as social function or sacred substance.
major problems. In the first place it is difficult • Religion’s role in modern-day society – the three
to get consensus on the indicators of religiosity. basic viewpoints, as well as how religion is linked
Religiosity means different things for different to inequality within society.
people. Membership of a religious organisation is • The secular theory and its understanding of
therefore not an accurate indicator of religiosity. religious activity.
Many deeply religious people prefer to practise their • Religion as instrument for social change and the
religion in private rather than publicly. Furthermore, emergence of religious fundamentalism.
members of religious organisations differ widely • The three classical sociological perspectives and
in their knowledge of religious doctrine, their their influence on today’s approach to religion.
participation in religious activities and their level • The organisation of religion: the four basic types of
of commitment to the religion. Thus, membership organisations, the elements of religion, as well as
as such is an unreliable indicator for religiosity. In means to measure religiosity.
cases where sociologists set out to measure religiosity
they differentiate between various dimensions of Are you on track?
religiosity. An example of such an attempt is the five 1. What does it mean for a sociologist to study a
dimensions proposed by Charles Glock and Rodney society with diverse religions?
Stark (1965). 2. How did the historical tension lines between
• The first is the ideological dimension that relates to indigenous and ‘imported’ faith systems develop
the believer’s commitment to the religious beliefs. in South Africa?
• The second is the intellectual dimension that 3. Modern-day society and its complex issues
refers to how knowledgeable the believers are of could provide the conditions for the resurgence
their religion. of religion. Do you agree with this statement?
• The third is the ritualistic dimension that refers Motivate your answer.
to the level of participation by the believers in the 4. What is the twofold effect that secularity could
rituals of the religious organisation. have on religion?
161

5. Out l i ne t he t h ree cla ssica l sociolog ica l De Gruchy JW, De Gruchy S. 2005. The Church Struggle
perspectives on religion – how do these viewpoints in South Africa. Minneapolis: Fortress Press.
influence the approach to religion today? Prozesky M, De Gruchy J. 1995. Living Faiths in South
6. Compare the four types of religious organisation Africa. London: C Hurst & Co.
(church, denomination, sect and cult) in terms of Thomas D. 2002. Christ Divided: Liberalism, Ecumenism
their membership and structure. and Race in South Africa. Pretoria: University of
South Africa.
More sources to consult
Bellah RN. 1967. ‘Civil religion in America’. Daedalus,
96:1–21.
References
Bauman Z. 1997. Postmodernity and its Discontents. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Bellah, RN. 1967. ‘Civil religion in America’. Daedalus, 96:12.
Durkheim E. 1912 (2001 printing). The Elementary Forms of the Religious Life. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Giddens A. 1990. The Consequences of Modernity. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Glock CY, Stark R. 1965. Religion and Society in Tension. Chicago: Rand McNally.
Huntington SP. 1997. The Clash of Civilisations and the Remaking of World Order. New York: Touchstone.
Johnstone R. 1997. Religion in Society: A Sociology of Religion (5th ed). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
Keppel G. 1994. The Revenge of God: The Resurgence of Islam, Christianity and Judaism in the Modern World.
Cambridge: Polity Press.
Lyon D. 2000. Jesus in Disneyland: Religion in Postmodern Times. Cambridge: Polity Press.
Mabuse N, Ko V. 2012. ‘Wild leopards threatened by religious tradition in Africa’. Eco-Solutions, CNN, 17 Sep.
[Online] Available at: http://edition.cnn.com/2012/09/16/world/africa/leopards-shembe-south-africa/index.
html [Accessed 11 December 2012].
Malinowski B. 1948 (1982 printing). Magic, Science and Religion and Other Essays. Atlanta, GA: Doubleday.
Møller V, Dickow H, Harris M. 1998. ‘South Africa’s “Rainbow People”, national pride and happiness’. Social
Indicators Research, 47(3):245–280. [Online] Available at: http://www.jstor.org/stable/27522393 [Accessed 11
December 2012].
Parsons T. 1949. The Structure of Social Action. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
Stark R. 2007. Sociology (10th ed). Belmont, CA: Thomson Wadsworth.
Stark R, Bainbridge WS. 1985. The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revivial and Cult Formation. Berkeley:
University of California Press.
Wallis R. 1984. The Elementary Forms of the New Religious Life. London: Routledge and Kegan Paul.
Weber M. 1922 [(1979 printing Roth G, Wittich C (eds)]. Economy and Society: An Outline of Interpretive Sociology.
London: University of California Press.
Weber M. 1930 (1990 printing). The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism. London: Unwin Hyman.
Wilson BR. 1982. Religion in Sociological Perspective. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Yinger JM. 1970. The Scientific Study of Religion. New York: MacMillan.
162

Chapter 7
Medicine and health

Engela Pretorius
Without sustained health and freedom from disease, no individual or society can flourish. This only truly strikes home when we are
seriously ill or injured and need care. What is less obvious is that whatever the reason for being sick, it more often than not fits into a
social pattern or is a function of social circumstances. The occurrence of rare diseases aside, health, disease and the extent and quality
of care received is largely socially determined. The very first paragraph of this slightly longer chapter cites extensive scientific research
which makes this most basic point in the sociology of health and disease – the affluent are less prone to disease than the less affluent.
The chapter is longer than most chapters in this book for one simple reason. The wide-ranging effects and impacts of health and
disease make it the largest of the sub disciplines in sociology. These effects and impacts concern us all and because this sub discipline
closely tracks the developments in medical science – often with a critical stance – it is increasingly being viewed as complementary
to bioscience.
The chapter starts by contrasting biomedicine with the sociological perspective on health and disease and traces how this
important sub discipline developed. The biomedical and social models of health and disease are then contrasted and not without a
fascinating reference to the history of thought you encountered in the introduction to this textbook. The criticisms the social model
makes of the biomedical model must not be read as detracting from the modern marvels of medical science. It is precisely due to the
valid criticisms the sociology of health and disease has made that its role as complementary to and convergent with medical scientific
practice has increasingly been recognised.
It is perhaps the serious nature of the subject which points to another convergence, this time within sociology itself. You
may have gained the impression that, for example, when it comes to examining politics, a positivist or structural functionalist
approach focusing on social order competes with the conflict approach which emphasises social change. When it comes to the
sociology of health and disease, there is no tension in understanding the sick role as defined in structural functionalist terms or
by the conflict perspective – both contend that social inequality also extends to healthcare. It is hence appropriate that it is only
after discussing the three main approaches in sociology that the chapter turns to defining health, disease and illness – these not
being as obvious as they may at first appear. Make sure you understand the difference between the concepts of medicalisation
and iatrogenesis! In brief, as you will see, health is not merely the absence of disease, but includes a sense of well-being. When
looked at from at least one African perspective, you might be surprised to learn that even disease is understood as a gift,
signalling a calling to the vocation of healer.
Having laid this basis, the chapter then turns to how healthcare was gradually institutionalised and much improved over the
course of centuries. It then describes the development of the primary healthcare movement and how this took root in South Africa,
especially from the 1940s. This is followed by a fuller discussion of the role of African traditional healthcare and the emergence, in
the 1980s, of complementary and alternative forms of medical practice. While African traditional healthcare has not been accepted
and hence not integrated or institutionalised within the biomedical tradition (although the North-West University Mafikeng Campus
has specifically addressed this issue), there has been a significant degree of legitimation and acceptance of complementary and
alternative medicine by biomedicine.
Health is precious. It is all too easily taken for granted. We would all do well to adopt a Weberian attitude of Verstehen,
as the World Health Organization has increasingly done in trying to understand more fully why so many people and perhaps
even ourselves, persist in pursuing potentially self-destructive lifestyles. A thoughtful and sober reading of this chapter must
surely lead us to the conclusion that, where we can help it, we should pay more attention to our health. Doing this will enable
us to avoid the sick role that has the potential to limit our perspective on life so that we entirely lose sight of the social aspects.

Figure 7.1 Healthcare in the primary healthcare context

Case study 7.1 Stephen Hawking
The British theoretical physicist who is probably the world’s most famous scientist, Professor Stephen Hawking, turned 70
in January 2012. He is regarded as one of the most brilliant theoretical physicists since Einstein. At the age of 21 he was
diagnosed with ALS, a form of motor neurone disease, and was given only two years to live. Generally, people who suffer
from this condition rarely live beyond five years after diagnosis. He is almost entirely paralysed. He has spent the greater
part of his life confined to a wheelchair and he is only capable of communicating by means of a speech-generating device.
He is dependent on a number of nurses and assistants. Hawking has sought to detach himself from his illness and has
only in recent years begun to identify with other people with disabilities. While Hawking is constrained physically by a
‘damaged’ body, his intellectual feats graphically demonstrate an unconstrained and ‘undamaged’ mind.
(Source: The Stephen Hawking Official Website 2013)
When people look at Stephen Hawking, most would probably simply see a very sick and severely disabled person. This
would be because we all know what constitutes disease and what health is – or do we really? One thing is certain – health
is not the opposite of disease – just as ‘body’ or ‘lung’ does not have an opposite. This raises a huge question of how we
think of ourselves and our bodies. In this chapter you will be introduced to the phenomena of health and disease, to the
complexities involved in defining these concepts and to the ways in which society has come to deal with them.
•• The sociological perspective on health and disease

Key Themes
•• Models of health and disease

•• The major theoretical approaches to health and disease
•• The concepts health, disease and illness
•• Healthcare contexts: hospitals, primary healthcare, African traditional healthcare and complementary and
alternative medicine.
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Chapter 7: Medicine and health
Introduction From this massive source of research data, a number

Social life on earth is characterised by various kinds of significant universal principles regarding the
of inequality – be it in respect of material possessions, health of populations were determined. One principle
income or education. Socioeconomic inequality is that creating a just and caring society requires an
in particular has a direct impact on the health of understanding of the interaction between material
individuals and thus on that of populations. Whether advantage and its social significance. Thus, while
one lives in a developed or a developing country, it is apparent that socioeconomic inequality affects
the picture is the same: those who are more affluent health and causes disease, the social meaning of being
live longer and are less prone to disease than the poor, unemployed, socially excluded or otherwise
less affluent. These differences cannot be explained stigmatised, also matters. It has therefore come to
in terms of individual differences alone. An ever- be acknowledged that to be able to understand and
increasing body of literature points to the determining deal with health and disease, biomedical knowledge
role of the social environment regarding health and needs to be supplemented by knowledge generated
disease. In view of this, the World Health Organization by disciplines such as sociology, psychology and
commissioned the following report in 1998: Social economics. Within the discipline of sociology, the
determinants of health – the solid facts (Wilkinson & speciality dealing with health, disease and care only
Marmot 2003). The evidence on which this publication developed a clear identity from around the 1950s.
was based came from thousands of research reports.
Case study 7.2 Elsje’s story
Elsje Neethling Blair is 31. At age 13, she was diagnosed with aggressive, terminal brain cancer. Nearly two decades later she is
still alive and lives life to the full. Elsje has suffered many losses. When the brain tumour was discovered she had just made the
Free State schools swimming team. For six years she had to endure disruption, the fear of dying, of pain, surgery, chemotherapy,
losing her hair and ‘being different’. She was subsequently in remission, which, according to doctors, was an absolute miracle!
For eleven years, she led a more or less normal life, worked in the UK and in the US, completed her studies, became
a newspaper journalist and fell in love. Three months before she was to marry lawyer Bruce Blair the cancer struck once
again. After five spinal operations and a series of treatments she is now again in remission.
Elsje has lost the functions in the lower part of her body. The paralysis is sensorial and not motory, which means that
she is able to walk albeit with difficulty. During chemotherapy her left leg was damaged to such an extent that she often
has to depend on a wheelchair. She has had to give up her career in journalism and is experiencing early menopause. She
has to use a catheter and regularly suffers from renal infections.
Yet she has found ways to give meaning to her life – and also to those of others. The artistic talent evident in infancy
has found expression in the making of colourful costume jewellery. Through her organisation ‘I bead cancer’ she teaches
women to let their energy flow in a creative fashion.
Then there is her book, Ek droom van ’n droom (I dream of a dream), which is a poignant retrospection of her journey
with cancer, her life as part of a family of swimming champions (Olympic champion Ryk Neethling is her brother), and the
way in which she has had to convert ordinary teenage dreams into other dreams.
Elsje was six when she started swimming. It was precisely her swimming that caused the cancer to be detected. ‘I was
in my school’s diving team and when my head hit the water after doing a backflip the tumour started bleeding.’ After the
operations, it took some effort to keep Elsje from the water. Elsje nevertheless won Free State colours for swimming eight
years in succession and also provincial colours in water polo throughout this period. Elsje has been swimming 2 km a day
since 2011 in an attempt to strengthen her legs. She also does physiotherapy while in the water.
(Source: Snyman 2012)
Elsje’s story demonstrates the many and diverse ways in which disease can affect an individual’s life. It also indicates
some of the topics that sociologists of health, disease and healthcare can study. At the micro level, they can study the
experiences of a person living with a life-threatening disease by exploring how the disease affects the individual’s sense
165

of identity, the relationships with significant others or ideas about disease causation. At the macro level, they can study
broad patterns in the occurrence of a disease – such as cancer – among different groups in a society in terms of age,
gender or socio-economic position. They can also study the changes over time due to environmental influences or
lifestyle changes. Also at the macro level, they can analyse healthcare provision for different kinds of disease.
While medical anthropologists, public health workers or health psychologists also study the topics referred to above,
sociologists have a distinct and unique perspective – to be explained in the next section.
7.1 The sociological perspective on to and experience being healthy or ill are moulded
health and disease by the society in which we live and our place in that
Because they are students of society, sociologists do society. It is not enough to urge individuals to change
not have the same kind of interest in the phenomena of their lifestyles or to spend more and more money on
health and disease that medical professionals do. For healthcare technology to prevent disease. What is
one, sociologists do not believe that completely value- required is to take into consideration social factors and
free and neutral ‘scientific’ knowledge about health and the prevailing societal influences, not as inconvenient
disease is possible. According to this view, rather than or irritating add-ons that need to be done away with
being an objective science, medical knowledge is both as quickly as possible because they stand in the way
produced in a particular societal context and reflects the of ‘real’ medicine, but as major determinants of both
structural features of society. Phenomena considered health and disease.
by biomedicine to be ‘natural’ can often be explained Three distinct characteristics of this perspective
in terms of social phenomena when considered from a can be summarised as follows (White 2002):
sociological perspective. Therefore, questions such as • The focus is on social patterns rather than
why someone from the working class is more prone to on individual behaviours. Therefore, while
sickness and consequently dies earlier than someone sociologists would not deny that individual
from a more affluent class and why women are more personalities play a role in intimate partner
frequently diagnosed ill than men require a sociological violence, they would probably find it more useful
explanation rather than a biological one. to explore whether social forces can explain why
Sociologists believe that one is unable to wife abuse is more common than husband abuse or
understand health and disease unless one has a why abused wives remain with abusive husbands.
clear understanding of the social order. From this The issue with which sociologists deal – and are
perspective, knowledge of health and disease is able to deal – is not why an individual is ill, but
created in a social, political and cultural environment. rather the characteristics of the group to which
The sociological perspective therefore aims to the individual belongs that put the person at risk
complement the biomedical model of disease. In of being ill. The socioeconomic class, gender and
addition, the sociological perspective examines the ethnicity/race groups into which we are born
social functions and impact of medical knowledge and either facilitate or impede our life chances and
practice itself. Based on their research, sociologists of consequently our chances of becoming ill.
health and disease are able to demonstrate how the • Sociologists are not interested in appropriating
development of medical knowledge and the treatment the medical professionals’ job or even prescribing
of disease are powerfully influenced by social factors: to them as to how to do their job. Because of their
the interactions of socioeconomic class, professional research, sociologists are, however, able to provide
interests, social power, religious views and even information on many aspects of disease causation
gender and ethnicity. As such, health and disease are other than biological variables – on patterns and
considered social constructs or ‘products’ of social trends pertaining to various diseases, on the practice
organisation rather than of nature, biology or even of medicine and on people’s perceptions and
individual lifestyle choices (Weitz 2010). Moreover, experiences of and also their responses to being ill.
everything we know about health and disease or of the • From a sociological perspective the way in which
professions that deal with them or how we respond certain conditions are labelled and treated boils
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down to a form of social control. What is defined phase, view something like patients’ non-compliance
as a disease and how it is to be treated is often a to be a problem of the patients concerned, they now
product of social assumptions of what constitutes came to view the issue of compliance through the
appropriate behaviour rather than of biological patients’ eyes. They would then come to realise that
necessity. To provide one extreme example, White patients sometimes ignored medical advice because
(2002) cites the example of Professor Herbert Green, of ignorance or because they did not understand the
a gynaecologist at the National Women’s Hospital doctor’s orders or that financial constraints sometimes
in Auckland, New Zealand. In what became prevented them from adhering to medical advice
known as the ‘unfortunate experiment’, he chose (Weitz 2010; White 2002).
to withhold treatment from women diagnosed
with cancer in situ of the cervix. He considered Sociology versus biomedicine
women’s role as child-bearers, thus their fertility, The third phase of the development of this branch
more important than their health and so he did of sociology, which spans the last three decades,
not perform hysterectomies – then considered the is characterised by a critical perspective on the
conventional treatment for this type of cancer. The organisation and practice of medicine. Sociologists
women remained fertile, but many died. The point have come to challenge medical world views and to
is that his non-treatment was as much a product of point out how doctors’ power and authority enable
his view of women as it was of clinical medicine. them to frame society’s ideas about health, disease and
healthcare. During the 1970s, sociologists first came
7.1.1 The development of the sociology of to recognise that the healthcare institution had been
health and disease expanding into aspects of people’s lives previously
The development of this speciality within sociology was defined as ‘non-medical’. The result was that patients
influenced by the relationship between sociology and consulted doctors for conditions previously considered
medicine. Three distinct phases in this development to be ‘normal’ – such as baldness, unattractive facial
process can be identified. The speciality first developed features, fatigue, jet lag, shyness, the inability to focus
a distinct identity during the 1950s. The second phase on tasks, childlessness, pregnancy and childbirth,
spanned the 1960s and part of the 1970s, while the and growing old. They termed this multifaceted
third phase developed from the 1970s onwards. phenomenon the ‘medicalisation of society’. It entails
a reclassification of social phenomena formerly
Sociology in medicine regarded as either morally deviant (sin) or as socially
In the first phase – depicted as the sociology in deviant (crime) as disease. Examples include various
medicine – sociology was considered to be subordinate dependencies (alcohol and drugs), homosexual love
to medicine. Medicine was regarded as the embodiment and obesity. Another aspect of medicalisation is that
of what constituted ‘science’. Sociologists were only it transforms a problem at the level of social structure
too aware of the prestige of biomedical science and – such as stressful work demands, unsafe working
were eager to bathe in its reflected glory. In their conditions and poverty – into an individual problem
research, sociologists working in this field therefore under medical control (Morrall 2001; Weitz 2010;
tackled issues that were problematic to the medical White 2002).
profession. One such topic was patient compliance/ As the number of problems and behaviours
non-compliance. It was important for doctors to be labelled as disease increases, so do the ethical
informed as to why patients would not follow their issues surrounding them. One such ethical issue
instructions and to be able to change such behaviour relates to patient safety. Because pharmaceutical
once they understood it. and biotechnological companies spend considerable
amounts of time and money in developing and
Sociology of medicine marketing their products, they aim to sell them to as
During this second phase of the development of the many customers as possible. A case in point is the
sociology of medicine, sociologists designed their prescription rate of medications for children with
research to answer questions of interest to sociologists attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD),
in general. Whereas sociologists would, during the first which is two to four times higher in the US than in
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other countries. Is this perhaps the result of a fast- The Cartesian revolution: mind/body dualism
paced society and aggressive marketing by companies During the Middle Ages, the development of medicine
to ensure profits – or are there other reasons? While was severely constrained by the influence of the
such drugs have been approved, the ethical question medieval church, the dominant institution at the time.
that arises is whether it is safe over the long term to use During that time, the church had placed a religious
such drugs or devices or whether a change in lifestyle embargo on the study of human anatomy because of
might not have the same effect – but which probably the belief that body and soul were inseparable. It was
only a few parents of ADHD children could afford. The thought that if the human body were not preserved
point is that the behaviour of boisterous children has intact, the soul would be unable to ascend to heaven. In
come under the medical gaze. these circumstances, human dissection was virtually
When we look at society and are defining disease, impossible and without knowledge of anatomy,
it becomes apparent, however, that there is also a medical science could not really progress.
reverse pattern, called demedicalisation. Thus some In the seventeenth century, science was able to
behavioural aspects previously medicalised and break loose from the constraints of tradition, which
identified as medical conditions are no longer regarded made it possible for the best minds of the age to become
as such, for example homosexuality. Before the 1970s, involved in scientific inquiry. One of them, the French
same-sex relationships were considered to be a mental mathematician and philosopher René Descartes, also
illness. However, in time and because of campaigning made anatomical dissections. He paved the way for
against such labelling, it has been demedicalised. the development of a medical science by emphasising
Today, the medical community neither regards mind/body dualism, arguing that the mind was, in
homosexuality as a medical condition nor considers principle, able to survive the death of the body. This
it to be medically treatable (Steele & Price 2008). The way of thinking about the mind and body removed the
move towards recognising patient rights can also be obstacles to developments in medicine, and laid the
considered a step towards demedicalisation. In a post- foundations of medical science as it is practised today
modern era, the present-day ‘consumers’ of healthcare (Wainwright 2008).
are a far cry from being docile lay persons. With
increased concerns over risk and a decline of trust The doctrine of specific aetiology (germ theory)
in expert authority, they play an active role in either Simply put, the germ theory holds that specific diseases
bringing about or resisting medicalisation. have distinct causes. The research of Louis Pasteur in
France and Robert Koch in Germany in the nineteenth
7.2 Models of health and disease century led to the development of this theory. They
From the previous section, two quite different models were able to indicate that infections occur because of
of health and disease present themselves, namely the the action of invisible microorganisms. The orthodox
biomedical model and the social model of health and medical view of disease causation was that miasmata,
disease. or ‘bad air’ rising from dirt and lack of hygiene caused
such diseases. It was only after Pasteur that scientists
7.2.1 The biomedical model of health and came to realise that infection was the result of the
disease invasion of one living organism by another. In 1882,
The biomedical model of health and disease is Robert Koch isolated and grew the tubercle bacillus in
widely used in Western healthcare. It emerged from the laboratory. In this way, he was able to demonstrate
the idea that science can be applied to the solution that a specific microorganism caused tuberculosis –
of human problems – an idea developed during the most virulent disease of the day.
the nineteenth century from Enlightenment views. The main influence of the germ theory has been
Biomedicine as we know it today developed because on the theoretical development of medicine and not on
of a number of important influences and spectacular health per se. The germ theory is regarded by many to
breakthroughs, namely the Cartesian revolution, the have caused a scientific revolution and to have been
doctrine of specific aetiology, the development of responsible for the declining mortality throughout
the clinical method and the institutionalisation of the nineteenth century. The fact is, however, that
healthcare. long before scientists became aware of the existence
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of microorganisms, mortality from infective causes as institutions where patients of all social classes could
had already been declining and continued to do expect to find the highest quality medical care and
so. This was due to the rising living standards and could reasonably expect to be cured of their disorders.
public health measures that had come about because
of sanitary reforms. While the sanitary reformers did The characteristics of biomedicine
not understand precisely how infection occurred, they Biomedicine is characterised by the following:
were quite aware of the role of poverty, overcrowding • It adopts a technological imperative. This means
and pollution in infection. Effective medical treatment that physicians are trained to want to provide the
only became available 70 years later when penicillin best possible medical care; invariably, to them
was discovered (Alais 1995; Weiss & Lonnquist 1997). this means the latest and the most advanced
technological care. Sometimes, the merits of
The clinical method technological interventions are overplayed.
Towards the end of the eighteenth century, a major • It is reductionist in that it reduces disease to
change occurred in the organisation and provision of chemistry and physics. Biochemical or biophysical
healthcare in Europe, mainly because of the efforts of abnormality becomes the criterion for diagnosing
Herman Boerhaave (1668–1738). He was a Dutch doctor the disease and treating it. Because the explanations
to whom the idea of a bedside manner is attributed. of disease thus focus on biological changes, social
He revived the Hippocratic tradition of teaching and psychological factors are often neglected.
students at the patients’ bedsides as a regular part of • It is an objective science, based on empirical
the university course for medical students at Leyden observation and induction. Medicine thus
in the Netherlands. To combine practice with theory, claims to offer the only valid response to the
Boerhaave founded a hospital in which he gave clinical understanding of disease.
instruction to his pupils, thus introducing the clinical
method into medical education (Alais 1995). These characteristics translate into medical practice
that has the following features:
Institutionalisation of healthcare • The nature and causes of health and disease:
Before the nineteenth century, healthcare in Health is regarded as the absence of biological
the West was mostly delivered within the home abnormality. All diseases have specific causes –
by household members and non-professionals. that is, a specific aetiology such as a virus, parasite
During the early 1800s, there was a move away from or bacterium. Disease is viewed as an alien intruder
the home to institutions – called hospitals – to that needs to be expelled.
deliver healthcare. • The patient: Because of the mind/body dualism
At first hospitals were only capable of providing and the mechanical metaphor, the focus of the
what some would call ‘primitive’ treatment. The treatment is on the patient’s body.
conditions were dreadful because of poor ventilation • The nature of the intervention: The focus is on
and overcrowding and sanitary standards were cure, the aim being to manipulate the physical
virtually non-existent (Hart-Davis 2007). All of this symptoms so as to make them disappear. The
gave rise to the perception that the hospitals of the most appropriate place for treatment is considered
time were places where only the lower classes went to be a medical environment, such as the consulting
to die. It took several decades to change this negative room or the hospital (Alais 1995; Weiss &
perception – one which can still be encountered today Lonnquist 1997).
where medical facilities are poor. One of the factors
that assisted in changing the negative image was the An evaluation of biomedicine
development of the germ theory, which affected the Factors such as the escalating costs of healthcare
standards of hygiene and led to the realisation that and the increasing prominence of alternative and
infected patients constituted a risk to people suffering complementary therapies have given rise to criticism
from other conditions. Patients were consequently of biomedicine. At the same time, however, one cannot
isolated, which made hospitals much safer. Because of discount the successes of this kind of therapy.
such developments, a new image of hospitals evolved
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Successes of biomedicine •• Professional medical dominance

The nineteenth and twentieth centuries saw major In numerous Western societies, but principally in
pharmacological breakthroughs, such as Louis the US, no group has gained such dominance as the
Pasteur’s development of vaccines and Alexander medical profession. The medical profession is accorded
Fleming’s discovery of penicillin. Biomedicine has exceptional status vis-à-vis other health professionals,
been able to eradicate many infectious and parasitic based firstly on claims of the superior efficacy of
diseases, and to lower the infant mortality rate. medical methods over other healing arts and, secondly,
Successes have also been achieved in respect of certain on its lengthy period of education and training. The
chronic diseases, such as diabetes mellitus and skin members of the profession – and by extension the
cancer. The development of new and safer surgical institution of medicine – therefore play a dominant
techniques resulted in bypass heart surgery and organ role in defining health and in the organisation of
transplants. In 1967, South Africa’s Christiaan Barnard healthcare. This dominance was not evident from the
performed the first heart transplant in the world. outset, but over the course of 150 years, medicine has
Because of all of these medical improvements, healing developed into an institution of social control. Medical
occurred and many lives were saved. power can be seen to be functional in many ways. Both
patients and allied health workers appreciate doctors’
Criticism of biomedicine confident expertise. However, while the power of the
During the past four to five decades, the institution of medical profession is said to be used solely in the
medicine and the biomedical model have increasingly interests of health and in attempting to help humanity,
been challenged by criticism from both popular and it can also be said that on the strength of this power
academic sources. doctors exert influence on patients, on co-practitioners
and on the public in matters that fall not only within
•• Efficacy is exaggerated but also beyond their jurisdiction – the latter referring
Most of the decline in the mortality rate achieved to the phenomenon of medicalisation discussed in
in the West from the late nineteenth to the middle Section 7.1.1.
of the twentieth century was the result of socio- Professional medical dominance and by
cultural factors. It thus comes as no surprise that implication biomedicine’s presumed superiority in
both from within its own ranks and from disciplines relation to other forms of healing is continually being
such as sociology, it has been argued that medicine’s challenged. While biomedicine has questioned the
efficacy has been overplayed. McKeown, a professor basis of complementary and alternative medicines
of social medicine, was especially responsible for (CAMs), arguing that they are ‘unscientific’ and
demonstrating that the decline of mortality in Western therefore incorrect, another view – which suggests
societies to a greater extent resulted from social that all knowledge is conditional – would imply that
phenomena – such as nutrition, hygiene and patterns of CAM remedies are of equal validity. It would appear
reproduction – than from medical interventions such that there is a decline in faith in biomedicine with
as vaccinations or treatments (Bradby 2009; Morrall more and more people opting to seek help from and
2001). Ivan Illich, an Austrian philosopher and social successfully being treated by CAM practitioners. In
critic, went even further by declaring biomedicine to Section 7.5.4 we look at this healthcare option.
be a major threat to health. The central theme of his
book, Medical Nemesis – The Expropriation of Health, •• Patient’s body is isolated from the person
is that of iatrogenesis – disease caused by medicine By focusing its treatment merely on the patient’s
itself (Illich 1976). Examples would be complications body, biomedicine disregards the link between
from plastic surgery or removing the wrong kidney. physical and mental well-being. Even the medical
The death of pop star Michael Jackson is a classic specialisation of psychiatry – concerned with the
example of iatrogenesis. His doctor, Conrad Murray, diagnosis and treatment of disorders with mainly
was held responsible for his death by having provided mental or behavioural symptoms – predominantly
him with excessive drugs and he was imprisoned for seeks organic causes for the conditions it treats.
involuntary manslaughter. Related to this problem is the biomedical view that
patients are passive rather than actively thinking
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persons. While they have no medical training, patients women have often experienced that doctors dismissed
do have their own valid interpretations and accounts their own interpretations of their bodily experiences
of their experiences of health and disease. Also, as subjective and irrelevant, they have produced an
people’s perceptions and experiences of health and entirely new health literature for women and have
disease are not merely reactions to physical bodily developed forms of medical care based on alternative
changes but are influenced by socio-cultural factors. philosophies to those supported by the dominant
For treatment and care to be effective, these subjective institutions of medicine (White 2002).
perceptions and experiences must be acknowledged.
In an attempt to address this problem, more attention •• Scientific method the only way to obtain truth
is now being given to communication skills and to the about disease
behavioural and social sciences in the curriculum of Biomedicine assumes that it is able to identify the
healthcare providers. truth about disease by means of the natural scientific
method. According to sociologists, disease categories
•• Medical control of women’s health are not merely accurate descriptions of anatomical
Perhaps the most powerful criticism of biomedicine malfunctioning, but are socially created – that is, they
has come from feminists such as Ann Oakley. In her develop because of arguments that also have a social
book, The Captured Womb: A History of the Medical content. Thus medical belief systems, like any others,
Care of Pregnant Women (1984), she argues that are dependent on the society that produces them.
women’s lives have been subject to far greater control However, the apparent ‘truth’ of medicine means
and regulation by the medical profession than those of that values may be transformed into apparent facts.
men. An example is that of pregnancy and childbirth. For example, the belief that women were unsuited to
In the nineteenth century, the institution of medicine education in the nineteenth century was supported
took the control of childbirth out of the hands of by so-called medical evidence. Moreover, the fact that
women and managed to ensure – despite the lack of any concepts of and explanations for disease have changed
sound evidence of benefit – that by the 1970s virtually and continue to change over time, attests to their being
all babies were born in hospital. In the process, what social constructs. One example is the early medical
is primarily a woman’s experience was removed from explanation for the condition of hysteria, namely that
the domestic domain to the public one of the hospital, it is the result of the womb of an hysterical woman
in which a male-dominated branch of medicine moving around in her body (White 2002).
– obstetrics – had control. Moreover, pregnancy
and childbirth came to be treated as ‘disease’ and •• Disregard for the social context of health and
therefore subjected to an entire array of technological disease
interventions. Thus, something previously viewed as Owing to its indifference regarding the social and
a ‘natural’ event attended by women was medicalised material causes of disease – mainly because of the
(Barry & Yuill 2008). For one strand of feminism, germ theory – the biomedical model fails to account for
namely Foucauldian feminism, at issue is how women the social inequalities in health. Another consequence
are able to challenge their medicalisation, especially of this neglect of the social context is that the focus is
given the pervasiveness of medical knowledge, even in on the isolated individual as the site of disease and the
so-called self-help movements. Feminist Foucauldians appropriate object of treatment. This places the burden
argue that large parts of the women’s health movement of health predominantly on the individual rather than
have been incorporated into a patriarchal net of self- on the social system and its health sector.
surveillance.
During the past few decades, women – especially 7.2.2 The social model
those from the women’s health movement – have Because of the criticisms levelled at biomedicine
effectively exposed and challenged the way in which and also some major societal changes, medicine
medicine has come to control their bodies. Medical is increasingly called upon to return to the health
discourse has contributed to the construction of problems of the whole person. While biomedicine has
women’s bodies as fragile, passive vessels that routinely advanced spectacularly over the past century, a range
require medical monitoring and interventions. Because of other disciplines – such as sociology, psychology,
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epidemiology and economics – has explored the role are highlighted, and their influence on health and
of factors other than physiological ones that influence illness is considered, whole realms of experiences that
health. Consideration of these factors has provided a do not readily lend themselves to purely biomedical
different, yet complementary way of understanding explanations are identified.
and addressing health and disease. Apart from
considering the physiological aspects of disease, The social model of disability
biomedical practitioners must, to a greater extent, A useful way of illustrating how the social model
develop insight into other aspects regarding the people differs from the biomedical model is to compare the
they treat. Thus, the characteristic behaviour of their biomedical approach of disability with that of the
patients – the psychological aspects of the condition – social model. According to the biomedical model,
and the context in which their patients live – the social disability is the result of an accidental trauma or
aspects of illness conditions – must also be considered. bodily abnormality that cannot be corrected by
Singular causes of disease are no longer the main medicine. In this approach, disability is equated with
focus. Contemporary physicians are often required disease or impairment. Rehabilitation focuses on
to deal with health disorders that are described as ‘curing’ people with disabilities or helping them to act
‘problems in living’. As the name indicates, these are ‘normally’. However, if this is not feasible, the route to
dysfunctions that involve many causes, not all of which be taken is that of removing such people from society
are biological in nature. Research has indicated that and institutionalising them so that they can receive
how we respond to social, psychological and cultural specialist care.
influences affects not only whether we become sick, According to the social model, disability is
but also the form, duration and intensity of symptoms firmly located within the social environment. This
and disabilities. This more holistic way of looking at model therefore focuses on the barriers in the social
health has resulted in several models. One such model environment that may prevent people with disabilities
is the bio-psycho-social model, proposed more than from fully participating in society. People with
three decades ago by the American psychiatrist Dr disabilities are not so much prevented by their own
George Engel (Engel 1977). bodies’ inabilities from participating in economic
By employing the bio-psycho-social model, one and social activities as by society’s discriminatory
will be able to understand how suffering and disease attitudes and oppressive ideas.
are affected by multiple levels of organisation – from The social model has had considerable influence
the societal to the molecular. In determining the health on society regarding people with disabilities. It has
status of people, the emphasis is on the role of people’s been used for politicising the rights of people with
behaviour, what work they do, and how and where disabilities and has resulted in many countries
they live. People are no longer regarded as passive passing legislation in respect of matters such as access
victims of disease, but can themselves participate in to buildings. South African equity legislation has also
their own recovery and in maintaining and promoting set a target of 2 per cent participation of people with
their health. Because of the impact of societal and disabilities for the public service sector. However, in
environmental changes, social solutions are sought 2011–2012, people with disabilities comprised only
to the problems of health and disease. Whereas the 0.8 per cent of the total workforce reported (Department
biomedical model keeps health in the biological of Labour 2012).
context, the bio-psycho-social model puts it in the We need to bear in mind that the social model does
social context, thereby offering a broader perspective. not apply to the entire range of conditions defined as
The emphases of sociological perspectives on health ‘disability’. It only explains the situation of people
and disease are therefore on aspects of healthcare such with stable sensory and/or mobility impairments and
as prevention of disease, rehabilitation and the social of those who do not experience pain (Bradby 2009).
management of disease, rather than on biological and
medical aspects of healthcare. Convergence between the biomedical model
A social model questions the ability of biomedicine and the social model
to explain all important health issues. When social The matter of whether biomedical practice is limited
factors such as class, gender, ethnicity and inequality to the biomedical model is still being debated and
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seems to vary among its practitioners. So, for instance, regulated by the medical profession. In this way, the
practitioners in public health, paediatrics and family medical profession represents the interests of society
practice are especially likely to question some of as a whole by acting to curb the deviant tendencies of
the assumptions of the biomedical model. There is, individuals who otherwise might try to escape their
however, ample evidence that, in general, biomedical social roles.
practitioners’ assumptions about the nature of health According to Parsons, disease threatens social
and disease have been broadened to include insights stability. People either consciously or unconsciously
garnered from other disciplines. In fact, doctors often use ill health to evade their social responsibilities.
use a number of interpretations and practices from What intrigued Parsons was how society allowed
beyond the parameters of clinical science. A case illness, yet succeeded in minimising its impact. To
in point is that of the independent humanitarian him, there had to be a ‘formula’ for allowing a certain
organisation, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans amount of ‘legitimate’ sickness. This led him to develop
Frontieres (MSF), which epitomises a broad-based, the concept of the sick role.
sociological understanding of disease and healthcare. The sick role is a temporary role and refers to
Not only do the organisation’s healthcare workers treat social expectations regarding how society, on the one
disease, but the organisation also speaks out against hand, should deal with sick people and how, on the
the social causes of disease, death and disability, such other, sick people should behave. The sick role is based
as the attitude towards women that underlies the use on the assumption that, generally, the sick person
of rape as a military tactic and the role of international does not deliberately choose to become ill. Society
economics in the short and brutal lives of street accordingly allows people who accept the sick role to
children (Weitz 2010). gain two rights (benefits) but also imposes two explicit
behavioural requirements (two obligations):
7.3 Theoretical approaches to health • The sick person has the right to be excused –
and disease temporarily – from social responsibilities. Society,
By now you must be well aware of the fact that theories however, requires a physician’s validation of the
are the key tools for sociological investigation. In problem to maintain some control and to prevent
Chapter 1, we were told that sociology is perspectival, people from lingering in the sick role.
meaning that it comprises many theories and many • The sick person is not held responsible for the ill
perspectives – each providing a very different way of health and society accepts that the sick person
understanding social phenomena. Also, when it comes must be taken care of by others, such as healthcare
to studying health and disease in society, the theories professionals.
and perspectives with which you are now familiar • The sick person is obliged not to get so accustomed
provide different accounts of the social causes of to the sick role or enjoy the lifting of responsibilities
disease and of the role of the medical institution. that he or she loses the motivation to get well.
• The sick person is expected to seek medical advice
7.3.1 Structural functionalism and to co-operate with healthcare experts.
It was Talcott Parsons (1951) who applied the structural-
functionalist perspective to the study of health and Parsons has been criticised for the fact that the concept
disease by highlighting the social dimensions of these of the sick role does not allow for variation in the
phenomena. He developed the concept of the sick role experience of ill health due to factors such as age,
to analyse sickness as a social role. In order for society gender, social class, race and culture. This is the case
to operate properly, sickness has to be managed in such because Parsons assumed that the urge to recover from
a way that the majority of society’s members are able to ill health and return to optimum role functioning was
perform their normal social roles and obligations. Too universal. In some cases, the sick role does not apply,
much disease would be dysfunctional and disruptive such as when people are not able to take advantage of
to society as a whole. The economic system would their rights when sick. Women who have to care for
not be serviced and there would be an unsustainable their children often find it difficult to adopt the sick
demand on healthcare services. Society therefore role. Certain diseases are stigmatised (for example
regards disease as a form of deviance, which has to be AIDS and alcoholism), which means that the victim
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is blamed for contracting the condition. In this case, unequally in society, some members of society and also
the right to be held unaccountable for contracting the some institutions have more material goods, power,
disease is denied. influence and prestige than others. Individuals and
Parsons was also criticised for not differentiating groups in society therefore have to compete for limited
between different medical conditions and their social resources, such as money, leisure and sexual partners.
and cultural implications. For one, the sick role Social inequalities, however, also extend to health
cannot be applied to chronic diseases. Remember and healthcare.
that from the second half of the twentieth century,
life expectancy has increased, with more and more Inequalities in health
people now living into their 70s, 80s and beyond. Before the industrialisation of society, which developed
Older people are more prone to suffer from chronic about 200 years ago, mortality was mostly the result
or relapsing diseases and are often unable to meet all of infectious diseases, such as cholera, dysentery and
the obligations of the sick role, particularly the one plagues. These infectious diseases did not discriminate
stipulating that it is a temporary role that has to be between the members of impoverished classes and those
vacated as soon as possible. Society therefore has to of more affluent classes in that such diseases thrived
modify these social obligations so that they are less among all social classes. Because of certain social
rigid. One solution is that the sick person may have to developments in the West from the late nineteenth
take on another role, that of ‘disabled’. century to the middle of the twentieth century, death
Parsons has also been criticised for assuming rates declined dramatically. Economic development
that the process of normalisation – of vacating the caused improvements in people’s diets as agricultural
sick role and returning to normal social functioning techniques developed and transportation of produce
– is consensual. Often, patients engage in prolonged became faster and more efficient; people also started
illness behaviour despite the professional declaring taking nutritional supplements, for example vitamin
him or her to be healthy because it is a ‘comfortable’ C for scurvy – all resulting in people becoming more
role to occupy – other people take over some of resistant to infections. Some biomedical advances
the person’s responsibilities and such a person also contributed to the decline in infectious diseases.
is pampered. In 1928, Alexander Fleming discovered an extremely
In all fairness, one has to say that Parsons did potent antibiotic substance. Penicillin is said to have
not believe that his model of the sick role could be changed the course of history by having saved and
found in every case of ill health or that medical continuing to save millions of lives around the world. It
practitioners and their patients performed consistently was instrumental in conquering some of humankind’s
in their respective roles. What he presented was an most ancient scourges, including syphilis, gangrene
ideal type – a model that could be used with a view and tuberculosis. The result of all of these changes
to understanding a particular phenomenon (in this and developments was a general increase in longevity.
case sickness). However, this progress has not extended to all parts
Despite the fact that Parsons conceptualised the of the world and nearly a century later, inequalities
sick role in the middle of the last century and that his in respect of health and access to healthcare
frame of reference was the US, he remains relevant among different societies and also within the same
today. His notion of the sick role remains important society persist.
partly because it was a major sociological insight. His By now, you must be familiar with Marx’s
research moreover proved to be important because stratification of society into two major social classes,
it stimulated later research on interactions between commonly depicted as the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-
ill people and others (Morrall 2001; Weitz 2010; nots’, but defined in relation to ownership of the
White 2002). productive resources of society. Because of strong
evidence for the class basis of inequality, some
7.3.2 Conflict theory sociologists have sought to retain the usefulness of
According to conflict theory, inequality and class for the sociology of health and disease. Others
injustice are the sources of conflict that permeate consider class to be largely redundant and outmoded
society. Because resources and power are distributed under the impact of post-modern analyses that claim
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to focus on complexity, difference and identity. in some cases are widening – in the context of rapid
By classifying South Africans according to ‘race’, economic and social change. On the one hand, there
however, the apartheid system accorded specific are significant discrepancies in the health statuses
rights and access to productive resources to the of developed and developing countries. Two factors
white minority and denied them to others. Because in particular tell us much about the health and
apartheid policies caused immense hardship for living conditions of populations. The first of these
black people in this country, it stands to reason that is life expectancy, which is the average number of
it had an equally harmful effect on the health of the years that a group of people can expect to live. The
majority of South Africans. other factor is the child or under-five mortality rate
In essence, the relationship between social class – the number of deaths among children under five
and health refers to health inequalities. Social class years old for every 1 000 live births – but especially
position is, therefore, bound to influence one’s chances the infant mortality rate – the number of deaths
of experiencing disease and premature death. Being among infants less than one year old for every 1 000
born into deprivation and moreover continuing to live births.
live in deprivation increase one’s chances of disease Table 7.1 reflects a comparison of some developing
and early death. Although the associations between and some developed countries in respect of their
poverty and health have been recognised for over 150 life expectancies to illustrate the discrepancies
years, these inequalities in health still persist – and between them.
Table 7.1 Life expectancy: international comparisons, 1990 and 2011
Country 1990 2011
Australia 77 82
Mozambique 43 50
Spain 77 82
South Africa 62 53
United Kingdom 76 81
Zimbabwe 61 51
Germany 75 81
Nigeria 46 52
(Source: World Bank 2013)
From Table 7.1 it is evident that in the case of all of the In the main, the HIV/AIDS pandemic is to blame for
developed countries (in shaded areas), life expectancy this decrease. This is not only the case in South Africa,
has increased in the two-decade period between 1990 but globally health inequalities have been reinforced
and 2011. In two of the four developing countries listed since 1983 with the identification of HIV as the agent
here – among them South Africa – life expectancy has responsible for AIDS. Since 2000, HIV-prevalence rates
decreased. In 2011, life expectancy in South Africa at appear to be stabilising – partly due to the roll-out of
birth was 53 years – nearly thirty years less than that antiretroviral medicines from the mid-2000s – which
of the UK. Within the country, there has moreover been seems to be leading to a recovery in life expectancy
a significant decline in life expectancy, from 62 years (Pretorius et al 2013; World Bank 2013).
in 1990 to 53 years in 2011. This is contrary to what The other indicator of the health of populations
one might expect especially because of improvements is under-five mortality. In Table 7.2, the under-five
in respect of infrastructure, education and healthcare mortality demonstrates the differences between
since the introduction of democracy in South Africa. developed and developing countries.
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Table 7.2 Under-five mortality: international comparisons, 1990 and 2011
Country 1990 2011 Reduction rate
Developed regions 15 7 3.8%
Developing regions 97 57 2.5%
Australia 9 5 3.4%
Mozambique 226 103 3.7%
Spain 11 4 4.5%
South Africa 62 47 1.4%
United Kingdom 9 5 2.8%
Zimbabwe 79 67 0.8%
Germany 9 4 3.6%
Nigeria 214 124 2.6%
(Source: UNICEF, WHO, World Bank, UN Population Division 2012)
From Table 7.2 it is apparent that all of the developed poorly with, for instance, that of Spain, which is an
countries depicted here (in shaded areas) have made impressive 4.5 per cent.
great strides in reducing their already low under-five Not only are there differences between countries
mortality rates. Overall, developed regions managed a in respect of health status, variations also occur
reduction rate of nearly 4 per cent within two decades, within countries – once again attributable to social
while developing regions only managed 2.5 per cent. inequalities. The significant variation among South
The reduction rate of the developing countries shown African provinces in respect of under-five mortality
here, however, remains very low compared with those rates correlates with the poverty levels within the
of developed countries. A case in point is that of South respective provinces.
Africa, whose 1.4 per cent reduction rate compares
Table 7.3 Under-five mortality by province, 2007, and poverty levels by province, 2001
Provinces Under-five mortality 2007 Poverty levels 2001
Limpopo 110 77%
Eastern Cape 105 72%
North West 105 61%
Mpumalanga 101 57%
KwaZulu-Natal 98 61%
Free State 97 68%
Gauteng 86 42%
Northern Cape 85 52%
Western Cape 78 32%
(Source: HSRC 2004; StatsSA 2010)
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Table 7.3 indicates the significant variation among serves the interests of both; on the one hand by
provinces, with the Western Cape having recorded maintaining the professional dominance of the latter
the lowest under-five mortality rate (78) and Limpopo and, on the other, by sustaining a reasonably healthy
the highest (110). This discrepancy correlates with the working population for the ruling classes.
poverty levels of the two provinces: in 2001, 77 per cent Navarro maintains that morbidity and mortality,
of the population in Limpopo was living in poverty, especially in the poor parts of the world in which the
while in the Western Cape the figure was 32 per cent. majority of the human race lives, are not the result of
a scarcity of resources, or of industrialisation or of the
Marxist approaches population explosion. Rather, morbidity and mortality
Researchers in the Marxist tradition have produced occur because of a pattern of control over the resources
one of the most powerful sociological accounts of of those countries in which the majority of the
the social patterning of the production of disease. population have no control over access to resources: ‘It
According to them, the medical institution – when in a is not inequalities that kill, but those who benefit from
capitalist society – is said to reflect the characteristics the inequalities that kill’ (Navarro 2009: 440).
of capitalism. It is profit orientated, it blames the When thinking about those who benefit, the
victim and it reproduces the class structure and the pharmaceutical and medical technology multinational
accompanying inequalities. In this view, medicine companies invariably come to mind. The apparently
serves a key function in capitalist societies in that inexhaustible demand for healthcare, together with
victims of disease are blamed for their own conditions, the medicalisation of areas not previously considered
while diseases are actually caused by capitalists’ to be medical (such as infertility, short stature and
pursuit of profit. Medical professionals act as agents sexual performance) mean that the opportunities
of social control, especially in respect of the working for the accumulation of profit are considerable.
class. One way of doing this is by controlling access Consequently, the profit motive in such multinational
to the sick role, for instance by issuing or not issuing pharmaceutical companies makes the eradication of
medical certificates. This is done to secure a workforce national and global health inequalities unlikely in the
for the ruling capitalist class. foreseeable future (Bradby 2009).
A contemporary sociologist working in the
Marxist tradition is Vicente Navarro, editor of the Michel Foucault
influential International Journal of Health Services. The French philosopher Foucault (1926–1984) was
According to him, both the causes of inequalities a social theorist who concerned himself with the
in health between different social classes and the development of the category of disease, which he
reasons for the continuation of this situation are regarded to be the product of the professionalisation of
attributable to the alliance of interests between the medicine. In his view, the medical profession acts on
ruling classes and the medical profession. Both these behalf of the administrative state, firstly by defining
parties share a willingness to perpetuate the belief categories of people, such as the sick, the insane, the
that the principal causes of ill health are personal criminal and the deviant. The state then – via the
and physical rather than social. Not only does this surveillance of its citizens – polices ‘normal’ behaviour
strengthen the position of the medical profession in and enforces compliance with the ‘normal’. Foucault
explaining ill health to the lay population but it also compares modern society with Max Weber’s idea of the
promotes a dependency on medicine to cure disease. iron cage (Morrall 2001; White 2002).
In his view, the medical profession occupies a position Foucault’s understanding of and argument about
of ideological dominance, which is based on the claim power challenges that of Marxists. Whereas the
that the most notable improvements in the health latter regard power to be centralised in the hands of
of populations are the result of medical advances the capitalist class, Foucault points out that power is
and medical technology. Admitting that patterns of diffused throughout society and not only located in
disease are largely determined by economic and social any one group. The power over life, so-called biopower,
factors would deprive the medical profession of its emerged with the development of the modern state and
professional dominance. The alliance between the its need to guarantee the health of its population. In
ruling classes and the medical profession therefore The Birth of the Clinic (1973), Foucault contends that
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the development of modern positivistic medicine in inducing individuals to comply with social roles.
was instrumental in this process of gaining scientific However, while Foucault views modern societies
control over humans. According to him, the history as systems of organised surveillance, individuals
of medicine is at the same time the history of the conduct the surveillance on themselves because they
depersonalisation of humans and their subjugation by have internalised the professional models of what is
the institution of medicine. He identifies three distinct deemed appropriate behaviour. Both Parsons and
periods in the history of medicine (White 2002): Foucault argue that, in modern society, disease is
• The period from the Middle Ages to the eighteenth constructed as deviant behaviour. In Parsons’s case,
century was that of bedside medicine. Doctors this can be the motivated deviance to enter the sick
had a holistic orientation to the patient and role and thus avoid social obligations. For Foucault,
care comprised the whole person. Disease was this happens when a sick person is identified as being
conceptualised as a lack of balance in the human sick by the ‘helping professions’ of modern society
being and involved both physical and spiritual (White 2002).
factors. In accordance with the spirit of this period,
the doctor would ask the patient the following 7.3.3 Symbolic interactionism
question: ‘What is the matter with you?’ Contrary to the assumption of structural functionalists
• The second period, which covers the nineteenth that we are socialised to act according to the rules and
century, was the era of hospital medicine. By expectations of society – which ‘made us all “dupes”
this time, doctors had commenced on the road to of the social system’ (White 2002: 56) – symbolic
professionalisation and patients became dependent interactionism views humans as acting, rather than
on them. Disease was considered a problem of as being acted upon. The interactionist theorist thus
the pathology of a specific organ, detached from sees humans as active and creative participants
the entire existence of the individual. Thus, who construct their social world, not as passive and
the medical practitioner was only interested in conforming objects of socialisation.
specific information that pertained to the patient’s This perspective has a long intellectual history,
physical condition and would ask the patient, beginning with the German sociologist and economist,
‘Where does it hurt?’ Max Weber (1864–1920). In Chapter 1 on Sociological
• The period from the mid-twentieth century – theory, you were introduced to Weber’s concept of
in which both patient and doctor are displaced Verstehen – deep empathic understanding. Weber’s
by scientific tests – is depicted as laboratory sociology has made notable contributions to social
medicine. Disease becomes a biochemical process, policy in respect of health and disease. For example,
dealt with by scientists and laboratory technicians. whereas most disease-prevention programmes in
The patient as person is entirely superseded by Western countries and those advocated by the World
statistical tests of biological normality. Doctors, Health Organization (WHO) at first adopted quite a
too, become subservient to the biochemical process prescriptive, almost authoritarian approach of telling
in that they no longer want to elicit information people how to live less diseased lives (for example, stop
only from the patient, so they tell the patient: smoking, stop binge-drinking, stop eating fatty, sugary
‘Let’s wait and see what the tests say’. According and salty foods, and stop being lazy), the approach
to Foucault, the increasing ‘scientisation’ of life is of such programmes has been modified – now being
inevitably followed by a disenchantment: we learn more in line with Weber’s Verstehen approach. While
more and more about the workings of the body the aim is still to steer people towards changing their
as an artefact of the laboratory, and less and less potential self-destructive lifestyles, it has now become
about health and happiness. an acceptable part of health-promotion policies to
try and understand why certain social groups persist
Interestingly, there are a number of parallels between in unhealthy actions, and to try to accommodate
the work of Michel Foucault and Talcott Parsons. They the meanings people attach to their actions (Morrall
share the view that medicine is not only concerned 2001: 30).
with healing, but that it acts as an institution of social Another prominent social theorist in this
control in that medical professionals play a key role tradition is Erving Goffman (1922–1982). He used this
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theoretical framework to analyse mental hospitals 7.4.1 Defining health

and the experiences of their inmates. He described In its Constitution of 1948, the World Health
mental hospitals as total institutions – institutions Organization (WHO) defines health in terms of
where a large number of individuals lead highly physical, psychological and social criteria (http://www.
regimented lives separated from the outside world. In who.int/hhr/en/). This is one of the earliest attempts at
these institutions and the circumstances that prevail a holistic view of health. Over time, many disciplines
there, mortification of the self occurs. This refers to a involved in health have come to acknowledge and
process in which a person’s self-image is damaged and accept this view.
is replaced by a personality adapted to institutional People not professionally involved in health
life. Goffman identified the following aspects of matters also have perceptions of health. Such lay
institutional life that cultivate such mortification. beliefs or more popular perceptions of health are
• Master status: Because the inmates are isolated not – as is often believed by biomedical practitioners
from work and family – which usually give one a – merely superstitions. Rather, they are people’s
sense of self – they only have one available role, attempts to make sense of their lives and to deal
namely that of patient. The role of patient becomes with the complexities of health issues. Whereas the
their master status and all behaviour is interpreted biomedical concept of health takes as its starting
through the lens of illness. point the anatomical parts and the physiological
• Depersonalisation: Because each staff member has systems of the body, many lay beliefs about health
to manage many patients, the best way to do this have their origin in the wholeness of human beings.
is to limit and even disregard individual desires, What seems to matter to people is the wholeness or
needs and personalities. Patients therefore may integrity of the person. It is thus believed that health
not choose what to wear, when to sleep and when remains if one maintains inner strength and the
to wake up, when to eat and what to eat. ability to cope.
Sustained research since the 1970s has indicated
Since the second half of the twentieth century, several that concepts of health vary in many respects. This has
studies subsequently supported Goffman’s idea of the resulted in a growing recognition of the influential role
negative consequences of institutionalising people of culture, class, gender, ethnicity and age in respect
experiencing mental problems. This has resulted in a of the subjective experience of health and healthcare.
process of deinstitutionalisation and the development For example, it has been found that younger men tend
of alternatives to hospitalisation – among them halfway to think of health as physical fitness, while younger
houses (Weitz 2010). women emphasise energy and coping. In middle age,
the emphasis moves towards notions of mental and
7.4 Defining health, disease and illness physical well-being, while older people stress the
Defining the conditions health and disease is not as ability to do things, contentment and happiness. As
obvious as one might believe. In everyday language, a result of research findings such as these, it has also
we use the concepts disease and illness as synonyms. been recognised that lay perceptions need to be taken
However, sociologists draw a distinction between into account when organising healthcare provision
these two concepts. Accordingly, disease refers to the (Bradby 2009).
presence of physical signs, whereas illness or illness A wide range and variety of ideas about health
behaviour refers to the subjective experience when one have been described in literature. We will take a look
is subjected to certain physical signs. The implication at four of these.
of this distinction is that disease can occur without
illness, and illness can occur without disease being Health as the absence of disease
present. One can thus be seriously diseased without This way of thinking is generally associated with
being ill – for example if a person is unaware of a the medical profession and has been described as ‘an
malignant tumour growing internally but regularly impoverished understanding of good health’ (Bradby
runs a marathon. Conversely, one can be ill without 2009). People are considered healthy as long as they
being diseased – for example with severe depression show no signs of physical abnormality – regardless of
in response to a loss. how they feel about themselves.
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The main criticism regarding this way of defining only about whether a person is ill or injured, but it
health is that the notion of abnormality (or pathology) has a social dimension, namely that a sense of well-
implies that there are certain universal ‘norms’ or being is also an important aspect of being healthy.
‘standards’ of what constitutes health and of how the This definition has been criticised for being too
body should function when it is healthy. However, idealistic – in other words, it specifies a state of being
because there are wide-ranging variations in human that is unattainable. It also presents an absolute view of
anatomy and physiology, one may well ask whether health, which means that a person is unhealthy unless
such standards actually exist. Careful consideration he or she has attained complete physical, mental and
of this idea makes it clear that there are quite a few social well-being. The value of this definition is,
shortcomings. For instance, when somebody has a however, that it encourages people to think of health
benign tumour that does not seem to be a problem at more holistically, as something that relates to a wide
that moment, is this person healthy or sick? Somebody range of human capacities and qualities.
may be HIV positive but not show any symptoms of
AIDS – is this person healthy or sick? Someone who Health as a commodity
has suffered brain damage at birth may have reduced The idea of health as a product suggests that health is
mental capabilities but above-average physical something that can be bought (by a subscription to a
capabilities. Is this being healthy or ill? medical aid scheme or to a gymnasium), sold (by health
food stores and health centres), given (by surgery and
Health as an ideal state drugs) and lost (following accident and disease). This
The definition of health used by the World Health is part of the current movement to enhance and control
Organization mentioned earlier states that ‘health personal health called healthism (Bruhn 1991). This
is a state of complete physical, mental, and social involves, inter alia, taking all kinds of supplements
well-being and not merely the absence of disease (eg tonics, vitamins and minerals), despite the fact that
or infirmity’ (http://www.who.int/hhr/en/). It is not
Human rights violation

resulting in ill-health:
Harmful traditional practices
Torture
Slavery
Violence against women and children
Health
and
human rights
Reducing vulnerability to ill- Promotion or violation of human

health through human rights: rights through health development:
Right to health Right to participation
Right to education Freedom from discrimination
Right to food and nutrition Right to information
Freedom from discrimination Right to privacy
Figure 7.2 Examples of the links between health and human rights
(Source: WHO 2002)
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some physicians remain sceptical of the real efficacy The definition of disease also varies according to
of such preparations. the particular social context. In other words, what
This point of view has been criticised for suggesting is considered to be disease in one society would not
that health is, in a sense, a technical matter – removed be considered such in another. Mental illness, for
from the individual. It is something that experts example, is very much rooted in culture in that what
perform in respect of the individual – be it a doctor is considered abnormal behaviour varies between
who administers medicines or performs surgery or a cultures. An extreme example would be the labelling
personal trainer. The idea of health as a commodity also of political dissidents as mentally ill, as happened
discounts the constraints of structural inequalities. In in the former Soviet Union where such people were
other words, at odds here are first-world consumerism committed to mental institutions.
and third-world resource scarcity: people struggling In the same way, beliefs about what causes
to make ends meet are in no position to ‘buy’ health disease vary. In some societies, it is believed that
(Aggleton 1990; Bradby 2009). disease is caused by supernatural forces – angry gods
or ancestral spirits that inflict suffering on those
Health as a human right who have broken moral codes or the forces called
This perspective challenges the idea that health is up by witches and sorcerers. On other occasions,
a privilege that can be bought, and modifies it as an supernatural intervention is regarded as a general
obligation that must be met. Several international imbalance between a community and its environment.
declarations have included statements about health While disease may, at times, be seen as punishment for
as a human right, such as the Universal Declaration wrongdoing, at other times it is considered an honour
of Human Rights, adopted by the UN in 1948, the or a gift. The Nguni term thwasa describes a ‘disease’
Constitution of the WHO and the Dublin Declaration sent by the ancestors to call a person to the vocation
on HIV/Aids. ‘Health as a human right’ has also been of traditional healer (see Section 7.5.3). Whereas
written in our constitution, bringing us in line with most Western anthropologists define the condition
global developments of the past 50 years. in pathological and psychological terms – namely
as behavioural disturbances or symptoms of mental
7.4.2 Defining disease illness – the amaXhosa regard it as an inborn gift. These
In a Western context, disease refers to: symptoms are viewed as normal processes to force a
• A biomedical term person to accept the ubizo or calling (Mlisa 2009).
• Pathological changes of the biological organism An illustration of how beliefs about the causes of
diagnosed by signs and symptoms disease vary is provided by Helman (1994). He describes
• An objective entity that can be defined by a licensed how the modern-day AIDS pandemic has given rise to
person (a doctor), by means of instruments (a a number of ideas about its causes expressed by way of
thermometer) and that can be monitored medically images or metaphors:
(by prescribing medicines). • AIDS as a plague – an invisible, spreading,
destructive force that brings with it chaos, disorder
If disease were an objective and precisely measurable and the breakdown of ordered society
entity, it would always and everywhere be the same. • AIDS as an invisible contagion – an unseen
However, there is evidence indicating that the concept influence transmitted by virtually any contact
disease is not fixed, but varies over time. One example with an infected person, at any place, at any time
is that of homosexuality. Once it was defined as a • AIDS as moral punishment – victims of the
disease, specifically a mental illness, but it is now more disease are divided into two groups: those who
socially accepted as a lifestyle choice. Alcoholism are ‘guilty’ (those who have multiple sex partners;
used to be viewed as immoral, therefore a sin, but it homosexuals; prostitutes) and those who are
is now often typified as a disease. These changes are ‘innocent’ (those who contracted the disease by
largely attributable to the fact that diseases are social means of a blood transfusion; partners of those
constructs – thus when society changes, so medical who have multiple sex partners)
perception and thus disease definition can change • AIDS as invader – this involves prejudice against
over time. foreigners or tourists as being ‘alien AIDS carriers’
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• AIDS as a war – a war waged on conventional individual’s response, and in the case of very severe
society by ‘immoral’ lifestyles, promiscuity, diseases this is indeed often true. We do, however, know
foreign influences and stigmatised minorities that many people fail to see a physician or go very late
(gays; drug abusers) in the disease process despite the presence of serious
• AIDS as a primitive or pre-social force or entity – symptoms, while many others see physicians regularly
characterised by unrestrained and unconventional for trivial or minor complaints. Again, it would seem
sexuality. that apart from the physiological conditions, illness
behaviour is also influenced by social and cultural
These metaphors reflect how people – in the face of factors. This is the case because people gain both their
no cure being available – attempt to make sense of experience and their knowledge in this respect, not
the disease and its devastating effects. Sontag has only from sources such as their doctors and the media,
indicated how conditions with an unknown cause and but also from their broader culture.
seemingly ineffective treatment attract extraordinary The process of interpreting one’s symptoms is not
levels of either fearfulness or disgust. This was the case exclusively conditioned by individual traits, but is the
with tuberculosis in the nineteenth century, but it has product of shared cultural beliefs and expectations
been replaced by cancer and AIDS as the mysterious, exchanged within the individual’s social network or
fearsome and objectionable diseases of the twentieth the lay referral system.
century (Morrall 2001).
7.5 Places and sources of care
7.4.3 Defining illness It is a widely held belief that all healthcare occurs in
Illness refers to how people experience their the hospital setting and is delivered by doctors and
symptoms, what meanings they ascribe to them, and nurses. In this section it will become apparent that
how they act upon them. It must be clear from this that there are indeed many contexts in which healthcare is
different people will define symptoms differently and provided by diverse healthcare providers.
will respond differently to them.
According to the biomedical model, illness 7.5.1 The institutionalisation of healthcare
behaviour is a direct response to physical pathology: For centuries, healthcare was mostly provided at home
the individual contracts a disease or sustains an injury by family members and other laypersons. Only in
that causes him or her to respond and behave in a medieval times, institutions called hospitals developed
certain way. For example, a broken leg will necessarily across Europe and were linked to monasteries and
cause pain, impaired ability to walk and some form of abbeys to offer food and shelter − literally, hospitality.
clinical intervention in order to heal successfully. They were run on charitable principles, and offered
From a sociological point of view, the study of food and shelter to those not part of mainstream society
illness is about behaviour in its social context rather – the poor, the aged, orphans, and people with physical
than in relation to a physiological or pathological and mental disabilities − regardless of whether they
condition. When individuals become diseased, they were sick or healthy. Because of the variety of patients
(and others) try to make sense of their symptoms and that they could accommodate, hospitals provided
choose what to do about their experience of being ill. doctors with a context in which they could do research
Illness cannot be established objectively by physical and ‘experiment’. By the end of the sixteenth century,
signs and is therefore not amenable to investigation hospitals were mere boarding houses where poor
by the methods of biomedicine because its study patients received free treatment in exchange for acting
depends on the analysis of experienced suffering as ‘guinea pigs’ for medical students (Hart-Davis 2007).
through individual self-reports and behaviour. Also, By the eighteenth century, medical treatment was
patients are mainly concerned with their illness (that recognised as the primary function of the hospital.
is, their pain, suffering and distress), while doctors However, the level of the treatment can only be
are more concerned with their disease (Jennings 1986; described as primitive, while they provided appalling
Wainwright 2008). living conditions: they were poorly ventilated and
One might think that the nature and severity overcrowded; often more than one patient was
of a disease would be the main determinants of an placed in a single bed regardless of their disorders,
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and the treatment was usually carried out publicly giving ordinary people more of a role in their own
in the ward itself. Surgery (mostly amputations and healthcare (Wainwright 2008).
childbirth), the purging of fevers with various potions, In 1975, the World Health Organization formally
bloodletting, and the removal of the dead all occurred adopted the primary healthcare approach. In 1978,
in the same general area where patients ate and slept. the Declaration of Alma-Ata was issued – the first
The physicians and surgeons also did not practise international declaration underlining the importance
even the most rudimentary standards of hygiene, of primary healthcare. Among the important basic
moving from bed to bed and treating a great variety of values or principles of primary healthcare identified in
diseases, including those that were infectious, without the Declaration are those of social justice, equity and
washing their hands or changing their clothes. They community participation and solidarity (WHO 1978).
also performed surgery without masks, and the entire
room was often filled with observers wearing ordinary Primary healthcare in South Africa
clothes (Hart-Davis 2007). In the 1940s, long before Alma-Ata, primary healthcare
Only in the nineteenth century, was the negative (PHC) principles were being practised in South Africa
image of the hospital changed and they became centres in a small unit situated in rural KwaZulu-Natal called
for treatment, open to all who were able to pay. One the Pholela Health Centre. The unit was initiated by Dr
of the factors that assisted in this process was the Eustace Cluver, the South African Secretary of Health,
development of the doctrine of specific aetiology and Dr Harry Gear, the Deputy Chief Health Officer, as
(germ theory). The standards of hygiene that resulted a means of establishing more appropriate healthcare
from practising the principles of the germ theory services in the mostly ignored Bantustans. This was
made hospitals much safer. The germ theory also led quite a progressive endeavour in that the healthcare
to the establishment of laboratories – a specialised providers integrated curative care and preventive
medical environment where tests could be performed health services in a comprehensive community-based
in hygienic conditions. Facilities such as operating package. They incorporated health education and
theatres − so called because students were able to health promotion as essential ingredients of their
view surgery − and equipment, such as the first X-ray healthcare delivery. In addition, their focus was on
machine – were centralised in hospitals so that they the health of families and the community rather than
could be available to most physicians. In addition, the on that of the individual alone. It also emphasised
process of diagnosis came to rely less on the verbal community empowerment and participation in
reports of patients and more on technological machine healthcare delivery. This was done, among other
and drug-aided tests for symptoms. Especially since things, by recruiting and training community members
the end of the nineteenth century, a new image of as healthcare assistants (Kautzky & Tollman 2008).
hospitals evolved as institutions in which patients In 1944, the Gluckman Report envisaged a national
of all social classes could expect to find the highest- health service – based on the Pholela model – funded by
quality medical care and could reasonably expect to be taxation and available to all the people of the country.
cured of their disorders. Gluckman’s Commission envisaged the establishment
of a comprehensive health service. At the centre of
7.5.2 The primary healthcare movement this health service would be health centres that would
During the 1970s, international health policy took a serve as the primary unit in the delivery of integrated
new direction, its aim being to have countries move healthcare. With a view to supporting the development
away from expensive, hospital-based, urban, curative, of the planned health centres, the Institute for Family
high-technology interventions. The aim of the primary and Community Health (IFCH) was established in
healthcare approach, which encompassed a holistic Durban in 1946, which was later attached to the Natal
view of health, was to bring services to people in rural University Medical School as a teaching unit. Apart
areas. The philosophy on which primary healthcare from financial backing from the then Department of
was based was not so much about cheap services, but Health, the IFCH was also generously supported by
rather on a desire to move from a top-down approach the Rockefeller Foundation. This support contributed,
in healthcare delivery to promoting grassroots among others, to the establishment of 44 affiliated
community participation and development, thus health centres throughout South Africa by 1949.
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The proposed programme was, however, fiercely concerned health worker practice; and comprehensive
opposed and given a mortal blow when the Nationalist care (Kautzky & Tollman 2008).
Party came into power in 1948. The new priority of the Despite the progressive initiatives pertaining to
medical profession was to establish a private health PHC over the course of six decades, and despite the
sector base and they therefore offered no support for political will to implement socially accountable and
the proposals made in the Gluckman Report. By 1960, responsive healthcare, effectively implementing PHC
nothing was left of the community-orientated primary has proved to be a significant social challenge − as has
care movement, and its most ardent proponents and been the case globally. There are numerous reasons
practitioners had emigrated. Each of the 44 health for this state of affairs, the most important being
centres that had been established were abruptly closed health worker shortages and the HIV/AIDS pandemic
or converted to provincial outpatient clinics (Kautzky (Kautzky & Tollman 2008; WHO 2008).
& Tollman 2008). It is impossible to implement and provision
During apartheid, there were two significant district-based health services in South Africa
developments that would eventually culminate in ‘a without sufficient, trained healthcare personnel.
uniquely South African form of PHC explicitly born On the one hand, staff shortages are the result of the
of the struggle against apartheid’ (Kautzky & Tollman unequal distribution of human resources between the
2008: 22). The first was the direct result of the 1976 private and the public sectors. During apartheid, most
Soweto uprising. Because of the unsafe conditions, healthcare professionals worked in the private sector,
many healthcare workers could not enter the which served only 20 per cent of the population.
township, while more than half of the doctors at the In 1998, 53 per cent of general practitioners, 57
(Chris Hani) Baragwanath Hospital and its affiliated per cent of professional nurses and 76 per cent of
referral clinics in Soweto either resigned or requested all specialists worked in the private sector. This
transfers. The local primary care clinics had to close situation has deteriorated in that 63 per cent of general
down, resulting in heavy overloads at the hospital. practitioners now work in this sector. An estimated
To address the crisis, the chief superintendent of the 62 per cent of the national health expenditure goes
hospital, Dr Koos Beukes, initiated a clinical skills towards the private sector, and it now caters for about
training course for nurses, which culminated in a seven million people − which leaves 38 per cent of the
new type of healthcare worker, namely the primary national health budget for 35 million people (Kautzky
healthcare (PHC) nurse. The PHC nurse was able to & Tollman 2008). On the other hand, healthcare
assess and diagnose patients, prescribe treatment and professional shortages are partly the result of the
dispense medication − responsibilities previously emigration of trained staff. In 2011, the Department of
limited to general practitioners (Kautzky & Tollman Health estimated that health professionals leave the
2008). This development had both a positive and a country at a rate of 25 per cent per year (Van Rensburg
negative spin-off. On the positive side, the South et al 2012: 417).
African Nursing Council in time recognised this The HIV/AIDS pandemic has also had devastating
course as a postgraduate diploma, which allowed effects on the country’s ability to transform its
thousands of ‘nurse clinicians’ to be trained. At the healthcare system. Not only the disease as such, but
same time, this development reinforced the idea that also the way in which the government has handled the
primary healthcare was nurse based, perpetuating the crisis has posed significant and substantial barriers
idea that doctors in the public sector should work in to the implementation of locally appropriate services.
hospitals and nurses should provide clinic-based care. The proposed new National Health Insurance has all
The second development during the 1980s was the potential to enable the creation of an efficient,
that of organisations that aimed to promote a national equitable and sustainable health system.
PHC strategy for South Africa. One such organisation, One of the important characteristics of the
the National Progressive Primary Health Care primary healthcare movement is its holistic approach
Network (NPPHCN) strove for the implementation of to health, which includes an endeavour to respect
a progressive PHC system in the country. It was to be communities. It therefore follows naturally that the
based on four key principles: commitment to socio- PHC movement has also taken an interest in traditional
economic development; community accountability; healing systems.
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7.5.3 African traditional healthcare

On the fateful day, Mothokho was taken to a farm just
Before Europeans settled in Africa, the indigenous
outside Ficksburg. On arrival at the farm, Mothokho is
healthcare system was influential throughout society.
believed to have been dragged from the vehicle and
Later, under missionary influence, and also because
attacked. While still alive, the gang allegedly began
of repressive colonial ideologies, African medical
cutting up and harvesting body parts from her for the
practices were condemned as ‘heathen’, ‘primitive’,
purposes of preparing muti.
‘barbaric’ and ‘uncivilised’, and ultimately outlawed
According to Lieutenant Colonel Nelson Komana, a
(Fako 1992; Ulin 1980). Although such measures were
forensic expert in harmful occult-related crime, who has
justifiable in the case of those traditional healers who
studied muti killings and practices, different body parts
committed ritual murders and used human substances
have specific uses. For example, human blood is used
as medicinal ingredients, there were also those who
to make potions to boost energy, genitals are used to
practised traditional healing in a benevolent way. Three
increase the fortunes of a business venture, while the
centuries later, traditional healing is still plagued by
heart is used to ensure longevity. The killers therefore
this phenomenon, namely that there exist both so-
want precise body parts for certain purposes and they
called traditional healers who commit ritual murders
prefer to harvest body parts while the victim is still alive,
to obtain muti, and those who are properly trained and
apparently because the muti made from such victims is
interested in improving people’s lives (see Box 7.1).
the most powerful.
Traditional healing was also not able to escape
The Traditional Healers Organisation, however,
increasing Westernisation, which brought about new
dismissed the use of muti as witchcraft, saying its
values, preferences and behavioural patterns. While
members only help people improve their lives in a
these developments eventually led to an erosion
holistic manner and do not cause any harm. It said true
of traditional African cosmology and culture, the
traditional healers or sangomas would never encourage
indigenous healthcare system managed to survive as a
people to commit murder or harm others.
fairly well-established healthcare system. Whereas in
the past, traditional healing was the only source of care
for millions of people in times of ill health, today it is African views on disease causation
still a refuge for large portions of the black population, The original African notion of disease causation
not only because of limited other choices, but also encompasses various factors: disease is ascribed to
because they deem it acceptable and functional. natural factors, but also supernatural ones (white
Several developments, both locally and inter and black magic), to ancestral spirits, to a violation
nationally, have resulted in the dawning of a new of taboos, to transgressing kinship rules or failing
dispensation for traditional healthcare systems in to observe religious obligations. There are thus two
South Africa, Africa and globally. Internationally, distinct aetiological categories – the natural and the
the WHO has played a pivotal role in promoting supernatural. Foster (1976) characterises these as
collaboration between biomedical and traditional naturalistic and personalistic; however, the existence
healthcare systems (Pretorius et al 2013). of two categories does not imply that reality is
experienced or classified in a dualistic fashion.
Box 7.1 Ntathi Alice Mothokho
No matter how often one hears the story retold, the gory Naturalistic explanations
details of the murder of Ntathi Alice Mothokho will always In naturalistic causation, illness is explained in
induce in one a sense of shock and disbelief at the brutal impersonal terms. When the body is in balance with
and extremely painful way she met her end. the natural environment, a state of health prevails.
Mothokho is believed to have been enticed to her However, when that balance is disturbed, illness
death by her friend Loraine Modise, 28. Modise, results. Africans accept that there are natural causes
her husband and other accomplices allegedly lured of disease, and even if these are not known, this has
Mothokho to an isolated place to kill her in order to not been an overt concern. There is an acceptance
harvest her body parts for use in an alleged muti ritual that disease can be caused by infection, even though
to bring good fortune to business. the infective agent is a mystery. There is considerable
knowledge regarding which leaves, roots and
185

berries possess beneficial healing properties and explain why the bacillus is active now, or why it is in
which are poisonous or even lethal. The deciding their lungs and not someone else’s.
factor whether or not an illness episode has natural
causes is the progress of the disease and not so Culture-related syndromes
much the symptoms. Therefore, natural diseases do Diseases that require personalistic explanations
not last unusually long, do not recur regularly and, are known among the amaZulu as ukufa kwabantu
apparently, do not form part of a series of misfortunes (diseases of African people). They are understood
(Kriel 1999). only by Africans and can therefore only be treated by
The nature of the treatment is in accordance African traditional healers. Five such culture-related
with the cause. Natural causes require a specialist in syndromes have been identified (Pretorius 2012):
symptomatic treatment, and although this specialist • Spirit possession manifests in two forms, the
can be a traditional healer, it is generally accepted first being ancestral spirit possession (thwasa).
that medical doctors trained in Western medicine This Nguni term describes a ‘disease’ sent by
understand and know how to treat diseases caused in the ancestors to call a person to the vocation
this way. of traditional healer. A second kind of spirit
possession, mafonfonyane, is principally ascribed
Personalistic explanations to sorcery and is brought about by harmful
As soon as a disease appears to be unusual, knowledge medicines controlled by the spirits of the
about the cause – especially whether it is natural deceased.
or not – becomes imperative so as to decide on the • Sorcery is usually held responsible for poisoning.
nature of the treatment. In the case of disease and Specific conditions associated with sorcery are,
misfortune, Westerners seek an explanation in terms for example, sejeso: a sorcerer places something
of concepts such as germ theory and fungal infection. in a person’s body to harm him or her. Nehelelo is
The question as to why a particular person suffers caused by placing something in a place frequently
disease or misfortune cannot be answered by science. visited by a person. If the person touches it, he or
In Western thought, the concept of chance is applied, she falls ill.
but the traditional African world view makes little • Pollution is a mystical force that reduces a person’s
provision for accident or chance (Hammond-Tooke resistance to disease and causes misfortune and
1981). In this view, disease or misfortune is ascribed repulsiveness, and as a result, people take a dislike
to the active, purposeful intervention of an agent, to that person.
which can be human (a witch or sorcerer), non-human • Ancestral displeasure causes the ancestors to
(a spirit or ancestor) or supernatural (a deity or other withdraw their protection. Their dissatisfaction is
very powerful being). Foster (1976) terms this mode of activated by conflict in the family or by failure to
explanation ‘personalistic’. observe ritual sacrifices. This leads to a condition
Personalistic aetiologies comprise multiple levels called moloa badimo (shade burns).
of causality: (1) an immediate cause – what was done • Disregard of cultural norms is also associated with
to the person and what was used; (2) an efficient cause ill health. It involves ignoring social taboos and
– who did it or what it did to the person; and (3) an the non-observance of ritual sacrifices during key
ultimate cause – why it happened to this specific person life events.
at this point in time.
In the case of personalistic explanations, healers Traditional treatment
with supernatural and/or magical skills are required In accordance with Africans’ holistic cosmological
because patients and their families are not principally views, traditional treatment is holistic because of its
concerned about the immediate cause of the disease, comprehensive approach. Traditional treatment aims
but rather about the who and the why. Patients opting not only at curing the disease, but also at healing
for a personalistic aetiology will not accept that the patient. As illness is seen as being the result of
tuberculosis is caused by the tuberculosis bacillus a disturbance or imbalance at the psychological,
– even if they were to see it under the microscope or physical, material, interpersonal or spiritual levels,
were to acknowledge its existence. It would still not all of these are taken into account when diagnosing
186

and prescribing treatment. Some of the wide variety or prayer to ancestors and piercing (‘African
of procedures and methods are the following: blood acupuncture’) (Felhaber & Mayeng 1997; Mkwanazi
cleansing, charms, incisions, drumming, sacrifice 1987; Wessels 1985).
Figure 7.3 A traditional healer

(Source: Photograph courtesy of Engela Pretorius)
Types of traditional healers Diviners

Traditional healers do not all perform the same Diviners (isiZulu: sangoma; isiXhosa: amagqira;
functions, nor do they fall into the same category. Just Sesotho/Setswana: ngaka (ya ditoala)) concentrate
like practitioners of biomedicine, traditional healers on the diagnosis of mysteries. They analyse the
can be divided into various fields of specialisation. causes of specific events and interpret the messages
The Traditional Health Practitioners Act 22 of 2007 of the ancestral spirits. Their function is mainly
identifies four types of such healers, namely diviners, that of divination, but they often also provide the
herbalists, traditional birth attendants and traditional medicaments for the specific case they diagnosed.
surgeons (RSA 2008). There are three methods of divination. Sometimes the
A type of healer category of more recent origin diagnosis is made by bone throwing – by casting and
is the prophet or faith healer, who divines and heals studying a divination set (litaola) (see Figure 7.3). The
within the framework of the African Independent second method is by means of psychic/clairvoyance
Churches (AIC). Although this kind of spiritual healer or telepathic ability, while divination can also occur
is not included in the aforementioned Act, and is a through dreams and visions (Pretorius 2012).
debatable issue, it is included here for discussion, African diviners experience a very definite
because fundamentally and initially these healers are calling by an ancestral spirit. Such a person presents
practitioners of traditional healing. the symptoms of a mysterious disease – ukuthwasa.
187

Initiates may have symptoms of mental anguish, reconciled with traditional culture. Strictly speaking,
experience emotional turmoil, develop physical pains, prophets are not traditional healers, yet they have
suffer depression, become moody, nervous, restless the following in common with the typical traditional
and fearful, experience palpitations and insomnia, and healer: a shared theory of disease and health; a similar
have vivid dreams or even audible communication from means of divination – even if God or the Holy Spirit,
the ancestral spirits. This ‘sickness’ does not respond rather than the ancestral spirits, aids them; and the
to conventional treatment, and a traditional healer is treatment of various diseases, including the so-called
usually consulted to diagnose whether the condition has culture-related syndromes (Sundkler 1961). Such
a physical cause or whether it is a calling to the vocation traditional healers are affiliated with the African
of traditional healer. In the event of the latter diagnosis, Independent Churches (AIC) – also called African
the person is entrusted to the care of a traditional healer Indigenous Churches or African Initiated Churches,
and training as a diviner commences. This is a long, and they dispense their services within this framework
complicated and secret process (Mlisa 2009). (Schlemmer 2008).
Herbalists Legitimisation and professionalisation of

Herbalists (isiZulu: inyanga; isiXhosa: amaxhwele; traditional healthcare in South Africa
Sesotho: ngaka e chitja/ya ditlamatlama) do not, Although, from both a legal and a Christian point
typically, possess occult powers but have acquired an of view, traditional healthcare in this country had
extensive knowledge of magical technique (Hammond- ‘no right of existence’ for most of the previous two
Tooke 1974: 342). Herbalists are aware of the centuries, it has managed to survive into the twenty-
importance of ancestral favour, but they do not have first century. The new societal dispensation in South
the same close alliance with the ancestral spirits as do Africa brought with it an affirmation of African
diviners. To them, the remedy itself is central to their identity, which paved the way for, among other
treatment. They are expected to diagnose and prescribe things, a re-evaluation of the indigenous healing
medication for ordinary ailments and diseases, to system. The constitution provides the framework for
prevent and alleviate misfortune and disaster, to accommodating the traditional healthcare system. To
provide protection against sorcery and misfortune, consult a healer of one’s choice is considered a basic
and to promote good fortune and happiness. human right and is thus enshrined in the Bill of Rights
Herbalists acquire their skills by serving an s15(1) and s31(1) (RSA 1996). Similarly, traditional
apprenticeship with an eminent herbal practitioner. healers have the right both to choose and practise their
When they feel that they have learned enough, they trade, occupation or profession freely, but they are,
leave their mentors and establish their own practices. however, subject to legal regulation.
In some cases remedies are, as it were, ‘inherited’, and Immediately after the elections of 1994,
secret remedies are passed down from father to son or government adopted a course of constructive
from an uncle to a favourite nephew or niece. engagement with a view to officially recognising this
Traditional pharmacopoeia is largely herbal healthcare system. More than a decade would pass
(herbs, bark and roots), but a few are of animal origin. before enabling legislation was promulgated in 2008.
The herbalist’s remedies often have strong symbolic The Traditional Health Practitioners Act 22 of 2007
significance. The general principle is that whatever (RSA 2008) was signed by the president on 7 January
characteristics plants, birds and animals may possess, 2008, but only sections 7, 10, 11(3), 12–15, 47, 48 and
they can be transmitted to humans. The Tswana 50 were made operational in April 2008. These deal
traditional healer, for example, uses animal skins that mainly with establishing an Interim Traditional
symbolise coolness – such as that of a water iguana or Health Practitioners’ Council and the power of the
crocodile, to ‘cool down’ a patient (Reyneke 1971). Minister of Health to issue regulations in terms of
the Act. More than three years after the Act had been
Faith healers/prophets promulgated, the Minister of Health set in motion
Faith healers or prophets (Nguni: umthandazi; Sesotho: the selection process for constituting the Council
moprofeta/mosebeletsi/morapelli) actually indicate a by publishing a Government Notice relating to the
syncretism, a reinterpretation of orthodox Christianity appointment of such members (Rautenbach 2011).
188

The future of traditional healthcare in South Diversity of therapeutic and diagnostic methods
Africa CAM modes of healing comprise a range of therapeutic
The importance of traditional healthcare is evident methods, various diagnostic methods and several
from a number of factors. The first and obvious healing systems. An example of a therapeutic method
reason is the number of traditional healers. is reflexology, which entails the use of hands to
Pretorius’s estimate of between 150 000 and 200 000 apply pressure to specific points of the foot. The foot
has been confirmed by Gqaleni et al (2007) – their is regarded as a microcosm of the entire body, thus
research indicating the more precise number of certain parts of the body relate to certain sensitive
185 477. The African traditional healthcare system areas on the foot, called reflex points. For example,
also constitutes an important economic factor in that the toes correspond to the head and neck, and the
its annual contribution amounts to 5.6 per cent of ball of the foot to the chest and lungs. Stimulation of
the national health budget (R2.9 billion). In addition, a particular part of the foot will have a response in a
approximately 133 000 people (mostly rural women) distant organ (Vincent & Furnham 1997).
are employed in the trade in medicinal plants A widely used diagnostic method is iridology –
(Rautenbach 2011). the study of the iris of the eye. Various marks, signs
While it is a heartening fact that the required and discoloration in the iris reveal certain strengths
legislation in respect of traditional healthcare is and weaknesses. Iridology cannot detect a specific
finally in place, complete institutionalisation has disease, but can detect over- or under-activity in
not yet been attained. Regulatory measures regarding specific areas of the body, for example, an under-active
reimbursement by medical aid schemes are still in their pancreas might indicate a diabetic condition (Vincent
infancy and only certain sections of the Traditional & Furnham 1997).
Healers Act are in effect (Gqaleni et al 2007). Illiteracy Both in South Africa and globally, chiropractic is
among traditional healers and incorporating a the most widely accepted and most ‘mainstream’ of
healthcare system with metaphysical qualities into the CAM healing systems. This is clearly illustrated
a bureaucratic system is bound to produce some by the fact that it is the modality most commonly
challenges (Moagi 2009). Also, in the Green Paper on covered by medical aid schemes. The primary goals of
National Health Insurance in South Africa (2011) no chiropractic therapy are relief of musculoskeletal pain
mention is made of the possible role of traditional and restoration of mobility.
healthcare (DoH 2011). Other well-known CAM healing systems are
homoeopathy, naturopathy, traditional Chinese
7.5.4 Complementary and alternative medicine and acupuncture. By way of illustration, the
medicine focus will only be on homoeopathy.
Up to the end of the 1980s, the term ‘alternative Homoeopathy aims at restoring the self-healing
medicine’ was used to describe approaches to potential of the organism. This is accomplished by
healthcare outside the sphere of conventional using the lowest possible dose that would provoke a
medicine. In time and as this type of healthcare became reaction in the organism. This aspect of homoeopathy
more acceptable – especially among physicians – the has caused the most controversy because homoeopathic
term ‘complementary and alternative medicine’ (CAM) remedies are frequently, though not always, diluted to
became more widespread. the point where it seems inconceivable that a single
A characteristic of CAM is that it is based on molecule of the original substance could remain.
the holistic philosophy of healthcare. Practitioners Various explanations are given for the action of these
of holistic healthcare differ from biomedical remedies, one being that a dissolved substance leaves
practitioners in that they concentrate on the concept an imprint in water after high dilution. Others consider
of health rather than merely on disease. For this homoeopathic remedies to operate at a subtle level that
kind of healthcare, the main goals are therefore the is not open to scientific investigation. Homoeopathy is
prevention of disease and the promotion of health, also based on the principle of like cures like. According
rather than the treatment of disease. Also, the focus to this principle, a disease may be cured by means
is on the patient as the subject rather than the object that cause similar symptoms in healthy persons. For
of the treatment. example, if a given drug induces symptoms such as a
189

headache in healthy individuals, this very drug can be • Professional Board for Ayurveda, Chinese
employed in patients who suffer from headaches. The Medicine and Acupuncture, and Unani-Tibb
use of vaccines to stimulate the production of natural • Professional Board for Therapeutic Aromatherapy,
antibodies is a parallel approach (Aakster 1986; Allied Therapeutic Massage Therapy and Therapeutic
Health Professions Council of South Africa 2011; Reflexology
Vincent & Furnham 1997). • Professional Board for Chiropractic and
Osteopathy
Integrating biomedicine and CAM • Professional Board for Homoeopathy, Naturopathy
Not only are physicians accepting CAM, but there and Phytotherapy.
seems to be an overwhelming thrust towards
integrating CAM into the mainstream. This was borne Under subsection 13 of Act 50 of 2000, all practitioners
out by a review by Astin et al (1998) of 19 international – including biomedical practitioners who also practise
surveys. They concluded that large numbers of CAM – are required to register separately under each
conventional physicians were either referring patients therapy. Thus, a medical doctor practising acupuncture
to or practising some of the prominent and well-known must have dual registration, first with the Health
forms of CAM. The following are some examples of Professions Council as a medical doctor and also with
such surveys: the Allied Health Professions Council as a Chinese
• In Britain, Perkin et al (1994) found that 70 per medicine practitioner (Allied Health Professions
cent of hospital doctors and 93 per cent of general Council of South Africa 2011).
practitioners had suggested referral to a CAM The National Health Reference Price List (NHRPL)
practitioner at least once. They also found that published annually serves to provide medical aid
12 per cent of hospital doctors and 20 per cent of schemes with a reference/guideline for reimbursement
general practitioners were practising some form of for treatment conducted by registered CAM
CAM, mostly acupuncture. practitioners.
• In the Netherlands, Visser and Peters (1990)
established that in their sample of 360, almost The future of CAM
all of the doctors reported referring to CAM CAM in South Africa has progressed from being
practitioners. considered ‘deviant’ to being legitimised. It would,
• An Australian study (Pirotta et al 2000) found that however, seem that what is still required is that the
more than 80 per cent of the surveyed GPs had public be educated about which practices are allowed by
referred patients to practitioners of acupuncture, a specific kind of registration. While CAM practitioners
hypnosis and meditation. may display registration certificates, such certificates
do not stipulate the exact nature of their mandate.
Also indicative of this new marriage between A CAM practitioner (Jonker 2011) maintains that it
conventional medicine and CAM is the fact that in the often transpires that CAM practitioners transgress in
US, 60 per cent of medical schools teach courses on this regard. Despite lacking the requisite theoretical
CAM practices (Astin et al 1998). training – which in the case of homoeopaths amounts
to seven years – in respect of certain machines for
Present status of CAM in South Africa purposes of diagnosing and prescribing, some CAM
At present, 11 CAM modalities are registered according practitioners nevertheless utilise such machines. The
to the Chiropractors, Homoeopaths and Allied Health various professional boards are only able to regulate
Service Professions Second Amendment Act 50 of 2000 their members to the extent that they are made aware
(RSA 2000). The Act established a professional council of offences, and in this regard the public has an
– the Allied Health Professions Council of South invaluable role to play.
Africa – to regulate a wide range of CAM practitioners,
each with a professional board:
190

Summary 2. Which qualities would you expect someone to

This chapter has dealt with the phenomenon of health display if he or she were to be considered:
and its accompanying occurrence, namely disease, • physically healthy
and also the various contexts within which treatment • socially healthy
is provided with a view to combatting disease • mentally healthy?
and restoring health. The following main themes 3. South Africa has a high maternal mortality rate (the
were featured: death of women during pregnancy or childbirth
• It was indicated that the true nature of health and or within 42 days after delivery) when compared
disease cannot be comprehended without taking with some of our neighbouring countries and when
into account the social aspects involved. compared internationally. Try to think of possible
• Because of the social dimensions of health and reasons for this.
disease, it follows naturally that the discipline of 4. What do you think has been the impact of apartheid
sociology should take an interest in and have an on health and healthcare delivery in South Africa?
opinion on these phenomena. It was indicated that 5. When we say that health is a basic human right,
the sociological perspective contests the supposed what does it mean in practice? What societal
objectivity of biomedical science by pointing out measures need to be taken to ensure that every
that medical knowledge is not only produced in citizen is afforded this right?
a particular societal context but also reflects the 6. Why are the children of poorer parents more prone
structural features of society. Accordingly, health to disease than those of richer parents?
and disease are considered social constructs. 7. Do you think that we are witnessing the demise of
• It was indicated that the sociological perspective the medical profession’s dominance of healthcare
in this regard culminated in the social model of provision because of the recognition of the wide
health and disease. This model was contrasted array of healthcare options? If this is the case,
with the biomedical model, but convergence is it a negative development? What would this
between the two models was also indicated. development indicate?
• The three main theoretical approaches were 8. What should the relationship between biomedicine
applied to health and disease. It was indicated and traditional healing be? What, in your
that each provides a different lens for viewing and opinion, is the future of traditional healthcare in
explaining these phenomena and as such each South Africa?
highlights different aspects.
• By analysing the concepts health and disease, it More sources to consult
was indicated that, apart from their objective Van Rensburg HCJ (ed). 2012. Health and Health Care
manifestation, these phenomena are also in South Africa. Pretoria: Van Schaik. This book
experienced subjectively – termed illness or illness provides a comprehensive overview of the evolving
behaviour. South African healthcare system, indicating the
• Finally, the places and sources of care available changes and the challenges. It contextualises
when health fails were discussed. The focus these developments historically and globally and
here was firstly on institutionalised, biomedical provides a critical assessment.
healthcare provided by hospitals. Next, healthcare
delivery at the grassroots, community level – Journals
known as primary healthcare – was described. Health and Human Rights. An International Journal.
Another form of healthcare that came under Available at: http://www.hhrjournal.org/index.
consideration was that of African traditional php/hhr/article/view/367/563
healing, which was followed by a discussion of Social Science & Medicine. This journal provides an
complementary and alternative medicine. international and interdisciplinary forum for the
dissemination of social science research on health.
Are you on track? Its website also provides videos of speeches by
1. Why is a sociological perspective on health, renowned researchers on health topics. One such
disease and healthcare important? video particularly relevant for your purposes is
191

by Peter Conrad on The medicalisation of society aim to inform the reader on the latest news and
(also available at http://www.youtube.com/watch developments (mainly focusing on southern Africa)
?v=9l8LJjy5B2g). Available at: http://www.jour in, among others, health legislation, the HIV/AIDS
nals.elsevier.com/social-science-and-medicine/ pandemic and inequities in healthcare. The South
The Lancet, one of the world’s most pre-eminent African Health Review, published annually, is
biomedical science journals and arguably the leading regarded as an authoritative and comprehensive
research publication focused on global health, publication that provides a current and longer-term
launched its first ever free, open-access journal – The review of health policy developments and their
Lancet Global Health – in 2013. Available at: http:// implementation in South Africa. It also monitors
www.thelancet.com/journals/langlo/ changes and challenges in the provision of
equitable and accessible healthcare in the country.
Websites Available at: http://www.hst.org.za/
Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa Medical Research Council (MRC). This is a health
provides information about applicable legislation, research council established to promote the
the various CAM professional boards, registration improvement of the health and quality of life of
requirements and registered practitioners. the South African population through research,
Available at: http://www.ahpcsa.co.za development and technology transfer. Its website
Department of Health. This site deals with general reports on its own and other important research.
health topics, health priorities, various diseases The MRC also provides government with policy
and conditions, health statistics and news items. recommendations on various health issues.
Available at: http://www.doh.gov.za/ Available at: http://www.mrc.ac.za
Health Systems Trust. This dynamic not-for-profit World Health Organization: This comprehensive site
organisation was established in 1992 to support will provide you with everything you want to know
the transformation of the health system in a new about the global health situation. It provides an
democratic South Africa. There is a wealth of extensive list of health topics, international news,
information to be gained from this source, for activities, projects and programmes, databases and
instance a bi-weekly electronic news bulletin. The country-specific information. Available at: http://
topics covered in the bulletin are wide-ranging and www.who.int/en/
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Chapter 8
Politics and governance

Kirk Helliker
Politics is about power. Governance is about ruling. Institutionalised as administrators of the state, the formally constituted ruling
powers regulate society: register its citizens, pass its laws, ensure national security, establish and maintain law and order and
possess the monopoly over exercising legitimate force. The empirical focus is contemporary South African society.
This chapter starts by making a few key conceptual points. The chapter is then divided into three main parts. They can
profitably be read as three interconnected essays. Being a sound exercise in sociological thinking, the first part is a historically
sensitive account of segregation and apartheid. It is important to know that the authoritarian character of the state and the
formalisation of racial segregation, following centuries of racial conquest and slavery, is the explicit reason why the ANC was
established in 1912. Every student of South African society should know that the 1913 Land Act relegated 87 per cent of its
people to 13 per cent of the land. In a few pages, this part of the chapter takes the reader through the nature of white politics and
intra-white conflict and black oppression and black opposition to segregation leading to apartheid in 1948. It looks at intensified
racial domination in the 1950s and 1960s, black consciousness and the Soweto Revolt in the 1970s, the partial nature of political
reform under apartheid and the emergence of COSATU and the UDF in the 1980s and how the ANC inherited the apartheid
state-form when it came to power in 1994.
The second part treats post-apartheid South Africa. It starts by locating the political tasks and challenges of our new
democracy in the context of the restructuring of the global social system. Not surprisingly, the political choices open to the
ANC government were constrained by the need for a strong economy and so echoes of the discussion in the previous chapter
bounce into this one. Precisely due to the structural economic constraints imposed on the ANC’s policies and programmes,
racially based inequality and injustice could not be tackled as strongly as was hoped and envisaged throughout the years of the
liberation struggle. Despite this, the ANC has continued to achieve resounding electoral successes. This is discussed alongside
that of the ANC/SACP/COSATU tripartite alliance, how the ANC has had to deal with powerful internal lobby groups seeking
to safeguard their own interests, the relation between leading state officials and dominant class and social groups, the needs
of economically weak social groups and the emergence of new social movements are discussed.
The third and final part of the chapter broadens the discussion and addresses theoretical perspectives on the state and
society. You have an open invitation. Of the three key theories presented, which is the most adequate in explaining the
dynamics of the empirically based account just presented in the first two parts of the chapter? Does the pluralist view that
the state is an honest broker which mediates between opposing groups in society explain politics and governance in South
Africa today? Are the theories clustered under the concept of elitism, whether radical or conservative, a useful conceptual lens
to analyse local political and governmental issues? Or are the instrumentalist and structuralist analyses located in a Marxist
problematic better able to explain the often noisy sphere of contemporary politics and government?
Few people manage to avoid getting drawn into heated discussions about politics. This is surely because the issues are far
too important to be ignored. Take this chapter seriously and you will learn how to be the informed voice of scholarly reason
when it comes to hot political discussions. When tempers flare, you might have to be the one to bring the discussion back
within the bounds of rational discussion. This chapter will have provided serious food for thought. Good luck!

Case study 8.1 Service delivery protests in South Africa
Over the past decade, there have been thousands of service delivery protests taking place in urban South Africa
by poor black people, in which people publicly complain and demonstrate about the failure of the government to
provide basic services such as proper housing, sanitation and water. These protests can be read about almost weekly
in South African newspapers or seen on television news. In trying to make sense of these protests, Peter Alexander
(2010: 26) argues:
It appears that what we are attempting to grapple with is locally organised protests that place demands on people who hold
or benefit from political power (which includes, but is not limited to, local politicians). These have emanated from poorer
neighbourhoods (shack settlements and townships rather than suburbs). Perhaps this is best captured by defining the phenomenon
as one of local political protests or local protests for short. The form of these actions relates to the kind of people involved and the
issues they have raised. They have included mass meetings, drafting of memoranda, petitions, toyi-toying, processions, stayaways,
election boycotts, blockading of roads, construction of barricades, burning of tyres, looting, destruction of buildings, chasing
unpopular individuals out of townships, confrontations with the police, and forced resignations of elected officials.
South Africa has a long history of racial domination which officially ended in 1994 with the election in free and fair
national elections of the African National Congress (ANC) under the leadership of Nelson Mandela. During the 1970s and
1980s there was massive resistance to the existing apartheid government by black organisations, including trade unions,
the Black Consciousness Movement and the United Democratic Front. At that time, the ANC was banned in South Africa
and had its offices outside the country. But it increasingly requested that black organisations in South Africa make the
country ‘ungovernable’, that is, to totally disrupt economic and political activities in the country through – for instance –
work stayaways, school boycotts and consumer boycotts. To a significant extent, the apartheid state reacted with brute
repression and violence to black protest, as shown by the army and police action against the Soweto (and other) students
in 1976 during schools boycotts.
Nearly twenty years after the end of apartheid in 1994, South Africa has a progressive constitution which outlaws racism
and holds regular democratic elections in which all races can participate. But the vast majority of black residents in both
urban and rural areas live under conditions of extreme poverty and social inequality along racial lines remains prevalent.
Because of this, demonstrations such as service delivery protests take place on a regular basis. In their demonstrations,
people are using some of the same tactics that were used in the struggle against apartheid – including violent attacks
against local government councillors and officials. Like the apartheid government before it, the ANC government has
often responded with force against these protests. Further, the ANC has argued at times that the protestors are trying to
undermine social and political stability – in fact, that they are trying to make the country ‘ungovernable’. Again, like the
apartheid government did, it is calling for peace and stability throughout South Africa.
Questions
1. Why has the South African government since 1994 not brought about any meaningful change to the lives of ordinary
black people in terms of socioeconomic conditions of life and access to resources?
2. Is it an unwillingness to do so, or an inability?
3. Why does the post-apartheid government at times respond to the demands and protests of ordinary people in the
same way that the apartheid government did?
These (and other similar) questions are critically important in trying to understand and explain contemporary South African
society and its future. This chapter will assist you in trying to answer these questions sociologically.
•• Key conceptual points about state and society

Key Themes
•• The state in segregation/apartheid South African society

•• The state in post-apartheid South African society
•• Theoretical perspectives on state and society.
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Chapter 8: Politics and governance
Introduction raise some conceptual points. Five points in particular

Why would two very different states in South Africa are important.
– an undemocratic racist apartheid state and a The first point relates to power. The term ‘power’
democratic non-racial post-apartheid state – both is widely used within sociology and in a variety of
adopt similar approaches to social protests and focus different ways. A basic definition though is as follows:
on the need for political stability? More broadly, why ‘By power is meant the ability of individuals or groups
do states do what they do, and how does state action to make their own concerns or interests count, even
relate to social groups that exist in modern, including where others resist. Power sometimes involves the
South African, society? These are the type of questions direct use of force, but is almost always accompanied
that sociologists ask about state and society and this by the development of ideas (ideologies) which justify
chapter seeks to assist students in answering them. the actions of the powerful’ (Giddens 1989: 52, his
The overall aim of this chapter is to introduce you emphasis). Power exists in all institutions in society
to the sociological study of state and society. This is (including the family, religion, education, the economy
an important field of study because it relates to two and politics) but also in deeply personal everyday
key sociological concerns, namely, social order and relationships. Overall, the powerful in society
social change. An examination of the state is regularly therefore are able to ensure that their own interests
seen as critical to addressing these concerns because are met.
of the central role played by the state in serving the When it comes to the political sphere, there are
changing needs of society. While the main emphasis significant debates about which group is the most
in the chapter is on South African state and society, powerful. As we will see in this chapter, Marxists
you are also introduced to broader sociological debates argue that the dominant group is the capitalist class
about state and society. and the government serves first and foremost the
The chapter has four main themes: interests of this class. Radical elite theorists argue,
• Key conceptual points. This theme details four however, that the government is controlled by a small
main points that assist us in making conceptual power elite. Nevertheless, the quotation from Giddens
sense of state and society issues. These points are has relevance to this sphere, and it connects to the
relevant to any society, including South African important work of Antonio Gramsci (Haralambos
society. & Holborn 2008: 539–540). Gramsci uses the term
• Segregation/apartheid South Africa. The main hegemony for the most powerful political group, or the
empirical focus of this chapter is contemporary group which dominates others politically. This power
South African society, but this second theme is expressed in different ways and Gramsci speaks
examines the South African government about coercion (direct use of force) and consent (ideas
historically before 1994. This is critical, because or ideologies).
sociology seeks to understand contemporary social Often, the most powerful seek to justify their
phenomena by looking deep into history. powerful position (and control of government) by
• Post-apartheid South Africa. This involves a way of ideas. People internalise these ideas through
specific focus on post-apartheid state and society. socialisation and, because of this, they do not
This is a crucial theme in the chapter, and will challenge (or resist) the position of the powerful. For
help us in deepening our understanding of the instance, if we are all socialised into believing that the
opening case study. best and only economic system possible is capitalism,
• Theoretical perspectives on state and society. This we accept the ideology of the capitalist class and we
theme broadens the debate by identifying and will not struggle against it. This involves the powerful
discussing key theoretical perspectives found in ruling on the basis of consent, as we see the position of
the existing sociological literature on state and the powerful as legitimate. This is regularly the most
society globally. successful way to dominate. If we do not consent to
the rule of the powerful, then they will use coercion or
8.1 Key conceptual points repression (through, for example, draconian laws and
In order to discuss governments, including the post- police action) to ensure that we do not revolt against
apartheid South African government, it is critical to the position of the powerful. This is rule by coercion.
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In any particular society, there is often a fluctuating states’ or military dictatorships in which the military,
combination of ruler-ship by consent and coercion. as part of the executive, is all-powerful and the
The second point concerns the distinction between government, if it exists at all, simply rubber-stamps
government and state. The state and the government are what the military demands. These states were quite
not the same thing. The former term, the state, is in fact common in South America during the 1970s and 1980s,
more all-encompassing. Often, a distinction is rightly most famously in Chile from 1973 until 1990. There are
made between the legislature, the executive and the also ‘authoritarian states’, including states in which
judiciary. The legislature refers to the parliamentary large sections of the national population are formally
and political party systems. The parliament is an elected excluded from the parliamentary system and are not
body – it is comprised of Members of Parliament, as recognised as citizens with the right to vote. South
elected representatives, who pass legislation that affect Africa under apartheid is a good example of this – this
citizens. The judiciary refers to the legal and court had a racially exclusive authoritarian state with an all-
systems, from Magistrate Courts to the Supreme and white parliament that oppressed the black population.
Constitutional Courts. The executive refers to all the Another form of state is the ‘liberal democratic state’
government ministries, departments and apparatuses in which all civic and political liberties are available
which implement legislation, for instance the Ministry to everyone such that all members of the nation are
of Basic Education in South Africa. considered as full and equal citizens. These liberties
The term government normally refers to the include voting in free and fair elections, freedom
sphere of the legislature, so that the political party of speech and the right to mobilise and organise for
that has most members in parliament is said to form instance in trade unions. The post-apartheid state
the government – or is the ‘sitting government’ such illustrates this state-form. This form of state is the most
as the ANC in South Africa. The term state includes democratic form, but questions still emerge about the
the legislature or government, judiciary and executive, relevance and significance of the legislative arm of the
and hence is a broader term. This is an important state. It seems that the executive, which is unelected
distinction because while a government may change, and often shielded from the demands of citizens,
that is a new government is voted in, the state may has over the past few decades become increasingly
continue functioning as in the past, without changing powerful even within liberal democratic states.
or changing only slightly. In other words, the state The fourth point is that states and governments
executive – including often vast state bureaucracies are to be understood in relation to the twin concepts
of ministries and departments – often has a certain of ‘domination’ and ‘struggle’. States often serve the
degree of autonomy from government influence. The interests of a particular dominant group in society,
election of the ANC involved a change in government, such as the white group in apartheid South Africa.
but did it involve a significant change in the state? Hence, they seemingly become instruments for social
Also, a critical question often arises: where does domination. Many sociologists argue that liberal
power in the state reside? Is it in government or outside democratic states also serve dominant interests
government in the executive? If it resides in the latter, in society, for example the dominant social class;
then a change in government may not bring about any countries with liberal democratic states are said
significant changes. to be democratic in name only, but in reality are
The third conceptual point relates to the notion of undemocratic despite regular elections. Because of
state-form. Capitalism exists currently as a worldwide domination and the division of society into dominant
system. This is a system that privileges maximising and dominated groups, there are invariably social
economic growth and profit for companies, often struggles taking place through which dominated
at the expense of satisfying basic human needs. But groups seek to challenge the dominant groups and to
different types (or forms) of states exist presently democratise or to further democratise the state. These
under capitalism, or existed in the recent past. The dominated groups organise and seek to make the state
differences between states are regularly determined by more responsive to their needs or to the needs of citizens
the nature of the relationships between the legislature, in general. States therefore are the focus of social
executive and judiciary, and by where power resides. struggles to either defend the existing social order or
Three forms of states can be noted. There are ‘military to change it. These ongoing social struggles mean that
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‘politics’ is not reducible to voting in elections or to In settler societies, this significant settler presence
electoral politics. There are constant struggles waged led to the massive dispossession of land once wholly
by dominated groups between elections. And many possessed by indigenous populations – mainly Bantu-
of these struggles are unrelated to the political party speaking people – and to the setting up of Native
system, that is, they are not linked to the agendas or Reserves in different regions of the country. In the case
programmes of particular political parties. These of South Africa, this was formalised by the passing of
struggles though, insofar as they seek to challenge the the 1913 Native Land Act in which 13 per cent of South
existing social order, involve ‘politics’ – they have an Africa became designated as black South Africa and
unambiguous political content. 87 per cent was declared as white South Africa, which
The fifth point is that states in the modern world was a combination of white commercial farming areas
are linked to nations and form part of an international and state-held lands. This dispossession eventually
system of nation-states. The modern state, involving undermined the small-scale agriculture system
the legislative, the executive and the judiciary, engaged in by indigenous populations. Simultaneously,
arose alongside the emergence and consolidation of the movement by black people from the Reserves
territorially delimited nations. Each state has its own to urban centres became subject to restrictions by
spatial territory and is responsible for (and is supposed way of the pass law system. Black men in particular,
to be responsive to) the people that live within that through the burgeoning migrant labour system, gained
territory, ie the citizens, and others who are non- employment in the expanding South African economy
citizens but live within the defined territory. States on white-owned commercial farms or in the mining
therefore are linked to national groups, including and manufacturing sectors of the urban economy all
citizens and others, called nations, which have their located in white South Africa.
own specific history. The term ‘nation-state’ is used The South African state, through a range of policies
to define these entities. Each nation-state, for example and programmes pursued during the segregation
South Africa, is part of a global system of nation-states period, engaged in activities that bolstered the fortunes
but there is vast inequality between nation-states. Some of the different sections of the white population. For
nation-states notably the United States of America are instance, the low-wage structure of the capitalist
very powerful and they are able to impose their will on economy benefited the captains of the manufacturing
weaker nation-states. industry; the migrant labour and Native Reserve
systems maximised profits for the mining industry;
8.2 Segregation and apartheid in the job colour-bar protected the interests of the more
South Africa vulnerable groupings of the white population and
This section examines the South African state prior to guaranteed them sheltered employment; and massive
1994, during both the pre-apartheid segregation period state subsidies to white farmers and infrastructural
up to 1948 and the apartheid period from 1948. South development that serviced their farms permitted the
Africa as a distinct nation-state was formed in 1910 growth and consolidation of the white agricultural
and hence segregation as a form of state-sanctioned sector. This consistent and sustained support by the
racial domination formally began then, but this was state for the white population during segregation
preceded by centuries of British and Dutch colonialism reflected the fact that the state served the general
based on racial conquest, slavery and segregation. The interests of the white population. The state under
ANC was formed in January 1912 as a direct response segregation was a racially exclusive state with a
to the formalisation of racial segregation as embodied whites-only electorate.
in the South African state. It was clearly an authoritarian state as well, in that
South Africa is normally defined as a former the state’s relationship to the black population was built
settler colony or society in the sense that there was – on subjugation and oppression. The state administered
literally – a large settler presence in the country which and controlled the black population through a
was originally driven by the agricultural and then separate sometimes unwieldy institutional apparatus
mining sectors of the economy. This is similar to the known as the Native Affairs Department which had
case of Zimbabwe and Namibia, but different to other no black representation or input of any significance.
countries in the region including Zambia and Malawi. This state administrative arrangement was found
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throughout the colonies ruled by Great Britain, even – served the specific labour needs of white-owned
in non-settler societies. In addition, the segregation mining companies and commercial farms without
state in South Africa was more than willing to engage jeopardising the urban labour requirements of white
in outright violent repression in undercutting black manufacturing businesses.
oppositional activity to racial domination. The white There was little disagreement though about the
population and its politics had all the hallmarks of a intensification of racial domination during the 1950s
liberal democratic state – regular elections, freedom of and 1960s under successive National Party governments,
speech, freedom to organise and so forth. Within this including the establishment of the complex ethnic-
restricted democratic realm, different sectors of the based Bantustan system with Bantustan governments.
white population, represented by different political Black opposition, notably by the ANC and including
parties, engaged in conflicting politics that led to the pass law campaigns, was particularly pronounced
changes in government at election time. The formation during the 1950s and the repressive might of the state
of the Pact Government in 1924 is a clear example of was deployed, most vividly in the 1960 Sharpeville
this. This whites-only politics, to emphasise, led to Massacre during a protest organised by the Pan-
governmental changes, but essentially the state in Africanist Congress. White owners of urban-based
its racially exclusive authoritarian form continued. manufacturing companies at times expressed a concern
Whites were citizens in the full sense of the term; about the intensification of racial discrimination,
blacks were and remained as non-citizens or, as arguing, for instance, for a relaxation of the pass law
sometimes called, subjects. system to enable the formation of a more permanent
Intra-white conflict, as expressed in political urban-based black workforce, with workers and
party activity, was particularly intense during their families living together. But the South African
the 1940s in the years leading up to the change of economy experienced major growth, including during
government and institutionalisation of apartheid in what became known as the economic boom decade
1948. This conflict took place at a time of heightened of the 1960s. In this context, the Liberal School
black opposition to segregation, including the famous argument about the irrationality of apartheid seemed
1946 mineworkers’ strike and numerous community- amiss as it did not tally apparently with the empirical
based mobilisations by the ANC. For over two decades evidence. The Radical School argued that apartheid
after 1948, the main sociological literature on South was, in large part, functional to the South African
Africa identified with the ‘Liberal School’ argued, capitalist economy. While the Liberal School tended
almost without qualification, that 1948 marked a to emphasise ‘race’ – with apartheid serving white
watershed in South African history. The year 1948 was interests, but particularly those of white Afrikaners
seen as exemplifying the victory of Afrikanerdom or – the Radical School stressed ‘class’ in claiming that
of irrational conservative Afrikaner racism over the apartheid served, not white interests per se, but the
rational requirements of – notably – the modernising interests of white economic leaders – or white capital –
urban market economy. In large part, this modern in particular manufacturing, mining and agricultural
economy was associated by the Liberal School with sectors. Both schools stressed the state’s involvement
supposedly enlightened English-speaking white in social domination – the former spoke about an
interests; however, a significant portion of English- ethnic–racial state and the latter a racial–class state.
speakers voted for and eventually sided with the During the 1970s and 1980s a limited process of
National Party. Nevertheless, apartheid was seen more political and social reform was undertaken by the
as a break with segregation than as a continuation. In apartheid state, and this process involved specific
other words, a change in government was said to have measures of de-racialisation. At times this simply
had effectively altered the state-form. Literature that entailed relaxing petty apartheid, such as segregated
emerged in the 1970s, sometimes called the ‘Radical toilets and beaches. However, a number of more
School’, downplayed the extent of the change initiated substantial actions were taken in the light of two
by the apartheid government. For instance, it argued important commissions, namely the Wiehahn and
that the intensification of the pass law and migrant Riekert commissions, established in 1977 by the state:
labour systems under apartheid – which restricted their recommendations led to the official recognition
the permanent residence of blacks in urban centres and registration of a number of black trade unions
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and to the granting of securer rights of residence to large numbers of skilled workers and there was one
urban blacks living in white South Africa. The state key potential source of these workers which was not
itself was also reformed through the formation of the being tapped due to apartheid: the black population. A
Tri-Cameral Parliament in 1984, which allowed for whole range of racist restrictions, including the entire
subservient Indian and coloured representation in racially based Bantu Education system, inhibited the
national government structures, with whites retaining growth of a skilled black labour force. Thus, there was
overall control of central government. At the same an economic rationale for reforming apartheid, besides
time, Grand Apartheid or separate development the political rationale of maintaining social stability.
was enacted more vigorously with the granting of Throughout the 1980s the pressures for ending
‘independence’ to the Bantustans of Venda, Transkei, apartheid became so immense that the ruling National
Ciskei and Bophuthatswana from 1976 to 1981. Black Party and the African National Congress, then banned
Africans were still treated as non-citizens in white and operating from exile, entered into negotiations to
South Africa and were expected to pursue their end apartheid and to plot the transition from apartheid
political aspirations through their respective ethnic South Africa to post-apartheid South Africa. The early
Bantustan governments. 1990s became known as the transition years and
These initiatives by the state were taking place they led to the first nation-wide election for all South
during a time of great political upheaval in South Africans in 1994 and to the overwhelming victory of
Africa, after a political lull in the 1960s. The early 1970s the ANC. The ANC has formed the government since
witnessed the activities of the Black Consciousness then. The ANC government effectively inherited
Movement led by Steve Biko and the emergence of strong the apartheid state or the apartheid state-form. This
black trade unionism in Durban, Johannesburg and inheritance had important implications for the ANC in
Cape Town. School students also became active in the trying to build a post-apartheid society.
struggles against apartheid – this became dramatically
evident during the Soweto Revolt which began in June 8.3 Post-apartheid South Africa
1976. A range of political tactics were used, including The ANC set out immediately to transform South
rent boycotts, school boycotts, consumer boycotts African society and to bring about a non-racial society.
and work stayaways. National organisations emerged After decades of entrenched racial domination under
in both workplaces and communities – particularly both segregation and apartheid, this would be a
important were the Congress of South African Trade gigantic project by any standard. This section does
Unions (COSATU) which was formed in 1985 and the not seek to provide a chronological overview of the
United Democratic Front (UDF) formed in 1983. The post-apartheid period. Rather, it seeks to identify some
level and depth of black opposition was so extensive of the key factors that shape the ANC’s policies and
that the National Party government declared a nation- programmes. Many of these factors inhibit the ANC
wide state of emergency in 1987. government in successfully tackling racially based
The reformist moves by the state were in part a inequalities and injustices. The chapter therefore gives
response to the heightened political struggles of the insights into the workings of a liberal democratic state.
black population and were designed to dampen these Post-apartheid South Africa is undoubtedly a
struggles and thus limit social disorder – that is, reform liberal democracy and has held free and fair elections
was meant to give the black population less reason and on a regular basis since 1994 – at both national and
justification to mobilise against apartheid. The state local levels. All the civil and political liberties
though was ready and willing to repress, through its typically associated with a liberal democracy are to
army and police units, any black oppositional activities be found in South Africa. The country is also known
that were seen as trying not simply to reform or alter for having one of the most progressive constitutions
apartheid but to end apartheid altogether. In other globally. For example, the state’s obligation to provide
words, the state engaged in a process of controlled basic socioeconomic rights to all citizens, for instance
reform. Racial domination was also seen as being access to decent housing, clean water and proper
increasingly dysfunctional to the changing needs of sanitation, is enshrined in the constitution, although
the South African economy. For instance, the economic this is qualified by the notion of legitimate limitations
development path in the 1970s and 1980s required on state capacity to deliver these basic services.
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However, the fundamental reality is that a significant employment contracts that guaranteed long-term and
proportion of the black population – despite now having stable employment for workers and nationally set
the right to vote and exercising that right – remain minimum wages for all workers were also emphasised.
unemployed, live in poor quality housing and struggle The equivalent type of state in independent Africa
to feed their families. Poverty is in fact pervasive. In during this time was the developmental state – this
addition, the spatial character of apartheid society state sought to bring about socioeconomic development
continues. In urban centres, the majority of blacks are to broad swathes of the African population, although
still confined to overcrowded townships and, in rural normally unsuccessfully.
South Africa, the division between Bantustans and Emerging in the 1970s, neo-liberalism, as noted
white commercial farming areas is in evidence. The above, stresses ‘small states’. Insofar as they strongly
transition to post-apartheid South Africa, therefore, intervene in society, states are expected to focus
has led to the realisation of political and civil rights on maximising the profitability of the productive
but not to the realisation of socioeconomic rights. This sectors of the economy such as manufacturing and
has meant dashed expectations for the vast majority of mining; and to limit the amount of state investment
the black population. in unproductive sectors such as health and education.
There are a number of reasons for this, including Further, many services previously provided by the
both global and local factors. In identifying and state, including water, should, where possible, be
discussing these factors, we will get a sense of some provided on a commercial basis by private businesses.
of the key pressures and processes within which In addition, rather than the state enforcing uniform
any nation-state functions in the modern world of regulations to protect all workers, business leaders
capitalism. After reading about these factors, think should be given the flexibility to devise, in partnership
about them with respect to the material covered in with workers, their own regulations for their own
Case study 8.2 later in this section. particular sector of the economy. Because of this,
The main global factor relates to the restructuring neo-liberalism is often associated with the dwindling
of the world social system. The dissolution and of state protection and rights of workers. The United
collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 led to the States of America and Europe, through the World Bank
disintegration of the communist system that centred and International Monetary Fund, tried to impose
on the Soviet Union. The Cold War and dual-power neo-liberal arrangements on states throughout Africa
system between the United States of America and the through structural adjustment programmes starting in
Soviet Union ended; and one power, namely the United the 1980s. These programmes were designed to adjust
States, emerged on the global stage. Simultaneously, economies towards neo-liberalism. Hence, they made
the capitalist system was experiencing a crisis of any further international bank loans, and development
profitability internationally and this led to the aid or co-operation, conditional on the imposition of
emergence of neo-liberal capitalism. Neo-liberalism neo-liberal reforms in African countries. For instance,
refers to a political-economic system which stresses Zimbabwe, which received independence in 1980,
‘small states’; more specifically, states are not supposed implemented a structural adjustment programme in
to intervene strongly in the capitalist economy. the early 1990s. Amongst other initiatives focusing
Prior to neo-liberalism, Keynesianism as a political- on tackling racial inequalities, the Zimbabwean
economic system existed. Keynesianism arose in the state from 1980 pursued a large-scale programme to
United States and Europe in the 1950s – it stressed broaden access to health and education for blacks;
‘big states’ that strongly intervened in the economy under structural adjustment, this was considered
in order to regulate the economy. This was done in unproductive government expenditure and hence was
a manner intended to protect the specific interests cut back considerably.
of poorer sections of the population. In this regard, This is the global context within which apartheid
sometimes Keynesianism is described as entailing South Africa ended in 1994. There was now only
a ‘welfare state’ – for instance, workers who became one global power and therefore countries like South
unemployed were entitled to unemployment benefits Africa could not – as a strategy to receive maximum
and if they remained unemployed for extended periods benefits for themselves – play off two world powers
they would receive welfare benefits. Trade unionism, against each other. As well, there was one uniform
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global economic system based on neo-liberalism that including most famously the provision of housing
countries like South Africa had to slot themselves in urban centres (known as RDP housing) to address
into if they wanted to be globally integrated and the slum/squatter problem. A few years later, the
receive socioeconomic development packages from Growth, Employment and Redistribution (GEAR)
international agencies. South Africa, because of programme was introduced – this primarily stressed
international sanctions against the apartheid regime, economic growth seemingly based on more neo-liberal
had in many ways been excluded from any perceived principles. Considerable debate exists within both
benefits from the insertion of its national economy academic and policy circles about the relationship
into the global economy. In this regard, there was a between the RDP and GEAR. The ANC always claimed
reasonable rationale on the part of any post-apartheid that GEAR, with its stress on growth, would allow for
government to seriously consider integrating the South the implementation of the redistributive goals of the
African economy more fully into the international RDP; critics argue that GEAR in fact undermines the
system – despite any recognised drawbacks of neo- RDP. On balance, it appears that the RDP sought to bring
liberalism. The ANC government has pursued this about ‘growth through redistribution’; but without any
line of thought, but has tried to ‘manage’ its global guarantee that growth would in fact emerge, whereas
re-insertion in a way that does not fully undercut its GEAR involved ‘redistribution through growth’ in
attempt at historical redress of racial inequality. which growth would be the primary focus, which may
Besides global factors, there are a range of local or may not result in redistribution – which in fact has
factors that have inhibited the capacity of the ANC not taken place in any significant manner. The ANC
government to bring about significant socioeconomic has sought to redistribute wealth through the social
change. The first factor is structural, referred to as grant system (old age pensions, child support grants),
a ‘structural constraint’, and relates to the primary but its primary goal has always been economic growth
function of any modern state in capitalist society. It is in and it has claimed, for example, that strong growth
the interests of all states to maintain social cohesion and would lead to more employment opportunities for
minimise social instability; otherwise, states undercut unemployed blacks. The key point is that, in a sense, the
the foundation of their very existence. The crucial ANC government was forced to emphasise economic
dimension of any capitalist society is the economy. A growth – capitalist society requires a strong economy
productive and profitable economy provides a strong and this regularly translates into social stability,
basis for the state’s existence (for instance, in order something on which sitting governments thrive.
to function, the state relies on taxation emanating There are also agency explanations for the actions
from profitable companies). The ANC government, in of the ANC-led state. In national elections since 1994,
1994, could have initiated far-reaching socioeconomic the ANC has constantly received over 60 per cent of the
change, if it so wished – possibly even change with national vote. On this basis, it would seem reasonable
a moderate socialist emphasis. It is certainly highly to assume that the ANC would enact legislation and
unlikely that the international community would have pursue programmes that served the particular interests
denounced such an initiative given the tremendous of its voting constituency – mainly poor blacks – and
racial injustice of the past few centuries that needed to redistribute wealth on a massive scale. Structural
be vigorously addressed. constraints, as noted above, prevent this. But there is
Despite this, the ANC government was faced with another factor that is also important, and this relates to
the problem that confronts all states: namely, the need what takes place between elections. Between national
for a strong economy. Any attempt at redistributing elections, economically powerful groups lobby state
wealth and rectifying the injustices of the apartheid ministries and departments and key politicians to
past could not be accomplished in a manner that ensure that their interests are safeguarded.
undermined the profitability of the economy. Because A key case in point is AgriSA, which represents
of this, radical changes to the economy would not be white commercial farmers. AgriSA is a powerful
appropriate. The ANC government initially introduced organisation that has the economic resources to
the Reconstruction and Development Programme continuously advocate for policies that protect the
(RDP) as a socioeconomic programme that laid a interests of white commercial farmers. It has regularly
strong emphasis on socioeconomic redistribution, met with top officials from national ministries
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responsible for land and agriculture in South Africa, corruption. However, dubious links between political
and has stressed that land reform must be market- and economic leaders is common, if not endemic, to
driven and that compulsory acquisition of farms, like capitalist societies, including liberal democratic ones.
what happened in Zimbabwe from 2000, must not The ANC government’s particular propensity and
take place in South Africa. In doing so, it has claimed the propensity of leading state officials to engage in
that agricultural productivity depends upon the on- significant and ongoing relations with dominant
going existence of large farms and that subdividing classes and groups in South African society is in part
commercial farms into plots to be farmed by small- a reflection of state, government and party structures
scale black farmers will undermine the agrarian in post-apartheid South Africa. First of all, liberal
economy. To a large extent, the relevant land and democratic South Africa is marked by representative,
agriculture departments have bought into this ‘big indirect democracy rather than by deeper, more direct,
farm’ argument, such that land reform in South participatory forms of democracy as evidenced in
Africa has taken place at a snail’s pace since 1994. Kerala, India. This tends to shield ANC political leaders
Land redistribution, involving the purchase of white from the pressures of ordinary citizens and makes
commercial farms for resettlement by a number of black them more susceptible to other influences. Secondly,
families, is for instance well below even conservative the electoral process is marked by proportional
government targets. Agricultural labourers, who work representation. Proportional representation means
on commercial farms, are not well organised in South that the number of seats in national parliament for
Africa. COSATU for instance (the national trade union each political party is determined by the percentage
federation) does not organise amongst farm workers of votes each receives. The ANC, which receives about
because of the practical difficulties in organising 65 per cent of the national vote, therefore receives 65
workers who are dispersed widely throughout the per cent of the seats, which are constituency-based.
countryside. The only farm workers organised are The ANC uses a party list to assign members to a
those working on large estates or plantations such as particular seat or constituency and, quite often, the
tea and sugar and those in agri-processing enterprises selected member does not live in the constituency’s
such as citrus. territory. Again, this means that the ANC-led
In addition, as part of its redistributive and growth government may become insensitive to the demands
strategies, the ANC has pursued a Black Economic of community members and prone to the influence of
Empowerment (BEE) programme which is designed to economic elites. Thirdly, there is sufficient evidence
integrate black people more fully into the South African to suggest that there is a process of centralisation and
economy. It is now called Broad-Based BEE. Though centrism within both ANC party structures and state
the programme was intended to benefit a significant ministries, which was particularly evident during the
number of mainly poor black people, for example presidency of Thabo Mbeki from 1999 to 2008. This
through skills enhancement and employment equity, in provides fruitful conditions for wheeling-and-dealing
many cases it has had the opposite effect in enriching a behind closed doors so to speak. These three issues do
small elite occupying key ownership and management not necessarily inhibit powerful pressure groups such
positions in the private sector. There has also been as mining companies from accessing government and
serious criticism of improper relations between ANC state, but they do minimise citizenry ownership of
officials and leading black businesspeople to the state policies and programmes.
mutual benefit of both parties, leading for example Despite this argument, and the fact that
to undue influence being placed on government by economically weak groups do not have the same scale
black business. The government tendering process, of resources wielded by economically powerful groups
in which government publicly requests companies in lobbying the state, there is no doubt that the ANC
or individuals to submit applications for government government is sensitive to the needs of economically
contracts, has also been condemned for its partiality weak groups – particularly considering that these
– the notion of ‘tenderpreneurs’ has arisen to describe groups represent the main constituency of the party.
those black-owned companies successfully obtaining This explains, for example, the number of pro-poor
tenders despite supposed lack of capacity and policies put in place by the government since 1994. An
competency. This had led to widespread claims about excellent example is the massive social grants system,
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notably the old age pension and child support grant would not meaningfully challenge the authority of the
that the ANC has developed over the past eighteen ANC-led government and state.
years and that targets poor families in both urban and Nevertheless, there is significant mobilisation and
rural areas. The receipt of a grant is the only source of organisation in urban-based communities. Indeed,
income for vast numbers of households and is often the under post-apartheid conditions, the more visible and
difference between living on the edge of poverty and confrontational movements have not been worker-
living deep in poverty. Yet the grant system has been based movements or unions but community-based
criticised by certain opposition political parties such movements. This political activity is often designed to
as the liberal Democratic Alliance party for being an place pressure on the ANC state to enact policies that
unproductive investment (ie for investing in a manner benefit these communities, because electoral politics
that does not directly contribute to economic growth) does not seem to improve the lives of poor urban
and for supposedly breeding dependency amongst dwellers. On the one hand, there are shack dwellers’
the poor. Despite these criticisms, the ANC has every movements – the most famous is Abahlali baseMjondolo
intention of maintaining the social grant system and which began in Durban in early 2005 and now has
even expanding it. branches in Cape Town. Abahlali members live in
The ANC is in fact formally in an alliance – a informal settlements or shacks which are outside
tripartite alliance – with the trade union federation official townships. These movements tend to refrain
COSATU and the South African Communist Party. The from engaging in party politics. They claim that no
ANC is certainly the dominant member of the alliance, political party in the country currently represents the
but it needs to cater for the interests of members of interests of shack dwellers and they argue that the ANC
COSATU if it wishes to keep the alliance together. At is not a progressive party. At times they have protested
times, COSATU has publicly declared deep concerns against local ANC councillors who fail to ensure that
about the ANC government’s economic and social even minimum services such as water are delivered to
policies, including its failure to ensure decent work informal settlements by municipal government.
standards nationally and to resist the casualisation of On the other hand, there are ‘service delivery’
the workforce. COSATU argues that these policies are protests. Hundreds of these protests have taken place
in large part slanted in favour of business and against across the breadth of South Africa, as urban residents
worker interests. There is mounting evidence that express their frustration over the lack and poor quality
COSATU’s voice is not being heard sufficiently within of municipal services, such as housing and sanitation.
the alliance. COSATU remains faithful to the alliance, The extent to which these protests arise from permanent
but retains the right to take to the streets in protest organisational structures rather than more fluid ad
against regressive government policies. hoc structures varies between protests. These protests,
Trade unions were critical in the struggle against which take place in public places such as streets, often
apartheid and, in decades past, the union movement entail confrontations with the police and a number of
globally was very powerful. But other types of movements protestors have been killed or seriously injured during
– called social movements – have always existed both this action. Besides services, protestors also complain
internationally and in South Africa. In the fight against about unresponsive municipal government and corrupt
apartheid, civic movements based in communities, councillors – although, the protestors are mainly ANC
notably urban black townships, and student movements supporters. In this regard, the protests may be misnamed
played particularly significant roles. These and other as ‘service delivery’ protests as they regularly focus on
kinds of movements were organised nationally in the a lack of political accountability; hence, an important
1980s under the banner of the United Democratic Front dimension to them is the deepening of democratic
(UDF). When the ANC came into power, the UDF was processes at local state level.
disbanded and the community organisations were de- The state tends to be less accommodating to
mobilised. It is sometimes argued that the ANC did this the shack dweller movements because the latter
intentionally, so that there would not be an important threatens the hegemony of the ANC in urban
power base within the black population that would be townships and provides a power base outside the
outside of the grip of the party; in this way, it is claimed, sphere of its influence. Abahlali baseMjondolo has
the ANC could be in power with a docile citizenry that hence experienced the wrath of the repressive might
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of the state. The most notable incident took place on So far this chapter has focused specifically on
the night of 26 September 2009, with apparent ANC the South African state, during both segregation/
complicity, at the Kennedy Road informal settlement apartheid and post-apartheid periods. It identified
in Durban, leaving two community members dead. the segregation/apartheid states as racial states that
The ANC disputes the legitimacy of service delivery continuously sought to serve the overall interests of
protests, and argues that the protests are destabilising the white population. In examining the post-apartheid
and fall outside the formal electoral channels. But it state, we specifically sought to identify the many
still feels obliged to respond positively in some fashion factors that affect that state’s capacity to bring about
to these protests, seeing the protestors not as citizens significant socioeconomic change – given the massive
exercising their civil rights but as poor people with poverty and inequality that continues to haunt
some legitimate claim to state resources, albeit severely South African society despite nearly two decades of
limited resources. liberal democracy.
Case study 8.2 Inequality in post-apartheid South Africa
Apartheid formally ended in 1994. At the time there was considerable talk about the dawning of a ‘new’ South Africa
which was envisaged by Archbishop Desmond Tutu as a ‘rainbow nation’. The newly elected government led by the ANC
insisted that the racial injustices of the past would be addressed in a forceful manner and that this would accomplish two
things: first of all, it would end the intense conflict between racial groups that had marked apartheid South Africa therefore
leading to peaceful co-existence between groups and, secondly, it would overcome the conditions of poverty within which
the vast majority of black people had lived before 1994 thereby lessening the social and economic inequalities that
were pervasive under apartheid. But nearly twenty years after the end of apartheid, glaring socioeconomic inequalities
and entrenched racial identities continue to characterise South African society, and they are fuelling social polarisation
and conflicts in the country. South Africa in the twenty-first century seems anything but a rainbow nation. Indeed,
for a large proportion of the black population, who continue to live in abject poverty confined to urban townships
and rural former Bantustans, post-apartheid South Africa may not seem vastly different from apartheid South Africa.
Because of ongoing inequalities along primarily racial lines, current South Africa may best be described as late-
apartheid and not as post-apartheid. The important point is that the prevailing situation of racially based inequality and
poverty exists despite the fact that a former liberation movement and now progressive political party (the ANC) has
controlled the South African government since 1994, and has pursued racial levelling and material redistribution on a
nationwide basis.
Questions
1. Why has the ANC government not been able to bring about significant socioeconomic change?
2. Which factors are more important – global or local?
3. Identify what you consider to be the three most important factors responsible for this.
8.4 Theoretical perspectives on state not exhaustive of sociological thinking about the state,
and society but outlining the theories offers you as students a good
The chapter now broadens the discussion about the introduction to the diversity of sociological thinking.
state by moving beyond South Africa. It considers In fact the three theories are quite closely linked to
some of the existing sociological literature on the key traditions in the sociological discipline. These
state. This literature has, in large part, arisen in the theories are pluralism, radical elitism and Marxism.
United States and Europe over the past century. There Pluralism is associated with Émile Durkheim and the
has been a proliferation of sociological writings on functionalist school, radical elitism is linked to Max
the state in recent decades, but this section focuses Weber and critical Weberianism and, needless to say,
on three important theories only. These theories are Marxism draws on the work of Karl Marx.
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In discussing these theories, the focus is on the liberal radical elitism and Marxism, in certain ways entail a
democratic form of the state in capitalist society. How critique of pluralism.
these theories relate to the earlier discussion about
South African state and society and specifically the 8.4.1 Pluralism
post-apartheid state is highlighted where relevant. As Pluralism claims that liberal democratic capitalist
students of society, we do not want to impose these society is marked by a substantive or actual democracy,
or any other theories on South African society, as if in which a diffusion of power prevails, buttressed and
they provide ready-made theoretical solutions for safeguarded by a number of important mechanisms
making sense of South African history and society. and institutions. Democracy therefore is not simply
Nevertheless, they do raise important points that assist guaranteed constitutionally, or exists in a formal
in understanding – sociologically – the complexities sense, but exists in practice. This may seem like
that have always characterised politics in South Africa. an uncontroversial claim, but we will see that both
Often these theories are seen in direct competition radical elitists and Marxists claim that democracy in
with each other and as mutually exclusive in the these capitalist societies is a mere illusion.
conclusions they make about the liberal democratic Liberal democratic capitalist society is differentiated
state. It is worth exploring though how the theories on many bases (by means of social stratification or
may in specific ways add value to or complement horizontal divisions in society) including in terms of
each other. social class, gender, race, occupation, region, religion
All three theories would accept in some way the and age. In making decisions in the form of policies,
significance of the claim by Max Weber that the state pluralists argue that government cannot possibly
in capitalist society has ‘a monopoly of the legitimate please all groups in society at all times, including all
use of force’; although we will see that the theories social classes. Indeed, social class is often seen as the
have a different take on this. Weber’s claim means that major fault line in capitalist societies. In making any
the state is a centralised form of coercion (standing in particular political decision, for example enacting
a way ‘above’ society) that effectively commands and a piece of legislation, the state cannot meet the
demands consent: it is the centre of power in society to interests and preferences of all members of society.
which all citizens owe obedience, but this obedience Simultaneously, however, pluralists believe that the
involves active acceptance, based on consent. This exercise of power by the state ultimately benefits
may seem odd and even contradictory, that is, the everyone in society on a largely equal basis. No
existence of a coercive institution in society that has particular group, including no particular social class,
the consent of citizens, but this is the very basis of the in capitalist society consistently wins out in terms of
state’s existence in capitalist society. policy decisions made by the state.
In trying to distinguish clearly between the three Pluralists portray the state as an honest broker
theories, the notion of autonomy will be highlighted. which mediates between social groups and takes
The term ‘autonomy’ is used here to refer to the account of all the competing demands of the different
relationship between the state and social groups in groups. In doing so, it ensures that all groups (such as
society, in particular dominant groups. Radical social classes) influence government policy but no one
elitists argue that the state has no autonomy or is group consistently gets its way. In large part, this is
the instrument of the power elite. Pluralists claim because political, social and economic resources are
that the state has complete autonomy, meaning that widely distributed in society amongst different groups;
it is not serving the interests of one particular group; and these groups are all able in some way to effectively
and Marxists broadly say that the state has relative make known to the state their policy preferences.
autonomy, in relation to the capitalist class. The In this way, no group can be said to monopolise or
differences between these three understandings of control state power to its exclusive advantage. Hence,
autonomy and their significance, will become clearer one can speak of multiple centres of power within
as we now go on to discuss the first of the three theories, capitalist society, where power is situational and non-
namely, pluralism. The longest of the three discussions cumulative, that is, power in one area of life does not
is on pluralism, because the other two discussions, on give power elsewhere. This goes against the Marxist
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argument, which claims that the economic power of occurs within agreed-upon democratic channels and
employers, or capitalists in Marxist terms, translate mechanisms. Pluralists also say that parties educate
into political power almost by necessity. Different the public on political issues between and during
groups have varying degrees of influence at different election campaigns.
times and over different issues. There is open political A number of criticisms of the pluralist argument
competition between social groups, and the overall about parties have been put forward. First of all, the
result is a win-win situation for all. degree of alternative choices offered by competing
Therefore, the elected representatives of citizens parties is more illusory than real, as fundamental
in liberal capitalist democracies, which are sometimes differences between major parties in any liberal
called the political stratum, are said to serve the democratic capitalist society are rare. A good example
interests of the people, or the national interest, is the Labour Party and Conservative Party in Great
the public interest or the general interest. Political Britain. In recent years, the Labour Party under Prime
decision-makers are accountable to the citizenry Minister Tony Blair adopted socioeconomic policies
because they are dependent fundamentally on regular that seemed to be consistent with the views of the
elections for their own political survival and they Conservative Party. In the case of South Africa, because
almost by necessity pursue policies, or at least seek to of the strong neo-liberal thrust in post-apartheid state
do so, that are popular with the electorate. Formally policy, it is sometimes suggested that differences in
recognised modes of representation are hence built economic policies between the ruling ANC party
into elections in capitalist democracy, but so is and the opposition Democratic Party (DA) are not
redress if things go wrong – if a particular politician substantial. A second criticism is that party leaders
or political party proves unpopular, they can simply (irrespective of the party – even socialist-inclined
be voted out of power in the subsequent elections. In parties) in the main have upper class backgrounds
this sense, politicians may choose between competing and, because of this, their decisions often reflect the
policy alternatives based on what is popular, even interests of the dominant class. Thirdly, contemporary
if this means going against the policy prescriptions political parties have a very inactive membership
contained in the manifesto of their respective political with only minimal participatory involvement in party
party. Politicians seek the national interest, such that structures; this makes parties unresponsive to mass
the political stratum does not pursue its own selfish membership such that party members have few if any
political interests or the particularistic interests of a policy-making teeth. Finally, parties in their education
dominant economic class or power elite, as argued by and campaign work are selective in what they raise
Marxists and radical elitists respectively. publicly as issues for open debate – they define and
In arguing their position, pluralists highlight influence what can become a public issue in a very
the existence of two main mechanisms that act as selective manner and shape the climate in which it is
bulwarks for inhibiting the concentration of power in discussed. As a result, certain economic programmes
capitalist society and for enhancing the diffusion of that might be of distinct advantage to workers, such
power: these are political parties and pressure groups. as workers’ control of factories, are never raised in
Political parties are a mechanism for linking the public sphere by political parties. In the end, the
individuals and groups with the formal structures overall criticism is that the political party system has
of state through government. Parties represent and certain in-built biases vis-à-vis the diverse groups,
aggregate or bring together a wide range of social including social classes, in capitalist society. Parties do
group interests (under one roof so to speak) and on not facilitate democracy but undercut it, which means
this basis they bring policy preferences and platforms that the party system does not serve the common good
into the democratic process, thereby shaping public or national interest.
policy in the interests of citizens. The political party Pressure groups are based on interest groups. There
system commits and unites conflicting groups to the are a vast range of interest groups that are organised
principle of an orderly and open competition for power in terms of social identity such as class, gender and
in elections and therefore to the principle of majority ethnicity or policy issues such as abortion or crime.
rule in and through parliament, with the sitting Members share a common interest and insofar as these
government controlling parliament. Thus, conflict groups seek to influence government they are referred
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to as pressure groups. To give an example in relation available to them. Indeed, even within the working
to social classes: workers are an interest group and classes, employed workers have more resources than
their pressure group is a trade union, and employers do unemployed workers – the latter are normally not
are an interest group and their pressure group is an organised and not represented by trade unions. In
employers’ organisation, for example the Chamber addition, it cannot be assumed that all groups have the
of Mines. Pressure groups do not seek to gain or win same ease or privilege of access to decision-makers in
state power like political parties do, and they do not state and government. For instance, decision-makers
always claim to represent a large cross-section of the feel more comfortable in the presence of business
population like political parties do. A trade union for leaders than workers, if only because decision-
example only represents its members, which may be makers and business leaders are likely to have similar
restricted to employees within a particular sector of socioeconomic backgrounds.
the economy such as the automobile industry. These Not all interest groups have the same position
groups can exert pressure by giving funds to political of importance in capitalist society in the minds of
parties, by appealing to public opinion on, for example, members of the political stratum. Associated with this
crime through campaigns, by giving government is the fact that some groups can more easily claim that
specialised knowledge for decision-making purposes, their specific interests are consistent with the public
by civil disobedience, and even by bribery. They or national interest, which the state seeks to defend
put pressure on the political stratum, including top and promote. All states depend on a strong economy
officials within state ministries and departments, to and hence business leaders often claim that a strong
make particular decisions on specific issues that serve economy (meaning high profits for business) translates
their perceived or subjective interests. In the case of into a strong state which has sufficient revenue for
pressure groups, political decision-making involves education, health and other social services. Workers’
weighing the different arguments articulated by specific interests, namely higher wages, is regularly
pressure groups on a particular matter, for example seen as detrimental to a prosperous economy leading,
pro- and anti-abortion groups’ arguments, and trying for example, to runaway inflation detrimental to
where possible to accommodate the different demands. consumers. A final criticism about pressure groups is
This has been labelled the politics of adjustment. that all groups are supposed to play by ‘the rules of
Pressure groups are seen as important by pluralists the game’ such as by lobbying, assembling petitions
because voting for political parties in elections takes and rallying public opinion. Some groups are unable
place only intermittently and the ongoing work of to have their voices heard through these normal
pressure groups animates democratic processes. Also, channels, which in the case of South Africa has led to
a specific political party gains power with a broad thousands of service delivery protests in recent years.
agenda, called a platform or manifesto, but pressure Not playing by the rules though makes these groups
groups still need to ensure that specific parts of the appear illegitimate and even unpatriotic and criminal.
agenda are pursued. As well, pressure groups provide In general, pluralists identify and examine power
an opportunity for those who voted for the losing party in terms of observable or actual political decisions
to influence government decisions. Lastly, new issues (ie political decisions on issues that are raised in
emerge in between elections, for example a corruption the public sphere). This has been labelled as the first
scandal in government, and pressure groups enable the face of power. The two other faces of power will be
public to make the diversity of their positions known discussed later in relation to the other two theories –
on these issues. these three faces have been made famous by Stephen
As with political parties, criticisms have been put Lukes (2005). This first face involves: a public issue
forward pertaining to pluralist claims about pressure which is openly debated such as abortion; a range of
groups. For example, it cannot be assumed that all policy preferences which are articulated by different
interest groups have the capacity to form meaningful pressure groups such as pro- and anti-abortion groups
pressure groups, such as domestic workers and farm and their lobbying of the state around this issue; and,
workers in the case of South Africa and, even if all eventually, a public decision made by government
interest groups can do so, they are unlikely to have on the particular public issue. Hence, power is said
the same degree of influence based on the resources to be openly and therefore democratically displayed
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and implemented. In analysing power in this way, society. But, in the end, it comes to the typical pluralist
pluralists come to the conclusion that no particular conclusion about the existence of a vibrant liberal
group in society dominates by having their preferences democracy.
consistently translated into government policy. In Mills studied the United States national power
other words, democracy actually exists in liberal structure in the immediate post-Second World War
democratic capitalist societies. period, that is, during the 1950s, but its relevance to
The relevance of pluralist theory to South Africa is South Africa should also be considered (see Case
problematic in relation to the segregation and apartheid study 8.3). He argues that during the post-war period
periods, during which time liberal democracy did the United States is well beyond the era of romantic
not exist formally let alone substantively. Insofar as pluralism. He speaks about the decline of politics as
there were signs of democracy during these periods, understood by the pluralists, that is, the decline of any
this flourished purely within the politics of the vestige of substantive democracy. He goes on to show
white population. Democracy existed for whites only. that the kind of politics that pluralists focus on is
Pluralist theory, as a legitimate perspective within now located merely at the middle level of power in the
sociology, has only taken on relevance to South United States.
Africa in the context of the end of apartheid and the Mills says that an elite power structure consisting
emergence of a non-racial, liberal democracy society. of the power elite has always existed in the modern
history of the United States, and this includes the
8.4.2 Radical elitism political, economic and military elite combined into one
Elitism sits in stark contrast to pluralist theory. It overall elite group that dominates politics and political
denies that liberal democratic capitalist society is decision-making processes. The elite consists of those
democratic; rather it is fundamentally undemocratic. It individuals who occupy the top positions in the state,
argues that the state serves the interests of a small and the economy and the military organisations; considering
exclusive elite group, and thus the state maintains or that the military forms part of the state, when Mills
reproduces relations of domination between the elite speaks about the state elite he is referring to individuals
and the non-elite (the masses) within capitalist society. in other parts of the state. These three elite subgroups
The state has no autonomy vis-à-vis the elite group come together and form the united and cohesive power
in capitalist society. Elitism can be divided into two elite. But over the years there has been a marked shift in
different theories: conservative elitism exemplified by the balance of power within the power elite.
Vilfredo Pareto and Gaetano Mosca and radical elitism In this regard, Mills argues that because of the
exemplified by Charles Wright Mills and George Second World War and the significance of the military
William Domhoff. Conservative elitism condones to war’s victory, the military has become increasingly
the existence of an elitist power structure whereas powerful within the elite group. He thus speaks about
radical elitism condemns the elitist power structure. the warlords gaining decisive political ascendancy,
Conservative elitists claim that the existence of elites is about a coincidence of interest between military and
inevitable, as centralised authority based on expertise corporate needs, and about how important political
is efficient and indispensable given the inexperience and economic decisions are now being made ‘in terms
and incapacity of the general populace in handling the of military definitions of reality’. Mills speaks about
affairs of the state. American capitalism being a military capitalism or a
In this chapter, we focus exclusively on radical military-industrial complex. Some recent commentators
elitism and the work of C. Wright Mills because of its have noted American intervention in the Islamic
clear and explicit criticism of pluralism. Wright Mills world, notably Iraq and Afghanistan, in the light of
speaks about the power elite. There is a version of the 9/11 terrorist attacks on American soil as further
pluralism that is sensitive to the criticisms made by consolidating the importance of the military elite, at
radical elitists – this version argues that the political least in relation to foreign policy.
stratum is a pluralist elite that may at times act in its Mills provides two main reasons for why the three
own interests and not in the national interest, and groups of sub-elites come together to form a cohesive
that the political stratum sometimes stands aloof power elite. First of all, he refers to the common social
from the democratic processes taking place in broader background and personal lifestyles of the different
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elites: they intermingle socially on a regular basis organising the upper echelons of the power elite into
and develop a common belief system on this basis. an organised structure of power and sustaining it.
Secondly, he mentions the common organisational The power elite are an ‘invisible’ elite. Its members
interests or structural coincidence of the interests of in a sense operate behind closed doors, and outside
the three sectors that the elites command; in other of the public eye and public scrutiny. There is thus
words, their specific interests complement each increased official secrecy behind which great decisions
other. For example, the economy receives a boost are made. In this regard, radical elite theory takes
when America goes to war, such that one hears talk us beyond the observable decisions that pluralists
about a ‘war economy’. This simply means that the focus on, and it delves into a second face of power,
armaments industry, which forms an important part or a second way in which power is exercised. This
of the American economy, needs to continuously second face of power is the private face of power in
supply the military with supplies during wartime which dominant groups or the power elite may prevent
and hence business booms for this industry under or exclude issues from becoming public and open to
such conditions. democratic debate. Thus some issues do not reach the
The complementary interests do not imply though stage of decision-making and only safe issues become
that the elite are always a homogenous entity. There public issues. The most important national decisions,
are at times conflicts and individual ambitions that the ones that have important implications for instance
get in the way of complete unity; but in terms of for national security, are made behind closed doors.
making important decisions they invariably adopt Thus power is sometimes about managing situations or
a common policy position. Any autonomy that does influencing the definition of matters for public debate,
exist between the sub-elites is in the end subsumed with the interests of non-power elite groups becoming
under the internal discipline and the community of marginalised in this way. Pluralism is thus based on
interests that bind the power elite together. Hence, the unsound notion that visible issue-based conflicts
the three elites connect because of ‘common beliefs, reveal the power structures of capitalist society. This
social congeniality, and coinciding interests’. From gives merely the illusion of democracy, according to
Mills’ discussion (Wright Mills 1959), it is clear that radical elitists.
he would not only reject pluralism but also Marxists’ The power elite group is not accountable for its
overall claim (discussed below) that the economic elite actions, either directly to the public or to anybody
or capitalist class controls the state. He labels Marxism that represents the public interest. But the notion of
as economic determinism; more specifically he argues the power elite, according to Mills, is not based on a
that Marxists understand capitalist societies purely conspiratorial theory. Therefore, he is not arguing that
in terms of the economy, such that political power is the elite are involved in some secret plot to dominate
reduced to or derives from economic power. capitalist society. Indeed, he argues that the elite are
Further, the power elite is characterised by not consciously organised as such and nor would its
considerable internal interchange and mobility; for members consider themselves as an elite or as acting
example, retired army generals may wear civilian in the interests of the elite or of themselves. The elite
clothes and occupy a position in a non-military state would likely claim that they are genuinely acting in
department, or corporate executives may leave the the ‘national interest’. Yet, despite the self-conceptions
private sector and take up a key position in state of the elite members and their intentions, the overall
ministries involved in economic affairs. Those effect of their actions marks them – for Mills – as the
individuals who interchange positions in this way are power elite.
said to be the inner core of the power elite and are able Mills claims that the pluralist notion of power
to transcend the particularity of interests in any of the entailing a ‘balancing society’ is not applicable to the
three institutional set-ups, and thereby unite the power upper reaches of politics in contemporary America.
elite. In other words, they recognise most clearly what For instance, there has been the relegation of the
is in the best interests of the power elite as a whole, professional politicians to the middle levels of power.
because of their personal experiences of working in State power rests not with professional politicians but
more than one part of the power elite. The inner core with the political directorate or higher echelons of
comprises the individuals who are most active in the state administration or executive. There is hence a
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weakened formal democratic system, as only democracy this level, issues fundamental to national stability are
in name or formal democracy exists. The middle level not made. Mills also argues that contemporary citizens
of power consists of government, the legislature and are in large part passive and not actively engaged in
the political party system. The conventional lobbying any significant manner in party politics and pressure
activities of pressure groups, as focused on by pluralists, groups – they are largely demobilised and thus he refers
are normally conducted at the middle level of power. At to them simply as the ‘masses’.
Case study 8.3 Radical elitists in South African society
Radical elitists are in the in-between position between pluralists and Marxists – they disagree with Pluralists about the
existence of democracy under capitalism but they do not reduce political power to capitalist economic power. Because
of their middle position in this regard, it is worth using radical elitist theory to illustrate the deployment of state theory in
making sense of contemporary South African society.
There is no doubt that South African society is marked by vast inequalities which benefit the most economically powerful,
including the owners of manufacturing corporations, mining conglomerates and large commercial farm estates. But the
post-apartheid state’s activities cannot be explained solely in terms of the needs of economic elites. On a diverse range
of issues, economic leaders are highly critical of the ANC-led government – for instance, economic leaders argue that
the labour markets are overly regulated by the state through labour legislation protecting workers and that the massive
grant system amounts to unproductive investment to the disadvantage of economic growth. In other words, there are
disagreements and conflicts between economic and political leaders such that economic power does not automatically
translate into political power.
At the same time, there is an overall unity of interest between political and economic leaders in South Africa. The
ANC government, though in alliance with COSATU, does not want the South African economy changed dramatically;
for example, it refuses to listen to trade union calls for the nationalisation of the mining industry as it is felt that this will
undercut the productivity and profitability of the gold mines. In this, it is strongly supported by the mining industry owners.
There are also close personal connections between economic leaders and political leaders. This is clearly demonstrated
by the existence and workings of the Presidential Commercial Agriculture Working Group. This group contains state
departments and commercial agricultural organisations without any agricultural worker presence of significance. It was
established by former president Thabo Mbeki in 2001, and meets intermittently with the state president. One of its
first tasks was to develop the Strategic Plan for Agriculture. The participation of farm worker representatives has come
only after the fundamental basis for agricultural and land reform has been designed in the interests of agribusiness and
commercial agriculture. There is also movement between the economic and political leadership spheres. Tokyo Sekwale
(past Minister of Human Settlements), for instance, had massive business interests but he has moved into politics and there
were rumours that he may one day be state president. The closeness between the political and economic elite means
that many policy decisions are made without public knowledge and are simply imposed on the general citizenry; the
controversial arms deal is a case in point. This ‘behind closed doors’ policy-making exists despite quite vigorous democratic
processes that seemingly exist, including multi-party parliamentary portfolio committees which scrutinise the work of
state ministries and departments.
The use of radical elitist theory provides important insights in examining post-apartheid society and it clearly raises
critical questions about the status of democracy in South Africa. The other two perspectives could likewise be used to
generate insights into present-day South Africa.
8.4.3 Marxism source of power. Economic control means political

Like radical elitism, Marxism sees power concentrated control. The dominant class in capitalist society, that
in the hands of a minority. Political power, though, is the capitalist class or bourgeoisie, owns the means of
does not rest with those who occupy key positions production (the factories, equipment and so on) and the
in the state, because economic resources are the key working class does not. The members of the working
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class sell their labour, or what Marx calls labour in order to stabilise the capitalist system and it does
power or capacity to labour, to the capitalist class in not really matter whether there is capitalist pressure
order to earn wages and make a living. This economic on the state to act in a way which benefits the dominant
domination is based on exploitation, and translates economic class. The state exists to ensure that the
into political domination. The Marxist theory claims capitalist economy functions profitably and smoothly
that the state in capitalist society is a capitalist state. and to ensure that social and political stability
All citizens appear to be equal in power, for provides a solid foundation for economic growth and
instance, through universal suffrage or the right to development. State leaders by necessity recognise that
vote, and by way of mobilising and organising without a strong state and thus the very continuation of the
hindrance, and thus the state and government appear state requires a strong economy. Insofar as the state
to reflect the wishes of citizens or the national interest. pursues a vibrant economy, it serves the interests of the
This is mere appearance and reality in capitalist class, namely the capitalist class, that dominates the
societies is far different. In this sense, for Marxists, economy. The state works on behalf of the capitalist
pluralist theory is simply the ideology of capitalism class but not at its behest, that is, not on its orders.
dressed up in theoretical clothing that seeks to Theorists who stress structuralism often speak
justify the continuation of a social system based about the relative autonomy of the state in capitalist
on exploitation. According to Marxism, it does not society. The ruling class or bourgeoisie does not
matter which political party forms the government, directly govern (ie it is not the governing class). The
as all parties end up supporting the maintenance of governing ‘class’ are the political elites who control
the capitalist system. Within Marxism, there are two government and the state. But the interests of the
broad approaches: instrumentalism as exemplified by ruling class are met through the actions of the state. In
Ralph Miliband (1983) and structuralism as found in this sense, the state is relatively autonomous from the
the works of Nicos Poulantzas. These two approaches bourgeoisie; in serving the interests of the bourgeoisie,
are not necessarily in opposition to each other but, in the state has a certain freedom and independence from
fact, may complement each other. the bourgeoisie. In fact, the state needs this autonomy
Instrumentalism means that the state is a direct in order to maintain the capitalist system. The
instrument of the capitalist class, and that the capitalists capitalist class is itself internally divided, and often
directly intervene in ensuring that the state functions in different sections of the capitalist class, including
the interests of capitalism. Miliband’s theory has many manufacturers and mining companies, place different
similarities to radical elitism in terms of the evidence demands on the state. The state is not linked to any
given to support his argument. He does not speak particular section of the capitalist class on an ongoing
though of a power elite in which political and economic basis, and hence it has the freedom to act on behalf
elites rule together because, for Miliband, economic of the entire capitalist class. The relative autonomy
elites have control over political elites. He says that allows the state to move beyond or rise above the
the state elites who run central state institutions, such sectional interests within the capitalist class in order
as military officers and cabinet ministers, are closely to represent the class as a whole.
aligned to the capitalist class. He gives empirical Plus, relative autonomy gives the state the freedom
evidence showing that a significant minority of political to respond to demands of the working classes,
elites have a bourgeois or upper-class background or demands which the bourgeoisie might oppose. For
that they develop a bourgeois or pro-capitalist outlook instance, trade unions might put extreme pressure
on capitalist society. The overall claim is that the state on a particular state to increase significantly the
acts at the behest of the capitalist class. national minimum wage for all workers. The owners of
Compared to instrumentalism, structuralism does the means of production might oppose this pressure,
not stress the actions of individuals, for instance the claiming that any such increase would jeopardise or
activities of capitalists in putting pressure on the state, compromise economic profitability. The state, though,
in making the state a capitalist state. Rather, it focuses may recognise that the scale and scope of mobilisation
on the importance of social structures and how social by trade unions around the issue of minimum wages
structures constrain and limit the actions of the state might lead to substantial social instability. Hence, the
and government. The state in capitalist society exists state may decide to increase the national minimum
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wage. The state, therefore, seeks to ensure that the between apartheid and post-apartheid society
demands of the working classes are contained within in relation to the state and politics. Explaining
the parameters of capitalism. According to Marxists, these changes and continuities is an important
the existence of relative autonomy also promotes the sociological endeavour.
myth that the state represents society as a whole. • Examining the continuities and changes in South
One of the problems that Marxists have tried Africa, and trying to make sense of post-apartheid
to explain is the disjuncture between capitalist state and society, requires sensitivity to the range
exploitation of workers on the one hand, and the of sociological theories of the state. For this reason,
existence of a working class that generally does not the chapter outlined and discussed pluralism,
seek to overthrow the capitalist system. In other radical elitism and Marxism.
words, Marxists claim that workers are exploited
and that it is in their interests to end capitalism, but Are you on track?
workers do not see it this way. They are normally quite 1. Relate your experiences in your personal life to
satisfied simply to have their wages increased within your understanding of the South African state
the confines of capitalism. In this respect, Marxists obtained from this chapter. How do you feel about
speak about ideology and legitimation. This is linked encounters with state officials? Do you find the
to Stephen Lukes’ third face of power. An ideology experiences pleasant or alienating? And what
or world view that is supportive of the capitalist do they tell you about the state more broadly?
system is prevalent within capitalism and citizens are Further, when you read in the newspaper or hear
socialised into this ideology. As a result, capitalism on the television or radio news about the different
as an economic-political system is legitimised. This, policies and programmes pursued by the South
for Marxists, is a form of power – in this case, power African state, do you feel a sense of ownership of
entails shaping or influencing the world view and these policies and programmes?
belief-system of members of the working classes. This 2. Write down a list of all the main changes and
is not done necessarily intentionally by the capitalist continuities between apartheid South Africa
class or the state, but nevertheless the predominance and post-apartheid South Africa which you can
of a pro-capitalist ideology becomes an important identify. Which ones of these can you attribute to
source of social cohesion for liberal democratic the actions or inactions of the state? On what basis
capitalist societies. do you claim that the state is in some way involved
in the continuity or change? Has the state since
Summary 1994 been more involved in contributing to change
• Key conceptual points have been made with or contributing to continuity in South African
reference to the sociological literature on state and society?
society, including highlighting the distinction 3. Examine a particular state policy or programme
between government and state. that you are aware of in present-day South Africa,
• This distinction between government and state is such as the social grant system. Whose interests
important in identifying where power lies within is this policy or programme serving and on what
the state and how the state is subject to pressures basis do you make this claim? Because one policy
emanating from within society. or programme is serving the interests of one group,
• The main empirical focus of the chapter has been can you then conclude that the state is controlled
contemporary South African society. by that group? If yes, why? If no, why not?
• South African history (before 1994) was also
examined to highlight the changes and continuities
References
Alexander P. 2010. ‘Rebellion of the poor: South Africa’s service delivery protests – a preliminary analysis’.
Review of African Political Economy, 37(123).
Dahl R. 1961. Who Governs? New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
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Domhoff G. 1967. Who Rules America? New Jersey: Prentice-Hall.

Giddens A. 2006. Sociology. (5th ed). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Haralambos M, Holborn M. 2008. Sociology: Themes and Perspectives (7th ed). London: Collins.
Lukes S. 2005. Power: A Radical View (2nd ed). New York: Palgrave.
Miliband R. 1983. The State in Capitalist Society. London: Quartet Books.
Pierson C. 1996. The Modern State. London: Routledge.
Popenoe D. 1993. Sociology (9th ed). New Jersey: Prentice Hall.
Saunders C. 1988. The Making of the South African Past. Cape Town: David Philip.
Seekings J, Nattrass J. 2005. Class, Race, and Inequality in South Africa. New Haven: Yale University Press.
Wolpe H. 1988. Race, Class and the Apartheid State. London: James Curry.
Wright Mills C. 1959. The Power Elite. London: Oxford University Press.
217

Chapter 9
Race
Ran Greenstein
During the apartheid period South Africa constructed one of the most thorough and complex systems of racial domination. This
means that racial distinctions were legally entrenched and had profound social, cultural and political implications. Apartheid
focused on the physical features of race, and the differences between members of racial groups, despite there being no specific
basis for ‘race’. What really mattered was that no normal social relationships could be formed and people were damaged by
racial segregation and division. The legal foundations of apartheid are no longer with us. And yet, the general legacy of racial
differences continues to manifest itself in the public sphere in South Africa and beyond its borders. In order to understand the
ongoing operation of race as a way of dividing people in society and shaping their political and cultural interests, this chapter
discusses the race concept and its social expression within their historical contexts and in their diverse forms.
Because race has had such a long history shaping South African society, from early colonial conquest through apartheid
to the present, we need to make an effort to focus on its ongoing impact. Under apartheid race was deeply entrenched
in processes of socialisation and identity formation. But, despite the fact that race became real for people in their living
experiences, it was never a natural or biological phenomenon. The colour of our skin and the shape of our hair are real but
irrelevant features of who we are. Race is rather a set of material practices and cultural meanings. It has a defined historical
origin. It cannot be understood outside the experience of slavery and the colonial encounter and its expression in a range of
political and economic processes. Race is, in addition, a global phenomenon that is not confined to any one society. These
powerful social forces made race important. This is what is meant by the statement that race is socially constructed.
Since the advent of democracy in South Africa, the abolition of racial legislation and the enshrinement of equality in
the Constitution, we are facing a serious challenge in creating a society that is not continually affected by its racially scarred
past. This challenge requires of us to recognise the shifting meanings and impacts of race. At the same time, however, as this
chapter discusses, we must avoid two pitfalls. We cannot assume that nothing has changed and that the old language of
race can be used to make sense of our society today. And, we cannot assume that everything has changed and that race is
consequently no longer relevant in understanding contemporary South African society.
The centrality of race in South African history and social theory make this chapter essential reading for critical people, not
just sociologists out of whose discipline this analysis of the concept of race and its practices flows.

Case study 9.1 Race and identity
In March 2011 Jimmy Manyi (then Director General of Labour, government spokesperson until 2012) said in a television interview:
coloured people in the Western Cape should spread in the rest of the country … they must stop this over-concentration situation
because they are in over-supply where they are [the Western Cape], so you must look into the country and see where you can
meet the supply.
In response to this statement, Minister Trevor Manuel published an open letter, in which he accused Manyi of expressing
racist sentiments by referring in the way that he did to ‘the sons and daughters of those who waged the first anti-colonial
battles against the Portuguese, the Dutch and the British when they set foot on our shores’. Coloured people, said Manuel,
were also black and therefore entitled to claim equity in employment and to be regarded as a ‘designated group’ that had
been discriminated against under apartheid and therefore deserves redress now. They are not different from other black
people in the country in that respect.
Manuel was careful to note that although he himself was from the Western Cape, and was regarded as a ‘coloured’
person under apartheid, he was not speaking as a representative of that particular group but as a concerned activist, ‘not
as a coloured but as a non-racist determined to ensure that our great movement and our constitution are not diluted
through the actions of racists like you’.
Questions
1. Why was Manuel so critical of Manyi’s approach?
• Was it only because they differed on the correct way to refer to coloured people (as a separate group or as part
of a broader black collective)?
• Was it because they disagreed on how precisely to apply employment equity laws? Or was it, perhaps, because
of a dispute over the links to be made between race, labour and social rights?
2. Why was the controversy brought out into the open a year after Manyi had made his statement, shortly before the
2011 municipal elections?
3. Are there more fundamental issues related to race, identity, economic position and political power that the exchange
forces us to examine?
•• The concept of race and its multiple uses

Key Themes
•• Historical perspective on the emergence of race: colonialism, slavery and empire

•• The different dimensions of race: economic, political, cultural
•• Critical race theory to South African history
•• The significance of race.
Introduction over time. In examining race in our context we need

Ever since the beginning of European expansion into to be aware of such changes, as well as appreciate the
overseas territories, a process that has become known fact that we operate in a global context, which shapes
as colonialism, race has been a central element of social the meanings we attach to the concept and the ways in
stratification. This has been true at the global level for which it affects us.
the last five centuries, as well as in many local sites, South Africa has been notorious for its use of
of which South Africa is a notable example. Few other the notion of race to justify social inequalities and
societies have been associated with the notion of race political exclusion. Race as a social and political tool
to the same extent as has South African society. But, was thoroughly discredited with apartheid’s demise
we must recognise that the specific expressions of race, and to this end, we can expect that it would no longer
and its impact on society and politics, have changed be used in the public sphere. But is that really the case?
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This chapter will address issues of race with a focus meaningful for us and form a basis for undertaking
on three dimensions: labour and the economy, power social action in line with the meanings they acquire.
and politics, and identity and culture. It is important Physical features associated with race (such as skin
first to identify a theoretical framework within which colour and hair) have been used in various historical
we can examine the notion of race and its derivations circumstances to classify people, separate them into
(racial, racist, racism, and so on). groups, judge their ability to perform various tasks,
and provide them with differential access to social and
9.1 What is race? political rights and economic resources. In other words
American sociologist Howard Winant provides us with race, in this sense, as a concept referring to a series of
a good starting point for the theoretical discussion of physical differences related to the body, is important.
race. He defines race as a concept ‘that signifies and This is because it has had an impact on how people are
symbolizes socio-political conflicts and interests in treated, what they have been entitled to possess and
reference to different types of human bodies’. He goes on what their life chances have been. In that way it has
to clarify that the concept of race ‘appeals to biologically become meaningful.
based human characteristics’. At the same time, the It is precisely the use of socially meaningless
focus on particular human physical features (such as features of the body, in order to make meaningful
skin colour, hair, and so on), in order to indicate race, ‘is social distinctions that give race its unique status as
always and necessarily a social and historical process’ a theoretical concept and as an important historical
(Winant 2000). There is simply no biological basis for force. Other systems of classification usually rely
distinguishing human groups along the lines of race, on culture, origins, ethnicity, language, religion,
he argues. The categories we normally use in order to and related factors, in order to distinguish between
identify different groups, and distinguish between them, different groups. It is race alone that has linked some of
are always imprecise and at times completely arbitrary. these factors to physical features. This link is essential
In other words, they have no basis in biology and science. to the concept, and to the ways in which it has been
For this reason, it is important to note that used historically to create and perpetuate inequalities.
sociological theories of race do not pay much attention The use of the concept of race has varied between
to the physical features that are associated in the societies and over time. In some of them – South
popular imagination with the concept of race. This is Africa, southern USA – it has been crucial to the
not because such features are not visible or are not real. entire evolution of the social and political system. In
The sociological approach does indeed recognise that others, most European countries, it has had relatively
some groups of people tend to have darker skin than little impact internally until recently, with the arrival
others, or differently shaped and coloured hair, and of large numbers of people from formerly colonised
they may tend to be taller and leaner, or shorter and countries. Historically, of course, race played a major
heavier. But, it regards all these physical characteristics role in shaping the process of European colonial
as irrelevant to people’s qualities as individual human expansion, even if its full impact was not noticeable on
beings and as collective groups. These physical features the home front. Despite these differences, all of these
of their bodies are not meaningful when considered on societies have been profoundly affected by the global
their own, in isolation from the meanings attached to rise of race from the sixteenth century onwards.
them by social, cultural and political forces. This focus on social and political dimensions is
not meant to deny that people who live in different
9.1.1 Racial meanings geographical conditions, physical and climatic
The notion of meaning is central here. We use it in order environments who enjoy different diets and engage in
to understand how people respond to the reality around different activities, tend to develop certain physical
them. Their responses are shaped by their perceptions differences. These may have an impact on their ability
of reality, which in turn are shaped by their prior to perform tasks involving the use of their bodies,
experiences, cultural background, belief systems, habits for example excelling in various branches of sports
of mind and social and political ideologies. All these that require different levels of endurance, having
factors play a role in making sense of social differences higher probability of experiencing certain genetically
and dealing with them. Such differences become based diseases, or being more or less tolerant of harsh
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climatic conditions. The common wisdom of the social remained divided on all the other grounds listed above.
sciences is that all of these have nothing to do with In that sense, they have never become a global group
mental and social processes and therefore do not affect (or race) with a unified position based on common
individual and collective abilities and entitlements in interests. However, in specific times and places people
all other fields, beyond the physical one. may have formed a common racial identity over time,
based on their shared legal and political position.
9.1.2 Race as an emergent identity To pursue the example of apartheid South Africa,
A key implication of this approach, which focuses on the what is it that made whites a distinct group of people in
social significance of physical differences, is that it casts this country? It was not their language or religion (they
doubt on the objective existence of race. It regards race as were divided on that basis between English, Afrikaans
an idea, a concept, a sign and a symbol. In other words, and other languages), it was not physical appearances
race is a way of making sense of social and political (Jews from Eastern Europe look very different from
issues by interpreting them and linking them to real or Portuguese immigrants, or from white Afrikaners), it was
imaginary physical appearances. The operation of the not their culture (Afrikaans-speaking whites have much
concept of race in this way does not mean that races – more in common culturally with Afrikaans-speaking
that is, distinct groups of people whose members are coloured people than with some other groups of white
united by common features – really exist in nature. In immigrants), or any of the other features that normally
some societies people of certain background were treated unify people around a common identity. Rather, it was
as if they were all members of the same group, and were the fact that they were regarded by the legal and political
seen by the legal system to be unified. South Africa under system as members of the same group, entitled to the
apartheid is the obvious example. These people were same rights and privileges. That was the primary factor
given or denied rights on that basis. In other societies this that created some sense of identity among them.
kind of treatment is more informal. But, whether formal Before the twentieth century, the ancestors of
or informal, racial groups exist only as the products of people in Europe never regarded themselves as having
society, culture and the legal system, not as part of nature. anything in common. It was their specific historical
This point needs clarifying further. People of experience in South Africa that allowed them to develop
lighter and darker skin colours have always existed feelings of commonality defined in racial terms. Their
in different parts of the world. As a result of colonial ongoing historical experiences in post-apartheid South
expansion, enslavement and migration, they have Africa may shatter that sense of identity, reinforce it or
become mixed to some extent in various locations. serve to merge their identity with that of other groups
They are no longer confined to specific geographical of people (for example those of Indian origins), even if
areas. However, all those people who share such they do not share physical features. We need to look at
physical characteristics as skin colour had nothing to the role of such experiences in creating a group sense
unify them historically beyond the fact that they may and identity among people of diverse origins, and also
have looked similar to outside observers. They were look at how changing circumstances usually lead to
divided on the basis of language, religion, culture, changing perceptions of identity.
social structure, economic occupation, and so on. They We need to explore the extent to which our notions
were not part of a group with shared identity, a sense of what constitutes a racial group shift over time,
of common past and future destiny. It is only with the which groups we include and exclude when we think
rise of colonialism that they were lumped together on of race classification and why we make links between
the basis of their physical features, but even then they racial features and mental abilities.
Case study 9.2 Nature, leisure and race in South Africa
Another story has raised additional questions related to race. It was in response to news about the South African National
Parks’ (SANParks) intention to build a five-star hotel in the Kruger National Park (KNP), with upmarket black clients, called
‘black diamonds’, having been identified as the key target audience for such a venture. An angry resident of Nelspruit (the
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Chapter 9: Race
main city close to the southern part of the Kruger Park), wrote a letter to a local newspaper, asking: ‘Does one really
expect the visiting ‘Black Diamonds’ entering the KNP in their high speed luxury cars to obey the 50 km per hour speed
limit? … Are these people going to be happy to sit in the hotel after sunset and listen to the sounds of the African bush?
Before long, there will be in-house entertainment; a night club and then a casino to keep the money moving.’
SANParks responded by denouncing this as a racist attack, disguised as an attempt to protect nature. Government went
ahead and approved the construction plan in August 2011.
Questions
1. What questions are raised by this incident?
2. How do notions of nature, leisure and race become connected in people’s minds?
3. What images of the ways in which wealthy black people spend their money are exhibited in this case?
4. Are these images merely a reflection of reality, a bunch of offensive stereotypes, or a response by people to feelings
of frustration and marginalisation?
9.2 History of the race concept and our observations of nature and shaped the ways
It is obvious that when whites in South Africa started in which we govern it. In combination these processes
regarding themselves as a racial group, they did not gave rise to what is known as modernity.
invent the concept of race from scratch. Rather, they In its modern sense, the concept of race cannot be
relied on pre-existing notions that were widespread in attributed to any particular individual, but rather is a
the country itself, as well as in Europe and globally. product of studies and debates within various scholarly
But where did the notion of race originally come from? disciplines over many decades, which took place in the
context of European overseas expansion. However, it is
9.2.1 Origins of race associated at times with the names of the great German
Awareness of physical differences between groups philosophers Kant and Hegel. Their ideas are still of
of people from various geographical and climatic interest to us today due to their general influence
backgrounds may have been a feature of human on modern thought, but we must look at them in the
consciousness from time immemorial. Likewise, a context of their times, rather than try to evaluate them
distinction between ‘us’ and ‘them’ or between ‘self’ in view of our current ideas and norms. In other words,
and ‘other’ has been a part of the way all groups of our purpose is to understand their contributions, not
people define their identity wherever they are, from to blame them for some problematic practices that
the ancient Greeks to medieval Christians and the others have adopted independently of them.
residents of the Arab and Islamic empires. However,
the conversion of such general awareness into the 9.2.2 Kant and Hegel on race
systematic identification of physical features as In the late eighteenth century, Immanuel Kant argued
crucial, and their consolidation into a rigid system that all humans belonged to the same species and were
of classification into distinct racial groups, is more all descended from the same line, and yet they could be
recent in time. It can be traced to the rise of three classified into distinct racial groups. He defined race
historical processes which took place simultaneously as a concept that indicated ‘a radical peculiarity that
over centuries and in close relation to one another. announces a common descent’ together with several
These three processes were the rise of the ‘persistently transmitted’ qualities that appeared in
European-centred colonial empires from the sixteenth the ‘developing characters of successive generations’.
century onwards, the emergence of the capitalist world Races were not different species, but ‘deviate forms’,
system during the same period, and the consolidation meaning variants on the same basic human theme,
of the modern scientific study of nature and society. which came about as ‘a further development of
Together, these processes created the foundation for a purposive primary predispositions implanted in the
new way of looking at the world. This new mode of line of descent’. While all human beings carried with
rationality and logic served to organise our thoughts them the same potential to develop, specific physical
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features emerged in response to encounters with the as on the threshold of the World’s History’ (in Taiwo
diverse geographical and climatic environments in 1998). This statement does not deal directly with
which people found themselves as they dispersed and questions of race but rather with history and culture.
populated the planet (Bernasconi 2001; Kant 2001 [1788]). Yet, the negative attitudes towards Africa shown
It is important to recognise both aspects of Kant’s here have had obvious implications for the ways in
approach: that all humans share the same line of which Europeans regarded black people. Even if Hegel
descent, but also that in the process of dispersal personally did not hold the position that black people
throughout the world, racial differences became (most of whom originated in Africa) were mentally
consolidated. Once that happened, they could not be inferior, it is likely that most of his readers would
overcome or reversed. This means that the division have reached such conclusions from his work. In fact,
of the world’s population on the basis of physical such attitudes towards Africa and African people are
appearances is here to stay, though the relations still common today, and are one of the most serious
between the groups that emerged as a result of that problems created by the legacy of colonialism.
process may change over time. Whether physical The approach adopted by people like Kant and
features also lead to different levels of mental capacity, Hegel and their followers may be better referred to
and as a result to different entitlements to recognition as Eurocentrism than racism. It assumes that Europe
and resources, are questions that Kant did not discuss enjoys mental and technological superiority in relation
directly. In a sense, both the notion that all humans to most other cultures and civilisations, but does not
are equal despite diverse physical appearances, and regard that as the outcome of physical differences.
the notion that they can be classified into distinct It bases this view on an interpretation of social and
groups with their own abilities and rights, may follow cultural developments rather than on biological
logically from Kant’s perspective. theories. We must realise, though, that in the popular
Another famous philosopher of the period, GWF mind these factors frequently are closely related.
Hegel, writing in the early nineteenth century, argued This means that not only the intentions of writers are
that physical differences cannot tell us anything about important, but also the likely impact of their words,
what goes on inside people’s minds. For that reason, and the many – sometimes contradictory – ways in
we can recognise the existence of races, but cannot which they could be interpreted by readers, activists
judge their ability to take equal part in society and and other thinkers and writers.
its institutions on the basis of physical differences. Kant and Hegel were merely the most famous in
At the same time, cultural and historical processes a line of European (and later also North American)
may mean that people who live in various parts of philosophers and thinkers who dealt with this set of
the world develop in their own ways: white, black issues: the relations of Europe and its peoples to the
and other people tend to face different challenges and rest of the world, and the consequences of that for
therefore develop their own skills and capacities to questions of race. We cannot cover in this chapter
cope with such challenges. These capacities are not in any detail the long list of people who made a
biological in nature but a product of physical and contribution to debates over these matters. Karl Marx is
social conditions. Hegel concluded that white people, one nineteenth century thinker who must be discussed
living in temperate zones, showed greater ability directly because he studied the matter from a different
to shape their environment, but this was not due to perspective and left a lasting and distinct legacy.
superior biology. People of other racial backgrounds
could acquire similar abilities if exposed to the same 9.2.3 Marx on race
conditions. Although Marx was a product of similar social and
These general statements on race must be seen intellectual conditions to those of Kant and Hegel,
against another saying by Hegel, in his Philosophy of who preceded him by a few decades, his theoretical
History, that the continent of Africa, ‘is no historical approach was radically different. Known as the
part of the World; it has no movement or development Materialist Conception of History, it examined social
to exhibit’. Africa is an expression of ‘the Unhistorical, forms of organisation in the context of the social and
Undeveloped Spirit, still involved in the conditions of economic developments of society as a whole. This was
mere nature, and which had to be presented here only accompanied by a focus on the rise of capitalism as
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Chapter 9: Race
crucial to modern race relations. Marx is known for The role of race as an ideology was noted in a famous
his study of capitalism – an economic system based quote from a letter to two of his colleagues, in which he
on private property and the operation of market forces. discussed how racial and ethnic prejudices were used
Unlike classical economists though, Marx emphasised to undermine workers’ organisation:
the role of violence and coercion, especially in
capitalism’s early stages, which he referred to as Every industrial and commercial centre in
primitive accumulation – a process ‘dripping from England now possesses a working class divided
head to toe, from every pore, with blood and dirt’, and into two hostile camps, English proletarians and
the history of which is written ‘in letters of blood and Irish proletarians. The ordinary English worker
fire’ (Marx 1867). hates the Irish worker as a competitor who lowers
Exploitation of workers and their coercion into his standard of life. In relation to the Irish worker
the labour market are central features of capitalism. he regards himself as a member of the ruling
Marx referred to that as ‘wage slavery’, which was nation and consequently he becomes a tool of the
distinguished from formal slavery in degree only. English aristocrats and capitalists against Ireland,
While slavery does not have any necessary relation thus strengthening their domination over himself.
to race, and it has existed in various forms since He cherishes religious, social, and national
ancient times, it acquired a specific racial character prejudices against the Irish worker. His attitude
under capitalism. Capitalism spread over the world towards him is much the same as that of the “poor
and became global by using coercion to force diverse whites” to the Negroes in the former slave states
people and populations to work for it: of the U.S.A. The Irishman pays him back with
interest in his own money. He sees in the English
The discovery of gold and silver in America, worker both the accomplice and the stupid tool of
the extirpation, enslavement, and entombment the English rulers in Ireland. This antagonism is
in mines of the indigenous population of the artificially kept alive and intensified by the press,
continent, the beginnings of the conquest and the pulpit, the comic papers, in short, by all the
plunder of India, and the conversion of Africa into means at the disposal of the ruling classes. This
a preserve for the commercial hunting of black antagonism is the secret of the impotence of the
skins are all things that characterize the dawn of English working class, despite its organisation.
the era of capitalist production. (Marx 1867a) It is the secret by which the capitalist class
maintains its power. And the latter is quite aware
Marx failed to discuss race as a concept in its own right of this. (Marx 1870)
and did not dedicate space to it or to other questions
of identity in his theoretical approach. He did leave This statement by Marx is based on the assumption
a legacy to subsequent theorists of race, centred on that race and ethnicity may be genuine identities that
looking at its role in the rise and growth of capitalism. reflect people’s sense of common destiny with their
In particular, three aspects have been central to ‘own kind’. In other words, people feel that race is real,
such theory: and this feeling is important for their sense of self-
• The rise of race as a mode of identification and identity, even if it is ultimately based on unimportant
organisation of society was historically linked physical differences. However, such feelings are
to European colonial expansion, the creation of dangerous when used to claim privileges at the
overseas empires, and the emergence of a global expense of those who belong to the ‘wrong’ group and
capitalist economic system. therefore are denied equal rights. Racism is a term
• The use of racial distinctions to facilitate the normally used to refer to such attitudes of superiority
exploitation of vulnerable populations and the and support for inequality. Not all identification in
imposition of poor working conditions and low racial terms is racist, especially when those subjected
pay on them in order to increase profits. to discrimination use racial identity as a source of self-
• The ideological use of race in order to turn workers empowerment (as in ‘Say it loud – I’m black and I’m
against each other and prevent them from forming proud’). But, claims to an elevated status on the basis
a united front against their employers. of different historical origins fall under this label.
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To prevent race from serving as a means for dividing disrespect and mockery, the ridicule and systematic
workers and undermining their struggles, three humiliation, the distortion of fact and wanton license
additional aspects of race can be derived from the of fancy, the cynical ignoring of the better and the
legacy of Marx’s approach (though he rarely discussed boisterous welcoming of the worse, the all-pervading
them directly): desire to inculcate disdain for everything black, from
• Since race played a major role in facilitating the rise Toussaint [rebel leader in Haiti] to the devil.’
of capitalism and its ongoing growth, the struggle But, there is an alternative, ‘the unifying ideal
for racial equality is an essential component of of Race; the ideal of fostering and developing the
the struggle against all forms of exploitation and traits and talents of the Negro, not in opposition to or
oppression. Solidarity with and support for the contempt for other races, but rather in large conformity
rights of people oppressed on the basis of race, to the greater ideals of the American Republic, in order
ethnicity or nationalism serves the interests of that some day on American soil two world-races may
workers. give each to each those characteristics both so sadly
• Race has consequences for people’s material lack.’ What might the contribution of black people be,
conditions (their life chances, access to jobs, then? Du Bois focused on culture and spirituality: ‘the
services, and so on). It also has ideological and wild sweet melodies of the Negro slave’, American fairy
cultural implications in that it affects images, tales and folklore derived from native American and
stereotypes and perceptions of race, which are African legacy, an ‘oasis of simple faith and reverence
disseminated through the media and other means in a dusty desert of dollars and smartness’, providing
of mass communications. a balance to the American materialist culture,
• The politics of race – the ways in which race is ‘light-hearted but determined Negro humility’, and
conceptualised, understood and fought over, as ‘loving jovial good-humor’ as well as ‘the soul of the
well as serves to organise various groups – are thus Sorrow Songs’.
central to our understanding of modern society. At the time, such distinctions between races,
seen as mutually exclusive groups, were common.
9.2.4 The consciousness of race: Du Bois, But decades later, when Du Bois returned to the issue
Fanon and Biko in his 1940 book Dusk of Dawn: An Essay towards
The European theorists discussed above examined an Autobiography of a Race Concept, he emphasised
race as part of their overall approach to society and history more than culture:
history, rarely focusing on it directly. In contrast,
many theorists from Africa and the African diaspora the fact that since the fifteenth century these
paid more attention to race as an independent factor ancestors of mine and their other descendants
in analysis and action, frequently drawing on their have had a common history; have suffered a
personal experiences. common disaster and have one long memory. The
In his 1903 book The Souls of Black Folk, African- actual ties of heritage between the individuals of
American academic and public intellectual W.E.B Du this group, vary with the ancestors that they have
Bois coined a prophetic phrase: ‘The problem of the in common and many others … But the physical
twentieth century is the problem of the color line – the bond is least and the badge of color relatively
relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia unimportant save as a badge; the real essence of
and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea.’ this kinship is its social heritage of slavery; the
Black people experienced a unique sensation, discrimination and insult; and this heritage binds
which Du Bois called double consciousness, a ‘sense of together not simply the children of Africa, but
always looking at one’s self through the eyes of others,’ extends through yellow Asia and into the South
of having to deal with prejudice and bigotry, being Seas. It is this unity that draws me to Africa.
judged and having to measure ‘one’s soul by the tape
of a world that looks on in amused contempt and pity’. In making the case for Africa’s contribution, Du
The natural response to that might be despair, since Bois recognised European scientific knowledge and
black people are forced to stand ‘helpless, dismayed, technology but asserted that ‘African life with its
and well-nigh speechless; before that personal isolation has deeper knowledge of human souls. The
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village life, the forest ways, the teeming markets, bring derive my basic purpose from the past of the peoples of
in intimate human knowledge that the West misses, colour. In no way should I dedicate myself to the revival
sinking the individual in the social.’ At the same of an unjustly unrecognized Negro civilization. I will
time, he went beyond culture and highlighted, in a not make myself the man of any past. I do not want
Marxist vein, ‘the close connection between race and to exalt the past at the expense of my present and of
wealth. The fact that even in the minds of the most my future.’ It is through political struggle for dignity,
dogmatic supporters of race theories and believers freedom and justice that people can regain their value,
in the inferiority of colored folk to white, there was not through a search for the real or imaginary glorious
a conscious or unconscious determination to increase past of their ancestors.
their incomes by taking full advantage of this belief.’ In his last and most famous work, The Wretched
This means that race prejudice was caused by the quest of the Earth of 1961, Fanon focused on colonialism
for profit rather than by theories of race inferiority. rather than race, and advocated the use of insurgency
The psychological impact of segregation, making and counter-violence in order to overcome the legacy
its victims, concerned only with their own issues, of structural violence unleashed by colonial forces
resentful but also loyal to their own group members, on indigenous people. This approach was inspired by
was a different dimension of race addressed by Du the struggle waged by the Algerian national liberation
Bois. It was taken up later on by another prominent movement, which Fanon joined, against French
intellectual and activist from the African diaspora, colonialism. Its goal was to re-shape the consciousness
Frantz Fanon, in his 1952 book Black Skin, White of indigenous people, who had been subjected to
Masks. Standing out as a black man in Europe, having consistent attempts to undermine their culture, self-
to deal with the burden of historical prejudice and esteem and confidence in their ability to run their own
racial stereotypes, Fanon felt he was made to be affairs. A resolute struggle which included the use of
‘responsible at the same time for my body, for my race, force and military violence would allow subordinate
for my ancestors. I subjected myself to an objective people to regain control over their lives and become
examination, I discovered my blackness, my ethnic active participants in shaping a new society free of
characteristics; and I was battered down by tom-toms, colonial oppression.
cannibalism, intellectual deficiency, fetishism, racial A decade later, a similar focus on consciousness
defects, slave-ships, and above all else, above all: “Sho’ was offered by South African activist, Steve Biko.
good eatin” [making fun of black slang].’ Like Fanon before him, Biko noted the internalisation
Fanon attributed racial prejudice to projection of racial stereotypes by black people who suffer from
of ‘the most immoral impulses, the most shameful ‘inferiority complex – a result of 300 years of deliberate
desires’, which lie dormant within the unconscious of oppression, denigration and derision’. The necessary
all people, onto others, in this case the black world. response was ‘a very strong grass-roots build-up of
He called this process ‘transference’, which means black consciousness such that blacks can learn to
taking what you find objectionable about yourself and assert themselves and stake their rightful claim’. Since
transferring the burden to others by blaming them for blacks were subjugated as a group in apartheid South
your own fantasies. Some black people internalise these Africa, he asked, ‘what can be more logical than for
stereotypes, thereby mentally enslaving themselves. us to respond as a group?’ Not mincing words, Biko
The way to deal with this is neither to adopt negative portrayed ‘the black man’ as ‘a shell, a shadow of man,
images of black culture nor to reject them uncritically, completely defeated, drowning in his own misery,
but to move beyond stereotypes and ‘reach out for the a slave, an ox bearing the yoke of oppression with
universal’. This means avoiding getting bogged down sheepish timidity’.
in arguments over specific ethnic and racial histories The first step in political action therefore is ‘to
by embracing humanity on all its achievements, make the black man come to himself; to pump back
wherever they come from. life into his empty shell; to infuse him with pride and
Fanon said: ‘Every time a man has contributed to dignity, to remind him of his complicity in the crime
the victory of the dignity of the spirit, every time a of allowing himself to be misused and therefore letting
man has said no to an attempt to subjugate his fellows, evil reign supreme in the country of his birth ... This is
I have felt solidarity with his act. In no way should I the definition of “Black Consciousness”.’
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Only people who defy white supremacy and refuse Race was ‘the greatest single determinant for political
to ‘willingly surrender their souls to the white man,’ action’, but it was also linked to class, since blacks
can be defined as black. Black Consciousness is ‘the were ‘the only real workers in South Africa’. There
realisation by the black man of the need to rally together were no prospects of class alliance across the colour
with his brothers around the cause of their oppression line, as ‘the greatest anti-black feeling is to be found
– the blackness of their skin – and to operate as a group amongst the very poor whites whom the Class
in order to rid themselves of the shackles that bind Theory calls upon to be with black workers in the
them to perpetual servitude.’ struggle for emancipation.’ Later on, the term ‘racial
Challenging a simplistic version of class analysis, capitalism’ was used by Biko’s supporters to refer to
Biko saw apartheid South Africa as: the apartheid system in which class exploitation and
racial oppression were intertwined, necessitating a
a case of haves against have-nots where whites joint struggle against both.
have been deliberately made haves and blacks The different perspectives outlined above point out
have-nots. There is for instance no worker in the that we need to understand race in a comprehensive
classical sense among whites in South Africa, for manner, on all its different dimensions, with a focus
even the most down-trodden white worker still on the three key aspects of:
has a lot to lose if the system is changed. He is • economics/class relations
protected by several laws against competition at • politics/state power and resistance, and
work from the majority. He has a vote and he uses • ideology/identity/culture/consciousness.
it to return the Nationalist Government to power
because he sees them as the only people who, In the following sections, each of these aspects will be
through job reservation laws, are bent on looking discussed in turn.
after his interests against competition with the
‘Natives’.
Case study 9.3 Power, politics and race
In August 2011, in an article entitled ‘Haffajjee does that in the service of white masters’, Eric Miyeni, writing for the
Sowetan newspaper, attacked City Press editor Ferial Haffajee for singling out black politicians as suspects in corrupt
practices. He said:
Who the devil is she anyway if not a black snake in the grass, deployed by white capital to sow discord among blacks? In the 80s
she’d probably have had a burning tyre around her neck.
(Source: Sowetan 2011)
Questions
1. What notions of power, politics and race are displayed in this attack?
2. How can we understand the complaint (frequently heard) that critical black journalists and analysts follow a
‘white agenda’?
3. How do accusations of corruption – and denials of such accusations – serve as a political tool in a racially
charged atmosphere?
4. What role do the media and other means of communication play in disseminating racial images and linking them to
issues of violence and distribution of economic resources?
9.3 Race, class and economics example, the institution of slavery was – and to some
In many places around the globe the notion of race has extent still is – central to the experience of people of
been associated with the specific economic positions African origins in North America, the Caribbean and
occupied by people of different backgrounds. For Brazil. The experience of working on plantations and
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mines has been central to the experience of indigenous opened up with the takeover of new territories was a
people in Mexico, the Andean countries of South America more difficult prospect.
and southern Africa. Even after colonised countries European economic expansion across the globe
achieved their independence from European rule, in the required the creation and organisation of and
course of the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, racial control over vast numbers of able-bodied, docile
conditions forged during the colonial period continued and productive workers. It was these workers who
to shape the economic structure of society. The abolition mined the gold and silver that enriched Europe at the
of slavery in the USA in the 1860s was not accompanied expense of the Americas, who worked in the sugarcane
by granting social and political equality to black people, plantations of Brazil and the Caribbean islands, who
descendants of slaves, especially in the South. It took a toiled in the fields of the American South, harvesting
century for the majority of black people in the southern tobacco and cotton, who produced the wheat and
States to be able to exercise the right to vote, and they still wines that sustained the colonial Cape economy, and
occupy there a low position in the social and economic who mined the Witwatersrand goldfields that gave rise
order to this day. to Johannesburg.
In a similar manner, the abolition of apartheid Different options were available: free European
in South Africa in the 1990s was an important step workers could have been recruited, but the cost of
towards political equality in the country, but has not their labour was usually too high, especially when
resulted in major changes to the racial structure of the they had to be transported and settled in remote and
economy. Economic inequalities are still very high in hostile places and enticed with promises and rewards.
post-apartheid South Africa, possibly even higher than Indentured labourers from Europe, who worked
they were under apartheid, and they have a pronounced to pay off debts, usually were difficult to control as
racial character. Despite the rise of a layer of wealthy they sought to become independent. The obvious
black people in the state and business sectors, the choice in the Americas was indigenous people (native
majority of black people in South Africa remain poor, Americans), who did labour in the colonial mines,
especially in townships and the rural areas, while the but they frequently fell prey to contagious diseases
majority of white people remain relatively wealthy. to which they had developed no immunity, and died
Growing inequalities within the black population out in their millions. What European commercial and
coexist with ongoing racial inequalities between political interests eventually settled for was the system
different groups. The economic legacies of colonialism that came to dominate life in most of the colonies in
and apartheid continue to dominate society. the New World: the massive use of African slave
labour. It is this historical development above all else
9.3.1 Colonialism and slavery that has shaped the notion and meanings of race in the
Why is it that these legacies continue to dominate? To modern world.
answer the question we have to understand how, in Why was Africa (sub-Saharan Africa to be precise)
the early stages of the colonial era, powerful economic the main source for slaves at that time? There are a
forces shaped the relationships between different number of answers to this question. For one, it was
groups of people in a way that affected their conditions ruled by relatively weak and fragmented political units,
for centuries to come. There were multiple motivations which allowed Europeans to gain access to its coast
for European overseas expansion. The desire for fertile without facing much resistance. It was also internally
land, gold and lucrative trade routes played a role divided and dominant local groups facilitated
alongside the quest for empire building, exploration, European efforts to capture and transport members of
knowledge and domination, and a sense of religious competing groups, and make a profit in the process.
mission. There is little doubt though that the search Its people – unlike west Asians and north Africans –
for gold (and other riches, minerals and precious had not had much contact with European religious,
commodities such as spices) was paramount. Plunder intellectual and economic forces, and therefore were
of indigenous resources allowed European conquerors easily stereotyped as heathen savages who were only
to get rich quickly. But, a more systematic long-term good for manual labour. In other words, they were
exploitation of the commercial opportunities that vulnerable to a greater degree than other potential
sources of labour. It is this vulnerability, rather than
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racial prejudice that was primarily responsible for their under colonial rule were living under conditions
predicament. There is no reason to believe that people similar to slavery even when they were nominally free.
living in similar social and political circumstances, One needs to realise that not all Africans were treated
albeit with different skin colour, would have been in the same manner, whether in Africa itself or in the
treated differently. Conversely, dark-skinned people Americas. With all these qualifications in mind, it is
living in different social and political circumstances important to recognise that, as a group, black people
(in India, for example) were not subjected to the same consistently tended to occupy the lowest positions in
treatment from which Africans suffered. However, the global economy that came into being as a result of
once the link between slavery and dark skin colour colonial expansion and conquest.
was made, it persisted for a long time. South Africa is useful as an example of the diverse
This combination of factors served to brand circumstances under which people lived during the
Africans, and by extension all black people, primarily colonial period and beyond it (to some extent at least,
as suppliers of unskilled labour power, which all the way to the present). It combined different forms
was subjected to a variety of coercive measures. of labour subjugation. Indigenous people were tied to
The association between black skin and a range of the land and forced to work on farms in exchange for
negative characteristics (lack of education and skill, being able to graze their cattle and sheep and grow
physical strength combined with low mental ability crops on small plots. Those of them who lost their
and so on) can be traced back to the rise of racial means of livelihood worked for white farmers in the
slavery. Slavery of course was not new – it has been fields or the residence to get access to shelter and
practised for thousands of years in various societies food. Slaves were imported from Madagascar and East
and geographical locations – but it had not been Africa to work on farms, and from Indonesia and other
systematically linked to skin colour, and therefore had Indian Ocean territories to work mainly in urban areas
had no specific racial character. Racial images conjured as craftsmen. Various arrangements of tenancy existed
up by this initial historical link of the modern era were in parts of the country, which required of families to
crucial in shaping cultural attitudes for centuries to contribute the labour of some of their members for
come. The changing conditions of work and economic some for the time, to enable other members to work
development continued to have a direct impact on the on their own land. Share-cropping arrangements led
way people of different racial origins were viewed by to division of the crops between the workers and the
others and on their self-perceptions as well. landowner. Commercial companies held title to land
and employed workers who were paid in money or
9.3.2 Labour coercion: past legacies and in kind, and so on. Even when wage labour became
present conditions the norm, it was usually accompanied by coercion:
In addition to slavery itself, these material conditions workers were forced to live in compounds and hostels;
consisted of: they were tightly monitored and denied basic freedoms
• various forms of labour organisation (indenture, of movement and association. Many of these older
tenancy, migrancy, wage labour) arrangements have declined over time but have not
• places of work and residence (on commercial been eradicated completely.
farms, small holdings, compounds, townships) In all the situations above, most of those performing
• political conditions (restrictions on movement and the manual labour were black, while those who owned
union membership) the land – outside the areas of communal settlement
• working conditions (long hours, low wages, tight – were predominantly white. Landowners clearly
control, lack of opportunities for promotion). benefited economically from the work of labourers,
and were dependent on them, and therefore had an
The great diversity of conditions affected all people in interest in maintaining these relations of inequality
the labour market, not only those of African origins. All between them. Racial distinctions facilitated their
workers, including those in Europe and of European ability to do so. This pattern of white employers/
origins, were subject to restrictions on their social bosses and black employees/subordinates has been
and geographical mobility, political organisation, and a crucial feature of South African society since its
access to rights. In many places indigenous people inception. We cannot understand the central role of
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race in South African history without focusing on the The relations between the economic, political and
links between racial origins, social status and labour cultural aspects of race are thus seen as being mutually
market position. In other words, we need to look at reinforcing, all of which are crucial in shaping race.
how racial classification and race-based political The precise weight of these factors in accounting
domination enhanced the welfare of some groups for specific historical instances must be established
in society at the expense of other groups. In recent concretely for each case.
times coercion and violence play a smaller role, but In South African history, race was used as a
it is still largely the case that black people provide mechanism for dispossessing indigenous people,
labour services for white employers, in business, taking away their land and the livestock resources
factories, farms, service industries, and homes. Not which were essential for independent existence and
all employers are white, of course, and the rise of forcing them into working in the service of white-
the black middle class has changed the demographic dominated enterprises. Under apartheid, racial
composition of the wealthier groups in the country, mechanisms became more formal and were applied
but the farm workers, manual labourers, and more tightly than previously but along similar lines.
domestic workers remain almost exclusively black
(these days growing numbers of such workers come 9.3.4 Race and class post-apartheid
from other African countries, such as Zimbabwe and In the post-apartheid period, race continues to play a
Mozambique, but racially they are not distinct from role in the allocation of resources in a number of ways:
their South African counterparts). • Through the operation of existing economic
forces tied to global trends, it replicates the racial
9.3.3 Avenues of further exploration structure of the labour market with no need for
All this is not to say that race simply is a reflection formal race distinctions.
of the operation of economic forces. Other dimensions • Through affirmative action and black empowerment
of race, such as its relationship to political power, to policies it acts to redistribute jobs, contracts and
identity and to culture must be considered as well, funds to well-connected black people.
in order to provide a comprehensive picture of race • Through informal networks of business and
in society. We can look at this issue in theoretical expertise, it allows well-connected white people
terms from different angles. The following questions to maintain positions of economic power and
are particularly interesting for further exploration influence.
(although we cannot pursue them in this chapter, they • Through ongoing residential and educational
are useful in setting the agenda for additional study, segregation, which keeps poor black people in a
reading and research): disadvantaged position, it retains wealth, skill
• How have white people and social forces used and status in suburban areas (where the majority
existing racial differences to their economic of whites and a minority of privileged black
advantage? people live).
• How have racial images and stereotypes been created
in order to justify granting material advantages to In other words, while race ceased to operate as a formal
some groups and denying them to others? mechanism of inequality it still operates informally
• How have black people and social forces used to achieve similar broad effects, albeit with some
racial identity to organise in the workplace and at important changes.
communities to challenge exploitative practices? Race relations in South Africa are based on
• At a more f u nda menta l level, how have economic inequalities, which affect ownership of
economically exploitative relations given rise to, land, property and other assets, acquisition of skills,
but also been shaped by, racial images? job opportunities, wages, and access to services and
socioeconomic rights. It is not surprising therefore
Taken together, these questions guide us to look at that overcoming such inequalities has been a central
race as a set of practices, which forge links between goal of the struggle for justice and freedom in the
economic inequalities on the one hand, and social country. Significantly, in his famous statement from
distinctions, power and cultural images on the other. the dock at the 1964 Rivonia trial, before he spoke
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about the demand for equal political rights, Nelson meet that task. BEE policies have managed to transfer
Mandela declared: a small, but significant portion of ownership of
economic sectors, such as mining and finance, into
Africans want to be paid a living wage. Africans the hands of newly emerging black business people.
want to perform work which they are capable The benefits of such change have been restricted to a
of doing, and not work which the government small elite and have not trickled down to the level of
declares them to be capable of. Africans want to ordinary black people.
be allowed to live where they obtain work, and not In the civil service in particular, affirmative action
be endorsed out of an area because they were not has resulted in an important shift in the demographic
born there. Africans want to be allowed to own composition of state employees, at all levels of the
land in places where they work, and not to be administration. At the same time it has raised concerns
obliged to live in rented houses which they can about the quality of the service, given that many senior
never call their own. Africans want to be part of jobs have been allocated to people based on their
the general population, and not confined to living political links to the ruling party, rather than skills and
in their own ghettoes. African men want to have competence to do the job. How to combine the quest for
their wives and children to live with them where racial redress with the maintenance (and improvement)
they work, and not be forced into an unnatural of civil service standards remains a challenge.
existence in men’s hostels. African women want to
be with their menfolk and not be left permanently 9.4 Race, state and resistance
widowed in the Reserves. Africans want to be Alongside the economy, politics is another crucial arena
allowed out after eleven o’clock at night and not on which race is shaped. In one sense, everything that
to be confined to their rooms like little children. affects the distribution and exercise of power in society
Africans want to be allowed to travel in their is political. In another sense, politics is the specific
own country and to seek work where they want field of power as exercised in public life, primarily by
to and not where the labour bureau tells them to. the state and by forces operating in relation to it. State
Africans want a just share in the whole of South policies, challenges to them, resistance to power and
Africa; they want security and a stake in society. exercises of power in spheres independent of the state,
(Mandela 1964) are the focus of politics.
It is clear that many of the grievances of black people in 9.4.1 The rise of empire
South Africa at the time had to do with concrete social As a concept and a central organising principle of
and economic concerns linked to race classification. social and political relations, race first emerged in the
This continues to be the case today. The quest for context of European overseas expansion and imperial
political equality is seen, in large part, as a means to rule. Both the subjugation of indigenous people in the
enable workers and other socially and economically Americas and the institution of racial slavery were
deprived sections of the population to organise to aspects of the building of new transatlantic empires.
meet their needs. The decades-long alliance between These empires initially stretched from the western
the African National Congress, the Communist Party, edge of Europe into the Caribbean, North and South
and the main trade unions (SACTU and, since 1985, America and then further into Asia and Africa.
COSATU) is a testimony to the connection between Empire thus became the dominant organisational
race and class, between material needs and political form of world power for four centuries: from the rise
organisation, in South Africa. Similar connections of Spain and Portugal in the sixteenth century to their
can be found in other contexts as well, though perhaps decline by the beginning of the nineteenth century,
they are not as strong elsewhere. The precise nature of when they were decisively overtaken by the British
such links is a key theme in the ongoing study of race. and French empires which survived until the middle
Affirmative Action and Black Economic of the twentieth century. Smaller powers such as
Empowerment (BEE) are seen as means to redress this Holland, Italy and Germany also contributed to the
situation. One of the big questions facing us today spread of empire, though their mark on the world was
is the extent to which such policies serve indeed to less pronounced.
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These New World overseas empires were different compliance and submission. That was especially
from the Old World land-based counterparts – the important in cases where the conquering Europeans
Russian, Austrian and Ottoman Empires – that were a small minority of the overall population. In
dominated Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East and societies based on the massive exploitation of slave
North Africa. Both types of empire included people labour to cultivate tropical products, such as sugar cane,
of diverse racial, ethnic, and religious backgrounds. slaves outnumbered their masters by far, and had to be
However, race did not become the central principle of controlled by military force and superior technology
political organisation in the old world, even though as well as by political and cultural mechanisms – such
it was not completely unknown, while in the New as religion – that aimed to ensure their subservience.
World empires it did play a central role. Why was that That was the case in most Caribbean islands,
the case? Brazil and the American South. Granting slaves
The new mode of imperial rule applied under political rights was out of the question, as they could
conditions of massive expansion of territory, which easily overwhelm the European settler dominant
saw the rapid incorporation of a large number of group and undermine the foundations of the economy.
people of different cultural and social origins into For centuries then, societies that emerged out of
the new political frameworks created by colonialism. the colonial encounter displayed sharp political
Regarding all these people (‘the natives’) as rights- inequalities between citizens and subjects. This state
bearing citizens or as entitled to legal and political of affairs gave rise in many instances to authoritarian
protection would have undermined the foundations of states, controlled by elites that relied on the use of force
political rule in the colonies, since people of European rather than persuasion to sustain their rule. It is not a
origins were a minority in most cases. We need to coincidence that military regimes brought to power by
realise though that ordinary Europeans (not only the violent coups have been a feature of many parts of the
new colonised populations) did not enjoy equal rights post-colonial world.
at home during the era of colonial conquest (from the The way to political equality was slave rebellions –
sixteenth to the nineteenth centuries), which took as happened in Haiti – but more frequently the gradual
place long before notions of citizenship and democracy removal of the specific political aspect of forced labour
became prominent in political discourse. And yet, most and its replacement by informal social mechanisms,
Europeans did possess certain customary rights and which retained class distinctions without explicit race-
were protected to some extent from absolute control by based legislation. That was the case in the Cape Colony
their royal rulers. In contrast, colonised populations (essentially our current Western Cape province, which
did not benefit from such protection and were subject included parts of Eastern and Northern Cape as well),
to power that was exercised with a relative lack of after the abolition of slavery in the 1830s. Repressive
inhibition and restraint. labour legislation replaced racial laws, without
seriously affecting the nature of the social structure. In
9.4.2 Slavery and emancipation Brazil later in the nineteenth century, people of African
To appreciate the radically new nature of colonial origins were incorporated politically in a similar
conquest, we need to look at it against the background manner, as a group that is socially subordinated with no
of imperial expansion overland, which had been use of direct racial mechanisms. In the USA, slaves in
part of European history for centuries, and was the Southern states were emancipated with the victory
more gradual in nature. It involved the conquest and of the North in the civil war of the 1860s, but remained
integration of people whose cultures and religions subjected to discriminatory laws and practices for
(orthodox Christianity, Islam) were more familiar to another century. It was only with the civil rights
the core European powers and not so different from movement and other struggles of the 1950s–60s, which
them in terms of their social organisation and access involved passive resistance and defiance campaigns,
to technology. In contrast, overseas colonialism was marches and attempts to mobilise black people (at times
based on a more fundamental distinction between together with supportive white people), and was led by
those regarded as ‘civilised’ and those regarded as people such as Martin Luther King Jr. and Malcolm X,
‘uncivilised’ or ‘savages’. The latter could more readily that black people finally won full political equality in
be enslaved and subjected to the use of force to guarantee that country.
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9.4.3 Conquest and incorporation In adopting the Homeland policy in the 1960s, the South
In other colonies, where slavery was less common and African government embarked on a concerted effort to
indigenous people retained some form of political abandon the language of race and replace it with the
organisation, attempts were made at times to incorporate more respectable notion of ethnicity – which displaced
local elites into the structure of power. This allowed the outdated and offensive term of tribalism – and
a measure of political integration, though within the national self-determination. It divided black people in
framework of overall imperial domination, as was the country into different ethnic groups, each with its
the case in parts of central America, West Africa and own language, culture, history and a right to its own
India. It was a mode of rule based on the assumption territory and political institutions, eventually leading
that effective long-term control could be secured if to a series of independent states alongside ‘white South
indigenous structures were not thoroughly disrupted, Africa’. It did not succeed because, at the same time it
but rather co-opted into the colonial state. Indirect talked about ethnicity and culture, it kept the notion of
rule through the mediation of chiefs and indigenous race alive. Only black people were regarded as ethnic
authorities, exercising ‘customary law’, became the in nature, while white people retained their political
norm in many British and French territories in Africa. unity in the central state, regardless of their own
After independence, the role of such authorities internal ethnic differences. This duality, using race to
usually remained powerful and hampered attempts at put white people in charge and relegate black people to
democratisation (Mamdani 1996). the margins, and using ethnicity to divide black people
A similar approach was applied in parts of among themselves, was internally contradictory and
South Africa as well, beginning with the ‘Shepstone could not be sustained for long. The history of race,
System’, which was used in colonial Natal in the mid- used by the state to separate and subjugate black
nineteenth century and was extended later to other people, but also used by black people to mobilise
parts of the country. It was based on the employment themselves, meant that it continued to serve as a focus
of chiefs to play a major role in the daily life of people for the politics of struggle and resistance to apartheid.
living on communal land. Although these ‘traditional The complex relationship and tensions between these
leaders’ were autonomous, they exercised their rule different types of identity (centred around notions of
and maintained order on behalf of the colonial state. race, ethnicity and nationalism) is an important aspect
Their areas of operation became known as the ‘native of identity formation processes that needs to be studied
reserves’, and in the second half of the twentieth further.
century, under apartheid, were given an institutional
role as the Homelands, also referred to as Bantustans. 9.4.4 Settlers and indigenous people
The Homelands became the cornerstone of the In general, we need to realise that racial divisions
apartheid government’s plan to guarantee political between European settlers, Native Americans,
stability by granting limited powers to traditional slaves and indigenous Africans, never overlapped
authorities, in exchange for their participation in completely with political divisions and allocation
enforcing the rule of the white-dominated state. African of rights. Among Europeans in the Americas, a split
people were supposed to exercise their political rights opened up between those who came directly from
in these ethnic homelands and abandon their claims Europe (including most colonial officials) and the
to political representation in South Africa itself. Thus, creoles. These were white people whose historical
even if they were the majority of the overall population origins were in Europe but who developed an identity
in the country, including in the white-designated urban of being of the New World, where they were born and
areas, their numerical dominance was neutralised to which they owed their loyalty. In some places in
politically by deflecting it to limited and marginalised Latin America, these creoles rebelled against the
geographical areas. Because those areas were poor, Spanish authorities and recruited indigenous people
without proper infrastructure, and usually fragmented and slaves with the promise of political equality. In
into numerous pieces of land interspersed with white the USA, settlers rebelled against the British Empire,
farms and towns, they could not establish any real and then became divided between the Northern and
political or economic control, and did not serve as a Southern states, adopting different positions regarding
foundation for African independence. slavery. In Africa, European colonial authorities were
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more willing than white settlers were to move towards 9.4.5 Civil rights movements in the USA
a measure of integration of indigenous people from Race has been a major bone of political contention
the late nineteenth century onwards. There was in the USA throughout the nineteenth and twentieth
never uniformity in the responses of all white people centuries. It continues to play an important role today.
towards the prospect of equal political rights for With the Civil Rights Act of 1965 and the extension
blacks and other indigenous people. of equal rights to black people in the South, formal
The political responses of indigenous people, political equality was established, culminating in
slaves, and other groups subordinated on a racial 2008 with the election of the first black president in
basis were not uniform either. In cases where political US history, Barack Obama. At the same time, race
power was exercised by empires ruling from afar, the still serves to distinguish between different political
residents of colonies opted for complete independence. agendas. Conservative politicians affiliated mostly
In some places they achieved independence through with the Republican Party argue that race has been
peaceful negotiations and organised transition (most formally eliminated as a legal barrier to jobs and
countries in West Africa, for example), in others public offices, and therefore must not be used as a
through a combination of negotiations and militant consideration in gaining access to any public position.
struggle (India for instance), and still others through Progressive politicians affiliated with sectors of
armed uprising against stubborn colonial authorities the Democratic Party, as well as some civil society
or settler regimes (Zimbabwe, Namibia) or through a groups argue that the legacy of racial discrimination
combination of various other methods. exists long after its formal abolition. Therefore, race-
Only in a few countries, favourable environmental based affirmative action policies may be needed to
conditions and good economic potential led to the redress historical injustices and imbalances in the
immigration of large numbers of European settlers. allocation of funds, jobs, educational opportunities
When these combined with practices of slavery and and representative positions in public institutions.
territorial expansion, this state of affairs led to race Debates over free market policies and the need for state
becoming the central organising principle of political intervention to ensure social progress and equality
relations and social practices. Most notably, the USA, thus have profound racial implications, even when
Brazil and South Africa, among others, have been they do not address race explicitly.
shaped politically by race from their inception. Their Organising for change in the USA has involved
varying historical legacies, though, brought about a combination of political, legal, and mass action
different ways of dealing with the issue of race and its strategies. The civil rights movement, formed under
resulting politics. the leadership of Martin Luther King in the 1950s,
In addition to race, ethnicity (language and emphasised protest action alongside legal strategies
cultural heritage) was used to classify people into that used the Constitution to promote equality and to
groups, frequently referred to as ‘tribes’ in the colonial campaign for political and civil rights for all people.
context. While ethnic differences played an important More militant forms of struggle also emerged in the
role in divide-and-rule policies of control, they rarely same period, leading in some isolated instances to
acquired the central political and social significance armed action against the state. In some instances,
of race. Sharp divisions and conflicts on racial such militant sentiments associated with the names of
grounds characterise many societies that emerged out Malcolm X and the Black Panther party, have fed calls
of the colonial encounter, while ethnicity separated for separatism and the creation of black-led parties
groups horizontally (positioning them alongside each and public institutions. That black people are a small
other) without usually involving them in relations minority of the overall population, with no real chance
of economic exploitation or political domination. In of becoming a central force in society, has made such
apartheid South Africa, for example, ethnicity divided calls a problematic political prospect. A strategy of
the indigenous population into groups with their ‘own’ forging alliances with other minorities and dissident
territories and administrations, but all of them were groups may seem more promising.
equally marginalised in relation to the central state The majority of black people have focused on
and the system of white supremacy. electoral politics, and engaged in a massive shift in
support away from the Republican Party (historically
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associated with Abraham Lincoln and the fight one vote’ became the dominant theme in political
against slavery) into the Democratic Party (historically mobilisation, from the post-1945 period to the demise of
associated with segregation in the South). This shift apartheid in 1994. Within this context, some political
coincided with the northward migration of poor black forces focused more on ethnic identity (the Inkatha
people, growing urbanisation and joining the ranks Freedom Party, for example, with its Zulu ethnic-
of the industrial working class in the North. That the cultural focus), or black racial identity encompassing
Democrats with their New Deal and Great Society all those excluded from the system of white supremacy
policies adopted reform-orientated social programmes, (the Black Consciousness Movement), or black African
using the state apparatus to advance marginalised racial identity (the Pan-Africanist Congress). But, it
groups and working people, has helped them gain was the African National Congress (ANC), with its
the support of newly urbanised and industrialised call for racial equality as part of an overall national
black people. At the same time, this transformed the liberation of the country, which became the dominant
Republicans into a force opposing progressive change. voice in the anti-apartheid campaign. This position
They became associated with the white backlash became known as non-racialism.
against racial equality, and by implication against other Non-racialism was never defined officially by the
forms of social and cultural diversity. Even though ANC, but it does not mean denying the role of race or
many people have been disappointed with the ability ignoring the fact that many people identify themselves
of electoral politics to change society fundamentally, in racial terms. Rather, it usually is interpreted as a
and are sceptical about the viability of the Democratic perspective that combines overall national liberation
Party as a driver of such change, they are still largely tasks (granting the vote to all citizens, incorporating
aligned with that party as the major political vehicle all members of society on an equal basis, extending
representing their concerns. access to services to all, and so on), with recognition
of the specific historical oppression of black people in
9.4.6 Struggle for racial equality in this country. Because race played an important role in
South Africa subjugating people, it must also play a role in redressing
In South Africa, the struggle for racial equality has their situation after liberation has been achieved. This
taken many forms, reflecting the diversity of historical means, among other things, that affirmative action
conditions in the country. Two common responses in policies, which have an explicit racial component,
the earlier periods, which shaped subsequent political are a legitimate means of redress. However, racial
approaches, were a quest for independence from colonial considerations in state policy are only temporary
rule and a quest for incorporation on an equal basis in in nature, a measure meant to redress the historical
the new society into which enslaved and conquered imbalances produced by colonialism and apartheid.
people were forced. While the initial response of most They should not become a permanent feature of South
people was to attempt to regain their freedom and African society and politics.
liberate themselves from foreign rule, with the passage The leading role of the ANC in the liberation
of time many of them changed orientation and began struggle before 1994 allowed it to retain a key position
to seek equality under the circumstances in which after the demise of apartheid. This meant that non-
they found themselves. By the early twentieth century, racialism became the official state approach although
most racially oppressed people had abandoned the its precise meaning is subject to dispute. Politically,
notion that pre-colonial conditions could be restored non-racialism is as ambiguous as the notion of
and accepted the boundaries of the Union of South race itself. Does it mean ignoring race altogether or
Africa, established in 1910 and remaining effectively regarding it as crucial but only until racial equality
the same to this day, as the framework for solving the is achieved? If it means the latter, what concrete
racial question. indicators would tell us that our goal is within reach?
Most black political movements in the twentieth And even if we regard race-based policies as merely a
century called for civil and legal equality within the measure needed to redress historical inequalities, how
South African state and society. While differences can we prevent its continued use from reinforcing its
existed with regard to the degree of desirable ethnic impact and creating new inequalities? And, whenever
or cultural autonomy, the demand for ‘one person, we invoke race in a positive manner in order to address
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Chapter 9: Race
the legacies of apartheid, do we not grant the concept • By aligning the South African state with global
renewed power that is difficult to control? It is not the democratic norms, the racial structure of the state
intention here to provide conclusive answers to these was radically changed. It is no longer dominated
questions, merely to suggest that the political use of by white people, and its managers broadly reflect
race has unintended consequences that cannot be the demographic composition of the South African
anticipated in advance, and may subvert the intentions population.
of policy-makers. • Through affirmative action and black empowerment
policies, the state acts to re-allocate political
9.4.7 Avenues of further exploration positions and government contracts, and jobs
We can summarise the section on the political aspects in the state apparatus and civil service to black
of race by outlining different theoretical tasks that people, and thus serves as a major vehicle for social
follow from it. The following questions are particularly and economic upliftment of a section of the black
interesting for further exploration (although we cannot population.
pursue them in this chapter, they are useful in setting • It is an open question whether the changing
the agenda for additional study, reading and research): demography of the state means a change in the
• How did white people and social forces use state nature and impact of its policies: critics argue that
power to enhance their social and economic the post-apartheid state pursues the same broad
domination and use their economic power to gain policies as its apartheid predecessor, in that it
control over the state? continues to marginalise the majority of poor black
• How were racial images and stereotypes created people in the rural areas and urban townships.
in order to justify granting political rights to some Others praise the changes in the rhetoric used
groups and denying them to others? by the state, and its benevolent intentions, but
• How have black people and social forces shaped see these as insufficient in the absence of clear
racial identity (and linked it to ethnic and national changes in budgetary allocations and capacity to
identities) to organise politically in order to implement new policies.
challenge their legal and social marginalisation • This means that although race ceased to operate
and exclusion? as a formal mechanism of political and legal
• How have politically unequal relations and inequality in 1994, it may still operate informally
positions given rise to, but also been shaped by, to achieve similar effects, albeit with some
racial images? important changes. This may be the result of
failure to transform the mode of operation of the
All this means looking at race as a practice in which state, which had been geared in the past to serve
the quest for political power is linked to cultural the needs of business and political elites. These
images and legal differentiation: the relations between elites have become racially mixed, and in the
the economic, political and ideological aspects of race political arena specifically whites are a minority
are thus seen as being mutually reinforcing. In South force with little formal influence. And yet, whites
African history, race was used to entrench legal and continue to hold substantial economic power
civil inequalities, destroy pre-colonial states and and to benefit from the historical legacy of racial
reshape pre-colonial forms of organisation to facilitate inequalities. The majority of impoverished black
white domination. Under apartheid, racial political people may have no more ability today to make the
exclusion became more formal and was applied more state listen to them and address their needs than
tightly than before, but along similar lines. they did before 1994.
9.4.8 Race and power post-apartheid In what meaningful ways the state has changed its
In the post-apartheid period, race continues to play a racial character is a key question for us to consider
role in the allocation of political power in a number in coming years. From a theoretical perspective, this
of ways, though with significant differences from section has highlighted the need to pay attention not
earlier periods: only to political rhetoric – what state officials say
237

about their own actions and plans – but also the actual • family patterns (polygamy, women’s subordination)
organisation of state institutions and the racial impact • religious values (the role of ancestors, spiritual
of their policies. This approach encourages us to look attitude to the world)
at race and politics as a multidimensional arena: • politics (tribalism, faction fights, respect for
progress on one front may clash with lack of progress authority) and various other social aptitudes.
– and even retreat – on another. For example, growing
representation of black officials in state structures It is not usually the case that any particular individuals
can go together with growing inequalities in society or institutions set out consciously to portray certain
as a whole and growing impoverishment of the black groups in a derogatory light. Rather, inherited historical
rural masses. We need to look out for such potentially prejudices may combine with misconceptions about
contradictory trends to appreciate the full picture. more scholarly findings, ignorance and popular
understandings, and real differences in culture, to
9.5 Race, identity and culture produce an image of ‘us’ and ‘them’ or of the unknown
Understanding race requires looking at processes ‘other’. All these acquire racial meanings through their
of identity formation, and examining how social association with what is globally defined as race in the
relations and practices acquire and impart racial world today, as well as in the specific conditions of
meanings through contestation over power. It is South Africa.
important, however, not to regard race as a narrow This process of developing racial meanings does
political construct. Although racial meanings not apply only to black people, of course. Race defines
emerge in a political process, they are not necessarily white identity as well, not only in a negative and visible
generated in or directly impact on the formal state and form of creating boundaries of separation that exclude
party-political arena. Rather, they are shaped on many black and other racially defined people, but also in
terrains which include culture, geography, gender, an affirmative sense that links notions of technology,
scholarship and media. To make sense of them we need cultural standards, residential patterns, behavioural
to study how different aspects of race come together in patterns, and generally the ‘Western’ or ‘civilised’
specific situations, each of which displays a different way of life, to social and institutional arrangements.
combination of forces. This focus on specificity does The formation of white identity, which has affinities
not mean that racial meanings are restricted to a with, but is not identical to simple-minded racism, is
particular space/time condition. Racial images and crucial to the analysis of the rise and demise of racial
concepts have been disseminated through world- discourses. It continues to have great significance
wide networks for centuries through scholarship, art, in the transformation of white social, cultural and
literature, political exchanges and debates, and so on, political organisation in the post-apartheid era.
and have never been confined to any single country. Exploring the meanings of race and how they
are debated and developed politically should be
9.5.1 Media, culture and racial images combined with an understanding of their cultural and
The terrains of media and culture are particularly institutional dimensions. The effectiveness of racial
interesting in this respect. They do not merely meanings – the extent to which they appeal to some
reflect existing popular notions and perceptions of people and make sense of their situation – depends
race but also serve actively to construct these racial on a context that makes some of them more credible
representations. This is done by advancing explicit than others.
and implicit notions of race-linked practices and traits, A useful illustration of the operation of these
such as those of: forces was provided in 2012 by the case of The Spear,
• tradition (involving medicine, initiation rites, a painting by South African artist Brett Murray. In it,
witchcraft) President Jacob Zuma was portrayed with his genitals
• physical and mental characteristics (energy, laziness, exposed, standing in a position similar to that of a
defiance, criminality, stubbornness, acquiescence, famous poster of Lenin, the Russian revolutionary
promiscuity, size of various bodily organs) leader. Different meanings, reflecting political, racial
• cultural tastes (in dress, music, dance, story- and cultural agendas, were displayed in the controversy
telling, food) that erupted as a result of the exhibition of the painting
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Chapter 9: Race
in a Johannesburg gallery, and its reproduction in the direct instrument of oppression as it used to be, it is
City Press newspaper. important to understand how it operates today and
Questions of power and political control, of media what are the consequences of its continued use by
responsibility and free expression, of sexuality and people in their daily lives, as well as by political forces
pornographic images, of gender and race stereotypes, and state institutions. Reluctance to do so, because it
were all mixed up in the public debate. Was it right for may be socially embarrassing, or awkward politically,
the artist to express his feelings in that way, even if he or because it raises uncomfortable questions, is clearly
used – intentionally or not – racial images of colonial unhelpful in addressing the issue.
origins (about black men and their uncontrolled Focusing on shifts in racial meanings and in usages
sexuality)? Given the President’s own use of cultural of other identity terms is a useful way of accounting
symbols with racial meanings (animal skins, a spear for changes in South African identity politics. Notions
as a traditional weapon), was he not setting himself up of nationhood, race and cultural identity have been
as a legitimate target for criticism? Given his powerful competing for legitimacy and popular support. These
political position, can he really be regarded as a victim are not mere manipulations or reflections of different
of racial abuse by the media? Were protesters, marching social and political interests. Rather, contestation over
against the gallery and organised by the ANC and racial meanings and shape of identities serves to define
SACP, expressing legitimate complaint against white and consolidate these social interests.
cultural domination or rather using the ‘race card’ in For example, the post-1994 National Party,
applying bullying tactics against dissident minorities? followed to a large extent by the Democratic Alliance
Who was responsible for Zuma’s image (combining in the last decade, put forward an implicit definition
gender and race aspects) as a typical African ‘macho’ of nationhood based on social stability and civilised
man who needs multiple partners to satisfy his needs? standards, giving rise to a new community with racial
We cannot answer all these questions here, but need characteristics, mostly comprising whites, coloured
to draw attention to their importance in understanding and Indian people. This new identity is characterised
how race, as a social and cultural force, shapes reality more by whom it excludes – the mass of black African
and is being shaped through the creation of meanings people – than by whom it includes: people concerned
in the public sphere, their dissemination through above all with a stable social order, regardless of their
different media, and their discussion in various skin colour. This process of constructing meanings
political and civil forums (see further discussion of has not taken place in a social void. It has been linked
some of these issues in Dodd, 2012). to material concerns over housing, jobs and security.
The crucial point, however, is that it would not have
9.5.2 Race and identity in South Africa been possible without a clear shift in racial meanings
To understand how racial meanings operate under the – dismantling notions of blackness which lumped
unique South African conditions we need to examine coloured people together with black Africans, and
the emergence of racial concepts and their evolution constructing new notions which may be defined
over time. This requires looking at the interaction in negative as well as positive terms: the current
between colonial, settler and indigenous voices in the understanding of blackness may exclude those not
making of racial identities (both of ‘self’ and ‘others’). perceived to be truly indigenous to the country, or the
While the former two sets of voices have been heard dominant form of coloured identity may exclude black
frequently through official state reports, legislation, Africans and be more open towards racial alliances
and media analysis, indigenous voices have not been with white people, and so on.
studied as extensively. The reluctance to engage A different racial project has been offered by
seriously with indigenous racial conceptualisations the ANC, which, true to the contradiction contained
(such as the meanings and applicability of notions of in its own name, sought to retain a focus on African
blackness, African identity, in the country itself and identity while also claiming a leading role in South
across the continent) has been explained away in the African nation building. Without neglecting, but
past in light of the use made of racial classification by also without highlighting, a specific sense of African
the apartheid regime. After the demise of apartheid identity, the ANC has managed to combine it with a
this reason is no longer valid. Since race is not a sense of nationhood in which Africans are perceived
239

as prominent members whose role has finally been • How have black people and social forces used
given due recognition. The ANC thus projects both racial identity to organise culturally to defend
racial and non-racial images, in its attempt to appeal to their collective interests?
different constituencies. The success of this project has • How have race-based cultural notions affected
been uneven. It enjoys massive support among black people’s positions in society, and shaped their
Africans, but has not been able to project a convincing practices of maintaining the social order or
non-racial image among other groups in the country. organising to transform it?
It probably served, though, to facilitate an attitude of
reconciliation and acceptance of majority rule among All of the above means looking at culture as a set of
non-Africans, which might not have been possible had practices that shape social distinctions and affect
a more undiluted African racial image prevailed. access and claims to power and legitimacy.
The relative success of these racial projects can be In South African history, cultural differences and
seen against the failure of competing racial images. The collective identities based on them (but also reinforcing
Pan-Africanist Congress (PAC) and adherents of the them) served to entrench white settler control over
Black Consciousness Movement have not developed indigenous people, but also allowed oppressed people
wider definitions beyond race – African and Black to organise effectively to assert their identities and
respectively. They thus offer a one-dimensional image, claim their rights.
which has not been appealing to many. We must keep
in mind, though, that electoral success should not 9.5.4 Race and identity post-apartheid
be simply equated with the power of racial images. In the post-apartheid period, race-based identities
African identity and Black Consciousness cannot continue to play a role in shaping culture and social
be reduced to the parties claiming to speak on their relations in a number of ways:
behalf. The combination of racial and non-racial • Through a combination of local developments
meanings in ANC policy and practice makes it possible and global trends, they keep the notion of race
to extract more racially explicit elements and use them alive, even when it no longer has legal validity in
to create a new identity building on the ongoing power most areas.
of race as a concept signifying social, economic and • Through affirmative action and black empowerment
cultural relations. policies race acts to enhance notions of blackness
and Africanism, as personal, cultural and political
9.5.3 Avenues of further exploration identities.
Based on this understanding, some avenues of further • Through the impact of affirmative action, race
study open up. The following questions are particularly acts to reinforce different notions of whiteness:
interesting for further exploration (although we cannot as a powerful obstacle to change and also as a
pursue them in this chapter, they are useful in setting victimised and threatened identity.
the agenda for additional study, reading and research): • Through informal networks of knowledge, artistic
• How have cultural notions of civilisation, production and expertise, it allows well-connected
modernity, strict standards, stability and other white people to maintain positions of power in the
positive values become associated with white and cultural field, as well as in the economic sphere,
European identities, both as a form of internal self- though usually without blocking the advancement
regard and external evaluation? of black people. Perceptions vary on this point and
• How have derogatory racial images and stereotypes it is an interesting topic for further exploration, as
become associated historically with blackness and is the extent to which black people manage to join
African identity, and other non-European cultures? these networks or form other cultural networks for
• To what extent have such negative stereotypes their own use.
been appropriated or internalised by members of • In other words, race has ceased to operate as
the targeted groups, and how have such attitudes a formal mechanism of inequality, except for
affected their self-esteem? purposes of redress, but it still operates informally,
albeit with some important changes, in the post-
apartheid period.
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Chapter 9: Race
It is this last point which is particularly central for apartheid, and a more mixed and internally diverse
us today. Globally, since the 1950s, and in South picture in the areas of politics, media and culture. At
Africa since the 1990s, race has fallen into disrepute the same time, let us not forget that South Africa is also
as a concept that serves to organise social relations. an ‘ordinary country’ shaped by the global dynamics
It is not considered respectable to invoke it openly of economy, society and state, like all other countries,
as a justification for inequalities or denial of rights. regardless of its specific racial legacy. Both its unique
At the same time, we must realise that it has never and general features must play a role in the analysis.
disappeared as a cultural code, providing meanings By way of conclusion, and in order to illustrate
for economic and political relations, and shielding some of the points raised here, it would be instructive
them from critical scrutiny. It is working in a less to return to the examples mentioned in the beginning
visible and open manner to re-shape society, both to of the chapter. Let us examine them each in turn,
maintain existing relations of power and privilege offering some possible interpretations.
and to overturn them. It can be used to defend the
social order as well as to undermine it. Perhaps it is 9.6 Illustrations of race
this great flexibility of the concept, and its ability to The exchange between Manuel and Manyi (Case
work for different and even contradictory purposes, study 9.1) is a good example of how race is linked to
which keeps it alive long after it seemed to have lost its economic realities (and perceptions of reality), as well
naked power. as to politics. It reflects lingering resentments that
In reflecting on these issues we must keep in date back to the apartheid era, when coloured people
mind a simple notion powerfully expressed by then in the Western Cape were given preference in housing,
Deputy President Thabo Mbeki back in 1998. Issues residence rights and employment opportunities, while
of race are shaped by material conditions that divided black Africans, mostly from the Eastern Cape, were
the country into two nations: ‘One of these nations is treated like undesirable immigrants. The Western Cape
white, relatively prosperous, regardless of gender or was indeed declared a Coloured Labour Preference
geographic dispersal. It has ready access to a developed Area during that time. With the demise of apartheid,
economic, physical, educational, communication and this legacy was converted into a call by some politicians
other infrastructure ... The second and larger nation of for affirmative action specifically for Africans,
South Africa is black and poor, with the worst affected excluding coloured people as not eligible. Manuel
being women in the rural areas, the black rural was responding not really as a representative of that
population in general and the disabled. This nation group, but as a defender of the anti-apartheid tradition
lives under conditions of a grossly underdeveloped of struggle, especially in the 1980s, which put a great
economic, physical, educational, communication and deal of emphasis on overcoming the racial boundaries
other infrastructure.’ that were created by the apartheid state in order to sow
Mbeki added: ‘This reality of two nations, divisions and turn some blacks against others. The need
underwritten by the perpetuation of the racial, gender to appeal to voters in the impending 2011 elections
and spatial disparities born of a very long period of when ‘the coloured vote’, contested bitterly between the
colonial and apartheid white minority domination, ANC and the DA, was going to decide who would win
constitutes the material base which reinforces the elections for provincial municipalities, was never far
notion that, indeed, we are not one nation, but from the mind of senior political leaders. A long history
two nations.’ of racial conflict within the ANC camp in the province
Two decades later, are these words still valid for contributed additional fuel to the exchange.
South Africa? We refer to it as a Rainbow Nation, as Beyond such political analysis, it is important to
indeed it is, but the different colours of the rainbow consider the racial images and negative stereotypes
are not necessarily and always equal. Some shine that play a role, though usually implicitly rather
brighter than others and some are obscured at certain than openly: that coloured people are unnaturally
times but not at others. We need to understand race concentrated in the Western Cape, that they are
in South Africa in all its different dimensions and people without their own identity, being a product of
nuances: equality under the law, persistent economic forced sexual relations between whites and Africans
inequalities that reflect the historical conditions under (historically inaccurate and offensive notion captured
241

by the misleading term ‘mixed race’), that they are but because they seem unable to conceive of any other
using that position to gain illegitimate advantages, way of enjoying nature than their own traditional
that black African people are not getting their fair way: in their minds this has everything to do with
share as a result, that there is some kind of informal respect for nature and nothing to do with race. Their
alliance between white and coloured people to subvert critics, however, cannot separate such respect from
the African majority, that coloured people were not the racial privilege that used to underpin it during
‘white enough’ under apartheid and not ‘black enough’ the apartheid era. Racial meanings can be found not
in the post-apartheid period, and so on. It is only by only in what some people say, but also in what other
considering all the dimensions of the issue – not only people hear.
economic and political but also cultural – that we can The final example, raised in Case study 9.3, is
account for this specific exchange. related to the politics of identity, both in assertive and
The SANParks story (Case study 9.2) directs defensive forms. The view of society in terms of ‘us’
particular attention to the cultural aspect of race. and ‘them’ results in a mode of group identification
Stereotypes (which are one-dimensional, usually that allows no freedom from race. It is understandable
derogatory images of racial characteristics or perhaps, but also regrettable, that race should acquire
behaviours) are clearly at play here. Black people are such power that nothing can be said outside of its
seen as not capable of interest in the environment framework: journalists are not judged by the accuracy
or wildlife, being loud and inconsiderate. Their sole of their reporting, or the validity of their analysis (of
concern is to show off their flashy possessions; white corruption in this case), but by the extent to which
people alone appreciate the simple joys of the bush. they promote or hamper the interests of the group to
One response to such images is to portray comments by which they are assigned. They are either loyal to the
white, usually older, people as being more concerned group’s cause or are seen as traitors. There is not a
with nature than with people. This is a reflection of the semblance of independence from race in this approach:
old apartheid attitude that reserved areas such as the for black ideologues, accusations of corruption are an
Kruger National Park for the use of white families and expression of a ‘white agenda’; for white ideologues,
officials, and regarded them the only ones who truly corruption in politics and business practices is part of
appreciate nature (even if many black people happen ‘black culture’. A rational analysis, followed by praise
to live close to it). or condemnation for individuals, black or white as the
Class issues may not be central to this matter but case may be, simply has no place in such a racially
they do sneak in: the black people in question are the loaded atmosphere. The politics of ‘my group, right
newly enriched ‘diamonds’ portrayed as having plenty or wrong’, accompanied by a sense of permanent
of money but neither the manners nor the understanding victimisation and search for vindication, takes
of how to use it properly. A sense of resentment is evident over completely.
here, a frequent element of the new white discourse of All the foregoing examples represent extreme
South Africa today. It is directed against black elites responses by individuals to conditions of racial
who are seen as undeserving, not having worked hard tension in a society that had long experienced the
for their money but benefiting from access to power pain of forced segregation. They are caused by the
and riches because they are politically connected. difficulties of adjustment to the open society made
Racial jealousy and fear are hereby projected onto an possible by the demise of apartheid, a new space in
unsuspecting group of people, whose sole guilt may be which people of different backgrounds frequently
the wish to gain access to nature and wildlife while live and work together, sometimes against their will.
experiencing luxurious accommodation (hardly an In one sense, these are positive responses despite the
unusual combination in this country). hostile clashes, because they show that desegregation
The intentions of those waging a campaign is making progress. In another sense, to the extent that
against a hotel in the Kruger Park may well be noble, they reflect typical attitudes, they show that there is a
but it is not surprising that they are seen as guardians long way to go before we can overcome the legacies of
of white privilege. This is not because they are racists, the apartheid era.
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Chapter 9: Race
Summary • We therefore need to appreciate both continuity and

• Race is a set of material practices and cultural change as they manifest themselves in different
meanings. This means it is a way of organising dimensions of society (the economic, political,
society and operating within it (the material social, cultural fields) to acquire a comprehensive
aspect), as well as a way of making sense of its understanding of the ongoing significance of race,
history and current shape (the cultural aspect). globally and in South Africa.
All this is done by referring to the nature of the
different groups within it, groups that are defined Are you on track?
by their physical features. 1. Is the distinction between physical differences
• Race as a key theoretical concept emerged in the (skin colour, hair) and their various social and
course of the colonial encounter, a long period political implications, which may change from
during which forces based in Europe took over and time to time and place to place, clear?
re-shaped indigenous societies in Africa, Asia and 2. Do you understand the role that forced labour
the Americas. and struggles over land and resources played in
• Slavery, a form of labour control involving entrenching racial distinctions?
physical subjugation of people, was central to 3. Are you aware of the processes through which
the rise of race. It led to the forced relocation of racial meanings are created by different social
millions of people from Africa into the New World actors and media?
(the Caribbean islands, North and South America), 4. Can you think of a way of using the understanding
to work on plantations growing sugarcane, cotton of race, as outlined in this chapter, in order to make
and tobacco, in order to meet the demands of sense of some South African political debates?
consumers and allow European industries to flood 5. Looking at music, sports and other cultural
the world market with their products. activities, can you see how they express the global
• From its inception race was global in scope: it nature of racial identities?
was never confined to the boundaries of a single
society. This remains the case today. Race is a More sources to consult
global phenomenon, even if it manifests itself in Back L, Solomos J (eds). 2009. Theories of Race and
somewhat different ways in specific times and Racism: A Reader. Abington: Routledge.
places. We need to understand it as a worldwide Durrheim K, Mtose X, Brown L. 2011. Race Trouble:
force but should also not forget its specific nature. Race, Identity and Inequality in Post-apartheid
• South Africa and the role that race has played in South Africa. Pietermarizburg: University of
its history is unique, but it also bears similarities KwaZulu-Natal Press.
to other places. Essed P, Goldberg DT (eds). 2002. Race Critical Theories:
• Colonisation and slavery, territorial expansion and Text and Context. Oxford: Blackwell.
conquest, white settlement and black resistance Fredrickson G. 1988. The Arrogance of Race: Historical
have all shaped race relations in South Africa. Perspectives on Slavery, Racism, and Social
While these forces are no longer operating to Inequality. Connecticut: Wesleyan University Press.
entrench racial domination, their legacy continues Gilroy, P. 2010. Darker than Blue: The W.E.B Du Bois
to affect the society that has emerged from Lectures. London: Harvard University Press.
these processes. Philomena E, David TG (eds). 2002. Race Critical
• The most important analytical challenge facing Theories: Text and Context. Oxford: Blackwell
us today is how to recognise the shifting meaning Publishers.
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(1) assuming that nothing has changed, and Oxford: Oxford University Press.
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it was to make sense of our society today, or (2) in South Africa. New Haven: Yale University Press.
assuming everything has changed and race is no Winant H. 2001. The World is a Ghetto: Race and
longer relevant. Democracy since World War II. New York: Basic
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Chapter 10
Gender
Marlize Rabe
Powerful arguments have been presented that gender as a construct is one of the most important forces in the socialisation
of individuals. Gender as a social construct has been described as personal and social, plural, relational, dynamic, an active
product and inscribed in power relations.
Feminism – broadly speaking the view that men and women should have equal rights – has fundamentally challenged
the theoretical basis of sociology and transformed its view and understanding of society. Few other theoretical perspectives
or world views can make this claim. This does not mean that feminism is a single, unified perspective. The extent of its
challenge to social analysis and social understanding is too far-reaching for this to be the case. Feminism, this chapter will go
on to show, has been expressed in different ways by radical feminism, Marxist feminism, liberal feminism, black feminism,
eco-feminism, conservative feminism and new feminism.
This chapter provides more than simply an introduction to gender and feminism. It concisely treats the critical theoretical
standpoint feminism has articulated under patriarchy – the power some men exercise over both women and other men.
This standpoint is based on the justifiable, historical and contemporary struggles by women for political, economic, health,
educational and sexual rights. However, this analysis does not exclude the involvement of men in the struggle to establish more
equitable relations between people in society. One of the variants of feminism you will learn about in this chapter makes this
clear. This does not mean that feminism is united on this issue. It is not. What might surprise you is how masculinity studies can
be said to have arisen out of or responded to feminism.
Serious study of this chapter will challenge your social understanding of gender. None of us is exempt from this learning
process as we have all been subjected to specific social constructions of gender. The issues discussed in what follows,
however, are not conceptually difficult to grasp. What is perhaps difficult, is to learn to meaningfully look at the world from
different gendered perspectives. This is due to the powerful and deeply entrenched forces of our own gendered socialisation
processes which have shaped the formation of the identities of most people. What is conceptually challenging is the scope
of other issues implicated in the study of gender. In South Africa the way in which gender intersects with race and class is
often prominent in shaping identities. It has long been recognised in South African gender and feminist studies, for instance,
that black women in South Africa under apartheid were subject to the ‘triple oppression’ of gender, race and class. In brief,
if there was ever an instance in the study of sociology – where a serious attempt should be made to extract and distance
ourselves from the forces of socialisation in order to understand society and our own role within it anew, the study of gender
is a case in point.
Gender inequality and the oppression of women continue to be serious issues in South African society. This is despite the
hugely significant role and contribution women played in the struggle for democracy and without whom it might not have
been achieved. That gender inequality is widespread is especially evidenced by the way those who experience it acutely have
mobilised themselves into social movements to collectively express their rights to equal treatment in social life. The way in
which many such activist groups have formed and continue to struggle for social recognition and the acceptance of difference
from dominant and often oppressive social norms, are briefly outlined towards the end of this chapter.
Initiated and empowered by the standpoint of feminism and rightly opposed to oppressive forms of gender socialisation,
South African society has, for instance, only in recent times seen the emergence of a focus on sexual minorities such as
bisexual, intersex, transgender, transsexual and asexual individuals. The rights of whom, it is argued, are only recently given
much attention, even in fairly new theoretical paradigms such as Lesbian and Gay Studies.

When you next see or read of (or take part in) Gay Pride marches, now part of the South African social landscape,
you might consider the important conclusion to this chapter that there is a general lack of tolerance for diversity and
difference regarding sexual orientation on the African continent, which includes South Africa.
Case study 10.1 Gender issues in South Africa

During the #FeesMustFall movement in 2015, the following was reported at Wits University by Pontsho Pilane in the
City Press:
‘ … Incoming students’ representative council (SRC) president Nompendulo Mkhatshwa addressed the student crowd
and asked that they sit so that there could be some kind of order. Some male protesters shouted: ‘We won’t be told by
a woman!’
They refused to sit down, even though most people were pleading with them. I then asked two of them why they
refused to sit and whether this had to do with the gender of the person instructing them. They said it didn’t, but they
continued to say that ‘feminism must voetsek’.’
(Source: Pilane 2015)
Case study 10.2
At 8 a.m. on 16 June 1976 Tsietsi Mashinini interrupted the school assembly to lead the first group of students out of
the gates and on the march that started the Soweto uprising. They were protesting the use of Afrikaans in schools.
A reward was posted for his capture and one afternoon Security Police checked every student leaving the grounds.
Mashinini, who was a prefect at the Morris Isaacson School, escaped detection by dressing up as a girl. After the march
he never slept at home again and fled the country two months later (Segal & Holden 2008).
(Source: courtesy of SAHA)
Case study 10.3
The ANC Women’s League called on the department of transport and safety to act … This was in response to the
humiliation on Sunday of Nwabisa Ngcukana (25), when taxi drivers and hawkers at the rank tore off her clothes to cheers
from a crowd who said she was being taught a lesson for wearing a miniskirt. Taxi drivers allegedly put their fingers in her
private parts while others poured alcohol over her head and called her names.
(Source: SAPA 2008)
•• Gender
•• Social construction
•• Embodiment
Key Themes
•• Socialisation and gender

•• Power relations
•• Patriarchy
•• Feminism
•• Masculinity studies
•• LGBTI (Lesbian Gay Bisexual Transsexual Intersex) studies.
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Chapter 10: Gender
Introduction to this Act, it will be very difficult for a female victim

During the #FeesMustFall protests massive numbers to bring charges against a group of men who humiliated
of students in South Africa highlighted, through and hurt her in a public space in full view of spectators
demonstrations, how financial barriers prevent who did nothing to help her. In this example we see
students from accessing higher education in the how certain men want to control the way in which
country. These protests were initially focused and a woman, and by implication all women, presents
appeared undivided. As the movement gained herself in public spaces. This violence and humiliation
momentum, divisions between students became against women is an ongoing, alarming trend in the
clear and gender was extensively commented upon in ‘new South Africa’ which will be highlighted below
the mass and social media. The first case study is a from a feminist and a masculinist point of view.
short excerpt from an article titled ‘Patriarchy must Why should sociologists concern themselves with
fall’ in the City Press by Pontsho Pilane (2015) that issues related to gender in South Africa? Can we not
cast some light on gender divisions. From Pilane’s simply argue that women’s rights are entrenched in
first-hand experiences, it is clear that female leaders the Constitution, among all other human rights, and
were not always given the same respect as their male that we should move on? Although some people may
counterparts. Particular male supporters wanted to take such a stance, daily news reports (as Case study
focus on the issue at hand and not let it be diverted 10.3 shows) tell us a different story. In South Africa
to other issues such as gender. Yet these same male we are bombarded with newspaper articles on women
supporters exhibited clear forms of sexism. One can falling prey to domestic violence and being raped by
deduct from this that gender permeates our lives and strangers as well as by men they know. Terms such as
that it is often difficult, if not impossible, to separate the feminisation of poverty and the traditional role of
gender from human struggles. men are used in political speeches to justify certain
In the case of Tsietsi Mashinini (Case study 10.2) public expenditure patterns. Specific interpretations
his leadership qualities in the student resistance of traditions are often claimed (sometimes referred
movement against specific apartheid legislature are to as the invention of tradition) by especially men
highlighted. He escaped on more than one occasion to ensure that specific forms of patriarchal power
by disguising himself as a girl; apparently the police stay intact. We read and hear about lesbian women
officers did not consider this possibility when lining and gay men being attacked simply because they are
up suspects. Clothing is very much linked to gender as homosexual. Certain churches do not allow women
particular pieces of clothing are only associated with to become priests or pastors while others do not allow
being either male or female. If we reflect on what these homosexual people to fill such positions. If we look
first two short overviews tell us about gender, then it at the pictures on the back pages of newspapers they
highlights how gender identity intersects with other either contain men in action doing sports or inactive
identities. The term intersectionality is often used and women in bathing costumes posing for the camera
it focuses on how different social identities interact. In in order to be gazed at. The overwhelming majority
the case of Tsietsi Mashinini we can see how gender of political leaders, rock band members, engineers,
is constructed through the use of socially expected medical specialists, taxi drivers, garbage collectors
norms of how a person of a particular sex ‘should’ and gardeners are men while the vast majority of
present themselves. Both the intersection of identities teachers, nurses, models, figure skaters, cleaners and
and the social construction of a gender identity will be secretaries are women. Despite maternal deaths at
further discussed in this chapter. childbirth, women in general live longer than men.
The third case study is an incident that took place Girls outperform boys in primary school but later on
in an urban area, Johannesburg, in the democratic in life men receive much higher salaries compared to
South Africa in the twenty-first century. Ironically, women with equal levels of education. We are baffled
this case was reported on in 2008, after the release by certain gender differences and inequalities in
of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related popular books, sometimes satirical in nature, that sell
Matters) Amendment Act 32 of 2007. Although the like hotcakes. In short, we live in a gendered world
behaviour of these men was unlawful and they could where our gender sometimes restricts and sometimes
be theoretically charged for their behaviour according enables our life chances. In trying to understand how
247

individuals are shaping and being shaped by larger The interest in the baby’s sex may also signal gender
structures, forces and institutions, it is impossible to stereotypes such as ‘look at those dainty fingers, she
ignore how gender takes centre stage. will definitely be a “lady” ’ or ‘the boy’s big feet will
On the one hand bodies have certain desires, definitely be able to kick soccer goals soon’.
functions, capabilities and limits that point to a The assumptions about men and women on a daily
gendered nature. Men cannot bear children for basis become even clearer when the answer to whether
example. On the other hand, children are taught from a newborn is a boy or a girl is: ‘We don’t know’, often
a young age to act in a specific way according to an leaving the questioner stunned. It is estimated that
assigned gender, eg ‘girls should not act like that’. one out of 1 500 people are intersex babies but there
Both the biological aspects of gender and the social is disagreement about the exact criteria for being
moulding (construction and re-construction) of gender defined as an intersex person and accurate records are
are therefore of importance and both of these issues not being kept (Strachan & Van Buskirk 2011). By and
will be discussed in more detail in the next section. large, external genitalia are used to determine the sex
at birth, but in some cases the external genitalia may
10.1 Gendered bodies be atypical. In other cases the reproductive anatomy
In many early introductory courses to gender it of an individual may not match external genitalia
became a standard practice to distinguish between and this may only be discovered later in life. People
sex and gender. The former is defined as referring to who are intersex were often assigned the gender that
the biological features of being male or female and the their genitalia resembled the closest and as technology
latter to context-specific social definitions of maleness developed, surgical procedures were also used to
and femaleness. Critics regard such a distinction remove or modify specific bodily parts (Wiesner-
between the biological and social dimensions of gender Hanks 2011). Later on in life the gender identification
as artificial because the one influences the other. For by such a child may match or contradict the decisions
example, the fact that certain women bear children made at birth about the sex of the child which may
influences working conditions for pregnant employees. lead to emotional trauma for the intersex individual
Although biological analyses of gender can be used and other people involved.
negatively or in a pseudo-scientific manner such as: ‘It The social pressure to divide people into males
is that time of the month for her, you know’ and ‘Boys and females is also highlighted in sports where men
will be boys’; biological aspects are not unimportant and women usually compete in different categories.
for the gender discourse. Hormonal fluctuations and The assumption is that men are bigger, stronger and
genetic potential form an important part of who we faster and therefore should not compete against
are, but they are constructed within a specific context. women. The result is that a type of ‘gender detection’ is
Biological determinism is unacceptable to sociologists set in motion to identify any person who may compete
because the way in which we analyse and perceive as a woman but who may appear male in some way. In
biological characteristics is greatly influenced by 2009, the South African athlete Caster Semenya was
social or cultural and ideological beliefs. subjected to a range of invasive procedures to ‘prove’
that she is a woman and therefore eligible to take part
10.1.1 Binary claims of the gendered body: in women’s athletics at an international level. The fact
boy or girl? that she was raised as a girl, has always competed as a
Before or directly after the birth of a baby many family female athlete and identified herself as female was not
members, friends and other interested people often ask considered as enough evidence since she was said to
whether the baby is a boy or a girl. There are many ‘have a certain look’ and she regularly outperformed her
reasons why people want to know the sex of the baby competitors. The procedures that she had to undergo,
such as a general interest in the baby’s life, wanting not only consisted of an examination of genitalia
to know whether they should start planning for bride and reproductive organs, but also of chromosomes
wealth, expectations about assigning family names and hormones even though both chromosomes and
and so forth. This general interest in the sex of the baby hormones may contain ambiguous and contradictory
already indicates the social expectations assigned to indications of maleness or femaleness.
men and women in specific socio-historical milieus.
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Chapter 10: Gender
What is clear from the above ‘interventions’ and

Germaine de Larch is a gender non-conforming
‘examinations’ is that there is an insistence within
transgender person, a writer, artist and documenter of
general society that one must be either male or female
life. They explain the image above entitled ‘celebrating
and nothing else. It is only with great difficulty that
The Freak’, in the following manner:
the activist group ‘Intersex South Africa’ became
established and managed to add references to intersex Luciano and Ivanka are gender non-conforming
people living in the urban suburbs of Alexandra and
people to South African legislation.
Tembisa in Johannesburg. These suburbs were known
Where intersex people challenge the certainty as ‘townships/locations’ during apartheid, and are still
with which many people assign the categories male or mostly inhabited by people of colour from South Africa
female (and nothing else), transgender or transsexual and the rest of Africa. Luciano and Ivanka identify
as neither male nor female and as people with both
people challenge the assumed link between biological feminine and masculine energies. They express their
categories and gender identities. Transsexual people gender outside of the limitations of society’s conflation
view themselves as living in a body that does not of sex and gender; its narrow definition of sex as being
only male or female, and gender being only man or
match their gender identity and choose (or desire) to woman. While their gender and the way they express it
live as a person of another gender. Complex surgery is a daily threat to their physical safety, they, in their own
and hormonal treatments make it possible for people words, ‘celebrate The Freak’; reclaiming the pejorative
term for themselves as a form of empowerment and
to actually change their sexual category to align it
self-determination in a disempowering and oppressive
with their gender identity. Such medical interventions culture, society, country and world.
are a slow, expensive process and it is accompanied
• Do you think that embracing such a controversial
by intense psychological therapy. Transgender is an
title can be empowering?
umbrella term that not only refers to transsexual people
but a variety of people that includes certain cross De Larche goes on to explain that their portraits
dressers (people that voluntarily dress up in clothes are about:
associated with people of the other gender, either on Collaboratively documenting selves, outsider voices
occasion or regularly) and a variety of people who live from inside. I am not a photographer; these are not
and express themselves beyond approved restrictive my subjects. I make images of me through relating to
myself on my human journey. I make images of you
male and female behavioural patterns (Norton & Herek
with you, through relating to each other’s journeys
2012: 66). as human beings. Portraits from, of and dedicated to
everyone on a journey who embraces and celebrates
‘there is no one more YOUer than YOU’. My pronouns,
Box 10.1 Gender identity
as well as the pronouns of Luciano and Ivanka, are
‘they’, not ‘he’ or ‘she’.
De Larche uses the portraits to show the life that they

live, while telling the story that is theirs.
• Do their statements make you rethink gender
identity?
10.1.2 Changing technology and the

gendered body
Modern medical technology makes the re-assigning of a
person’s sex possible (although only people with access
to such medical resources can make use of it). This same
medical technology is also used to determine a clear
sex category in the case of many intersex people. In the
former case the wishes of the individual are catered
Figure 10.1 ‘celebrating The Freak’ by Germaine for, but in the latter, the wishes of the individual are
de Larch (1 in a series of 5, 2013) sometimes ignored or not yet known (as in the case of
infants). The same medical technology can thus either
249

aid or hinder the individual’s embodiment of a chosen large intervals between the births of children (since
gender identity, thus illustrating the power of certain breastfeeding suppresses ovulation) compared to
cultural developments on people as gendered beings. more settled communities (Wiesner-Hanks 2011). It
Embodiment theorists see people as social beings but can thus be seen that changes in diets, inventions and
stress the fact that humans are biological organisms. technological developments have a direct impact on
This latter aspect has implications for how we are the body that may lead to shifts in the way people live
perceived by others, what we can do or not do, what as gendered beings in their society.
we have done and not done and so forth – in sum, the Other examples of technological inventions
body tells a story. changing gender relations relate more to the role
The pervasive effect of cultural developments on of men. Mary Wiesner-Hanks (2011), using a wide
gender experiences can be seen in the widespread socio-historical lens, argues that in almost all known
availability of the oral contraceptive, the ‘Pill’, since the societies women generally performed a subordinate
1960s. Although different contraceptive methods have role with limited references to the dominant role
always been used with varying degrees of success, the of women, usually individual women, and not
availability of effective and ‘easy-to-use’ contraception women as a social category. The subordinate role of
changed women’s life choices dramatically since it women was sharpened in communities where land
enabled them to plan childbirth far more accurately ownership became fundamental, since warfare often
than ever before by delaying, spacing or even preventing followed. During times of war, before the invention of
the birth of children. This decision-making power sophisticated war technology, men played a central
regarding childbirth had dramatic consequences for role as soldiers and therefore their status in such
women since bearing children had influenced their societies was elevated. Armies were even described
social position in all cultures, positively or negatively. as sites where hypermasculinities developed. Only
In industrial and post-industrial societies, pregnancy once warfare became more dependent on strategy and
and childbirth could end or dramatically alter a sophisticated technology, as opposed to brute strength,
woman’s career prospects since childbirth is seen as a did women enter warfare in larger numbers. Similarly,
disruption of employment. It has been argued that the in agricultural societies where ploughing developed,
introduction of the Pill was one of the major driving men tended to dominate this task due to perceived
forces of the emancipation of women in the twentieth (and often actual) physical strength. Ploughing yielded
century (see development of feminism in Section 10.3). more agricultural products and therefore heightened
Apart from the well-known example of the importance of men’s work in society.
contraception and its effect on women’s life choices, Technology can thus influence the very distinctions
other examples of cultural developments also had a between the male and female categories dramatically.
huge impact on women’s fertility patterns. The feeding Furthermore, technological developments also altered
practices of infants for example changed dramatically the way in which the roles of men and women were
with the invention of the first artificial nipples, made understood within different societies over centuries.
possible by the manipulation of rubber. This invention
allowed successful feeding of young infants without 10.1.3 Challenging heteronormativity
the presence of the actual breast of a woman, which Heteronormativity is an underlying assumption in
implied more freedom of movement for women if this society (including social institutions such as schools and
device was used. In even earlier times it was only once churches) that all people are heterosexual and specific
humans started planting crops and domesticating roles are assigned to men and women. In a publication
animals that they produced food, especially cereals, entitled Undoing gender, Judith Butler (2004) argues that
that was soft enough for young children to eat and digest transgender and transsexual people, as well as the intersex
and women could wean their children at a younger movement, challenge the current set of norms that have
age. In most gathering and hunting societies, the food been established regarding gender. Butler asserts that the
was (is) too hard for young children to eat and women experiences of bodies have to be ‘reworked’ in order to
had no choice but to breastfeed their children until contest the normative ideals of bodies. For her this relates
the age of three or four years. However, breastfeeding to what it means to be human and actualising a ‘liveable
children for such long periods contributed to fairly life’ for larger groups of people.
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Chapter 10: Gender
Butler goes further and argues that not only transgender, on a subconscious level but it can be observed
transsexual and intersex people challenge established in how people dress and groom themselves, how
norms but also lesbian, gay and bisexual people. The they interact with each other and what they say in
acronym LGBTI is commonly used today to refer to casual conversations.
lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and intersex people. In explaining a social constructionist approach,
In the case of the former three the structure of the body Margaret Wetherell (1996) argues that ‘individual
is not the issue per se, but rather the sexual orientation social identities’ should be regarded as projects that
or desire emanating from the body. Note that not all are made and remade. Such a construction process
activists are satisfied with grouping these different is based upon ‘collective understandings’ of socially
categories of people under one umbrella term since the significant categories such as gender, race and class.
focus of each group is regarded as too distinct. Opening These collective understandings flow from dialogue,
up debates regarding the validity of the normative experiences, observations and both local (eg immediate
nature of heterosexual relationships is not welcomed experiences and conversations) and global (eg through
by all people as physical violence against and other the mass media) sources are used to arrive at such
forms of derogatory behaviour and discourses towards collective understandings. This implies that one is not
LGBTI people clearly illustrate. born with a social identity, but that it unfolds within
Stevi Jackson (2006) argues that ‘institutionalized, an individual’s life. Individuals try to make sense
normative heterosexuality regulates those kept of identity by presenting it as a ‘unified narrative’ (a
within its boundaries as well as marginalizing and story that makes sense) of the diverse relationships
sanctioning those outside them’. The author is thus and activities that form part of their lives. In trying
arguing that heteronormativity not only excludes to construct such a unified narrative, a continuous
homosexual people but also regulates heterosexual struggle with internal conflict and repression can
people according to narrow criteria. The latter be observed.
perpetuates specific forms of gender division and thus
not only sexuality but also gender is regulated by a
specific normative concept of heterosexuality.
In this section the interplay between body and
cultural aspects was alluded to repeatedly. Although
the examples related to the development of medical
technology point to the ability of individuals making
life choices in relation to gender, it has to be kept in
mind that these choices are not available to everybody.
For example, in many parts of the world women do
not have access to effective birth control methods
since they are not available or their use is forbidden.
In such cases where technology is rejected, the social
construction of gender in specific communities,
rather that invention of technology, determines the
life choices available to gendered beings. We will
now turn to these social constructions of gender,
keeping in mind that biological aspects of gender
are important.
10.2 The social construction of

gender
The social construction of gender refers to the way
in which people interact on a daily basis with an
established view of how men and women ‘should Figure 10.2 Lejeanne Marais, five-time South African
behave’. Mostly, such gender expectations are women’s figure skating champion
251

In other words behaviour, thoughts, emotions or 10.2.2 Gender is plural

experiences that do not make sense, are seen as ‘out of ‘Personally, when I read what social psychologists
character’ or regarded as undesirable and then erased wrote about the “male sex role” I always wondered
or downplayed in a life story. Certain individuals whom they were writing about. “Who me?” I thought.’
never achieve a unified narrative due to irreconcilable (Kimmel 2009: 93). This observation by Kimmel
contradictions in their lives. In trying to construct a reveals that generalisations of one form of masculinity
life story, there is an active element of construction, but exclude the variety of gender manifestations. Because
since the individual lives within certain limitations, different individuals vary so much in their expressions
a passive element is also present. Furthermore, the and embodiments of gender, the plural forms, namely
multiple versions of one life story hint at the fragmented masculinities and femininities, are preferred to
and contradictory nature of identities. indicate the variety of gender identities. For example,
Let us look at the social constructionist view different male sex roles are envisaged when thinking
of gender in a more systematic manner by paying about a professional rugby player and a florist.
attention to the following elements: gender is personal Wetherell (1996) also points out that gender can
and social, plural, relational, dynamic and an active be plural within an individual by stating that ‘identity
project that is linked to power. can be fractured, multiple and contradictory’. The
same person can present different aspects of a gender
10.2.1 Gender is personal and social identity in different milieus in relation to different
How do social constructions of gender come about? people which indicate the fluidity of gender. If we
Families, as with all socialisation aspects, form the use the same example, then a professional male rugby
institution that ‘gets there first with the most’. Parents, player becoming a florist shows different identities by
siblings, grandparents and so forth all provide us with the same person.
information, role models and implicit expressions
of what gender is or ‘should’ be. Friends, schools, 10.2.3 Gender is relational
the mass media and churches are further avenues Gender identities are constructed in relation to other
to convey specific meanings associated with gender people. Relational aspects can firstly refer to how
to individuals. Yet, individuals do not necessarily women and men construct their identities in relation
accept these social constructions. Wetherell (1996) to each other. It has been argued that women have
explains such dual processes of identity formation by often only been understood in juxtaposition to men
stating that identity is not only ‘collective, historical (being their mothers, wives, sisters and so forth)
and social’ but also ‘personal, private and individual’. until the feminist project placed the experiences of
If we apply this perspective to a gender identity, then women at the centre. Secondly, it is important to note
gender is constructed on an individual level albeit that women also construct their gender identities in
with knowledge about present gender identities. ‘Given relation to other women, just as men construct their
identities’ may be accepted, adjusted or rejected by gender identities in relation to women and other men
an individual in order to make the identity fit with a (Wetherell 1996).
personal life history.
Michael Kimmel (2009: 102) states the following 10.2.4 Gender is dynamic
about the relationship between the personal and the The dynamic aspect of gender refers to the shifting
social aspects of gender: nature of gender across time and place. Again
feminism exemplifies clearly how the understanding
A sociological perspective examines the ways in of women changed dramatically during the twentieth
which gendered individuals interact with other century (see for example advertisement images), where
gendered individuals in gendered institutions. As amongst other things, the economic and political roles
such, sociology examines the interplay of those of women altered dramatically in especially Western
two forces – identities and structures – through societies. Feminist views therefore provide clear-cut
the prisms of socially created difference and examples of replacing specific constructions of gender
domination. with other constructions of gender (Wetherell 1996).
Advertisements in the mid-twentieth century often
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Chapter 10: Gender
portrayed women as being restricted to domestic roles. the reluctance of many women to be typecast as
Advertisements today do not carry such blatant forms feminists, the core meaning of the term is largely
of sexism, but subtle examples of gender specific roles accepted, at least publicly, in South Africa. A general
may still be present. Can you think of any examples in definition of feminism is that men and women should
this regard? have equal rights. Such rights are interpreted in
their broadest sense to include important spheres of
10.2.5 Gender is an active project life such as political, economic, health, educational
The world we live in today emphasises the differences and sexual rights. Certain authors refer to women’s
between men and women in various ways, for example, rights movements as the main catalyst for reforming
schoolgoing children are required to wear school the political climate so that women are treated as
uniforms according to their gender and a multitude equal self-determining individuals – gender is thus a
of personal attire and grooming products (from shoes dynamic construct that is actively reconstructed by
to moisturiser) are aimed at a specific gender. We are feminists. Beyond women’s rights, feminism developed
constantly reminded of our gender, but we are not as a critical theoretical standpoint that focuses on the
passive recipients since we actively buy and wear experiences of women.
the ‘correct’ school uniform and buy the appropriate However, according to Amina Mama, not all
products. From a social constructionist perspective women’s movements are necessarily feminist in
gender is thus not something that one is born with, principle as women organisations are even (ab)used to
but it is an active project that is continuously under mobilise for the ideologies of undemocratic regimes. In
construction (Wetherell 1996). this regard she cites an example of Nigerian wives who
sponsored women’s programmes in order to secure
10.2.6 Gender and power relations support for ‘corrupt dictatorships run by their husbands’
Power relations are described by many as central to (Salo 2001). Various other examples of the support
gender. One of the strong motivational forces for the women give to ‘masculinist hegemonic domination’,
feminist movement(s) was a general unequal power as described by Theresa Barnes, are listed by Desiree
distribution between men and women. Patriarchy, Lewis (2008). When defining specific women’s
for example, is an expression of power that can be movements as part of the larger feminist struggle, such
observed in almost all societies. The church has often movements should encompass the basic principle of
functioned as a secondary socialisation agent that has equality since gender equality cannot transpire within
reiterated patriarchy. Today certain churches still play a society where human rights of particular groups
such a role, while other churches play an activist role of people are under threat or undermined. We will
to promote equality. return to this issue when discussing intersectionality,
Having given this broad perspective on how a feminism and men’s social movements in South Africa
gender identity can be understood, the focus will now in the next section.
be on the largest and most enduring social movement of The development of feminism is often analysed
the twentieth century that challenged gender relations by referring to the three waves of the women’s
in every sphere of life. This movement became known movements. The first wave was observed towards the
as feminism. end of the nineteenth and beginning of the twentieth
centuries. The second wave gained momentum in
10.3 Feminism the 1960s and dominated for almost three decades
The term feminism is widely used, defined and and the third wave emerged in the early 1990s. The
misunderstood. For example, one often hears that a first two waves are associated with European and
woman would say: ‘I am not a feminist, but …’, and North American developments, mostly led by white
then they make a statement that resonates with core middle-class women, and it is only in the third wave
feminist thinking. A certain stereotype of ‘a feminist’ that feminism is giving wider recognition in more
(eg someone who does not like men and dresses and countries and socioeconomic classes. Other outlines
grooms herself in a specific manner) seems to have of feminism do not refer to the different waves but
developed over the years and many women do not focus on the different strands of feminism, each
want to be associated with such an image. Despite with a particular history embedded within a specific
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world view (eg liberal, radical, black and Marxist this general division between men and women within
feminism). Yet the observed waves of feminism draw the family context by referring to an archaic English
our attention to certain historic events in the late expression ‘the world and his wife’. Similarly, Wiesner-
nineteenth and twentieth centuries that served as an Hanks (2011) states that in many societies women’s
impetus to broaden women’s rights movements. The life stages could be summed up in relation to their
Industrial Revolution, the Second World War and reproductive phase that is linked to their relationship
globalisation all played a role in the development of with men: ‘virgin, wife, widow’. Critical feminism and
women’s movements in general and feminist theory specific socio-historical conditions gave the Women’s
in particular. Movement momentum on an unprecedented scale –
The Industrial Revolution challenged existing the second wave of feminism.
gender relations profoundly since changed labour A singular ‘sisterhood’ never existed but black
relations came into existence. According to Wiesner- women, women from a working class background,
Hanks (2011) the women’s rights movements were women from developing countries, women from the
one strand of social movement amongst many that East, women within particular religious traditions
wanted to counter the social problems associated and a multitude of women from other socio-historical
with industrialism. This notion of a ‘family wage’ contexts made their voices increasingly heard. The
was developed which was paid to certain men in 1995 Fourth Women’s Conference in Beijing is a
specific occupations. Women and children were paid a well-known example where not only activists and
pittance compared to men, even though they may have academics, but also policy-makers and women in key
worked the same number of hours. Eventually certain positions, came together and reached the conclusion
types of jobs were reserved for men and the economic that the specifics of a socio-historical milieu may
production of women and children decreased. divide women more than the term ‘women’ can unite
Decades later, during the Second World them. The discussion on intersectionality in Section
War, women took over many jobs, especially in 10.3.9 will illuminate these thoughts that are related to
manufacturing, since large numbers of men were the third wave of feminism. A discussion on the South
occupied in the war. With the end of the war, men African scenario will also show the complexity of the
wanted to return to their jobs and therefore the image challenges experienced by women.
of women as full-time homemakers was upheld in the The explanation is intended to provide a basic
public domain to encourage women to give up their outline of different types of feminist thinking and
jobs and the concomitant independence it brought. it does not take the nuanced developments of the
The result was that large numbers of women who different strands into consideration. Each of these
became full-time housewives felt something amiss in types of feminism has been criticised and counter-
their lives. Women, especially middle-class women in arguments have been developed which, over time, led
Western countries, were by and large excluded from to an increase or decrease in the popularity of specific
economic production and economic consumption strands. The radical, Marxist and liberal strands
was under the control of husbands, for example a of feminism can be seen as three early strands of
married woman could usually not buy a house (or theoretical feminism.
make any large purchase) independently from her
husband. In addition, effective contraception meant 10.3.1 Radical feminism
smaller families, children attended formal educational In radical feminism it is argued that men are the
institutions for increasingly longer periods and more beneficiaries of gender exploitation and hence the
home appliances meant less heavy work in middle- blame for the inequalities between men and women
class, and even working class households. Within should be placed on the shoulders of men. Childcare
such a socio-historical milieu feminist writings, such and housework are seen as unpaid work that women do
as those by Simone de Beauvoir, became widely read for men and which simultaneously ensures that women
(in different languages). De Beauvoir (1949) argued that are excluded from any positions of power in society.
men were seen as the norm or the ‘Subject’. Women, Clearly the family is a central institution of oppression
almost as an afterthought are described as the ‘Other’. within such an argument where men have power and
In this regard the theorist Anna Tripp (2000) highlights women do not – the classical definition of patriarchy.
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In order to change this state of affairs, women have to positions of power, men cannot express their emotions
take action and many radical feminists believe that adequately, which means that potentially intimate
this should happen without the help of men. It is even relationships (such as father–child relationships) are
further argued by specific groups of radical feminists superficial or distant. Within this line of thinking a
(a ‘radical’ form of radical feminism) that only lesbian change in the culture and the thinking of individuals
women can be true feminists since only they can have is required to reach greater gender equality. Changing
meaningful domestic lives and intimate relationships the socialisation of children, developing and practising
independently of men. An even more extreme belief policies that give equal access to opportunities for men
by a small group of radical feminists is that women and women and removing sexist images in the media
are morally superior to men and matriarchy should are examples of strategies that contribute to greater
replace patriarchy. In this view men are not only gender equality (Haralombos & Holborn 2000).
responsible for the exploitation of women but also All three of the above expressions of feminism
other negative aspects such as war and the destruction developed within a Western framework and
of the environment. A more moderate radical feminist understanding of gender inequalities. All three of
view is that men and women are basically the same and them have developed and became more nuanced over
that differences between them are largely the result of time but above are their initial core assumptions.
social construction (Haralombos & Holborn 2000). In reaction to these expressions of feminism, black
feminism became a strong fourth voice within
10.3.2 Marxist feminism such societies.
According to Marxist feminists the root of women’s
exploitation is capitalism. They do not deny that 10.3.4 Black feminism
men in general benefit from women’s unpaid work, Black feminism, in for example the United Kingdom
but capitalists are the primary beneficiaries of this (UK) and the United States of America (USA),
work. In addition, women also bear and raise future developed because many black women felt that the
generations of workers for the benefit of capitalists. It is feminist movement did not address their experiences.
postulated that the notion of private property and not For example, the family lives of middle-class white
owning the means of production are disadvantaging women were used as the norm, but many black women
women. A distinction is drawn between women had entirely different family experiences – there was
from the ruling class and the proletariat and, unlike thus a ‘racist bias’. Black women in the USA struggled
radical feminists, it is believed that men and women side by side with black men for civil rights but in these
from the working classes can work together to change organisations men dominated and women’s specific
society. It is believed that in a new socialist society concerns did not receive much attention – there was
with its emphasis on communal ownership, gender thus a ‘masculinist bias’ (Haralombos & Holborn 2000).
inequalities will disappear (Haralombos & Holborn A basic premise of black feminism is that black
2000). The importance of gender in relation to class is women should draw from their own experiences. A
thus underlined here, but with the aim to eradicate the classic example from the nineteenth century is often
differences by wiping out class and gender divisions cited to illustrate this point. In the USA in 1852 it
within a new social order. was argued by white males that women should not
have equal rights to men because they are fragile and
10.3.3 Liberal feminism physically weak. The fragile portrayal of femininity
Liberal feminism probably appealed to the greatest was often used by men, but on this occasion it was
number of people since its inception, as the core challenged by an African-American activist with a
views are not considered as extreme as the previous passionate speech containing the famous expression
two types of feminism. According to liberal feminists ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ (Weldon 2008). She was referring
both men and women are disadvantaged when living to the experiences of slave women working as farm
in a society of gender inequalities since neither men labourers who had to do hard physical labour. Through
nor women can live full, rich lives in such societies. this speech she highlighted very different expressions
Whereas women cannot develop their skills to step into of femininity that were condoned by white males.
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10.3.5 African feminism 10.3.6 Eco-feminism

Black feminism should not be equated with African Eco-feminists equate women with nature. Eco-
feminism since the former often developed in contexts feminists argue that similar to the way women are
where black women are a minority (in actual numbers under the domination of patriarchal rule, nature is
and in terms of power). In the African context women dominated by culture. It is further postulated that
are not a minority in numerical terms but may still these dominations by culture and men originate from
have less power than men. Elaine Salo (2001) asserts a similar world view. A kind of logic of domination
that there are in essence two views on feminism in exists where it is believed that human beings are
Africa. The one view, portrayed by Patricia Macfadden, morally superior to things such as rocks and plants and
is that gender hierarchies were embedded in African therefore humans are morally justified to subordinate
societies and that such power inequalities were plants and rocks. Eco-feminists are protesting against
intensified by colonialism. The other view, portrayed a kind of thinking wherein the well-being of other
by Gwendolyn Mikell, is that gender inequality on beings is separated from one’s own well-being, which
the African continent is by and large the result of then leads to a way of life in which one does not care for
colonisation. In this view women were integrated in other beings. Among other things, eco-feminists want
the societal structures of the pre-colonial times. In to underscore the feminine side of human beings and
tandem with this latter view, Oyeronke Oyewumi believe in living in harmony with nature. In this regard
argued in The Invention of Women; Making an African certain expressions of eco-feminism have been taken
Sense of Western Gender Discourses (1997) that gender to task for not really being feminist since they want
is not a central social category for the Yoruba (in to assert expressions of femininity without critically
western Nigeria) but rather seniority as it relates to reflecting on whether those expressions of femininity
chronological age. She argues that one person is always are damaging to women or not (Davion 1994).
senior or junior to another person within the kin system. Apart from eco-feminism, other newer forms of
With increasing age one usually becomes more senior. feminism are described as backlashes against the
According to her analysis seniority is more important initial formulations of feminism. One such complicated
than wealth, rank or sex in the stratification of society. form of feminism, the status of which many question,
She argues that the Yoruba language does not indicate is conservative feminism.
gender and social distinctions are not made according
to anatomical differences. She concludes that power 10.3.7 Conservative feminism
is not assigned according to gender as is the case in Classic forms of conservative feminism insisted that
Western societies. Although she has been admired for women should be treated with respect. The traditional
challenging the entrenched gender construct, she has roles of wife and mother are underscored in this form
also been criticised from various quarters by pointing of feminism and men are urged to fulfil their roles
out that seniority on its own is not the determining as caretakers of families. Such views resonate with
source of power in all contexts in the Yoruba society. many conservative religious groupings. According to
Seniority in relation to other constructs forms the basis Judith Stacey, new conservative feminism also has a
of power. Further, the fact that gender is not indicated ‘profamily’ stance where the general feminist view that
so explicitly in language does not mean that it does not the ‘personal is political’ is seen as too invasive and
play a role (Bakare-Yusuf 2002). even threatening to family life. Second, conservative
As pointed out by Amina Mama, the way in feminists regard gender differences as positive and
which African feminism is defined will largely characteristics that are traditionally associated with
determine which of the above two views in relations women, of which mothering is a prime example, are
to colonialism are supported, but what is perhaps embraced. And thirdly, it is believed that there are
of greater importance is the experiences of African more important political struggles than the struggles
women today. Although many women are trapped in against male domination. Betty Friedan argued that
the basic task of surviving on the African continent, women struggle so much to have careers and public
many African women aspire to the same feminist achievements and in the process they cannot realise or
principles of political, economic and social equality admit their basic needs for intimacy, having children
that are aspired to everywhere (Salo 2001). and a family. In short, the goals of feminism are seen
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as a stumbling block for women. It is believed that they will probably experience that combining a
both men and women want families and will join in career and motherhood is somehow more difficult
new egalitarian families with childcare needs being for them than their male counterparts. For example,
realised (Stacey 1983). in academic sectors across the world, it is still found
Although it may almost appear as if such that men are promoted much earlier in life compared
articulations are not really feminist, conservative to women because of women’s lack of (or lack of access
feminism is reacting against the androgynous to) professional networking skills, their nurturing
expressions that certain early feminists believed we nature, childcare responsibilities and so forth. These
should be heading towards. Furthermore, families are observations of career patterns resonate with the
the prime institutions for raising children and other experiences of women in many economic sectors of
models or experiments in raising children did not society and it is mostly young women at junior levels
succeed on a wide scale. It is argued that egalitarian of their careers who report that they are experiencing
relationships struggle to succeed in the long term sexual discrimination. As they become older and more
partly because there are not clearly demarcated senior new forms of discrimination present themselves
spheres of life (Stacey 1983). (Rabe & Rugunanan 2012).
Another form of backlash feminism has been Apart from ‘new feminism’, the term post-
termed ‘new feminism’. feminism also developed. Postfeminists reject a
‘single metanarrative’ to explain the plight of women.
10.3.8 New feminism Where the three early feminist strands focused on the
In many developed countries such as the UK, or even inequalities between men and women, postfeminists
in developing countries such as South Africa, certain highlight the differences between women (Haralombos
sectors of women (often white and middle class) may & Holborn 2004). Yet, this was not an entirely new
feel that feminism is not applicable to their lives. development in feminism since Marxist feminism
Feminism can be seen as consisting of ‘politically drew our attention to the simultaneous effect of class
correct language’ that places restrictions on women’s and gender from the outset. Black feminism highlighted
personal lives including what they should wear and the importance of both race and gender. In addition,
think or how they should engage in sexual pleasure. a strand of feminism that has been dubbed ‘queer
One can argue that feminism may not resonate feminism’ that is clearly articulated in, among others,
with such women by oversimplifying the relations the work of Judith Butler (2004), focuses on gender and
between men and women (Haralombos & Holborn sexual orientation. Such diverse formulations that
2004). Ironically, the main reason why these women grew out of diverse experiences are formalised in the
do not feel that feminism applies to them is exactly theoretical term intersectionality.
because they are reaping the benefits from the gains
made by feminists in the past. Women associated 10.3.9 Intersectionality
with new feminism had access to good educational The term intersectionality is attributed to Kimberlé
institutions, they are recognised as legally mature Crenshaw. In 1989, Crenshaw used it to illuminate
persons who can buy cars and houses which they the different experiences of different women. As was
may drive and live in alone if they choose to. They described under black feminism earlier, the famous
can take part in sport, marry who they like or expression ‘Ain’t I a Woman?’ (Weldon 2008) that
marry nobody, travel alone and go to bars without highlighted the interplay between race and gender
‘male escorts’. gave impetus to the fact that gender discrimination
Has feminism thus achieved its goals for such does not happen in isolation. Weldon argues though
women? It could be argued that despite the strides that one cannot simply use the discourse of the ‘double
made towards gender equality, women are still not oppression’ of race and gender that black women
paid equally or given the same opportunities if they experience (or the often cited ‘triple oppression’ used
venture into acting or directing, engineering, the to describe black women’s race, gender and class
diplomatic service or competitive sport. In others experiences during the apartheid years in South
words, men still dominate many powerful sectors of Africa), since it does not give justice to how race and
society. Moreover, if women decide to have children, gender can intersect. In other words there are no women
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without race and the racial category of any woman will feminist work. The main reason for this is probably that
influence her gender experiences. Being white and/ in South Africa women had such diverse experiences
or heterosexual thus also intersects with gender. The based on their racial categorisation. As mentioned,
hierarchical nature of the constructs of race and gender the so-called ‘triple oppression of black women’
and how they influence each other within a specific (race, gender and class) has often been repeated as it
context is thus of importance. Social divisions that was such a salient aspect of South African society.
are thought to be ‘enduring’ such as class, race, sexual To be classified black meant that one was excluded
orientation and (dis)ability, intersect with gender from middle and upper socioeconomic classes and
in any individual’s life. Similarly, men’s race, class, patriarchy in its various forms was experienced.
sexual orientation and (dis)ability have a simultaneous Jacklyn Cock’s (1980) book, entitled Maids and
influence on their experiences as men. Categories of Madams, provided a clear example of how the
social relations can thus not be understood in isolation experiences of black women, working as domestic
(Weldon 2008). These expressions resonate strongly workers, differed from their white female employers.
with the third wave of feminism. Although Cock’s work preceded the theory on
This diversification of identity is commented on intersectionality, the way in which these different
by Lennard Davis (2002) in terms of identity politics identities are connected and interwoven are clearly
and social movements. According to Davis all identity demonstrated. Shireen Ally (2010) furthered the
struggles are characterised by ‘the establishment of understanding of domestic workers in the ‘new South
the identity against the societal definitions that were Africa’ with new labour legislation by analysing the
formed largely by oppression’. One of the central aims complicated overlap of the private and public spheres
is to replace negative descriptions with positive ones in the daily lives of domestic workers. Cock presented
so that an identity can be ‘normalised’. In practice this one of the few early works in South Africa where
would imply that basic rights have to be acknowledged the hierarchical power relations between women
to combat discrimination. In trying to achieve more are laid bare, again preceding the identified gender
political power, group solidarity is needed amongst hierarchy amongst men as explained by Connell (see
the members. Only once this has been achieved, can Section 10.4.2).
a redefinition of the struggle emerge wherein the Other influential works over the years focused
focus is diversity within the group and the subtleties on the specific experiences of black women as they
and nuances of identity are acknowledged. Yet this relate to other significant identities. The seminal
acknowledgement of diversity in identities may book Women of Phokeng by Belinda Bozzoli (1991) not
entail conflict among various group members. The only focuses on being a black woman of a particular
recognition of the diversities between women that class, but also on being born at a particular place
is formalised in the term intersectionality, is thus and having experiences of urbanisation during
expected when looking at the development of feminism a particular historical period. The fact that both
as a social movement over several decades. Bozzoli and Cock are well versed in Marxist feminism
This tension between a unified gender struggle explains their sharp grasp of the class and gender
and acknowledging the different experiences of intersections in South Africa and the reality of the
different women clearly manifests itself in the South racial divisions could hardly be ignored (even though
African context. other sociologists underplayed it). Much later work
by Elaine Salo (2002) on the women in Mannenberg,
10.3.10 South African feminism Cape Town, and Kamilla Naidoo’s and Kavita Misra’s
South African feminism should of course be understood (2008) work on the women in the Winterveld area
within the broader context of African feminism, but had a similar strong geographical and historical
let us look more closely at the specific South African setting that enhanced the understanding of women
situation in relation to feminism. with a particular racial and socioeconomic standing.
In Naidoo’s and Misra’s work the added realities of
Feminist research in South Africa living with HIV also form part of the experiences
In South Africa the intersectionality of gender of women.
experiences seem to have been present from early on in
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Chapter 10: Gender
Activism and feminism in South Africa social movements were characterised by upsurges and
A further characteristic of feminism in South Africa is declines. The tension between addressing racial and
the strong activist element. The 1956 march by women gender injustices continues in present-day South Africa.
to the Union building in Pretoria to protest against the
carrying of ‘passes’ and the current protests outside Challenges facing feminism in South Africa
courts during prominent cases of rape and violence There are disturbing occurrences of women’s groups
against women are examples of this. (A pass was an supporting or turning a blind eye to authoritarian
identity document that all black people in so-called masculine rule in South Africa after the first 1994
‘white’ areas had to carry to prove that they were there democratic election in South Africa. Hassim (2003)
‘legitimately’. It was usually obtained if employed by a used the term ‘gender pact’ to portray how the belief
white person.) amongst gender activists exists that the state will
Yet, if the protests by women during the apartheid ensure gender equality. Indeed, the young democracy
years are studied more closely, it transpires that women of South Africa developed various quotas and reached
protested against the pass laws by arguing that they milestones for employing relatively high percentages
could not fulfil their roles as mothers, wives and even of women in seemingly powerful positions. This,
domestic workers effectively under such conditions. however, does not ensure equality in itself, just as it
Making claims to those roles that are associated with was stated above that all women’s movements are not
the domestic world of women proved successful since feminist movements. All women’s leadership does
black women, unlike men, were not required to carry not entail feminist leadership (Lewis 2008).
passes until much later. Such claims by women clearly A further challenge is the extreme violence and
resonate with conservative feminism but in a more humiliating acts that are perpetrated against women
dynamic manner, which is referred to as ‘conservative who fall outside ‘the patriarchal heterosexist family’
militancy’ (Britton & Fish 2009). for wearing short skirts, being lesbian or not being
Black women in South Africa also shared the ‘proper’ in some way. These incidents are described
predicament of black women in the USA during as part of ‘the regulatory ethos of masculinist post-
the civil rights movement that gave rise to black colonial nation-building’ (Lewis 2008). One of the
feminism. The struggle against a racist regime often responses to these attempts to control women’s
necessitated a united front (with men) against the state bodies, is the first so-called ‘Slutwalk’ that took
and by necessity women’s rights took a back seat. The place in September 2011 (widely advertised on social
strong racial divides in South Africa also made any networks such as Facebook), by particularly younger
sisterhood across racial boundaries difficult but a few women of all races. This march follows similar ones
organisations, most notably, The Black Sash, tried to in places such as Toronto, Mexico City and Delhi.
overcome such divides. Initially, the organisation had Dressing up in a provocative manner (as so-called
a white leadership to demonstrate that not all white ‘sluts’) the message of the march is that women
people supported the apartheid policies of the time. may not be raped regardless of how they present
In the 1960s this ideology shifted and women from themselves, in other words rape is not okay and
different racial categories worked side by side in the ‘no’ to any type of sexual act means ‘no’ regardless
organisation addressing issues such as human rights of the circumstances. An attempt is thus made to
and providing legal assistance for families of political reclaim public spaces for women. Criticising overt
prisoners (Britton & Fish 2009). gender discrimination and laying bare hidden gender
During the early 1990s towards the end of the oppression have become characteristic of South
apartheid rule in South Africa, different women’s African feminist thinking. The feminist mantra that
organisations, civic movements, religious groups, the ‘private is public’ should still be taken seriously,
informal groups and women in exile were brought otherwise, as Raewyn Connell (2011) remarked,
together under an umbrella organisation called the we may be one of the few countries where public
Women’s National Coalition (WNC). This was not an patriarchy is being eradicated but we are losing the
easy process. As Shireen Hassim (2003) remarked, battle against private patriarchy.
women’s protests tended to be sporadic and often It could be argued that the strength of the feminist
centre on specific issues with the result that women’s work produced in South Africa is its close links to the
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lived experiences and struggles of women in different (2001) and Kopane Ratele (2008), both argued that the
sectors of society. This feminist strength in South negative perceptions about men have to be addressed
Africa resonates with feminist traditions in other since they are not applicable to all men. The third
developing countries that are sometimes referred to opening case study to this chapter refers to the actions
as Third World feminism (Ackerly & Attanasi 2009). of men as perpetrators of violence, but we should guard
Despite this rich tradition of activist feminism, against generalising such horrific cases of violence
Amanda Gouws (2010) analyses how local feminist and disrespect against women to all men. In fact,
movements continue a struggle to be heard alongside a various groupings of men also fall victim to violence
particular government discourse on women (grouping perpetrated by other men.
them with children and people living with disabilities) However, not all feminists are prepared to work
that she describes as ‘State feminist inactivism’. Local with men as there are deep suspicions that men are
feminist movements are also being excluded from redefining feminism and women’s issues as gender
international feminist debates due to financial barriers issues. In other words, gender is a term that can be
that prevent many women from partaking in decision- hijacked by men to get it under their control. The
making forums. tensions between masculinity studies and feminism
Both political struggles and feminist typologies are will probably continue and perhaps it is a healthy state
helping us to understand the ‘similarities, differences, of affairs since it would guard against reversing the
and critical dialogues among feminisms’ (Ackerly & gains made by feminism.
Attanasi 2009). But what are masculinity studies then? Have
men not always been studied? Have they not always
10.4 Masculinity studies been the ‘Subject’ as Simone de Beauvoir and others
From the long and complicated history of feminist proposed? The answers to these questions are yes and
studies it is clear that women reconstructed the way no. Men have been studied as if they were the ‘given’
gender is understood forever, but what does this or the ‘norm’, but they have not been studied in past
imply for men? From a liberal feminist point of view, times as gendered beings. For example, where women
both men and women should be involved in changing complained about always being seen in relation to
current gender relations. Tripp (2000: 11) argues that: men (daughter, wife, sister, etc), men’s relations with
women, from the perspective of men, did not receive
[i]n any individual context, femininity is only much attention. These previous gaps in research
intelligible through its differences to masculinity changed dramatically in the last three decades or so
and vice versa. If this is the case, then feminist and the literature on masculinity studies grew in leaps
redefinitions of what it means to be a woman will and bounds. Tripp (2000) states that masculinity is no
have a knock-on effect on understandings and longer regarded as singular and monolithic but also as
experiences of what it means to be a man. complex, plural and a cultural product. The outline of
the social constructionist approach to gender above
In addition, Connell argues that there are multiple should make it clear that all people are regarded as
reasons for the involvement of men in changing gender gendered beings.
relations such as the fact that gender relations are
embedded in the way people live their daily lives. 10.4.1 Patriarchy revisited
Gender relations are dynamic and are continuously One of the key themes associated with men from a
shifting and if women change the way they live their feminist perspective relates to patriarchy and power.
lives, it necessarily demands changes in the way men This term is complex but closer inspection helps us to
live since it entails new ways of engaging in economic understand the hierarchal order that not only exists
arrangements and emotional and power relationships. between men and women but also between men.
Moves towards gender equality require the co- Patriarchy may be understood as the power that
operation of men since it touches on every aspect of men have over women, but a more precise definition
life (Connell 2003). would be the power that certain men have over
In the South African context, two leading women and men. Within the family context a father
masculinity studies researchers, Robert Morrell who controls the finances, owns the property and
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has the final decision-making power is the patriarch. took place in Kenya and Swaziland). This invention
Young men thus may become patriarchs if they reach of tradition by men to suit or support any action has
a certain age, but this is not always a given. However, been commented on extensively by anthropologists
women are given over to husbands by fathers in (Van der Vliet 2001; Spiegel & McAllister 2001). In
patriarchal societies and thus stay under the rule and addition, contested masculinities are ‘performed’ (or
control of men. constructed) in the South African mass media on a
Patriarchy is not limited to one form though. daily basis in advertisements and speeches by certain
Sylvia Walby (1997), for example, distinguished male politicians. A particular notion of what it means
between private patriarchy and public patriarchy. The to ‘be a man’ is regularly enacted while at the same
former refers to patriarchy in the domestic sphere, time other forms of masculinity are being excluded.
usually referring to control by the father, while the In this regard Theresa Barnes (2007) observed that
latter refers to power in the public domain where many of the current high profile struggles within
legislation and embedded structures are denying universities centre on black masculinities replacing
women certain rights and discriminate against them white masculinities.
on a collective level. Another example of different
forms of patriarchy is ‘dual patriarchy’ that refers to 10.4.2 Male experiences
the combined power of colonial administrators and Focusing on these extreme cases ignores the majority
husbands/fathers over women in colonised countries of men who are neither perpetrators of violence nor
(Wiesner-Hanks 2011). Bozzoli (1983) analysed such present themselves as powerful individuals. Kimmel
a manifestation of dual patriarchy by focusing on the (2009) states that discussions on male power make men
formation of the state and patriarchy in the South uncomfortable and defensive. He sums up the reaction
African context. Bozzoli argues that patriarchies, by certain men in the following way: ‘What do you
instead of a singular simplified form of patriarchy, mean men have all the power? What are you talking
must be acknowledged. Similar to the establishment about? I have no power at all. I’m completely powerless.
of a ‘family wage’ for certain male labourers in the My wife bosses me around, my children boss me
formation of industrialisation in England, different around, my boss bosses me around. I have no power
reasoning was adopted with male labourers earning at all!’ On an individual level, men do not necessarily
much higher wages than black labourers in the context feel powerful, in fact they may see themselves as
of the mining sector. For example, in the case of white victims of reverse discrimination. But Kimmel states
mineworkers it was believed to be beneficial that a man that power is not the possession of individual men,
should settle with his wife and children in town near rather it is ‘woven into the fabric of our lives’ and ‘it
the mine, but black mineworkers should work without is most invisible to those who are most empowered’.
their family members in close proximity. Kimmel argues that power is more prominently in the
In the South African context then, black men and hands of certain groups of men as opposed to all men.
white men were placed in a hierarchical order during It is on this note that Connell’s (1995) analysis of
the colonising and apartheid periods, with black men a hierarchy of power between men, with hegemonic
always taking a secondary position. Even currently in masculinity at the top, is useful. According to
South Africa, certain sectors of the white community Connell, hegemonic masculinity refers to a dominant
may still regard white superiority as a given, a fact expression of masculinity that could be regarded
that is possibly fuelled by thousands of black male as the ‘ideal type’ within a particular society. In
labourers working for ‘white bosses’ in, for example, Western societies, such an expression of hegemonic
the construction and maintenance industries. masculinity would include employment, being
However, in present-day South Africa dominant heterosexual, married and a father and have at least
black masculinities come to the fore more regularly and moderate sporting abilities. Hegemonic masculinity
openly and ‘tradition’ is often cited as a justification is often held up as the ideal or standard that boys
for chauvinistic and scandalous behaviour towards should aspire to. However, not many men embody all
women. The taxi rank incident was justified by the men aspects of hegemonic masculinity yet they may be
involved by pointing out that the woman wore a mini- complicit in hegemonic masculinity. The remaining
skirt that is ‘not traditional’ (note that similar cases identified forms of masculinity include complicit
261

masculinity as well as marginal and subordinated as ‘the enemy’ and they feel lost or react violently to
masculinities. Complicit forms of masculinity neither reclaim the power they have lost (Walker 2005).
embody nor challenge hegemonic masculinity, but Kopano Ratele (2008) focused on African
refer to a large number of men who benefit from masculinities and the perception that African men
being male in general. Men in this category are not are reluctant to support feminist action. He argues
blatantly authoritative, but they benefit from the that the term hegemonic masculinity describes the
dividend of patriarchy, albeit in a limited way. They hierarchical power differentials that include the
make compromises with women but benefit from subordination of women (as a group) to men (as a
the general privileged position of men. Marginal group). This subordination of women is clearly visible
masculinities are often interlinked with class and race in society when looking at acts of violence against
in opposition to hegemonic masculinity. Neither race women by men. Ratele relates male practices and
nor class are fixed identities either and these aspects experiences to social conditions and psychosocial
differ in importance for men in different contexts. realities. Within this understanding, men who are
Connell refers to black sportsmen in the USA to subordinate to other men, but part of the ‘powerful
explain marginal masculinities – although certain gender group’, require specific analysis. Ratele
sports are dominated by black men (eg basketball) identified occupation and income as well as age as key
the high status given to black male athletes does factors to the understanding of African masculinities
not filter through to black men in general. A fourth – more specifically, the intersection of gender, age
identified masculinity refers to relations between and unemployment/poverty on the African continent.
men where dominance and subordination are noted. In Marlize Rabe’s (2006) study on fatherhood
If the hegemonic masculinity for a particular society amongst black mineworkers, the centrality of being a
is heterosexual, homosexual men are viewed as breadwinner, for working class men in particular, has
exemplifying a subordinate position. Connell regards been reiterated. However, if working class men are
subordination as more than stigmatisation since it not working, men feel worthless and ashamed of their
can, for example, entice homophobic attacks. A variety unemployed status. The high unemployment figures in
of men can be placed in such a subordinated position, South Africa and the vulnerability of specific economic
depending on the situation, and it is often signified sectors (such as construction and mining that are
by name calling such as ‘pushover’ or ‘wimp’. dominated by male workers) to economic cycles, imply
that thousands of South African men are unemployed
Masculinity in crisis? and unable to change their economic prospects. On an
A question that has been asked repeatedly in individual level then, many South African men are in
masculinity studies is whether there is a ‘crisis in a vulnerable position since they are, or may become,
masculinity’? Men’s extreme demonstrations of unemployed, and they have not found new avenues for
violence, boys’ general poor performance in school constructing an acceptable self-image.
compared to girls, an increasing number of health
problems among men, their lack of responsibility as Men’s social movements
fathers, increased suicide rates and their struggles What then about men on a collective level? Morrell
with unemployment all seem to point to such a crisis of (2005) reiterated that dramatic shifts towards gender
masculinity. The feminist project empowered women, equity in South Africa have been made in policies, but
but did it in the process emasculate men? in reality, gender inequality is still rife. Morrell argued
There are various answers to these questions in that within this climate of slow change towards gender
Western societies and on the African continent. In equality, men’s movements have been under pressure
South Africa specifically it seems as if men struggle to to support gender transformation. Men’s movements
define their place in the new democratic era of South can be defined as targeting men to address specific
African history. Some may embrace the changes gender challenges (not to be confused with a movement
brought about by the new Constitution and the that consists largely of men but with a different aim, eg
possibilities it opens up for new forms of masculinity. firearm enthusiasts or certain sports clubs). Although
For other men these changes undermine their sense of men can contribute towards gender transformation on
self as men especially since they are often portrayed an individual basis, men can augment such individual
262

Chapter 10: Gender
initiatives and do far more on a collective basis. men played an enormously important role in the study
Although certain collective action by men has been of masculinities. Challenging hegemonic masculinity
successful in this regard, men’s organisations are by has been a contributing factor to the importance
and large not geared towards gender equality or not of studying homosexual men, but, again similar to
even supportive of feminism. A distinction has thus feminism, the experiences of homosexual men are
to be created between ‘men’s movements’ that are placed at the centre of this approach. HIV initially
seen as ‘reactive, antifeminist and committed to the spread the fastest amongst homosexual men in Western
restoration of male power’ and ‘new men’s movements’ societies (in South Africa the pandemic is as much
that are believed to be ‘profeminist and committed to a heterosexual as a homosexual phenomenon) and
gender justice’. this also added to the attention given to homosexual
In practice, most men’s movements cannot be men by researchers from various disciplines. Queer
categorised in such a distinct manner. In an analysis theory is a term coined by Teresa de Lauretis. It is a
of South Africa’s men’s movements, of which there large discipline on its own. In addition to focusing on
are relatively few, Morrell (2005) uses Michael gay and lesbian experiences, it incorporates a focus
Messner’s model and classifies three distinct types. on sexual minorities such as bisexuals, intersex,
The first type is defending male privilege where transgender, transsexual and asexual individuals, all
hegemonic masculinity is enshrined and the ‘losses’ of which were given scant or no attention in modern
of men are bemoaned. Such a movement will either theoretical paradigms such as Lesbian and Gay
limit the gains by women or highlight how men are Studies (Halperin 2003).
disadvantaged. These movements seem to be short- Glen Elder (2005) analysed the representations of
lived in South Africa and without major followings. homosexual men of South Africa by focusing on the
The second grouping that strives towards gender tourism industry of Cape Town. The leisure industry
justice often addresses the high rates of rape and has targeted gay men for the past few decades as they
domestic violence against women in South Africa supposedly have more money to spend – the ‘pink
(see Section 4.6 on domestic violence in Chapter 4). dollar’. However, in targeting gay men as tourists
Movements with such a specific goal seem to be more to Cape Town, Elder uncovered the subtle (or not so
successful than those that strive towards general subtle) racial bias in this industry which marginalises
gender equality. The third type deals with the ‘crisis of black gay men:
masculinity’. Although this crisis has been in dispute
ever since it was first mentioned, such organisations Promotional materials also have pictures of
focus on the things they believe men should do. twenty something, well-defined white men
Many of these organisations in South Africa have making clear that the ‘expected’ clientele, once
a religious basis and issues relating to ‘responsible again, is white, middle-class and male.
fatherhood’ often form a major theme. Although the
overt expressions of the latter movements’ goals are It is as if the existence of black homosexual men is
aimed at sharing responsibilities with women, an almost silenced.
underlying implication is the restoration of male This ‘invisibility’ of black gay men points to
authority. another important issue relating to homosexual acts
Gay organisations do not seem to find a haven in – the argument that homosexual acts are ‘unnatural’
any of the above categories and therefore they operate and not African. In countries such as Zimbabwe
separately, often with a distinct racial character in the homosexual acts are even criminalised, a practice
South Africa context. that was common in many Western countries a few
decades ago as well. Earlier evidence of homosexual
10.4.3 Masculinity and homosexuality in acts between black men on the mines and in prisons
South Africa (Moodie 1994; Niehaus 2002) was deprecated as
Queer feminism was referred to above and the imitations of heterosexual unions in the absence of
experiences of lesbian women as activists or as wives. Men having sex with men (MSM) has become
victims of violence were mentioned. Similar to the a common term to use, especially in HIV and AIDS
study of feminism, the experiences of homosexual research, to avoid the complexities of whether men
263

identify themselves as homosexual or not. Although • Masculinity studies challenge the one-dimensional
this was indeed the case for many men, Dunbar view of men as the aggressive patriarch.
Moodie in his research clearly indicated that certain • The different responses of men in reaction to
men continued living as homosexual men long after changed gender power relations have to be
leaving the mines. Marc Epprecht’s (2005) research underlined as mainly negative portrayals of
in Lesotho is an example of the open, long standing men are seen in the mass media. The variety of
existence of homosexuality within black communities. masculine experiences and actions should be
Although homosexual unions may be specific to a recognised and given prominence.
particular African context (Reid 2005), the existence
is undeniable. Are you on track?
The lack of tolerance for diversity on the African 1. Explain the importance of ‘the body’ in
continent, including South Africa, is in fact the understanding gender.
problem. The feminist observation that the insistence 2. Describe the social construction of gender.
on the normative pattern of the ‘patriarchal heterosexist 3. Provide an outline of the different strands of
family’ that is used to control women, may also be used feminism.
by men who support a particular hegemonic model of 4. Write short notes on women in South Africa in
masculinity and are trying to suppress other forms of relation to feminism.
masculinity. 5. Do you agree that masculinity studies are of
The work of Sylvia Tamale (2013) in Uganda importance in gender studies? Give reasons for
is of importance here. She argues that there are your answer.
links between ‘civil liberties and the protection of
nonconforming sexualities’ where African leaders (just More sources to consult
as in other places in the world) invent a ‘moral panic’ Britton H, Fish J, Meintjies S (eds). 2009. Women’s
(such as homophobia) to divert attention from serious Activism in South Africa. Working across Divides.
socioeconomic and political crises facing societies. Scotsville: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
Gasa N (ed). 2007. Women in South African History.
Summary Cape Town: HSRC.
• This chapter on gender theory aimed to sensitise Gevisser M, Cameron E (eds). 1995. Defiant Desire:
you to the centrality of gender in everyday life. Gay and Lesbian Lives in South Africa. New York:
• The way in which we experience our bodies as Routledge.
well as the things we believe about ourselves and Mkhize N, Bennet J, Reddy V, Moletsane R. 2010. The
the way in which we present ourselves all have a Country We Want to Live In: Hate Crimes and
strong gender basis. Homophobia in the Lives of Black Lesbian South
• Feminism in its broadest sense changed and Africans. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
continues to change the way in which we think Morrell R (ed). 2001. Changing Men in Southern Africa.
about gender. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press.
• Both the critical and the activist components of Reid G, Walker L (eds). 2005. Men Behaving Differently.
feminism are of importance in the South African South African Men since 1994. Cape Town: Double
society where large numbers of women are still Storey Books.
treated as second-class citizens despite the Ruiters G (ed). 2008. Gender Activism: Perspectives
‘celebrations’ of a handful of women in powerful on the South African Transition, Institutional
positions. Culture and Everyday Life. Grahamstown: Rhodes
• Narrow versions of femininity are often presented University Institute of Social and Economic
in the public domain to undermine the increasing Research/Rosa Luxembourg Foundation.
variety of feminine power that women display in
their everyday living.
264

Chapter 10: Gender
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266

Chapter 11
Class
Paul Stewart & Ran Greenstein
Sociology is the study of groups in society, just as psychology is the study of the individual. The concept of class refers to the
way in which people in society are divided into social groups or layers, each of which share similar experiences, orientations and
habits. Class has consequently assumed a hugely controversial role in sociology and South African sociology is no exception.
This was especially the case when class overshadowed race to explain apartheid. Much like the concepts of race and gender,
the concept of class has been used as a prism through which fundamental lines of division in society have been drawn – or
what sociologists refer to as social stratification. Emanating from Marx and the conflict perspective, class has been presented
as a factor that not only stratifies society into social groups, but shapes almost every aspect of our lives. This line of division has,
however, proved increasingly difficult to draw. The extent to which class is an organising factor in contemporary society is also
not simple, especially as modern capitalist society has become increasingly stratified in terms of social classes. The result is that
‘class’ has, over time, been imbued with many meanings. Its central role as an explanatory concept has, however, diminished.
Once the theory of class of the classical thinkers Karl Marx and Max Weber has been introduced, this chapter will present
key aspects of three post-classical theorists who use a class analysis to understand advanced twentieth century capitalist
societies. These theorists, who were selected due to their impact on the work of scholars who have examined South African
society, have something in common. One is an analytical philosopher, another an internationally leading sociologist while
the third is a radical historian. They share an intellectual and ontological commitment to class as a concept which serves as a
foundational conceptual tool when analysing society. Many social theorists think this commitment needs to be retained when
we analyse and explain contemporary society. The conceptual picture looks a lot more complex when we recognise that the
concept of class and class analysis cannot account for everything that happens in society.
This becomes clear when the chapter takes a look at how class analysis was used to understand apartheid society. In
the 1970s a fierce intellectual debate surfaced. It became known as the ‘race–class’ debate and pitted Weberian-inspired
writers, who used race to analyse South African society, against Marxist-inspired writers, who used class to understand racial
capitalism. Marxist analyses came to dominate. Yet the recent rediscovery of Weberian class analyses must still be integrated
with and into class analyses, particularly if class is to remain a salient concept to capture the nature of a complex, previously
racially divided society long dominated by capitalist economic development.
With that in mind, democratic South Africa then becomes the focus. The specific focus is a recent major collaborative
sociological study conducted over a long period by academic scholars from the University of Johannesburg. This Class in
Soweto study illustrates very well how class is used to analyse and understand the social configuration of South Africa’s ‘most
populous and politically important township’. The findings of this Marxist-orientated empirical study are surprising in terms of
our common sense intuitions and view of the immediate world around us, yet they confirm the findings from the Weberian-
orientated studies of 40 years ago.
The chapter ends by asking you to identify your own class position and to establish whether this is an important exercise
in the sociological imagination. In this case it means you will need to apply the theoretical orientations in this chapter to your
own life experience.

Case study 11.1 Class and race

I am black middle class. I matriculated from a prestigious girls’ school in Pretoria, obtained a degree in economics and
worked for a global consulting company. I live in the hipster capital of Johannesburg, am a wine, tea and coffee snob, and
my favourite form of exercise is yoga. Naturally, I picked up a few white friends along the way. I really do love my white
friends, but I often find myself struggling to be in an honest relationship with some of them.
A few weeks ago, I found myself in a passive–aggressive exchange with a dear (white) friend about gentrification. In
my view, the model was capitalism’s version of the 1913 Land Act, substituting economic power with political mandate
and in the end black and coloured people were being displaced. In her view, I was racialising an economic issue, making it
unnecessarily complex and besides ‘as a middle-class person [I was] part of the problematic class and therefore complicit
and guilty by association’.
Over time I have had to constantly remind myself that my white friends and I occupy the same spaces but live in different
worlds. They do not understand why I am a proud product of numerous legislations meant to transform our society by
raising the economic participation and living standards of those who had previously been excluded. To them this is an
unfair advantage. To me, this is barely fair and not enough to dismantle centuries of methodical amassing of power to
exercise over others.
Sometimes even black people can be guilty of misappropriating the experience of the poor and working class to further
their own interests. Poverty is as systematic as racism, and requires that black middle-class people also pay attention to
how their own actions deepen rather than alleviate it.
Still, although ‘middle class’ denotes an income and lifestyle identity, it does not fully define every experience, especially
in ridiculously complex South Africa.
(Source: Ndlovu 2014)
Question
Hold a discussion about Zama Ndlovu’s experience and then repeat the exercise once you have worked through this
chapter – ideally with the same university colleagues.
•• Defining class in the classical sociological tradition

•• Outlining Marx’s and Weber’s theories of class and introducing key concepts related to class
Key Themes
•• Going beyond classical class analysis and introducing integrated perspectives

•• Reassessing and modifying class analysis
•• Reviewing classical class analysis in South Africa under apartheid
•• Noting non-reductionist analyses of class
•• Empirically examining class in contemporary South African society.
Introduction first chapter of this textbook. There you learned that

The concept of class has been used for a long time to social scientific concepts, carefully defined, pick out
divide society into distinct social groups. The word and identify some or other aspect of the social world.
classis was first used in ancient Rome over 2 000 You also saw that theories are constructed by linking
years ago to divide the population into tax groups concepts coherently. You might have noticed how class
(Dahrendorf 1959). The concept was introduced into was defined in different ways by Karl Marx and Max
English in the sixteenth century (Williams 1976). Weber. In other words, the same concept can be applied
Society as a whole can be understood in terms of very differently and so pick out different aspects of
class analysis. The popular division of society into social life to draw different lines of division between
the ‘haves’ and the ‘have-nots’ can, for instance, be people or stratify them into different social groups.
taken as a rough description to express this social In this chapter we are going to trace some of the
scientific concept to which you were introduced in the ways in which the concept of class has been defined,
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Chapter 11: Class
understood and developed. Importantly, it will also while for Weber, it is life chances. More specifically,
show how the concept is embedded in different Marx defined class in terms of the ownership and
theoretical accounts of society. The power of this non-ownership of economic resources (the ‘means of
concept and how it enables competing perspectives production’), while Weber defined class in terms of the
and often fierce debates about the nature of the social opportunities or life chances available to an individual
world will come into view when its significance is in a society dominated by the market. The concept of
located within the theoretical conceptions of Marx and class is embedded in a distinct theoretical perspective,
Weber. The chapter will show how these perspectives which asks its own set of questions (Wright 2005).
have subsequently been developed by key theorists In order to meaningfully discuss class we also need
who influenced South African sociological studies. to discuss the concepts related to it in whatever
Class analysis – using class divisions to understand conceptual framework or theory the concept is used.
society – is applied to how sociologists, historians and
economists tried to explain apartheid. The analysis 11.2 Marx’s theory of class
of class – using class to distinguish and understand The concept of class is most strongly associated with
social groups – is then applied to explain South the theories of Karl Marx. It is surprising then to
African society under democracy. realise that Marx never offered a clear, well-structured
theory of class. To understand his approach, we must
11.1 Defining class examine his historical writings and from these extract
All concepts are abstract, but this is especially true of relevant definitions and discussions of the concept
the concept of class. It can also be widely applied. The and its implications.
concept is especially abstract as it does not include Early in his career as a thinker and activist, Marx
non-economic factors such as culture or race. It also developed what he called the materialist conception
fails to point to any actual economic conditions which of history. As Chapter 13 on Work will explain, this
a group of people share. One celebrated theorist put conception was based on the notion that history
it quite plainly: ‘Class is an obviously difficult word consists of human beings organising themselves in
as class both conveys a range of meanings’, and ‘is relation to nature, in order to meet their basic material
particularly complex when it describes a social needs. In so doing they enter social and political
division’ (Williams 1976: 51). Even when carefully relations among themselves. Their role in production,
defined, it is not immediately clear what the concept and the system of division of labour and resources,
picks out or identifies when we examine society shapes their consciousness about their position
empirically. In order to understand concepts generally, in society.
such as class, we must follow the advice of Marx’s For Marx, it was essential to recognise that people
great teacher, Georg Hegel. He said we must first ‘grasp’ did not operate in society as individuals only, but
and ‘grip’ a ‘concept’ and ‘mentally … get hold of it primarily as members of larger units that he termed
and hold it still’ (cited in Marx [1857] 1977: 28). Marx classes. Classes developed historically as a result of
agreed this was a good place to start, but alerted us conflicts over control and ownership of resources. In
to the fact that concepts ‘become fluid in the further Marx’s own society and time – Europe in the mid- to
course of development’ (Marx [1857] 1977: 28–29). late nineteenth century – two classes had emerged
Concepts change and develop as we apply and test as central. These were the bourgeoisie (the capitalist
them in the light of empirical research. Concepts do class) and the proletariat (the working class). The
so for the simple reason that we are trying to grasp and dynamic system of production in which these two
understand something which is continually changing classes operated was built on the constant growth
and developing – society itself. of markets, territorial expansion, technological
This textbook has already introduced two different innovation, and ever-changing social relations. Marx
definitions of the class concept. Marx defines class called this capitalism.
in relation to production, while Weber defines class Capitalism set in motion a period of unprecedented
in relation to the consumption of goods and services economic growth and guaranteed huge profits for
available on the market. Put another way, for Marx the bourgeois class. It quickly became the dominant
the background keyword for class is exploitation, economic arrangement globally and continues to
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occupy that role. Marx argued, however, that capitalism final, unfinished chapter of Capital Vol III, edited
has a critical weakness. For capitalism to succeed, a by his collaborator Friederich Engels. In this
large number of workers need to be employed. Their fragmentary note on class, Marx poses and then
labour is essential for the industrial production of answers his own question:
goods to be sold in the marketplace. However, when
workers get together in large-scale modern industrial What constitutes a class? – and the reply to
enterprises, they inevitably begin to organise to this follows naturally from the reply to another
defend and promote their own interests as a class. question, namely; What makes wage-labourers,
These interests are opposed to those of the capitalists. capitalists and landlords constitute the three
Whereas capitalists seek to increase their profits at great social classes? At first glance – the identity
the expense of workers’ wages, the workers naturally of revenues and sources of revenues. There are
seek the opposite – to reduce their exploitation and three great social groups whose members, the
increase their share in the global economic pie. This, individuals forming them, live on wages, profit
Marx argued, undermines capitalism as an economic, and ground-rent respectively on the realisation of
political and social system as a whole. As capitalism their labour-power, their capital and their landed
grows, so does the level and scale of organisation of its property. (Marx [1894] 1977: 886)
opponents. In that way it produces – in Marx’s words
– its own ‘grave-diggers’, the social forces that would In this definition class is defined in relation to
destroy it eventually. income or revenue. As capitalist society matures and
the influence of the landowners fades – the concept
11.2.1 Class as the starting point of class becomes more clearly defined in relation to
Class is not only central to Marxist theory, it is also Marx’s production and the economy. As capitalism took
theoretical starting point (Bottomore 1983). According to root and capital replaced land as the primary source
Marx, there were no social classes in primitive communal of wealth in society, the bourgeoisie (or capitalists)
societies where the institution of private property had and proletariat (or working class) emerged as the two
yet to emerge. Classes only emerged as social relations primary and fundamental social groups in capitalist
became more complex with the division of labour society. Alongside these two great social classes
and as the ancient communal mode of production – as no actual society involves only two classes –
gave way to feudalism and then capitalism. Class, for Marx further identified two subordinate groups, the
Marx, consequently refers to a historical phenomenon. petty-bourgeoisie (mainly small traders, teachers
Talking about capitalism, Marx writes in the Poverty of and professionals) and the lumpen-proletariat (the
Philosophy (ch 2, sect 5): ‘Economic conditions had in the homeless, indigent, permanently unemployed and
first place transformed the mass of people into workers. marginalised social groups). Marx’s use of the concept
The domination of capital created the common situation changed and developed along with changing social
and common interests of this class’ (cited in Bottomore and economic conditions. Similarly, the manner
1983: 76). Yet Marx did not think even his own historical- in which it has been applied has also changed and
philosophical theory could fully capture the complexity developed. The immediate question which arises is,
of class and the class structure of especially capitalist how are classes formed?
society. In order to properly apply the concept of class to
society then, it should in each case be based on – again 11.2.2 Class formation
in Marx’s words – the ‘empirically given circumstances’ Marx famously wrote in the Contribution to the Critique
(Bottomore 1983: 77). of Political Economy:
Consistent with his own historical materialist
approach, Marx’s own view of class underwent In the social production of their life men enter
development as he examined the society of his into definite relations that are indispensible and
day. How Marx initially thought about class under independent of their will, relations of produc
early industrial capitalism, when the landowners of tion which correspond to a definite stage of
the previous feudal mode of production remained development of their material productive forces.
prominent, is often missed. It is to be found in the (Marx [1959] in Tucker 1978: 4)
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Chapter 11: Class
Human beings must relate to one another in order to It is important to note that while the two primary classes
produce what society needs to survive. What starts are locked into antagonistic social relations in order to
out as a series of social relations of production produce an economic surplus for society, they cannot
between people soon turns into relationships between survive without each other. Despite the antagonistic,
different social groups. For Marx, class identifies the yet co-operative social relation in production that
antagonisms between social groups which arise in this the concept of class identifies, the immediate social
historical process in successive modes of production. consequence is poverty and inequality. Chapter 14
The beginning of social class formation is described in on Poverty specifically addresses this. The point is
the Communist Manifesto as follows: that the concept implies the existence of different
social classes.
The proletariat goes through various stages of
development. With its birth begins its struggle with 11.2.3 Class as a relation
the bourgeoisie. At first the contest is carried on Society is a whole. This whole is stratified into different
by individual labourers, then by the workpeople classes that stand in specific sets of social relations
of a factory, then by the operatives of one trade, to one another. Class is hence not a thing, for Marx,
in one locality, against the individual bourgeoisie but rather expresses a relation. This relation – as we
who directly exploits them. They direct their will see in the next section – is, for Weber, expressly
attacks not against the bourgeois conditions a relation of domination. For Marx, the relational
of production, but against the instruments of nature of class is defined in terms of who owns (and
production themselves; they destroy imported does not own) the means of production. This refers to
wares that compete with their labour, they smash the land, raw materials, tools, equipment, machinery,
to pieces machinery, they set factories ablaze, factories and mines – needed when work is being
they seek to restore by force the vanished status performed. The social relations of production emerge
of the workman of the Middle Ages. (Marx [1848] when work is performed. These are intimately linked
in Tucker 1978: 480) with how the economy and the productive forces in
society develop and become organised in terms of
It is worthwhile reading the Communist Manifesto the class of capitalists and the class of workers. The
in full to see how this process unfolds and how the productive forces (or forces of production) in society
labourers are initially ‘an incoherent mass scattered over do not only consist of the means of production, but also
the whole country’, how the bourgeoisie ‘is compelled include the development of machinery and technology,
to set the whole proletariat in motion’, how ‘the sources of energy and the education of the proletariat
proletariat not only increases in number’ but ‘becomes as well as science, particularly as it is applied to
concentrated in greater masses, its strength grows and industry. Any such economic development requires
it feels its strength more‘ (Tucker 1978: 480 ff). Read social organisation. Class, for Marx, captures how,
how machinery develops, workers’ livelihoods become historically, the two major social classes are organised
more precarious, how workers combine to form trade and stand opposed to one another, particularly under
unions, how ‘every class struggle is a political struggle’ capitalism.
and how ‘the bourgeoisie finds itself in constant battle’ Understood as a relation and not as a thing, class
and how, for Marx: ‘The proletarian movement is the must not be understood as a static concept and hence
self-conscious, independent movement of the immense neither must social classes be understood as such.
majority, in the interests of the immense majority’ Social classes undergo continual change as:
(Tucker 1978: 480 ff).
There are many examples of the ‘definite social at a certain stage of their development, the material
relations’ which emerge in the process of class productive forces of society come in conflict with
formation in these passages, just as there continues the existing relations of production, or – what is
to be definite social relations between the modern but a legal expression for the same thing – with the
employer who pays a wage and the contemporary property relations within which they have been at
worker who earns one. work hitherto and from forms of development of
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the productive forces these relations turn into their classes, however, extends well beyond the confines of
fetters. Then begins an epoch of social revolution. the factory gate or the company office. It ripples out
(Marx [1859] in Tucker 1978: 4–5) across society and impacts on virtually every aspect
of people’s lives. Hence, while the social relations of
The formation of social classes is hence rooted in production are primarily economic in nature, they have
conflict. As the British sociologist Anthony Giddens social, political and ideological dimensions as well.
put it: ‘class of necessity involves a conflict relation’ The multiple dimensions of social relationships
(1971: 37). between classes mean that the class struggle can
acquire different forms. In the direct economic
11.2.4 Class conflict and class struggle dimension it is usually conducted through union
The conflict between capitalists and workers is known organisation, labour negotiations, strikes and other
as class struggle. To quote an even more famous forms of protest. In the social dimension it may be
statement from Marx, more fully cited in Chapter 14 on conducted through community-based organisation
Poverty: ‘The history of all hitherto existing society is and civil society alliances. In the political dimension
the history of class struggles’. This conflict relation is it may be conducted through the formation and
a perpetual and irreconcilable tension, whether overt operation of class-based political parties and their work
or covert or whether hidden in production or when on relevant legislation and policy. In the ideological
it bursts open in society such as when workers go on dimension it may be conducted through struggles over
strike. It involves a clash between the direct producers the content of education, in the media and through
(workers, peasants) and those who own and control campaigns by various forces meant to shape people’s
crucial economic resources – the means of production class consciousness. In short, in the process of class
in other words. This group of people can use their struggle, those who belong to a particular class will
ownership and control to benefit from the labour of come, for Marx, to understand themselves in relation
the direct producers. Marx refers to such benefits as to those in a different class and understand themselves
surplus value – what capitalists get from the process as a definable social group or class. So important is
on top of their investment. He regards it as being a the notion of class struggle – when classes express
form of exploitation: profit made at the expense of the their collective sense of agency when confronting each
workers’ efforts. In each society there may be more other – that the famous ‘structuralist’ Marxist, Nicos
than one class of producers and of owners, but usually Poulantzas, came to adopt a radically subjectivist,
one set of class relations is dominant. agency-orientated reading of class. He went as far as
Marx hoped to forever change the dominant to conclude that ‘… classes have existence only in the
social relations of production in capitalist society and class struggle’ (1982: 101) as they attempt to advance
the need for class struggle. He first expressed this their class interests. This brings us to the issue of how
idealistic hope as a young student and later wrote in a class understands itself.
ringing tones how:
11.2.5 Class consciousness
An oppressed class is the vital condition for every The notion of class consciousness – the understanding
society founded on the antagonism of classes. a particular group of people has of itself – was
The emancipation of the oppressed class thus central to Marx even though he did not offer a
implies necessarily the creation of a new society. dedicated discussion of the issue. He did, however,
The condition of the emancipation of the working use the concept of class in both an objective and a
class is the abolition of every class … (Marx [1847] subjective sense. Both of these senses are captured
in Tucker 1978: 218–219) in the following quote from Marx ([1847] 1978: 168)
that, once capital had created ‘the common situation
For Marx, it is the class struggle which provides, and common interests of this class … Thus this mass
in his words, the ‘motor of history’ – the dynamic is already a class in relation to capital, but not yet a
structural tension that propels any class-divided class for itself. In the struggle … this mass unites and
society forward and lies at the heart of social change. forms itself into a class for itself. The interests which it
This conflict relation between the two fundamental defends become class interests’. Marx uses the concept
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Chapter 11: Class
of class ‘in-itself’ to refer to a specific group of people organise accordingly in order to pursue their goals,
who belong to either the working or the capitalist class. they are transformed into a class ‘for-itself’. This
This ‘objectivist’ sense in which Marx used the concept means that such a social group becomes aware and
has had far-reaching implications and has led to a conscious of its class belonging and acts to consolidate
wide range of understandings of how society should be and advance itself.
analysed in terms of class. Capitalist society must first Used in this way, the subjective aspect of class –
be viewed then in terms of the dividing line offered by a class which acts in its own interests – has enjoyed
an ‘objective’ reading of class. Then we will examine less prominence than in the objective sense. The
the ‘subjective’ aspect of class and class consciousness. subjective sense was, however, crucially important
for Marx. For it was only when the working class
Class understood as ‘objective’ – or ‘in-itself’ became aware of and came to understand how
To say that classes exist objectively means there is an their combined labour power was exploited under
empirically identifiable group of people who share capitalism and understood themselves as a distinct
a similar position in the system of production. Class class and acted on the basis of that self-understanding
could be empirically and hence objectively defined – – that capitalism could be overthrown. Marx thought
one could, in other words, count who worked for a wage this would lead to a ‘class-less’ society – one free of
(working class) and who did not (capitalists or some oppressive social relations.
of the professionals in the petty bourgeoisie or middle If the working class did not, however, come to
class). Marx argues that people who share the same this collective awareness and realisation that they
objectively definable material conditions will most constituted a class ‘for-itself’ or there was an absence
likely share the same class interests. This idea was to of awareness of their common class interests, members
have an enormous impact on social analysis and was of a class may suffer from what Marx called false
at the foundation of his approach to class. Such a class consciousness. This is a distorted vision of reality,
Marx called a class ‘in-itself’. The actual identification their place within it, and their real needs. The struggle
of such groups (or classes) of people was much easier between true and false consciousness is waged in the
in Marx’s day. But when society divided into a wide education system, public media, arts and culture, and
range of social groups, this development blurred other spheres of society.
Marx’s social stratification into the two major and two Herein, however, lies the problem with the highly
subordinate classes. This was particularly true with abstract concept of class. Because of the abstract
the increased differences amongst the middle classes. nature of the concept, it does not specify its various
Stressing the ‘objectivist’ reading of class, dimensions and how it is experienced. Because the
however, often suffered the fate of boiling down or working class in South Africa was predominantly
reducing everything to the single notion of class. a black working class, the experience of class was
When class is defined in economic terms to the racialised and assumed racialised forms of expression.
virtual exclusion of any other key non-economic Workers felt themselves oppressed collectively because
factors, such analyses become examples of economic they were being discriminated against in terms of race.
class reductionism. This is especially true in the It was not necessarily as a class that the objectively
South African context. What this means is that class definable South African working class understood
does not capture other ways, like race, in which themselves. Rather, class consciousness was expressed
people think of (or are aware of) themselves as a in terms of being oppressed as Africans, as black, or as
group. As we will later see, class expresses itself in an oppressed nation of people. White workers in the
other, ‘subjective’ ways. Groups of people may well Rand Revolt in 1922, on the other hand, understood
objectively be working class or a class ‘in-itself’, but themselves as a class, but understood this in starkly
may understand themselves subjectively as a nation, racialised and hence, contradictory terms. This was
as Africans, as ‘the people’ or as ‘the poor’. because they rejected their working class comrades on
the other side of the racial divide. The Rand Revolt is
Class understood as ‘subjective’ – or ‘for-itself’ described further in Chapter 13 on Work.
When waged workers become aware of their situation By way of contrast to not only the proletariat in
and the commonality of their interests and begin to South Africa but also the proletarian working class
273

internationally, it is the bourgeoisie who seem to have own them and those who do not, and the extraction
understood themselves more clearly as a class ‘for- of surplus value. Although some workers may receive
itself’ by virtue of their immense economic, political high wages and can afford to buy consumer goods
and social power in society. The basis for this sense (including expensive ones), structurally they occupy
of themselves as a class ‘for-itself’ is explained in the an inferior position, having to work for employers
Communist Manifesto: who exploit them. Workers may improve their position
and experience upward mobility as individuals,
The bourgeoisie cannot exist without constantly but as a class they remain subordinate to capitalists
revolutionising the instruments of production who subject them to wage slavery and extract profits
and thereby the relations of production, and with (surplus value) from them.
them the whole relations of society. (Marx [1848] The combination of material inequalities and
in Tucker 1978: 476) different degrees of consciousness – born in class
struggle – leads to political organisation and a
In playing what Marx deemed to be a historic role in struggle over power. Class may serve as a foundation
the development of human progress, the bourgeoisie for unions, social movements and political parties.
experienced themselves to be a powerful social class. But the relations between classes and their political
Their own system compelled them to revolutionise representatives are not simple. As the economic
production and hence their relations with the working power of the bourgeoisie developed and advanced
class. As the bourgeois class felt they were leading with the growth and establishment of capitalism as
and changing society, they became ever-increasingly the dominant economic system globally, so did their
conscious of the need to pursue their own interests as political power. Marx and Engels defined the role of
a class ‘for-itself’. the bourgeois capitalist class in relation to government
Social action, then, is shaped by shared class – whose role was to administer the affairs of the state in
interests, which are formed on the basis of social the interests of all citizens – in the following way: ‘The
and economic location. In the immediate term such executive of the modern State is but a committee for
interests revolve around wages, working conditions managing the common affairs of the whole bourgeoisie’
and control in the workplace. A longer-term view (Tucker 1978: 475). By this they meant that government
may focus on economic policy matters: budgets, policies in modern states serve the interests of the
taxation, public services, industrial relations and so bourgeoisie as a class, though not necessarily those of
on. Ultimately, structural issues of class power and each individual capitalist (because they are many and
resources at the level of state and society as a whole have divergent interests). In other words, economic
may come to the fore. We can look at interests as power under capitalism could not be separated from
ranging from the concerns of individual members of political power which the bourgeoisie usurped in their
the class in their daily lives to broader concerns of the own class interests – to the detriment of not only the
entire class about its overall position, all linked by a working class but society as a whole.
common class identity.
11.2.7 Class and politics
11.2.6 Class and material inequality Much has changed since this view – that the bourgeoisie
Behind the notion of class interests there is an exercises direct control over state political power – was
understanding that class relations are driven, above expressed by Marx and Engels. In democratic regimes
all, by material inequalities. This aspect is dominant today, political parties – with different class and other
in popular meanings of class. Material inequalities interests – compete for popular votes and frequently
normally refer to inequalities of income, assets claim to be acting in the service of certain classes to
(property, cars, appliances) and access to services attract support. The degree to which they truly work
(water, electricity, housing). For Marx all these were for the classes in whose name they speak varies a great
important components of inequality, but were of deal. Trade unions usually represent workers more
secondary significance. The basic inequality has directly against employers because they are based
rather – from a strictly Marxist perspective – to do with on membership within sectors and workplaces. Yet
access to productive resources, between those who political parties and trade unions alike take part in a
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Chapter 11: Class
struggle for power and, to some extent at least, shape their children, teachers over their learners, employers
government policy in accordance with class interests. over their employees. The state, via the law and law
For more on this issue, read Chapter 8 on Politics and enforcement agencies (the police and the military),
governance. exercises power over all citizens. In brief, power can
Regarding the role of classes in capitalist society, be personal or structural, positive or negative and it
the final point to be made here is that Marx envisaged ebbs and flows. Power is a dynamic potential.
that political forces representing the working class Weber claimed that in order to understand society,
would gradually acquire power and use it to change it was important to recognise how power underpinned
the balance of class forces in favour of workers against the way in which society was socially stratified. This
capitalists. This would, he thought, eventually lead idea was introduced in a few paragraphs in Chapter 1,
to more thorough political transformation, which which might be worth revisiting at this point. Whether
would see the demise of the class-based capitalist in the classical theorists Marx or Weber, or in the post-
state and the rise of a new regime representing the classical theorists, class is defined and embedded in
exploited masses, headed by the working class. This different conceptual frameworks. In the case of Weber,
revolutionary process would mean that capitalism the range of concepts within which class needs to be
will be replaced by a more just, egalitarian and embedded is broader than in the case of Marx.
‘class-less’ society.
We have seen how Marx regarded class as a central 11.3.1 Rationalisation and class
concept, one that changes in order to reflect the If the complex conceptual framework and theories
changing class relations and fortunes of society; how of Weber could be encapsulated in a single word or
it shapes all economic and social relations and how it concept, the word might well be ‘rationalisation’.
will play a crucial role in the political transformation Both individual social action and the social action
of society in the future. This discussion has, however, of collectivities, for Weber, are increasingly required
also noted criticisms of how the single concept of class to conform to legal–rational forms of social action.
and a class analysis of society is not straightforward. The only way to organise an increasingly complex
This examination of class will now turn to Max Weber, industrial society is to continually improve and amend
the thinker who had to work in the shadow of Marx. the rules, procedures and laws by which the various
bureaucratic systems and structures administer and
11.3 Weber’s theory of class regulate society. In fact, so important was the need for
Class is used in sociology as a marker to distinguish bureaucracy and increasing rationalisation in society
between groups of people. Class is one way sociologists that Weber even attributed the demise of slavery
develop systems of social stratification. While Marx to the lack of rationality and calculability in the
was preoccupied with a single aspect of stratification, economy under slavery. In order to develop and thrive,
namely class, Weber had a considerably more complex, society must become increasingly rational. As Weber
multidimensional view of social stratification – the studied industrial society, moreover, he noticed that
division of society into social groups. What underpins it was becoming increasingly characterised by various
the phenomenon of social stratification is the notion processes of rationalisation. As industrial society
of power, and this is more explicit in Weber than in became more complex, so the number of social groups
Marx. Simply put, if one social group or class has proliferated and became more differentiated from one
access to the productive forces in society (as for another. Bear this key insight of Weber in mind as his
Marx) or one social group enjoys better life chances notion of class, as well as his two other key concepts
on the market due to owning property (as for Weber), of social stratification, are defined and applied to
these social groups possess significantly more power identifying social divisions in society.
than a social group or class that does not have access
to material resources. While the notion of power is 11.3.2 Weber’s definition of class
difficult to define or pinpoint, let us use the following While Marx did not provide a formal definition of the
working definition derived from Weber: power is the concept of class, Weber pursued an opposite approach
ability to make others do what you want them to do by providing a formal definition. In his influential
whether they like it or not. Parents have power over Economy and Society (Part II Chapter 4) Weber wrote:
275

The term ‘class’ refers to any group of people him, it is hence not inevitable that shared material or
… [who have the same] typical chance for a class interests necessarily result in class-based social
supply of goods, external living conditions, and action as Marx thought.
personal life experiences, insofar as this chance Organised social action – such as a workers’ strike
is determined by the amount and kind of power, that can be interpreted as an expression of their ‘class
or lack of such, to dispose of goods or skills for the situation’ – depends for its basis not only on their shared
sake of income in a given economic order… ‘Class circumstances. Crucially such social action, for Weber,
situation’ is, in this sense, ultimately ‘market depends also on circumstances such as general cultural
situation’. (Cited in Gerth & Mills [1948] 1974: 181) and political conditions and on ‘the transparency of the
connections between the causes and the consequences
Life-chances are based on people’s ability to compete in of the “class situation”’ (Gerth & Mills [1948] 1974: 184)
the market. This competition favours those who possess (our emphasis). In other words, communal and societal
property or other assets. Those without property have action – which both have their base in shared interests
to sell their labour in order to survive, and are thus and which are both related to the market – will depend
at a disadvantage. What distinguishes those who have on the way people interpret the situation, and the
property from those who do not is, consequently, that extent to which it shapes their consciousness. This is
the two groups have different interests. For example, a far more complicated explanation of how groups of
it is in workers’ interest to earn the highest possible people behave collectively. Unlike Marx supposed,
wage, while it is in employers’ interest to get as much there is no direct relation between social conditions
work out of workers as possible. More rational ways of and voluntary, but consciously organised, collective
working must continually be introduced in the interest social action.
of progress and profitability and generally to serve the To put Weber’s explanation of consciously
interests of employers. organised collective social action another way,
common economic interests do not automatically lead
11.3.3 Class interests and social action to class action, because as Weber puts it:
Above all, according to Weber, the factor behind class
is economic interest. On this point Weber could not In our terminology ‘classes’ are not communities;
have been clearer: ‘According to our terminology, the they merely represent possible, and frequent,
factor that creates “class” is unambiguously economic bases for communal action. (Gerth & Mills [1948]
interest, and indeed, only those interests involved in 1974: 181)
the existence of the “market’’’ (Gerth & Mills [1948]
1974: 83). Hence, for Weber, classes are specifically For any social group to be a community – as opposed
related to interests linked to the market, which to a class sharing a similar set of life chances – they
involve an exchange of property, skills and abilities, must feel they share common ways of life, meanings
for income and other assets. With ‘class’ understood and doing things. Social groups do not just act due to
in this way, shared interests of such a ‘class’ of people sharing similar economic circumstances. Something
may (or may not) serve as a basis for communal action else is needed to spur people to social action. If, for
– which Weber defines as ‘action which is oriented instance, inequalities are regarded as part of the
to the feeling of the actors that they belong together’ natural order of things, or as a just reward for people’s
(Gerth & Mills [1948] 1974: 83). Such ‘class’ interests different abilities and efforts, no organised action is
may serve (or not serve) as a basis for societal action – likely to follow. When the same inequalities are seen
which Weber defines as action ‘oriented to a rationally as a result of unfair distribution of resources, or as a
motivated adjustment of interests’ (Gerth & Mills [1948] result of economic structures and policies that provide
1974: 83). Such action – whether communal or societal some people with advantages while disadvantaging
– may take a more or less organised form. others, action based on people’s association to pursue
For Weber, how social action is organised is crucial common goals may follow. An example of this is the
to understanding the relation between class as rooted service delivery protests in South Africa today.
in the market economy and the extent to which society In this approach, the relationship between class
as a whole is becoming increasingly rationalised. For ‘in-itself’ and class ‘for-itself’, which was established
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Chapter 11: Class
by Marx, becomes more complicated. It is no longer by others. The class situation and the status situation
simply a matter of class members learning to recognise are not necessarily linked and may even be opposed to
their true interests and to act on them. Rather, there one another, with status dividing people of the same
are different ways in which these interests may be class or uniting people across class lines.
defined and serve as a basis for action. We do not know Although Weber gave a few examples of status
in advance what they are, and there is no necessary groups, these were drawn mostly from contexts that
end result to the process. Unlike Marx, Weber did not have limited relevance for us. One type of status,
assume that outsiders, or insider-activists speaking in however, stands out: that of ethnicity and race, which
the name of the class, could determine how interests use real or imaginary common heritages as a foundation
would be interpreted and what action should be taken. for identity. Race in particular (Weber uses the term
In this sense Weber’s approach is more flexible and ‘caste’) is not just about difference but also relations of
open to diverse outcomes. domination, which serve as a basis for mobilisation –
We saw earlier that Marx adhered to the materialist to entrench domination or to fight it.
conception of history, which regards production as Weber identified the difference between the class
the foundation for social, political and ideological situation and market order on the one hand, and
arrangements. From that perspective, class is based the status order on the other. Note how carefully he
primarily in the relations of production. These are the compares the difference between class and status:
relations between groups with different positions in
the process of agricultural and industrial production. With some over-simplification, one might say that
They shape secondary aspects such as class ‘classes’ are stratified according to their relations
consciousness, identity and political organisation. As to the production and acquisition of goods;
briefly indicated in Chapter 1, Weber introduced two whereas ‘status groups’ are stratified according
other concepts to explain these relationships which he to the principles of the consumption of goods
did not think could be reduced to class. as represented by special ‘styles of life’. (Gerth &
Mills [1948] 1974: 193) (Weber’s emphasis)
11.3.4 Status and party
While Weber recognised the economic nature of class In other words, the class situation and market order
and class situations, he also acknowledged other forces. are concerned with ‘functional interests’ only. Work
He called these status and party and they played a must be performed efficiently and transactions must
role in the process of translating class positions into be conducted in a rational manner. Weber says:
communal identities and political action. Weber ‘the market and its processes knows no personal
defined status in the following way: distinctions’ (Gerth & Mills [1948] 1974: 192). Status,
identity and culture play no part here. The status
In contrast to classes, status groups are normally order is defined in terms of the social estimation of
communities … often of an amorphous kind. In ‘honour’ and of ‘styles of life’ peculiar to status groups.
contrast to the purely economically determined This status order or status situation interferes with
‘class situation’ we wish to designate as ‘status the free operation of the market. During supposedly
situation’ every typical component for the life fate rational transactions on the market, a person of high
of men that is determined by a specific, positive social standing often receives preference over someone
or negative, social estimation of honour. (Gerth & of low social status. Sometimes such interference can
Mills [1948] 1974: 186–187) act to reduce economic inequalities and sometimes to
reinforce them. The point is that we must study the
Groups of people – or ‘status groups’ – who find impact of the status order in each case concretely
themselves in the same ‘status situation’ do not have and empirically, instead of simply assuming that it
a clear structure. They are based on ‘social estimation will always be in the same relationship to the class
of honour’ (or prestige). This is a consideration of a order. At a more general level – in Weber’s ‘complex
non-economic factor. Status is related to the ways in multidimensional view’ – the class situation and the
which people identify themselves and are identified status order remain strongly related:
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And today the class situation is by far the Let us look at some attempts to move beyond the
predominant factor, for of course the possibility classical theories in this vein.
of a style of life expected for members of a status
group is usually conditioned economically. (Gerth 11.4.1 Eric Olin Wright and class
& Mills [1948] 1974: 190) The American analytical philosopher and social
theorist Erik Olin Wright has written extensively on
In other words, status is linked to the economic class (Wright 1978; 1985; 1997). The distinction he
position of groups and what they can afford to buy and makes between class structure and class formation
their consequent ‘styles of life’. is a useful starting point to see how he goes beyond
It is within this nuanced relationship of class and classical class analysis. Class structure ‘defines a set
status that Weber introduces another element to the of empty places or positions filled by individuals or
discussion. families’ (Wright 1985: 10). What is important about
this way of understanding class structure for Wright
Whereas the genuine place of ‘classes’ is within is that it provides limits to the possible variations of
the economic order, the place of ‘status groups’ is not only class formation, but also to the forms that
within the social order, that is within the sphere class struggle and class consciousness can assume
of the distribution of ‘honour’. From within these (1985: 27).
spheres, classes and status groups influence one This becomes clear when we see that class
another and they influence the legal order and formation is defined as ‘the formation of organised
are in turn influenced by it. But ‘parties’ live in a collectivities within that class structure on the basis
house of ‘power’. (Gerth & Mills [1948] 1974: 194) of the interests shaped by that class structure’ (Wright
1985: 10) (our emphasis). It is obvious from these
The notion of parties that ‘live in a house of power’ definitions that class structure is the basic element
allows Weber to introduce the element of political in the analysis and that it logically precedes and is a
action. Such action is required to realise goals of an precondition for the processes of class formation. To
ideal or material nature, involving the group as a help clarify further, Wright distinguishes between
whole or some of its members. ‘Party’, for Weber, can these two concepts by suggesting that:
refer to diverse social entities, such as a social club or
the state. Parties represent interests derived from the If class structure is defined by social relations
class situation or status situation or some combination between classes, class formation is defined by
of the two. Their mode of operation is shaped by social relations within classes, social relations
relations of power in society or what Weber refers to as and collectivities engaged in struggle. (Wright
the ‘structure of domination’. 1985: 10) (our emphasis)
In essence, both Marx and Weber see a relationship
between class, identity and power, but whereas Marx For Wright then, the material interests that are
tends to see the latter two as derived from the former the foundation for class formation are based on
key concept of class, Weber regards them as three relations of exploitation that are generated by the
independent, but interrelated dimensions. When class structure. They can be defined with precision
looking at the economic dimension itself, Marx focuses ‘regardless of the subjective states of the actors’
on relations of exploitation and conflict, while Weber’s (Wright 1985: 108). In other words, structures exert
focus is more on opportunities derived from skill, will a decisive influence and determine the limits within
(or agency) and taking advantage of market positions. which processes of class formation, consciousness
and struggle take place. Central to class analysis,
11.4 Integrated perspectives from this perspective, is ‘the role of class structures
Is there a way of integrating the two approaches? Can and class struggles in understanding the overall
Marx’s focus on the centrality of class be retained, but trajectory of historical development’ (1985: 114). This
combined with Weber’s notions of status and party, in role is guided in turn by ‘the development of the
order to address issues of culture, power and identity? forces of production’ (1985: 131).
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Chapter 11: Class
Wright recognises that non-class mechanisms socialism alike resist, as well as collaborate and,
operate in society, that class structure does not surprisingly, even consent, to their own exploitation
determine everything on its own, and that it is not in productive activity. This goes well beyond the
always the most important factor in the explanation of classical analysis of the overall trajectory of capital
social developments. But, what emerges from his work and the determining role of class structure. As
is that class structure is the primary factor that sets Burawoy explains: ‘There is no “objective” notice of
limits on all other factors – among which are gender, class prior to its appearance on the stage of history’
power and identity. The latter do not constrain and (1985: 39). Rather, class is constituted by acting
act upon one another in a similar way to that of class, on the historical stage. Viewed in this way, ‘class
nor do they have an impact on the class structure. The becomes the effect of a set of economic, political and
relations between these concepts are asymmetrical. ideological structures found in all spheres of social
This simply means there is no direct relation between activity’ (ibid.). Hence, class cannot be located in a
class structure and class formation. specific economic realm only.
Looking at class in this way directs our attention Moving from capitalism in the abstract to
towards important issues (how class shapes power detailed empirical studies in the practical politics of
and identity), but also away from other important production, Burawoy asserts that:
issues (how power and identity shape class). But
because Wright maintains a conception of class in there are no longer any objective laws of
solely objective terms and focuses solely on objective development of the capitalist mode of production:
class interests – despite the limits he acknowledges different political apparatuses of production lead
– such a view overlooks the capacity of people to to different struggles and thus to diverse patterns
define different sets of interests on the basis of of accumulation. (Burawoy 1985: 255)
similar circumstances. When class is viewed solely
in objective terms, analysts are given the power to What Burawoy means by the ‘political apparatuses of
decide what their ‘real’ interests are and whether production’ is the role of the state, especially in the
their class consciousness fits their position in society organisation of work. In this he takes a step towards
or constitutes ‘false consciousness’. Wright assumes the recognition that classes and the interests that
that interests follow directly from class structure. organise the life of workers are not determined solely
This removes from the analysis the processes of by economic structures, but are also shaped by power
construction of classes and their interests through (of the state) and culture (of workers). Production
culture, identity and politics. This is what is politics, in other words, brings the role and power of
interesting from a historical perspective. The the state, as well as the agency and lived experience of
capacity of people must then be brought back into the workers, into the account of how classes are formed,
analysis to restore the agency of class actors to class act and struggle against one another.
analysis. Burawoy hence incorporates economic, political
and ideological aspects into his understanding of class
11.4.2 Michael Burawoy and The Politics of and production. His perspective does not, however,
Production grant an independent role for non-class forces. He
In the introduction to his influential book, The recognises that gender and race may play a greater
Politics of Production (1985), Michael Burawoy makes role in society and politics than class, but he regards
it explicitly clear that workers should be brought class nonetheless – in a manner similar to Wright –
back into class analysis. This develops the argument as the basic principle of organisation of contemporary
first made in Manufacturing Consent (Burawoy societies. He does so for the following reasons:
1979). Burawoy studies the industrial working class.
Going beyond Wright, he argues against the notion First, class better explains the development and
of a class ‘in-itself’ that can be defined in objective reproduction of contemporary societies. Second,
terms – the size and composition of class in terms of racial and gender domination are shaped by the
its relation to ownership of economic resources. His class in which they are embedded more than the
focus is on how workers under capitalism and state forms of class domination are shaped by gender
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and race. Therefore, any attempts to eliminate (1963: 9). It happens when people perceive the identity
non-class forms of domination must acknowledge of interests among themselves and against others as a
the limits and character of change within result of common experiences. This class experience,
capitalism and socialism, considered as class which is at the basis of consciousness and action, is
societies. (Burawoy 1985: 9) ‘largely determined by the productive relations into
which men are born – or enter involuntarily’ (Thompson
This statement, however, gives rise to two problems. 1963: 10). For Thompson ‘class consciousness is the way
The first is that the claim that class provides a better in which these experiences are handled in cultural
explanation for the development of contemporary terms: embodied in traditions, value-systems, ideas and
societies is based on the definition in class-related institutional forms’ (ibid.). Understood in this way the
terms. If we do not take the class analysis framework concept of class suddenly becomes less abstract. We can
as our starting point, our understanding of what relate the concept of class now to our own ‘traditions,
constitutes the structure of contemporary societies value-systems and ideas’ instead of to the more ‘objective’
and what counts as development will change. From criterion of our relation to ownership of economic
a race- or gender-centred perspective, the transition resources in society, which is often not straightforward.
from one pattern of class relations to another, and from The important point is that Thompson rejects the
capitalism to socialism, are not necessarily the crucial notion of objective material interests just waiting to
developments that are in need of explanation. be discovered by class actors. Class does not exist
The second problem is that, since gender and outside of a historical process, he says. Class is rather
racial domination are admittedly more tenacious practically defined ‘by men as they live their own
than class domination, it is not clear why they are to history, and, in the end, this is its only definition’ and
be seen as more importantly shaped by class than the so Thompson reminds us that ‘class is a relationship,
other way around. This is particularly the case in a and not a thing’ (1963: 11). Class consciousness,
racially divided South Africa. We consequently need in other words, is not determined by the relations
to develop an analysis that looks at all social identities, of production and does not follow any necessary
interests and structures without reducing them to direction towards a specific outcome. To understand
any particular concept. We should rather identify how consciousness is developing over time, we
connections between class, identity and power. But we need to observe patterns of relationships between
should do so without assuming that they are always people, institutions and ideas. Class is an identity
linked in the same way and with class always emerging that is produced historically in interaction between
as the dominant force. structure and agency, experience and consciousness:
‘The working class made itself as much as it was
11.4.3 EP Thompson and The Making of made’ (Thompson 1963: 213).
the English Working Class Thompson has, in his construal of class,
A more flexible formulation of class analysis, which powerfully recognised the agency of class actors.
appeared before Wright and Burawoy wrote their This means that people formulate their own interests,
works, is found in the work of British historian EP based on their specific history and social position,
Thompson. In his book The Making of the English instead of following objective interests defined by
Working Class (1963), he regards class as: others. In understanding class in this way, Thompson
set the stage for theorists to recognise fully the role of
a historical phenomenon, unifying a number of culture and power in the formation of class and class
disparate and seemingly unconnected events, consciousness. Subsequent theorists then started to
both in the raw material of experience and in look at class and community, languages of class, and
consciousness. I emphasize that it is a historical class experience.
phenomenon. (Thompson 1963: 9)
11.5 Class, people and community
Class for Thompson is not a ‘structure’ or a ‘category’, Social scientist Craig Calhoun (1982) focuses his
but ‘something which in fact happens (and can be contribution on the need to recognise the diversity
shown to have happened) in human relationships’ of positions occupied by workers, which makes it
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Chapter 11: Class
difficult to lump them all together under the same cannot assume in advance that the particular language
label of ‘the working class’ (in the singular). He of class necessarily expresses people’s experiences,
argues that the majority of the working masses in even if we restrict ourselves to the spheres of work
the period considered in Thompson’s work (Britain and production.
in the nineteenth century) identified themselves as As a consequence, we must examine how class
‘the people’ rather than as ‘the working class’. They concepts become central (or not) to the way people
adhered to community-based populist ideologies, not represent themselves and their experiences at specific
class-specific movements, and succeeded in mobilising historical moments. In the words of historian Joan
people precisely because they did not call on them to Scott, ‘we should attend to the process by which one
abandon their different identities in favour of a single definition emerged as dominant, looking both for
category of ‘working class’. This gave them a sense of explicitly stated and implicitly structured political
being part of a larger group, as did the concept of ‘the relationships’ (1988: 88). Seen from this perspective,
nation’. The concept of class did not have the same class becomes a field that always contains multiple
political mobilising capacity as that of ‘the people’. and contested meanings. The analysis of class should
Communal organisation, building on existing bonds, proceed by ‘interrogating its meanings – not only its
provided a more powerful basis for action. terminology and the content of its political programs,
Calhoun’s arguments refer to a point in time and but the history of its symbolic organisation and
space remote from ours, but it may be applicable to linguistic representation’ (Scott 1988: 90).
other situations as well: people organise on a variety of Putting meaning and representation at the centre
issues, using different components of their identities, of leads Scott to question the notion of lived experience
which class is only one – and not necessarily the most as a foundation for class consciousness. Experience,
important. Three components of collective association she argues, is constructed historically, and what passes
are particularly important: people, community and as meaningful experiences for people and groups are
nation. The three are not mutually exclusive with themselves produced through the operation of culture
regard to class or one another. They can be seen and power. At times these experiences bring together
as partially overlapping and partially competing people of different backgrounds on the basis of their
principles of identity and organisation. shared class circumstances. At other times the same
All these concepts – people, community and unifying aspect of experience also serves to exclude
nation – allow people to define themselves in terms other aspects of human activity by not counting these
that address a particular set of circumstances, without aspects as being experiences with any significance for
committing themselves to a potentially divisive social organisation and politics. When class becomes
identity. Class appears as a more contentious and, an overriding identity, other components of identity –
therefore, a more problematic basis for action. People, such as gender and race – are incorporated into it, and
community and nation are inclusive concepts that our focus on class results in diverting attention away
have a unifying dynamic, creating a sense of being a from these. We also ignore other important spheres
majority of the population and occupying the moral of life such as meaningful beliefs and traditions,
high ground. Class identification, therefore, involves for example. How some experiences become more
more of an uphill struggle than popular or communal prominent than others is hence a central question
and national identification. to bear in mind and which your further studies will
Another critique of mainstream approaches hopefully explore.
to the question of class was provided by British
historian Gareth Stedman Jones (1983). Stedman Jones 11.6 The conceptual status of class
questions the notions of experience, consciousness Where does the preceding discussion leave us? As
and interest. He directs our attention to the ways in Marx initially put it in his iconic general principle:
which our political language (or discourse) serves to
conceptualise and define our social interests. We must It is not consciousness of men that determines their
study the production of interests, identities, grievances being, but, on the contrary, their social being that
and aspirations, as they are formulated within the determines their consciousness. (Marx 1977 [1859]
terms of political discourse. This means that we in Tucker 1978: 4)
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Given the importance of the system of economic Introducing discourse (the languages of class) and
production for Marx and the ‘predominant factor’ of representation (how people present themselves as
the class situation for Weber, class must be retained a group) into the class picture makes its different
as a conceptual category when analysing society. Yet components even less clearly aligned. This means
even taking the spheres of production and the market the position in the system of production may acquire
together, this does not determine the ways and forms different meanings for individuals, and then may
that social consciousness, collective identity and serve as different bases for identity formation, and in
political involvement can assume. There must be room turn become different bases for action. In other words,
for independent thought and opinion at the heart of people who share similar social positions may juggle
individual and collective agency. Having said that, we between different identities and modes of political
must recognise that it is largely Weber’s contribution action, and the straight line from objective class
which has compelled us to adopt this view. In short, no interests (class ‘in-itself’) to subjective political action
mono-causal explanation for the complexity of social (class ‘for-itself’) is not so clear and obvious any longer.
reality is possible. While class is a powerful conceptual How all this works in practice must be the subject
variable, it cannot account for the full array of human of a case-by-case study of concrete interactions over
experience, whether individual or collective. Where time. Recall the brief quote at the beginning of this
Marx relied too heavily on class, Weber alerted us to a chapter how Marx argued that the analysis of class
more complex and multidimensional analysis of social should, in each case, be based on the ‘empirically given
stratification and hence to a more nuanced analysis and circumstances’ (Bottomore 1983: 77). In the South
understanding of society. African context in particular, we need to examine
This is a debate in which we hope you will actively how notions of class have interacted historically with
engage. Culture, identity and power are all forces notions of community, people and nation. In other
that operate alongside class. These forces shape class words, how have class identity and organisation
perhaps as much as class shapes them. In other words, overlapped, but at times also contradicted the language
we need to look at the interrelationships between all and politics of community and popular and national
these forces rather than derive their impact from the mobilisation? This is not just a conceptual question.
primary concept of class, as Marx tended to do. It also means looking at alliances between class-based
unions and parties, community-based organisations
11.6.1 Modifying class analysis and popular and nationalist movements. This is not
Recent attempts seeking to modify class analysis a small intellectual and social scientific task. It is
have built on Weber’s initial insights to expand the ongoing and one you are invited to join. This chapter
field of investigation. There is more emphasis today has only been able to introduce the issue. Bearing all
on a broader range of concepts. Notions of lived this in mind, our empirical focus must now, however,
experience, social meanings, political discourse and turn to our own society.
symbolic representation, for instance, help overcome
the gap between class as objective (class ‘in-itself’) 11.7 South African society and class
and class as subjective (class ‘for-itself’). For Marx, it analysis
was just a matter of time and education before class Given the dominance of race in South African
forces (particularly the working class) would realise society – from colonial times, through segregation
what their interests are and how to act on them. As and apartheid and even into democracy – it is
you well know, Weber introduced status and party understandable that the concept of race was the
as additional concepts that make the transition from starting point in understanding our racially divided
objective class existence to active class identity more society. Race as a central concept was, however,
complicated. Status and party may bring people of displaced by the concept of class in the social
different classes together and may divide people of the sciences in the 1970s. This sparked a major debate
same class. Hence, we need to consider their operation which became known as the ‘race–class debate’ (see
independently, without assuming that they necessarily Posel 1983). Yet we know from our discussion earlier,
align with class as a social force. Instead, they may that any mono-causal explanation of race, class or
subvert and undermine it, and vice versa. any other single conceptual category is bound to
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Chapter 11: Class
have limitations. There are three important lessons Kuper acknowledged that there was a proletariat
to be learned from this, but which also can be more in South Africa: black people did not own the
generally applied. The first is that understanding means of production or had access to too little
South African society in a scholarly manner leans on such productive property to subsist, and were,
studies conducted in the past. The second is that it therefore, compelled to work for wages ….
is instructive to see how conceptual and theoretical But, Kuper argued, someone’s class situation
analyses develop and advance – and to note what they was less important than their racial position in
often overlook entirely. The third lesson is that there determining their life chances … White workers,
is still work to be done and that is where you come in. despite their lack of property, benefited from and
The ‘race–class debate’ took place between thus had an interest in maintaining the system
thinkers following the liberal modernisation theory of racial discrimination. (Seekings 2009: 870) (our
on the one hand and thinkers following in the Marxist emphasis)
tradition on the other. The former used race – or what
Weber called caste – as their key concept. The latter Race prevented black workers from being free to sell
used the concept of class. In hindsight, the debate their labour, acquire skills and education and:
turned out to be somewhat sterile as it resulted in the
‘“either-or” quality of this debate’ (Posel 1983: 50). The finally the lack of productive property is itself a
issue turned on the importance and impact of race and consequence of race criteria which determine the
racial policies in South Africa for the development distribution of available land in South Africa and
of capitalism on the subcontinent of Africa. The rigorously control the right to acquire property.
Weberian-orientated scholars who focused on race, (Kuper 1949: 152, cited in Seekings 2009: 870)
argued that racial policies were dysfunctional for
the development of capitalism and progress in South Citing Weber on both caste and class, Kuper argued
African society. The Marxist-orientated scholars, also that ‘the proletarianisation of the Native is one of
referred to as the revisionists, who focused on class, the forms in which race conflict is expressed’ (1949:
argued that racial policies were functional to and 153). What drew Kuper’s attention, however, was not
necessary for the development of capitalism based the working class or the capitalist class, but the small
on mining. emerging African middle class.
11.7.1 Weberian class analysis of apartheid The African middle class

Max Weber’s important essay Class, Status, Party In 1950 in South Africa the African middle class
only became known to social scientists in South only constituted between 2 and 3 per cent of the total
Africa in 1948 with the translation from German African population (Seekings 2009). It comprised
of Max Weber’s work by Gerth and Mills ([1948] mainly small traders, clerks in the mining industry and
1974). From the late 1940s through to the 1960s, a very small handful of professionals. Status is key to
Weber’s ideas inspired a wave of pioneering studies understanding this class which ‘was a class determined
on social stratification in South Africa (Seekings to differentiate itself from the African working class’
2009). Yet these analyses, recently rediscovered by (2009: 871) and, like the African-American middle
Jeremy Seekings, were overlooked as Marxism – class, was ‘obsessed’ with the ‘struggle for status’
and its conception of class – came to dominate the (Frazier 1957: 236, cited in Seekings 2009: 871). A
intellectual climate in South Africa in the 1970s. study by two later anthropologists, Monica Wilson and
You can read about this in the final chapter of this Archie Mafeje, confirmed the concern of the African
textbook. Before this occurred, leaning on Weberian middle class with social status:
scholars in America, the central issue was the
relationship between class and Weber’s notion of They pride themselves on being respectably
caste – or race. dressed and gentle and polite in their manner
The first South African theorist to examine the … English is used in many situations among
class–caste relation was the Weberian-inspired thinker themselves … Those with the highest status
Leo Kuper. Like both Marx and Weber: in Langa are those who have absorbed most of
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Western culture. (Wilson & Mafeje 1963: 26 & 145, the status order and the class structure was largely missing
cited in Seekings 2009: 871) from these accounts. However, he also argues that:
Among the middle class who were engaged in small The key strength of the Weberian approaches
business in Langa outside Cape Town, not only was was that, notwithstanding a lack of clarity in key
status a concern, it was also strongly suggested that details, they suggested that status distinctions
‘class distinctions plainly exist in Langa’ (Wilson & coexisted with differentiation by occupational
Mafeje 1963: 28, cited in Seekings 2009: 872). What is class – a point that was frequently overlooked
of particular interest, Seekings argues, is that despite when class was reduced to its Marxist variant.
the Weberian influence on Kuper, there is a ‘lack of (Seekings 2009: 877)
clarity about the relationship between (occupational)
class and status (or prestige)’ (Seekings 2009: 873). As Seekings points out, Marxist analyses would shift
In the complex South African situation it does from examining social life to studying the organisation
seem, however, that while class distinction rested of production – and that of the gold mining industry in
on a slender material basis of being primarily small particular.
business owners, it coincided with status. Significant,
however, was Kuper’s view that the racial policies of 11.7.2 Marxian class analysis of apartheid
apartheid were responsible for pushing this class into The decisive shift from the Weberian emphasis on
radical and even revolutionary politics. race to the Marxist focus on class can be traced to
A later study on the African social ‘elite’ sought what became the most quoted academic article ever
to distinguish class from status by drawing a line of in the social sciences in South Africa. This article
division between this ‘social elite’ and an ‘occupational was entitled Capitalism and Cheap Labour Power in
elite’ on the basis of social status (Brandel-Syrier South Africa: From Segregation to Apartheid (Wolpe
1971). This middle class was apparently contemptuous 1972). Its author, the sociologist and activist Harold
of ‘African culture’ and drew selectively on Western Wolpe, wanted to explain why apartheid had been
culture (Seekings 2009: 873). In grappling with how instituted. He argued that apartheid was not merely
to apply Weberian concepts to a starkly racialised the intensification of the previous government policy
society and – as ever – comparing Marx and Weber, a of racial segregation. Wolpe controversially argued
further study by the sociologist Pierre van den Berghe that the shift to apartheid was not centrally about the
concluded that: racial policies of the state, but occurred as a result of
a changing relationship, at the wider level of political
Social classes in the Marxian sense of relationship economy, between the ‘capitalist and African pre-
to the means of production exist by definition, capitalist modes of production’ (Wolpe 1972: 425).
as they must in any capitalist country, but they To successfully establish capitalist mining in South
are not meaningful social realities. Clearly, Africa, the collective labour power – the capacity
pigmentation, rather than ownership of capital or to work – of the African mining proletariat had to
labour, is the most significant criterion of status be paid below its costs of social reproduction. The
in South Africa. (Van den Berghe 1965: 267, cited term reproduction refers to the costs of maintaining
in Seekings 2009: 876) the working class family. In order to establish itself,
mining capital needed a supply of cheap labour.
You can see here in this Weberian-inspired study, how The key and central point is this: when the migrant
race and class were viewed as distinct and separate, labourers have access to a means of subsistence outside
much as they were in the liberal vs Marxian ‘race–class the capitalist economy and they then enter wage
debate’. As we have already concluded, this was not a relationships in the formal capitalist economy, they do
satisfactory way of understanding South African society. not have to be paid the full cost of their reproduction.
While Weberian analyses, which emphasised race in This is because they live, in part, off the pre-capitalist
the South African context, were to disappear with the African agricultural economy between migrant labour
adoption of Marxism, Seekings concludes that one of contracts and especially when ill or old. Capital pays
the weaknesses of this approach was that the origins of the worker below the cost of his/her reproduction. In
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Chapter 11: Class
other words, this saves the capitalist economy part of means is that there were not two separate and
the cost of maintaining the working class family. unrelated economies in South Africa – namely an
Apartheid, in other words, was simply the specific African subsistence agricultural economy and a
political mechanism to maintain a cheap labour- capitalist mining economy. Two economies implies
power regime by rationalising the existing racially independence and separation. For Wolpe, modes
organised system of segregation and developing a of production articulate with one another because
complete system of domination and control. For Harold capitalism ‘enters into, lives off and transforms the
Wolpe, then, the shift from the political policy of racial rural African economy’ (Wolpe 1972: 433).
segregation under British imperialism to the new local The consequence of this – more obvious now even
nationalist political policy of racial apartheid was not than when Wolpe wrote 40 years ago – is that capitalism
to be explained in terms of race and the rise of the not only transforms previous pre-industrial modes of
National Party in 1948. This shift in policy was not production, but destroys them. Already having begun
a case of increased racial oppression due to a racist under the political policies and systems of colonialism
and totalitarian ideology. Apartheid did not differ and segregation, under apartheid the pre-capitalist
in degree only from segregation by representing an mode of production was systematically destroyed
intensification of racial domination. Apartheid was through soil erosion, a decline of production and the
not simply an increase in white domination, nor was impoverishment of the people resulting in starvation,
it merely the modernisation of segregation. Rather, malnutrition and a high death and debilitation rate.
apartheid was to be explained in terms of Marxist The majority of black South Africans ended up living
political economy and class analysis. In short, apartheid below the level of subsistence in the predominantly
was necessary for the development of capitalism based rural reserves.
on mining. This argument put Marxist class analysis Not able to survive in the rural reserves
firmly at the centre of sociological inquiry. The key led to increasing urbanisation and permanent
methodological and conceptual point Wolpe made proletarianisation. This went against the policy
is that any political policy of the state – in this case of apartheid. Industrialisation developed as the
the racial policies of apartheid – must themselves be capitalist economy gradually expanded from the
explained in terms of a specific historical moment by primary sector (maize and gold) to the secondary
accounting for its ‘ideology, political practice and the sector (manufacturing). The pure idea of apartheid
mode of production’ (Wolpe 1972: 427). as a system based on the complete division of society
The issue is, for Wolpe, not about race per se. Rather, based on race, then had to accommodate a black
while the state is an instrument of racial domination, urban working class, which resulted in the building
it is also ‘an instrument of class rule in a specific form of the townships with black people subject to a raft of
of capitalist society’ (Wolpe 1972: 429). The state – racially discriminatory legislation, the Pass laws and
whether colonial, segregationist or under apartheid the very limited right of residence in particular. This
– always served to develop capitalism, especially by generated conflict not just over wages but all aspects
acting through the law to facilitate its development. of social life and brought the entire structure of a
What apartheid made clear in South Africa was class-based capitalist, yet also racially divided society,
that the state does not just appear to intensify racial into question.
domination and segregation – continued from British Resistance and the emergence of a radical black,
rule – but that racist policy and ideology really are a largely middle-class intelligentsia developed in the
means to reproduce capitalism. 1940s. The Mandela generation was responsible for
By presenting this class-based analysis, Wolpe the radicalisation of the African National Congress.
wanted to break through the mask of racial ideology Apartheid became economically untenable as there
which hides the capitalist nature of society. Racial were simply not enough whites to provide the skills for
ideology and practices, for Wolpe, mask the way the development of a capitalist economy. Spurred on by
in which capitalism as a mode of production, in his international pressure against South Africa’s legalised
words, ‘articulates’ with the previously independent racist policies, although not without enormous political
pre-capitalist African agricultural mode of production struggle and individual sacrifice, the end of apartheid
– as capitalism tends to do elsewhere. What this loomed and the prospect of democracy arose.
285

For Wolpe, apartheid was a response to the rural domination needed to receive attention. It would be
and urban challenge of the black working class and mainly social historians who would move in this
the changed conditions of migrant labour-power. He direction by conducting detailed empirical studies
notes a range of aspects of apartheid and its difference examining lived experience, consciousness, power
to the previous policy of racial segregation and how and identity.
apartheid perfected the mechanisms of control of the
‘Non-white population’ (Wolpe 1972: 446). In brief, 11.7.3 Non-reductionist perspectives on
apartheid removed the last political rights for black class
people through racial legislation. Anti-communist In order to break away from class viewed in purely
legislation was passed to prevent class from becoming economic and objective terms, an influential group
a mobilising factor for black African nationalism. of social historians took a step back from studying
Black African and other ‘non-white’ geographical and apartheid and began to study the formation of the
job mobility was restricted. Powerful police, security African mining working class. The first major work
and white civilian army reserves were established. was that of Charles van Onselen in his book Chibaro
Strikes by black workers were outlawed and trade ([1976] 1980) – which means ‘forced labour’. In his
unions of African workers – although never officially detailed historical study of African mine labour in
outlawed – were effectively repressed in order to keep Southern Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) Van Onselen
wages down. identified patterns of resistance among black miners.
The central aspect of Wolpe’s argument was that He argues that desertion from the mines and harsh
the African reserves, referred to as ‘Bantustans’ by conditions in the compounds are an index of worker
the apartheid regime, which were the source of cheap consciousness.
labour-power, began to break down under segregation.
But under apartheid, state power over residence Desertion as a rational and conscious attempt
and movement of all black people was asserted by to avoid exploitation is perhaps most clearly
repressive means to continue to supply to capital a evident in the response of workers to the death
source of cheap black, still largely, migrant labour- and disease that was rampant in the compounds.
power, ‘but in a new form’ (Wolpe 1972: 448). (Van Onselen [1976] 1980: 239)
Weberian class analysis, in terms of class–caste
(or race) was entirely eclipsed by a slew of new Following the perspective of other European social
‘revisionist’ Marxist class analyses following Wolpe’s historians, such as EP Thompson, abstract concepts
hugely influential article. One of the problems with such as race and class then became embedded in the
Wolpe’s analysis, and which he himself recognised and details of workers’ experience of work and life on
corrected, was that he had ended up with a reductionist the mines.
understanding of class as he had not taken the question What developed was a wide range of ‘local
of the national struggle and the capacity of people to histories’, ‘popular history’ or writing ‘history from
fight against racial oppression into consideration. In below’ that often made use of oral history – taking
such reductionist Marxist analyses (and Wolpe’s was the actual accounts of ordinary black workers and
not the only one): people seriously. Given the importance of class
rooted in capitalism, labour history became a focus
… ‘the class for itself’ is collapsed into ‘the class (see Webster 1978). Township life, patterns of protest,
in itself’ – that is to say, no space is allowed for culture and worker experience and action became
the contribution of non-economic conditions to the focus in the book entitled Labour, Townships and
the formation of class interests. (Wolpe 1988: 15) Protest (Bozzoli 1979). A wide array of social issues
and history was treated in two volumes of Working
What Wolpe then did was to suggest that the relation Papers in Southern African Studies (see Bonner 1979;
between race and class had to be reconceptualised 1981). This scholarly work has continued apace. In
in order to develop a non-reductionist theory of class brief, the major conceptual themes of class, race and
within Marxism. To do this, the specific conditions gender have been closely investigated by examining
of the relationship between capitalism and white how they interrelate to one another in specific social
286

Chapter 11: Class
and historical contexts. Culture, lived experience and The study then is based on an orthodox Marxist conception
the self-understanding and consciousness of ordinary of class. Unlike previous Marxist studies, however, the
people are central to the formation of identity and to book reviews the previously overlooked Weberian studies
understanding the exercise and use of power in society. of class stratification noted in this chapter.
The class structure of South African society has This important study, which is well worth hunting
consequently proved to be considerably more complex down, is an impressive examination of the analysis
than scholars anticipated. Understanding class under of class. In order to expand on the concept of class
democracy would be no less difficult. as rooted in production, the notion of employment
category is formulated and represents the objective
Class in Soweto
11.7.4 aspect of class.
Class in Soweto is a major exercise in sociological No less than nine employment categories emerge
research. It is an empirical study of class. The three from the empirical findings. While these employment
guiding theoretical issues which inform it will be categories are not classes, the authors argue that ‘One
familiar to you: can see them as defined in relationships to production,
• the strength of Marx’s concept of class is the level whether direct or indirect, and of relationships
of its abstraction (it can be widely applied) between the different categories’ (Alexander et al 2013:
• class is principally about production, but also 7). Class as a relation is hence strongly maintained,
about aspects of reproduction (although the gaps both empirically and conceptually. Noted in Table 11.1
between classes are wider than in Marx’s day) are nine employment categories, the relation of each
• subjectivity is important. category to production, the number of respondents
who participated in the quantitative survey and the
With regards to subjectivity, the authors are concerned estimated percentage of Sowetans in each category.
with three further matters. The first is a focus on The table provides a useful objective picture of class.
agency, for agency is responsible for social change. A key conclusion drawn from this data is that
Secondly, while the distinction between class ‘in- Soweto is a proletarian township. ‘Soweto’s proletariat
itself’ is recognised as something objective and class is a differentiated unity’ where proletarian is defined
‘for-itself’ is recognised as capturing the notion of to mean:
subjectivity, the authors acknowledge the key point
about class made in this chapter – that class includes that group of people who have access to only one
other dimensions, but which they do not explore. main means of production – their own ability to
They write: work – and whose opportunities for exploiting
this ability are, therefore, circumscribed by the
In this formulation [of class in and for itself], availability of employment. (Ceruti 2013: 97)
subjectivity could include subjectivities according
to race, gender and so on, but we focused narrowly Yet what this data shows about the class structure
on class subjectivities. (Alexander et al 2013: 5–6) of this proletarian township is rather startling given
that: ‘… 69 per cent of adult Sowetans [are] either
Thirdly, they provide a rationale for their choice not in the labour force, unemployed or engaged in
by suggesting that holding onto Marx’s distinction survivalist strategies‘ (Alexander et al 2013: 3). Given
between objective (class ‘in-itself’) and subjective this broadly based tenuous relation to productive
(class ‘for-itself’) aspects of class: resources – including the ability to sell one’s labour –
what Sowetans very broadly share is:
discourages slippage into assumptions that
capitalism inevitably leads to socialism, and a dependence on availing themselves for
instead opens up possibilities for researching exploitation. When opportunities to do so are
the relationship between the two dimensions. absent, their dependence is often manifested in
(Alexander et al 2013: 6] deprivation. (Ceruti 2013: 119)
287

Table 11.1 The structure of employment and unemployment in Soweto (all Sowetans aged 16 and over)
Employment Relation to production No of respondents Estimated

categories (unweighted percentage
count) of Sowetans
(weighted)
Capitalists The owners of productive resources 3 0
Managers Those who exercise some control and 24 1

surveillance over workers
Regularly employed Non-owning waged workers – including 582 24

workers public service workers
Partial workers Day labourers and short-term workers 251 11
Unemployed (our Marx’s ‘reserve army of labour’ 535 24

definition)
Survivalist self- Independent people, but who would 225 10

employed prefer to be employed
Petty bourgeoisie Self-employed and small business owners 129 6
Students Neither employed nor available for 261 12

employment
Pensioners and Those permanently outside the labour 309 12

disabled force
Total 2 319 100
(Source: Adapted from: Class in Soweto survey 2006 (Alexander et al 2013: 107)
Yet despite this sobering finding, in the 2006 Class Another surprising finding is that while 41 per cent
in Soweto survey (Alexander et al 2013) on the aspect of Sowetans described themselves as working class (as
of subjectivity in the study and how people identify one of the series of options of class labels respondents
themselves, 90 per cent of Sowetans could classify were given), only 3 per cent of Sowetans chose
themselves in class terms. Almost four tenths (38 per the single label of working class as their preferred
cent) used a single class label (working class, middle class identity.
class, etc) with the strong finding that ‘Most Sowetans There is a wealth of such data and material in
had multiple class identities’ (Alexander 2013: 3). Class in Soweto. What very strongly emerges from
A surprising 66 per cent of Sowetans described this study, however, is that the objective conditions
themselves as middle class. As Mosa Phadi and Owen of class do not translate into the subjective definition
Manda note in the study, citing the 1977 work of the of class. Hence the more difficult task of exploring
anthropologist Philip Mayer: ‘Africans tended to use the interrelationships between class, identity, power
the term “middle class”, not in the Western sense to and culture – argued for in this chapter – powerfully
refer to professional people or business people; but asserts itself empirically.
to refer to “medium people” or people in the middle A further point about this study can be made in
– “abantu abaphakathi”. These people were “neither the light of this chapter. In Class in Soweto, social
well off nor very poor or dissolute” (Mayer 1977: 67)’ class distinctions rested on the notion of affordability
(Phadi & Manda 2013: 203). Students often described (Alexander et al 2013: 3) and the ability to consume
themselves in this way as middle class due to being and maintain a certain lifestyle. Affordability is
supported by their families and hence felt they had clearly closely related to work and production. Yet
been given opportunities (Phadi & Ceruti 2013: 157). access to goods and whether they can be afforded or
288

Chapter 11: Class
not and how affordability is regarded in Soweto surely captured the broad range of ways people saw and
impacts on social status? But perhaps this is a question understood themselves and others.
for further empirical research on the complex nature • A range of post-classical theorists discussed in
of class and its relation to the range of concepts that this chapter integrated aspects of the work of the
have been used to illuminate it and the nature of South classical theorists.
African society more generally. • When the concept of class is closely interrogated,
What this chapter has done is to come back to its a further range of concepts such as power, culture
conceptual starting point where class was defined and identity come to the fore. The interrelationship
solely in relation to the economy. When applied between class and these concepts needs to
empirically in a context that differs considerably from be explored.
when Marx, Weber or most of the theorists wrote, • In using class as a conceptual perspective to
the identification of ‘employment categories’ was analyse society, this chapter argued that it is
formulated to illustrate how the abstract concept of Weber’s more complex multidimensional view that
class can be usefully applied to explain something needs to be taken seriously.
about our contemporary society – the essentially • When using the concept of class, class must
class-based character of the sprawling and historically always be analysed in the empirical and historical
important place called Soweto. What must be clear is contexts in which it occurs. Both Marx and Weber
that this is but a starting point to understand ourselves, make this clear and we must not lose sight of this.
our own neighbourhood and the society in which we • The major empirical study of class referred to in
live. Many illuminating discoveries await the exercise this chapter, Class in Soweto, illustrated how the
of our sociological imagination. concept of class needs to be examined anew. It also
shows that it is complex as it has both objective and
Summary subjective aspects. Questions about the salience
• Class is an abstract concept, the strength of which of class therefore remain on the agenda of the
makes it widely applicable. However, the difficulty social sciences.
is that it does not include non-economic factors,
nor does it point to any actual economic conditions Are you on track?
a class of people share. 1. Carefully define both Marx’s and Weber’s concept
• When using class to analyse and understand of class, as well as the two other important concepts
society, it is closely related to a range of other Weber uses in his model of social stratification.
concepts in theories of class – particularly in the 2. Explain Marx’s distinction between class ‘in-itself’
case of both Marx and Weber. and class ‘for-itself’.
• Class can be used as a way to understand society 3. Why, according to Weber, are common economic
as a whole. This would be an example of ‘class interests in the ‘class situation’ not directly related
analysis’. It can also be used to understand the to class identity and social action?
nature of social groups themselves. This would be 4. Explain the difference between ‘class analysis’
an example of ‘the analysis of class’. and ‘the analysis of class’.
• Marx saw class as having both objective and 5. Explain how one post-classical theorist (Wright,
subjective factors. This was illustrated in his Burawoy or Thompson) go beyond Marx in his
distinction between a class ‘in-itself’ and a class conception of class.
‘for-itself’. For Marx the subjective aspect of class 6. Define class formation and explain how the
is directly related to the objective aspect, while for South African black mining working class was
Weber there is no direct relation between the ‘class formed. (Hint: start with Karl Marx’s account in
situation’, status groups and social action. the Communist Manifesto on the formation of the
• For Weber, the additional concepts of status and working class and go through the textbook for
party are required to elaborate what he referred to empirical and historical detail illustrating how
as the ‘class situation’. The reason for this is that this has occurred in South Africa.)
Weber did not think class, on its own, adequately 7. What is your class and status position in
your community?
289

8. How would you go about identifying your own 1983 (with the assistance of Mmantho Nkotsoe).
class and status position? Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
9. Do class and status overlap in your case? If so, Crompton R, Devine F, Savage M, Scott J (eds). Renewing
describe and explain how they do to someone who Class Analysis. Oxford: Blackwell Publishers/The
is not familiar with your neighbourhood. Sociological Review.
10. How did grappling with these questions – as an Giddens A, Held D (eds). 1982. Classes, Power and
exercise in the sociological imagination – reveal Conflict: Classical and Contemporary Debates.
something new about your society? Give reasons London: Macmillan.
for your answer. Grusky DB (ed). 1994. Social Stratification: Class, Race
and Gender in Sociological Perspective. Oxford:
More sources to consult Westview Press.
Bendix R (ed). 1966. Class, Status and Power (2nd ed). Vidich AJ (ed). 1995. The New Middle Class: Life-Styles,
London: Routledge & Kegan Paul. Status Claims and Political Orientations. London:
Bozzoli B. 1991. Woman of Phokeng: Consciousness, Macmillan.
Life Strategy and Migrancy in South Africa, 1900– Wolpe H. 1988. Race, Class and the Apartheid State.
London: James Currey.
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291

Chapter 12
Social inequality
Christopher Thomas
When members of society do not have equal opportunities or access to resources, the result is social inequality. The uneven
allocation and distribution of resources in society occurs along the lines of how society is organised hierarchically into different
layers or strata. Societies are analysed by sociologists as being characterised by social stratification which gives rise to social
inequality. While many different forms of social stratification exist in different societies and which lead to different forms and
degrees of social inequality, the most common and divisive types of social inequality are those based on race, gender and class.
Opportunities, such as access to education and jobs, and resources, such as financial capital, land and property ownership, are
organised along these lines of hierarchical stratification. Social inequality is consequently a major topic in sociology.
Social inequality is also a global societal challenge as it increases exponentially across many parts of the world. The extent
of social inequality, most especially the extent of the economic stratification of society into elites (the rich) and commoners (the
poor) has in fact played a central role in the last 5 000 years in the collapse of advanced, sophisticated and complex civilisations
such as ours. This is the finding of a major study conducted in 2014 by natural and social scientists, led by the mathematician
Safa Motesharrei and partly sponsored by the United States National Aeronautical Space Agency (NASA). It is well known that
South Africa has consistently ranked as one of the most unequal societies in the world when measured by the Gini coefficient
and that the topic clearly requires serious study. A 2010 study, using a modified Gini coefficient, found, however, that while still
very high, the redistribution initiatives of government had achieved considerably more success than was immediately evident
(Bosch et al 2010).
This chapter sets out how sociologists have traditionally understood social inequality, how what can be termed the
hierarchies of power of race, class and gender account for social inequality in South Africa in the aftermath of the colonial
encounter predicated on slavery. Two of the classical accounts of social inequality are then discussed, followed by the way
in which functionalist analyses argue that social inequality is inevitable in all societies. The work of a modern thinker which
suggests that schooling and the development of human capital are critical for overcoming social inequality is then broached
before taking a closer look at the extent and changing character of social inequality in South African society. It is with an
exercise as to how social inequality has been pointedly addressed through legislation in democratic South Africa, however,
that this chapter starts. Just before doing so, however, it is highly recommended that for this chapter and the next, students
refer back to Chapter 9 on Race, Chapter 11 on Class, and most especially Chapter 10 on Gender, the content of which is not
explicitly discussed here.
Case study 12.1 Addressing the apartheid legacy of social inequality
Post-apartheid transformation is affected by the policy guidelines and legislation introduced by the ruling party, the African
National Congress (ANC). The following are extracts from its statement on Black Economic Empowerment (BEE) and the
Employment Equity Act of 1998. These persist in shaping the understanding of how to transcend the legacy of black
poverty and social inequality rooted in a long history of white domination and privilege under colonialism, segregation and
apartheid. Read the policy issues discussed in the following extracts and then answer the questions that follow.
➟

Black Economic Empowerment

With regards to specific instruments to de-racialise the economy, the ANC’s 1992 Policy Guidelines stated that:
Management of both the public and private sectors will have to be de-racialised so that they rapidly and progressively
come to reflect the skills of the entire population. Equity ownership will have to be extended so that people from all
sectors of the population have a stake in the economy and power to influence economic decisions.
In relation to ownership, the Reconstruction and Development Programme (RDP) stated:
The domination of business activities by white business and the exclusion of black people and women from the
mainstream of economic activity are causes for great concern for the reconstruction and development process. A
central objective of the RDP is to de-racialise business ownership and control completely through focused policies of
Black Economic Empowerment.
Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998

… as a result of apartheid and other discriminatory laws and practices, there are disparities in employment, occupation
and income within the national labour market, … [t]he purpose of the Act is to achieve equity in the workplace by –
(a) promoting equal opportunity and fair treatment in employment through the elimination of unfair discrimination;
and
(b) implementing affirmative action measures to redress the disadvantages in employment experienced by
designated groups, in order to ensure their equitable representation in all occupational categories and levels of
the workforce. (RSA 1998)
Questions
1. Why is there employment equity legislation in post-apartheid South Africa?
2. Why is there a need for Black Economic Empowerment?
•• Social stratification
Key Themes
•• Social mobility
•• Social inequality, race and class
•• The conflict, interpretivist, functionalist and human capital approaches to social inequality
•• Addressing social inequality in South Africa today.
294

Chapter 12: Social inequality
Introduction of humanly created social inequality – where social

Social inequality is inextricably linked to the notion groups are discerned in hierarchical strata or ranks
of poverty. But social inequality is not the same as determined by wealth or social esteem – that needs to
poverty. The following example should clarify this be the focus. Peter Saunders (1990: 1–2) had previously
important distinction at the outset. Imagine you are suggested that social stratification envelops both how
an employee of a company where you earn a monthly inequalities originate, are maintained and change over
salary and can afford a small entry-level motor vehicle time, as well as impact other aspects of social life.
and a simple three-bedroom house. Your line manager Erik Allardt (1968: 14) had some years before, however,
and directors, however, own luxury cars and live in usefully distinguished between two different types of
double-storey mansions with swimming pools. This is theories of stratification. Allardt’s distinction brings
an indication of social inequality. When you encounter us to the key difference between competing approaches
a beggar when stopping at a traffic light in your car, regarding social inequality. This will be a theme of
this is a situation of both social inequality and poverty. this chapter and with which you will be familiar.
Possessing a car and enjoying food, shelter and clothing The first approach relates to the integration type of
means that you are not poor like the beggar, despite theories of Émile Durkheim and Talcott Parsons. These
the uneven allocation of resources between you and theorists see social order being maintained because of
your managers. You may feel relatively deprived in a sufficient level of consensus about society’s values
relation to your managers, but your position in the and that social stratification is an outcome of the
social stratification hierarchy of social inequality is functional specialisation which is necessary in any
closer to them than you are to the beggar. While the society. Simply put, society becomes socially stratified
chapter to follow discusses your sense of relative due to the different kinds of work required for the
deprivation in contrast to the absolute poverty of the ordered regulation and organisation of the emergence
beggar, this chapter unravels sociological approaches of increasingly complex societies.
to the phenomenon of social inequality in society. The second approach relates to the conflict type of
Most of us will have come to understand the post- theories of Karl Marx and the interpretivist perspectives
apartheid transition as meaning a transition to a society of Max Weber. Despite their differences of which you
that simultaneously promises equal opportunities are aware, both see the social order being maintained
for all and meritocratic advancement. Exercising the through different means of force and constraint. From
sociological imagination, however, uncovers a social this perspective social stratification is a consequence
reality filled with obstacles to these promises in our of the struggle for power. Two sociology textbook
context of marked degrees of social inequality. A range writers, Margaret Andersen and Howard Francis
of theories and perspectives have offered explanations Taylor (2001: 180), get to the heart of social inequality
for its origins and reproduction and have formulated by asking the following two questions:
various approaches to reducing inequalities of all kinds • What features of society cause different groups to
in society. These attempts have, in addition, examined have different opportunities?
the possibilities of social mobility, in other words, • Why is there an unequal allocation of society’s
moving out of the ranks of one group and into that of resources?
another in different social stratification systems. The
study of social inequality is consequently entwined Anderson’s and Taylor’s point is that to insightfully
with studies of social stratification. answer such questions about social inequality
Sociologists have tackled the phenomenon of one would have to explain the origins of social
social inequality in a number of ways. Haralambos, inequality in the structure of society. In a society
Holborn and Heald (2004) claim the key issue such as post-apartheid South Africa that promises
regarding social inequality is ‘the existence of socially equal opportunities for all, the unequal stations that
created inequalities’. For these sociologists, whereas people occupy in society are not due to the failings of
American sociology was dominated by a social individuals, but are instead due to the very structure
stratification orientation, which conveys a geological of society itself, in this case a society subject to the
imagery of the earth’s surface made up of a series of colonial encounter, slavery, segregation and apartheid,
layers called strata, it is rather about different forms and latterly a global marketised economy.
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While our focus has thus far been the origin of and America, the statuses of master and slave were largely
relation of social inequality to social stratification, and ascribed by race as a determining factor. Dutch colonists
hence the social creation of inequalities, an important who settled in South Africa after 1652 permitted the
further point needs to be made. Many people regard practice of slavery after 1658 and imported slaves from
differences between people in terms of status, education Dahomey, Angola, Madagascar, Indonesia and South-
and wealth as arising out of natural inequalities, such East Asia. When the British colonised South Africa
as intelligence quotient (IQ) measures. A careful and declared the emancipation of slaves in its colonies
study of social inequality, however, reveals that many in 1833, it led to the emancipation of slaves throughout
differences, even such differences in intelligence, can the British Empire and which numbered at 36 278 in
be more adequately understood as a consequence of the Cape colony (Davenport & Saunders 2000: 25–27,
social creation processes which impact on people’s 46–49).
chances and possibilities or the lack of possibilities Despite the abolition of slavery, however, a series
of social mobility in different stratification systems of Ordinances were passed at the Cape. Ordinance No
(Saunders 1990: 72–73). It is clear that a malnourished 1 of 1835, for instance, which while it ‘was supposed
child will probably never develop their full physical to prepare the slaves for freedom’, ‘changed little more
or mental potential. But neither might a socially than their name’ (Simons & Simons 1969: 18). In fact,
disadvantaged child develop their full potential when of this Ordinance it has been claimed that it was
compared to one born higher up on the scale of social ‘harsher by far’ than a proclamation which regulated
stratification. Even what we might think of as natural, the conditions of slaves in 1818 before slavery was
differences associated with inequalities can be the abolished (Simons & Simons 1969: 19). Worse, Simons
result of systems of social stratification and of which and Simons suggest, was that ‘the Masters and Servants
there are a number of types. Act of 1856, ‘designed to enforce discipline on ex-
slaves, peasants, pastoralists and a rural proletariat’
12.1 Types of social stratification was ‘a law far more ruthless than its predecessors in
systems the range of offences and the severity of the penalties
prescribed for servants’. This Act was, moreover, ‘a
12.1.1 The traditional typology of social grim reminder of the country’s slave-owning past and
stratification a sharp instrument for racial discrimination’ (Simons
Sociologists have historically identified four main & Simons 1969: 23). It is a salutary fact that this Act was
stratification systems as they sought to understand only repealed in 1974, in the lifetime, in other words,
social inequality from the perspective of the of many of the parents and certainly the grandparents
development of how social stratification embraced of those reading this textbook. In short, the extent of
entire societies as a whole: slavery, caste, estate and social inequality in contemporary South Africa cannot
class. Under the classic rubric of caste, race and be adequately understood without an appreciation of
ethnicity have often been included. While drawn from the social stratification system of slavery.
a Western, primarily European perspective, important
aspects of this traditional typology nevertheless apply The caste system
to African societies, including South Africa. The caste system is most famously associated with more
than 2 000 years of enforcement of the Hindu religion’s
Slavery belief in a hierarchy of ascribed social statuses in
As the chapter on race in this textbook so clearly India. It entails the specialisation of different tasks
showed, we cannot understand social inequality in a social division of labour tied to each status and
without an appreciation of the colonial encounter and greater wealth marking higher status groups, and a
the institution of slavery. Slavery was a stratification range of practices to ensure segregation and avoidance
system and form of social inequality found in the of bodily contact between different castes. Generally,
agriculturally based economies of ancient societies. In social mobility in a caste system is understood to be
the slavery practised since the modern era of European near impossible: one is born into a particular status
expansion from the fifteenth century and colonisation in a hierarchy and remains there for life. However,
of territories on other continents up to the 1860s in Srinivas (1952: 271) contends mobility in castes in the
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middle of the hierarchy is possible by adopting certain it is, as are the three forms of social stratification just
practices associated with a higher caste. In South discussed, deeply entwined and entangled with race.
Africa caste distinctions were practised, although Unlike the systems of slavery, estate under feudalism
in a reconstructed form, among indentured Indian and caste, class in contemporary society is, however,
labourers and immigrants who settled in the country a comparatively fluid system which allows and even
after 1860 (Chetty 2012; Ebr-Vally 2001). Features of the encourages in some instances social mobility within
caste system are evident in the way in which, again, the social stratification system. Preliminarily, we can
race especially, as well as ethnicity, have served to assert that the principal approaches to understanding
divide people into different social hierarchies and social inequality in industrialised societies are the
levels of social stratification which stamps its imprint perspectives of Karl Marx and Max Weber. Influenced
on the form and character of social inequality. by Weber, even the structural functionalism of Talcott
Parsons who, unlike Marx and Weber, thinks that social
Feudalism and the estate system inequality is inevitable and is indeed functional for
Much like the ancient systems of slavery and caste society, does not entirely ignore social class as we will
which continue to shape the present, the estate see, which may come as a surprise for some readers.
system was practised for about 1 000 years in the Each of these theorists spawned further scholarship
agricultural economy of Europe’s feudal society before which is intellectually indebted to their insights.
the emergence of industrial capitalism. Religion was More recent theories, such as that of Pierre
used to legitimise different statuses and obligations Bourdieu, for instance, are arguably indebted to both
between monarchs, landowning aristocrats and Marx and Weber. These mainstream approaches inform
priests on the one hand and serfs on the other who research about social inequality in South Africa.
produced crops on portions of lands the aristocrats Section 12.2 of the chapter summarises the gist of
supplied in exchange for military protection. Some the four approaches, and expands upon the influence
mobility was possible, for instance, through marriage they have had on later scholars. The chapter ends by
between persons of different estates. Undoubtedly, in asking what has happened regarding social inequality
the latter stratification systems women filled the most in South African since 1994. It presents three simple
subordinate status, however, this chapter deliberately but clear graphs which speak for themselves as to
underemphasises an issue which is treated in the the extent of social inequality and the racialised
chapter on the sociology of gender. and gendered character of social inequality in South
What is of significance, however, is that it has been Africa today.
argued by some historians and social theorists that
feudalism is not an exclusively Western social system 12.1.2 Overview of social inequality under
of stratification (Spicer 2011). Even a critic of this view, apartheid
Sharon Spicer, tells us Jack Goody (1969) concedes that South Africa’s political transition in 1994 heralded the
‘there are similarities’ between European and African arrival of an era where all citizens could formally enjoy
societies when viewed through the conceptual lens of participation in democratic processes. Democracy
the feudal system of social stratification. Spicer goes on invigorated hope for a transition away from the
to note that Ethiopia only abolished serfdom in 1942, social inequality generated by centuries of colonial
Swaziland continues to have a ruling monarch and dispossession and more recently, by four decades
that in South Africa ‘certain socioeconomic conditions of apartheid rule. Haralambos, Holborn and Heald’s
close to feudalism do exist’, evidenced by the fact (2004: 1) introduction to the theme of social inequality
that agricultural peasants ‘living in impoverished commences with a provocative claim: ‘People have
rural areas and using subsistence farming methods to long dreamed of an egalitarian society, a society in
survive, quite often do not own the land they live and which all members are equal.’ They continue with the
work on’ (2001: 55). sober assertion that ‘the egalitarian society remains
a dream’ and stress that forms of inequality pervade
Class all societies. The central indicators of this are, first,
While class is the dominant social inequality and inequalities in power or the capacity of individuals or
stratification system in industrial capitalist societies, groups to dominate others. The second is inequalities
297

in prestige, that is, the social esteem people are the Dutch Reformed Church, called for and justified
recognised to have. The third is inequalities in wealth, theologically. Apartheid policies upheld a racial order
that is, ownership of material possessions such as of white domination and black subordination and
land, buildings, money, or machinery. which intersected with class relations of a capitalist
Our Constitution adopted after the political order dependent on cheap black labour.
transition is sugar-coated with explicit and implicit Sam Mhlongo (1981) used official data sources
egalitarian promises. Such promises include, for compiled during the 1960s and 1970s to construct an
instance, equal protection before the law, equal analysis and description of a list of classes or a class
enjoyment of citizenship rights, equal rights to dignity structure and how these intersected with race in rural
for all, and equal protection of citizens’ rights to and urban areas:
property. Our optimism about the political transition • Rural landowners (not mentioned is how the
must be guarded – critical sociological insights Natives Land Act of 1913 and amendments secured
illuminate limitations to the extent to which equality ownership of 87 per cent of the land surface for
in general and social inequality in particular can be white people)
achieved in our society. • Farmworkers made up of ‘African rural farm-
We need to understand a bit more of the context workers’
of where the optimism in our much-proclaimed • Foreign farm-owning companies that paid average
Constitution comes from, that is, what was said weekly rates ranging between R3.17 and R8.69 to
about inequality and stratification before 1994. their African workers
Three prominent sociological insights captured how • ‘White rural workers’ employed as technicians,
divergent views were about inequality and stratification mechanics, engineers, managers and overseers and
issues. Sam Mhlongo (1981) contended that apartheid who were paid higher than rural black workers
policies were generally pernicious to all black people • The ratio of white to African wages in the mining
and consequently there was little class differentiation industry was 20.6:1
among the black population in the 1970s. Sam • ‘Indian and coloured rural workers’
Nolutshungu (1982) gave considerable attention to the • A ‘rural black petty bourgeoisie’ involved in trades
education system and its unlikely potential to create like general dealers, butchers, bakers, cafés and
a co-opted black middle class. Harold Wolpe (1988) restaurants, millers, grocers and fruiterers
raised concerns about how poorly both academics • ‘Like its counterpart in the urban areas, the
and anti-apartheid political activists understood the rural black petty bourgeoisie aspires to the station
changing dynamics of the interrelationship between of the bourgeoisie, which in South Africa is
race and class in South Africa. exclusively white’
The discovery of diamonds in Kimberley (1868) • A ‘white urban working class’ that enjoyed a
and gold on the Rand (1886) set South Africa on an favoured and protected position in society and
industrial ‘take off’ that radically transformed the bourgeois democratic rights, like voting rights,
class structure of a largely agricultural economy to recognition of their trade unions, and a job colour
one with significant mining, commercial farming, bar system enforced through job reservation
and urban industrial manufacturing industries. Along legislation, for instance, the Industrial Conciliation
with these economic developments came the attendant Act passed in 1924 and its amendments, that
class structure of an industrial capitalist economy reserved high-wage, skilled jobs for white workers.
influenced by a history of European colonial settlement When the job colour bar was relaxed and permitted
and domination. The growth of an economy dependent black workers into jobs reserved for whites, they
on black African labour came up against white settlers were not paid equally, sometimes as little as one
imbued with ideas of racial supremacy and influenced sixth of white workers’ wages
the policies of white governments. This is equally • Social classes in the urban areas – a bourgeoisie
true of racial segregation in 1910 with the formation with two main factions, the rural land-owning
of the Union of South Africa and the virtually class and the industrial bourgeoisie, who were
complete separation of races under apartheid from divided on how much protectionism to extend to
1948 for which Afrikaner organisations, such as even white workers.
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Regarding the category ‘bourgeoisie and petty representation in the middle class and why they would
bourgeoisie’, Mhlongo (1981: 144) concluded: ‘South be slow to improve their situation.
Africa has no black bourgeoisie, only a petty As the industrial take-off unfolded, the position
bourgeoisie. Even the propertied classes among the of the white working class was complicated by their
Asian community in Durban could not be called as racial proclivities and comparatively closer relation
such because various legislative measures prevent to state power and influence on policy-making
them from full participation in the process of compared to their black counterparts (Davies 1973).
accumulation and expansion. Among the Africans, Skilled white labourers from England streamed in
and the Coloureds also, a search for a bourgeoisie to the goldmines following gold discoveries in 1886.
yields no positive results.’ The urban African petty Following the South African War of 1899–1902 many
bourgeoisie were comprised of doctors, lawyers, Afrikaners were pushed out of rural livelihoods and
teachers and nurses. None of the latter earned the same sought employment in the mines while many were left
wages as whites. The urban industrial proletariat were unemployed. Enjoying the right to vote, they engaged
mainly Africans. Mhlongo notes coloured and Indian in struggles to protect themselves from cheaper black
workers organised in recognised unions. Furthermore, African labour taking jobs they coveted for themselves.
wage gaps worsened the race divisions created among Over a number of decades this was done through a
the working class in all economic sectors. ‘civilised labour policy’.
Coloured and African businesses operated under
very similar conditions. By way of contrast, an 12.2 Mainstream perspectives on
Indian trading class enjoyed some measure of success class inequality in industrialised
and in relation to the total Indian population were societies
fairly numerous. Most Indians were descendants of This presentation of the perspectives is organised
indentured labourers and slaves brought to work in chronologically in terms of the lifetime of the central
sugar plantations in 1860. Many of these descendants or founding theorists, namely, Marx (1818–1883),
became an Indian proletariat in rural and urban Weber (1864–1920), Parsons (1902–1979) and Bourdieu
areas. Nonetheless, the Indian trading class produced (1930–2002). However, despite ebbs in the popularity
an educated professional group of doctors, lawyers, of the perspectives they spawned in the academic
teachers and intellectuals. The imposition of the arena, sometimes the research of their acolytes
Group Areas Act ruined many Indian traders and enjoyed simultaneous equally vibrant research,
restricted their ability to move higher into the ranks of scholarly defence and esteem in the latter half of the
a bourgeoisie although they owned factories and other twentieth century.
enterprises that were restricted to employing mainly
Indian labour (Mhlongo 1981: 145–146). 12.2.1 The Marxist perspective
In Nolutshungu’s (1982: 116) analysis of the The classical contributions of Karl Marx and his
circumstances of an African middle class he argued: lifelong friend Friedrich Engels reveal social inequality
‘Blacks who own or control means of production are few as a socially created phenomenon. The central concept
and are not represented in any of the major industries of used to signify inequality is class. They regard early
the country. This is particularly true of Africans, who human societies, or primitive communism, as ideally
should, presumably, constitute the largest and most egalitarian since there is almost no institution of
crucial component of a black middle class. It is more private property nor the production of an economic
to salary earners than to entrepreneurs that the term surplus over and above that which is needed for the
“black middle class” is commonly applied, although next season. Hunter and gatherer types of society have
it also includes small traders and businessmen.’ no classes. Class societies only emerged when humans
Curtailed access to education opportunities stunted developed technology or tools and organised the
the growth of a black middle class. Nolutshungu production of society’s needs, that is, a more complex
drew on data about educational provision for black social division of labour emerged in the material base
people, particularly regarding university education (or ‘economic base’), to produce a surplus above that
or enrolments, and their attainment in the fields most needed for the subsistence of society. This began when
relevant to bourgeois roles to account for their poor humans became settled in agricultural societies that
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accepted the institution of private ownership, that emphasis on stratification was a popular trend in
is, private ownership of the land they cultivated, the American sociology and is discussed in the structural
tools used and the crop they harvested. Acceptance functionalist theories of Talcott Parsons, Kingsley
of the institution of private property allowed class Davis and Wilbert Moore. Rather, it is understanding
societies to become more complex as humans made that classes are to be located in an analysis of economic
more advanced tools or machinery. Classes exist in production and the processes where commodities are
a relationship where one dominant group exploits produced, consumed and expropriated. It is about
the labour of a subordinate class. It is a conflictual studying inherently exploitative and antagonistic
and antagonistic relationship. The subordinate relations in a social production process involving
class struggles to reclaim the fruits of its labour, but classes who produce an economic surplus and non-
dominant classes are able to oppress subordinate producing classes who own the tools, machinery,
classes since the main ideas about private property factories, mines, farms or means of production and
and institutions such as the state, which controls the control the labour process that puts these various
police and army, enforce both laws protecting private forces to work.
property and regulations about contracts and relations Marx shows how wealth became concentrated
between producers and owners. These are just some of in the hands of the landlords, merchants and urban
the elements constituting society’s ‘superstructure’ of capitalists who were dependent on the labour of the
ideas, laws and institutions protecting the interests of working class or proletariat. That proletariat emerged
the dominant class. in the early stages of capitalism after peasants were
In the earlier epochs of history, we find almost pushed off feudal farms where they worked to maintain
everywhere a complicated arrangement of society into themselves and their families, and, not owning
various orders, a manifold gradation of social rank. In any means of production, were forced to survive by
ancient Rome we have patricians, knights, plebians, entering into wage labour relations with capitalists.
slaves; in the Middle Ages, feudal lords, vassals, guild- The labour process performed in this capitalist context
masters, journeymen, apprentices, serfs; in almost all entails use of the workers’ labour power in exchange
of these classes, again, subordinate gradations. for a wage (Fischer 1970: 94–124). Longer hours spent
The modern bourgeois society that has sprouted in factories, the constant drive to incorporate advanced
from the ruins of feudal society has not done away with machinery, and innovations in the labour process
class antagonisms. It has but established new classes, facilitate a process where capitalists increase workers’
new conditions of oppression, new forms of struggle in productivity and make profits above their investment in
place of the old ones. an enterprise once goods produced in their enterprises
Our epoch, the epoch of the bourgeoisie, possesses, are sold on markets. This is the extraction of surplus
however, this distinct feature: it has simplified class value. The total value of wages at any time (as well
antagonisms. Society as a whole is more and more as any other production costs) is below the economic
splitting up into two great hostile camps, into two surplus produced. That surplus can be reinvested in
great classes directly facing each other – bourgeoisie the enterprise and its improvement in order to cope
and proletariat. with competition from other capitalists or be used to
The foregoing outline prepares us for the Marxist maintain a high quality of lifestyle for the capitalist.
perspective on class inequality in industrial capitalist Even if wages are regarded as high, the working class is
society. Europe’s feudal societies gave way to capitalist always regarded as living in relative misery since they
societies where the urban bourgeoisie made up the are producing profits for the capitalist.
dominant class and the proletariat formed a subject Marx predicted that as modern industry grows,
class. The bourgeoisie emerged from small business so too would the size of the proletarian masses
people, traders and factory owners in towns and cities. increase. The peasantry faces incorporation into the
For Scase (1992: 5–6), the essence of a Marxist approach ranks of the waged labour class, but many continue
to class has little concern with discerning hierarchies to maintain some degree of control over land and
or ranking occupations in industrial capitalist hence avoid wage labour relations. Between the
society into class categories or strata of occupations capitalists and the proletariat a conservative ‘middle
into status and income hierarchies. This type of class’ or the petty bourgeoisie exists – small traders,
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shopkeepers and professionals. The members of this that in the capitalist production process, which is
sub-class of the bourgeoisie always fear that they may about getting workers to make commodities and
lose their businesses, their economic resources and to exploit their production of a surplus, workers
independent lives, and be incorporated into the ranks producing this surplus earn wages below the value of
of the proletariat. At the lowest rungs of capitalist what they have collectively produced. However, not
society is the lumpen-proletariat, Marx’s sub-class of all wage earners are workers who produce surplus
the proletariat. value due to the fact that they are involved in the
Many theorists have developed Marx’s analysis of wider process of the circulation of commodities and
nineteenth century capitalism. It has been extended the realisation of surplus value. The incorporation
to analyse class inequality since the advent of of science and new technology has made the labour
monopoly capitalism by the end of the nineteenth process more complex since it introduced the role of
century, the growing economic power of transnational skilled engineers and technicians, and Marxists have
corporations after the Second World War and the grappled with how to conceptualise the place of these
intensification of capitalism’s linking of different parts higher paid strata of workers, such as supervisors and
of the globe by the dawn of the twentieth century. To foremen, in the collective process of the production
take two examples, the ideas of Greek Marxist theorist of surplus value. Poulantzas regards as productive
and sociology teacher Nicos Poulantzas and American labour those workers who have been exploited in the
sociologist Erik Olin Wright will be noted here. course of their producing surplus labour. Marxists
Poulantzas (1982) asserts the classical Marxist shift between terms such as ‘strata’, ‘fractions’ and
position in that classes, he argues, are part of a wider ‘labour aristocracy’ to refer to the phenomenon of
ensemble or structure of social relations and only higher paid workers. Poulantzas accepts the validity
exist in class struggle. That is, classes are defined of these categories, but asserts that they still belong
principally in economic terms, which locate their to one class, namely, the working class. His notion of
place in the production process or in the division of ‘fractions’ of classes is also widely used to assert that
labour. Importantly though, Poulantzas elaborates the the capitalist class has sectors with diverging interests
political and ideological criteria that are central to the at particular conjunctures. An example of ‘fractions’
determination of social classes. In this ensemble of within the capitalist class would be the competition
social relations, it is possible to determine the ‘place’ between the agricultural and mining sectors for cheap
of a particular class. But Poulantzas goes further black labour in South Africa.
than Marx by offering a theory and method of class Poulantzas expands on how the capitalist mode
analysis which accounts for there being no clear-cut of production and its particular set of social relations
confrontation between the bourgeoisie and proletariat. should be understood as coexisting with other modes of
Instead, he argues, at specific historical moments, production such as the indigenous African agricultural
called ‘conjunctures’, there are complex class alliances mode of production. The unique and particular set
of several fractions of classes and their chosen tactics of social relations to which such coexisting modes of
called ‘class positions’. To give an example, Thabo production give rise, together make up a concrete society
Mbeki referred to the ANC as a ‘broad church’ – or or ‘social formation’. So, no social formation has only two
a cross class alliance as politically expressed in the clearly distinct classes as might be assumed from Marx’s
ANC–SACP–COSATU Alliance, but which would use of the term class. Nevertheless, the social classes of
break up into its separate class constituencies as might the dominant mode of production are the major classes of
be seen in the continued strains within this political that social formation. Poulantzas described an advanced
cross-class Alliance. capitalist society in the early 1970s.
Most Marxist explanations of class are about
economic issues, such as identifying relations of Thus, in contemporary France, for example, the
economic ownership, that is, control of the means of two fundamental classes are the bourgeoisie
production and exercising economic power that goes and the proletariat. But we also find there
with ownership and the possession of such power, the traditional petty bourgeoisie (craftsmen,
which is the capacity to get the means of production small traders), dependent on the form of
to work. Poulantzas goes further and seeks to explain simple commodity production, the ‘new’ petty
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bourgeoisie composed of non-productive wage Eric Olin Wright (1982) feels that there is
earners, dependent on the monopoly form of an alternative way to that of Poulantzas about
capitalism and several social classes in the understanding the ambiguous position of certain wage
countryside, where vestiges of feudalism are still earners in the social division of labour. Wright famously
to be found in an untransformed state (eg forms of used and prefers to call these contradictory class
share-cropping). (Poulantzas 1982: 106) locations. Wright accepts that all class relations are
antagonistic and contradictory. Some class positions in
This fact of a multiplicity of classes with their own the class structure are, however, doubly contradictory.
interests is important in theorising about alliances To make sense of this we need to understand that class
between the working class and other classes. There relations have transformed in the advanced capitalist
often is the complex reality of such classes appearing societies and produced three clusters of positions in
as a popular mass of people with a common interest the social division of labour with contradictory class
at particular conjunctures. While not discussed by relations. First, there are managers and supervisors
Poulantzas, this account of social classes helps explain occupying a contradictory relation between the
the cross-class alliance of predominantly black bourgeoisie and proletariat. Second, some categories of
peoples’ struggles mobilised around the Freedom semi-autonomous employees, who have considerable
Charter to abolish apartheid. control over their labour process, are in a contradictory
Poulantzas pays particular attention to an analysis location between the bourgeoisie and proletariat.
of the petty bourgeoisie. This focus demonstrates Third, there are small employers who occupy a
that an understanding of social classes must take contradictory location between the bourgeoisie and
into account, not just the economic location of social petty bourgeoisie.
classes, but must also look at the role of political These contradictory class locations originate
and ideological criteria in the reproduction of from three structural changes that accompanied the
social classes. Poulantzas saw the shrinking of the development of capitalism. The first stems from the
‘traditional petty bourgeoisie’ – small-scale producers, Taylorist deskilling process which took away artisans’
small traders, artisans and family businesses (who do and skilled workers’ control of the labour process once
not extract surplus value from productive workers). capitalists redesigned the labour process, breaking it up
However, the size of a ‘new petty bourgeoisie’ grew into smaller tasks, and set workers to a pace determined
under monopoly capitalism. This class of wage by machines which increased their productivity.
earners does not produce surplus value and are merely The second stems from the growing significance of
exploited by the process of selling their labour power: management’s role in the social division of labour, and
he has in mind here the skilled engineers and artisans the separation of ownership and control in determining
mentioned above (as well as people in government class relations. The nineteenth century capitalist was
or the civil service – including teachers, lecturers, characterised by legal and economic ownership of
doctors and other professionals). Although the latter the enterprise, but these have become differentiated
categories are different from the place of the traditional with the growth in the scale of enterprises, as well
petty bourgeoisie in the production process, they as the concentration and centralisation of capital.
have common unifying characteristics, or a similar It became difficult for individual entrepreneurs to
political and ideological orientation, which serve to be involved in both ownership and the day-to-day
reproduce social classes of capitalist society. They management of production activities. This pressurised
fear working class revolution, live by a work ethic that capitalists to recruit professional managers to cope
social advancement is possible in capitalist society, with competition and to have managers of different
aspire to a bourgeois social status, and believe that the sectors of an enterprise. Separation of formal legal
state is neutral and not an instrument of a dominant ownership and real economic ownership enabled
class. To apply these ideas to our society, the white the growth of stock ownership of large enterprises.
petty bourgeoisie can be described as having held such Class relations, however, have not changed because
attitudes and views under apartheid and currently, as the institution of private property persists. The third
can also the emerging black petty bourgeoisie since stems from the development of complex hierarchies
democracy. within corporations: the relations of possession in
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corporations have grown more complex as both the sustaining social stratification. Recall also that Weber
control of the means of production and the control (1978: 926) defines power as the ability of individuals
of labour became more complex with the creation or a group to realise their will over others regardless
of further layers of supervisors. Then, there are also of the latter’s resistance. The exercise of power is
the complex relations of differentiating economic not used only for economic enrichment. Sometimes
ownership: boards of directors, executives and its exercise may be used to realise social honour. A
managers have different functions and powers in what businessperson’s wealth or economic power does
investments are made and what is produced. not guarantee that he or she enjoys social honour.
An abstract model of capitalist society would Sometimes the legal order enhances people’s ability
depict two fundamentally antagonistic classes, to hold power or social honour, but it cannot always
workers and capitalists. However, complex hierarchies be guaranteed to do so. The way in which social
have arisen and people are found in contradictory honour is distributed in a community Weber calls
locations between and within the fundamental class the ‘social order’. The social order is influenced by
antagonisms. Compared to a nineteenth century the economic order or the mode of distribution and
factory situation, with foremen and supervisors being consumption of goods and services. But the social
close to the working class, the situation has changed. order can also have its own ways of reacting on the
While foremen and supervisors may have little real economic order. Classes, status groups and (political)
control over the physical means of production, they parties are phenomena characterised by the fact that
have acquired some control over labour power – the distribution of power occurs within a community.
usually because they convey orders from further up Weber’s concept of class is about a determination of
a hierarchy. Another instance of contradictory class collectives in the economic order. Status groups relate
locations is that of top or senior managers. They to the distribution of social honour in the social order.
have limited economic ownership in enterprises Weber’s notion of party is about power in the legal
compared to the bourgeoisie, yet both categories order. Let us here briefly elaborate Weber’s concepts
conduct themselves in a similar way in the relations of of class, status and party introduced in the opening
production. Technical changes in the labour process chapter of this textbook.
allow middle level managers to have some measure of
control over the labour process and over subordinates. Weber on class
One crucial issue about those located within this Weber’s concept of class concerns people’s position
contradictory class position is with which side they in the market situation or in economic relations.
would align in class struggle? To pose this question Sometimes people engage in social action and recognise
in our context, with whom would (or do) black and themselves as of the same class when they do so. They
white managers align themselves when black workers recognise their common situation based on similarities
in South Africa go on strike? Ultimately, any answer in what goods they possess and their opportunities for
derived from whatever theoretical perspective would an income. The basic distinction between people into
need to be informed by empirical research. classes in the market and with different life chances
to set up businesses and accumulate further wealth or
12.2.2 The Weberian perspective to survive by selling their labour, is their possession of
Weber’s view on social stratification is derived from his property or the lack of property. Further distinctions
interest in how power is exercised and how domination can be made even amongst those who own property,
is organised in human societies. Recall that Weber’s that is, ownership of different types of property makes it
understanding of social stratification is inextricably possible to discern different classes – building owners,
linked to his methodological individualism brand of bankers, mine-owners, and so on. Differentiations can
sociology, that is, establishing the meaning behind the be made too among those who lack property but offer
social action of individuals placed within larger social services. Having specified the possibility of several
categories. Weber distinguishes between a legal order, classes, Weber turns his attention to the social action
an economic order, a social order and a status order, that springs from these classes that are expected to act
and shows their interrelationship in producing and in their own interests.
303

Weber on status segregated apartheid-era townships? People sometimes

Weber’s concept of status groups refers to situations may distinguish themselves as belonging to particular
where people have either positive or negative status groups by the clothing fashions they adopt, or
estimations of the honour of others. Sometimes by the family lineage they claim, and these later get
recognition of this status is because of the property recognition as status groups.
or class situation of people, but property and class are Weber asserts that status groups evolve into the
not always the basis of status. Sometimes people with characteristics of closed castes. In a caste stratification
and without property are recognised as part of the system, a person remains in the same social position
same status group. People of a similar status group are for their whole life. An extreme situation sometimes
recognised as having a similar style of life, or expected develops where the consequences of the closure of
to have a similar lifestyle. The growth of a dramatic gulf status groups amounts to closure on an ethnic basis,
between poor and rich black people in South Africa is and they may also be further distinguished as an
manifested in some of the measurement approaches ethnic community that performs a particular type of
we referred to earlier as well as in different lifestyles. handicraft or art. Recognition of people as belonging
Look at how golf gained the reputation for being a to specific status groups allows them to claim certain
lifestyle of white businessmen and provided occasions privileges. For instance, what clothing items may
to network about business opportunities, and how that be worn, foods consumed or trades performed can
legacy pressured many black businessmen to adopt the be restricted to members of specific status groups.
lifestyle so they too may network with the right crowd. Technological advances and economic transformations
Golf is a costly pastime – equipment such as golf clubs are two forces that can undermine status groups and
and membership fees of a club as well as one day’s make class situation a more prominent issue.
fees for playing on the course are very expensive. Two
black multimillionaire businessmen, Peter Vundla, a Weber on party
Johannesburg advertising company executive, and Jabu Weber sees a complex reciprocity where classes and
Mabuza, a Durban casino executive, state golf as their status groups influence one another as well as the legal
pastime (African Millionaire 2010). An advertisement order, and these are also influenced by the legal order.
by a golf estate north-west of Pretoria/Tshwane for the Parties are the various forms of association that people
rich to buy exclusive residences on a gated golf course adopt in order to acquire social power or influence
estate acknowledges that the apartheid history of the political order. Some of these associations are
privileged white access to sport facilities and denial outside of the state and some are within the state.
of such to black communities is being followed by a Such associations or political parties have clear goals
new trend: and plans about how to achieve their various aims
in different contexts. Parties are only possible when
… it is not only the ‘whites’ who enjoy the game they are associations with a staff or membership who
of golf and so already we are seeing a trend of work for their ideals. They achieve their goals through
‘black’ businessmen taking to the links as part violence, lobbying, bribery, persuasive speeches,
of the long-standing culture of modern business, creating rumours, or obstructing parliamentary
where relationships are formed away from the committees. Perhaps an insightful illustration of
boardroom. (The Bay Golf Estate) how such well-organised influence on the state has
successfully occurred in South Africa has been in
Sometimes a social group or closed circle of friends the rise of a rich black elite who formed business
and acquaintances is a form of social closure in terms associations and sometimes were facilitated by a
of marrying within the status group. Sometimes the background as ‘former freedom fighters, communists
stratification of status groups is based on people’s place and trade union leaders who have close links to the
of residence. Now that apartheid laws prohibiting new political elite, having stood alongside them
mixed race residential areas have been repealed, do in the struggle against apartheid’ (Simpkins 2004).
black people living in historically white suburbs or The ANC government’s formal promotion of a Black
newly created integrated suburbs assume a higher Economic Empowerment (BEE) policy and legislation
status than black people still resident in the old has made multimillionaires of former trade unionist
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Cyril Ramaphosa, former underground military completely excluding black people from participation
activist Tokyo Sexwale, former political prisoner Mzi in social life under apartheid – and which continues in
Khumalo (who moved into a gated golf estate), among subtle guises despite democracy.
many others. The notion of social closure consequently offers a
British sociologist Frank Parkin – a pointed critic creative way of understanding the evolution of a racial
of the limitations of Marx’s notion of class – made a order and social inequality in South Africa following its
notable attempt to take Weber’s approach to class industrial take-off. On the one hand it offers insights
formation further by elaborating his concept of social into how a dominant class secured ownership of land
closure as ‘the process by which social collectivities and capital through the Natives Land Act No 27 of
seek to maximise rewards by restricting access to 1913. On the other hand, the social closure approach
resources and opportunities to a limited circle of may be used to focus on the role of white workers’
eligibles’ (Giddens & Held 1982: 175). Parkin (1982), a trade unions in securing a monopoly of positions and
contemporary of Poulantzas and Wright, was highly protection of privileges in the division of labour. The
critical of the abstract formalism of their approach industrial take-off attracted English-speaking skilled-
to class and explicitly opts for using Weber’s notion work immigrants and expelled independent small
of ‘social closure’ instead of their Marxist inspired, Afrikaans-speaking white agriculturalists from farms,
conflict-based formulations. For Weber, social closure thereby subjecting them to proletarianisation. Poor
is a means of explaining class formation and how social Afrikaners converged on mines and urban factories
inequality is generated through excluding ‘outsiders’ where they found themselves in competition with black
and monopolising resources to which others have been workers whom employers chose because they were
denied access. Generally, these outsiders are discernible paid significantly lower wages. A climactic moment
by attributes such as race, language, social origin, or of this conflict is the 1922 white workers’ rebellion
religion. The two main mechanisms of achieving this and their utterly contradictory racialised class rallying
are control over property and control over academic cry under the slogan ‘Workers of the world unite, and
or professional qualifications and credentials. Both fight for a white South Africa!’ (Davenport & Saunders
mechanisms involve legal arrangements which 2000: 292–297). Stanley Greenberg (1980: 223–327) and
restrict access to rewards and privileges. Restrictions Eddie Webster (1985) provide rich empirical data and
on property ownership constrain access to the means insightful analyses about how the activities of white
of production, while credentialism constrains entry artisan unions across the segregation and apartheid eras
into higher level positions in the division of labour. sought to prohibit lower-paid African workers access to
The effect of this exclusion is that one group secures the types of skilled jobs they controlled. The industrial
for itself a privileged position while it simultaneously relations framework further denied official recognition
subordinates and creates a group, class or stratum that to trade unions of black workers and even failed to
is legally defined as inferior. define African workers as employees or grant African
This view of social closure occurs in two ways. trade unions bargaining rights white workers had fought
First, social closure is effected mostly by strategies of for on a racialised basis.
exclusion, such as in the caste system mentioned earlier
and through the stratification of racial and ethnic 12.2.3 The structural functionalist
communities. What is also observed is that those who perspective
have been thus excluded also exclude others within In the structural functionalist perspective ‘social
their own ranks and thereby increase the number stratification is a social necessity’ (Tischler 1996: 234).
of social strata. Second, exclusion also results from The perspective is indebted to Talcott Parsons’ (1977)
strategies of usurpation. At one end of this continuum views regarding the functional prerequisites that
the usurpation causes marginal redistribution and must be satisfied in any social system. Parsons’s ideas
at the other end there is total expropriation. In the about the evolution of human society from simple to
first instance, the golf club president might claim the complex forms, is similar to evolutionary development
private dining room for himself and his closed group of in biological organisms. He discerns six evolutionary
friends only. More seriously, the social closure around universals or ‘structural complexes’ that need to
race usurped all social and political rights, thereby undergo adaptations in order for the social system to
305

survive. However, only the first two are pertinent to the social stratification to maintain social order which
present discussion. Firstly, the development of social supports ‘the proposition that no society is “classless”
stratification permits the differentiation of societal or unstratified’. They saw social stratification as
functions and facilitates the change from primitive a mechanism for the allocation of roles – or what is
societies to modern societies. This stratification is sometimes called positions or statuses – that must be
about human society being characterised by people fulfilled in order for the social system to survive:
being found in different locations in a hierarchy
of lower, in-between, and higher social statuses (or … the main functional necessity explaining
‘upper’, ‘ruling’ classes and the ‘masses’). Stratification the universal presence of stratification is
systems are functional and necessary for society precisely the requirement faced by any society of
to develop as they allow advantages to be gained placing and motivating individuals in the social
when society’s members specialise in performing structure. As a functioning mechanism, a society
different tasks or assume different roles in society’s must somehow distribute its members in social
political, religious, education, defence, healthcare positions and induce them to perform the duties
and production activities. Primitive societies are not of these positions. … A competitive system gives
stratified and in the evolutionary transition to modern greater importance to the motivation to achieve
society, stratification systems can evolve from simple positions, where a non-competitive system gives
two-class to complex four-class systems. perhaps greater importance to the motivation
The second evolutionary universal, an independent to perform the duties of the position; but in any
cultural legitimation system, is closely tied to the system both types of motivation are required.
stratification system and the move away from primitive (Davis & Moore 1945: 242–243) (My emphasis)
society. Stratification and differentiation are important
forces of social change, as well as sources of social Society needs doctors, teachers, lawyers, bakers, truck
tensions and disruption. Nonetheless, a legitimation drivers, mechanics, musicians, radio and television
system based on common values makes people identify announcers, farmworkers, authors, book printers, tree
and bond as a collective, and consequently legitimates cutters, roadworkers, prison guards, mineworkers,
society’s prestige and authority arrangements. It mine supervisors, petrol pump attendants, car assembly
accentuates the advantages of this order over the workers, car assembly plant managers and supervisors,
apparent burdens and inequalities some may feel. In and so on. People are seen to have natural inequalities
effect, it generates social solidarity and loyalty to the in their abilities and talents, and thereby fill different
system. Legitimation systems evolve from outdated roles in society. The social stratification system gives
types rooted in a religious belief system’s justification different rewards and privileges to different roles,
for social arrangements to types where kings claim thereby getting the best suited people allocated to
to be directly appointed by a god, to modern rational- different roles because people are motivated to work
legal cultural systems of justifying authority in for rewards. The high rewards ‘built into’ certain
modern industrial societies. For Parsons, American roles are an incentive for people to strive to obtain
society’s values emphasise individual achievement, those roles.
efficiency and economic productivity. These values People’s qualification for certain roles, Parsons’
consequently provide legitimacy to the hierarchical structuralist functionalist theory further suggests,
social stratification system. For instance, the ambitious comes about through inherent capacity and training.
businessperson or executives at the top of corporations Yet functional differentiation clearly does not always
are considered to be fully deserving and consequently occur as a result of capacity. While many individuals
appropriately rewarded for their skills well above the have the mental capacity to learn and practise modern
salaries and wages paid to other members in a chain medicine, a medical education is burdensome and
of interdependent occupations or tasks performed in a expensive. Furthermore, while positions that require
modern corporation. great technical skill receive high rewards in order
American sociologists Kingsley Davis and Wilbert to attract the talented and those motivated to endure
Moore (1945) expanded on this approach. In short, the training, such opportunities are not available
they argue that there is a ‘universal necessity’ of to everyone. Such opportunities are not available to
306

everyone precisely as a person’s position in the system made its distinctive contribution to the sources
of social stratification prevents them from doing so, not of social inequality. The apartheid philosophy of
because they lack the capacity to do so. A key criticism Bantu Education deemed black people to be mentally
here is that the allocation of roles is not based on merit inferior and conceptualised an education policy that
and capacity given that not all people in society have was designed for the roles as manual labourers black
equal access to resources. Put differently, it is not the people were to play in the economy (Davenport &
capacity or lack of capacity that determines where the Saunders 2000: 388–394, 674). This is contrary to
individual is located in the social stratification system, Kingsley’s and Davis’ almost neutral view of how
but rather the means to do so, in other words social people pursue education in order to claim particular
inequality itself. Parsons’ structural functionalism roles in a society’s stratification system. Davis’ and
ignores the formative structuring capacity of the social Moore’s views on education as a means of social
stratification system, which is explained as necessary mobility are inappropriate in capturing the reality of
and access to which is determined by individual the consequences of the overall education dispensation
capacity and merit. But this is clearly not the case as under apartheid.
our own context only too readily reveals. What became characteristic of the overall
Understanding how social stratification unfolded education system was the unequal state spending
in South Africa must take into cognisance a history on education per capita for different race categories,
of racial domination and systematic privilege which which partly explains the race inequality in the
obstructed equal competition for roles and occupations stratification system. More was spent on the education
in the division of labour. Racial segregation and of white youth compared to any other race groups.
apartheid policies in South Africa, which had as The disproportionate spending on school education
a consequence the unequal distribution of power, had further consequences with regard to preparation
wealth and privileges on race lines, had its origins in for tertiary education. The race profile of tertiary
the following: education attainment shows that white enrolments for
• A political mythology of white peoples’ ideas of and completion of tertiary education qualifications
race supremacy (Thompson 1985: 27–30) outstripped the total for all the black groups put
• White peoples’ claim to an ‘empty land’ (Marks 1980) together (SAIRR 1977: 321; SAIRR 1977: 367).
• The Afrikaner people’s mobilisation to secure The ‘colour bar’ in the economy or the formal
social, cultural, economic and political goals legislation which allocated occupations in the
(Giliomee 1995) economy worsened the inequities of the education
• State-appointed commissions which advised the system, and is another important explanatory factor
state on controlling the increasing numbers of of social inequality in South Africa. Legislation
blacks in urban areas (Ashforth 1990) passed between the 1920s and the 1960s specified ‘the
• The policies of white governments for the differential treatment of workers of various race groups
separation of races which Afrikaner organisations in terms of these acts’ (Scheepers 1974: 67). Apartheid
such as the Dutch Reformed Church called for served to buttress ‘barriers, legal or conventional, to
(Dubow 1992: 212) non-White advancement into semi-skilled or skilled
• The reality of white control of a modern economy jobs’ (Scheepers 1974: 92). The information in Table
dependent on African labour (Beinart & Dubow 1995). 12.1 aptly illustrates concern about how the legacy of
a stratification system informed by race is central to
In South Africa, white control of the state and the the shape social stratification and social inequality
shaping of the education policy and institutions assumed under apartheid.
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Table 12.1 Professional, technical and related workers, by race, 1970
Occupational group White Coloured Asian African
Engineers 14 950 50 10 80
Technicians 19 240 240 250 560
Doctors, dentists 9 180 530 110 120
Nurses 26 260 960 5 640 27 800
Medical auxiliaries 8 510 190 220 720
Architects and 3 530 20 10 –

quantity surveyors
Physical scientists 3 130 20 – 60
Teachers 56 000 6 340 16 350 43 960
Jurists 5 950 40 20 40
Surveyors 2 750 – 10 100
Working 22 980 8 110 1 420 9 720

proprietors
(commerce and
trade)
(Source: Nolutshungu 1982: 117)
12.2.4 Pierre Bourdieu’s perspective fields or sites of competitive social interaction.

A brief look at Pierre Bourdieu’s perspective on While economic capital is easily converted into
attributes which distinguish people from one another money and can assume the form of property over
and contribute to social inequality will conclude which private rights can be exercised, the other forms
our theoretical discussion. In Bourdieu’s attempt to of capital Bourdieu conceptualises are not quite so
explain social inequality he sought to move beyond easily defined.
the focus on economic capital and resources which lie
at the basis of both Marx and Weber. Indeed, he sought Bourdieu’s notion of cultural capital
to go beyond both of these classic theorists by way of This form of capital relates to the social stature people
emphasising the importance of cultural influences acquire due to their educational background and the
arguably under-emphasised or even ignored by Marx. environment of their family upbringing which invests
Bourdieu certainly leaned on and further sought to in them characteristics of different levels of cultural
more closely specify Weber’s conceptions of status sophistication. The latter is no doubt an advantage,
and class. for instance, in a competitive market for marriage
Bourdieu argues that we cannot understand partners. In addition, have you picked up how students
the structure and functioning of the social world by try to assert their superior status depending on the
focusing solely on the economic understanding of education institutions from which they obtained their
capital. Rather, we need to recognise the importance of qualifications? Cultural capital cannot be transmitted
other forms of capital, that is, what he termed cultural, in the form of a gift or as exchange for something else.
social and symbolic forms of capital. Individuals or
groups use these other forms of capital in order to Bourdieu’s notion of social capital
gain an advantage and which also play a role in the Social capital is a concept used and defined by several
structuring and lived experience of social inequality. social scientists. In Bourdieu’s conceptualisation it
These different forms of ‘capital’ function in different has to do with being part of social networks where
308

one is recognised as part of a collective with a good regularly than not ultimately depend on the complex
reputation and that is taken as sufficient for credit and confluence and intersection of a range of attributes
other advantages they seek. Mosoetsa (2011) talks about defined, among others, by race, social class, gender,
social capital among the poor in two communities status and party.
in KwaZulu-Natal. Mosoetsa’s view is, however,
not entirely similar to Bourdieu’s. She stresses the 12.3 Social inequality in South Africa
reciprocal relations among people to assist each other today
within social and kinship networks. What has happened regarding social inequality since
1994? Marxist, neo-Marxist, Weberian, neo-Weberian,
Bourdieu’s notion of symbolic capital structural functionalist, and Bourdieusian approaches
This form of capital, symbolic capital, can be seen continue to influence how social scientists see
as an extension of Weber’s notion of status. It can be inequality unfolding in post-apartheid South Africa.
further seen as located at the intersection of Weber’s Natrass and Seekings (2001: 476) synthesise some
conceptions of class and status. It relates to status and aspects of the latter approaches and construct a class
prestige and other forms of social honour that set certain and inequality structure comprising seven classes
people apart, generally due also to more advantageous distinguished on the basis of professions and household
access such people have to opportunities to access and incomes, overlapped with race, and the proportion
accumulate resources. By virtue of possessing or being of South Africa’s total income that each class earns.
imbued with such attributes, such people are elevated Some more recent data in Table 12.2 provides useful
above the social standing of others. Symbolic capital information about how employment equity policies
is, moreover, identified with and is also subject to the since the political transition have contributed to a
cultural and historical frame within which it finds changed race profile in the hierarchy of occupations.
expression. The popular rubric attributed to someone This does not, however, broaden the picture in terms
who has what we South Africans call ‘struggle of the total share of national income each occupation
credentials’ – having been actively involved in the category earns.
struggle against apartheid, especially in the military Poulantzas’ and Wright’s structuralist theories
wings of the liberation movements, can be said to of class location and exploitation offer one way of
be imbued with symbolic capital. Political leaders understanding the role of the new black elite that has
who, in addition, have assumed positions of power, emerged largely through BEE. Until the 1960s, there was
whether political or economic, possess even greater little upward social mobility and class differentiation
symbolic capital. in black African communities. In the past generation,
Bourdieu’s different forms of capital can, without however, a fairly highly differentiated class structure
doing too grave an injustice to his concepts, be brought has emerged in this increasingly heterogeneous social
together under the notion of human capital. Not all group representing the majority of South Africans. In
sociologists will agree to describing human attributes Terreblanche’s view (2002) in all three black groups
and capacities in terms of capital. Nevertheless, the (African, coloured, Indian) a small elite has emerged,
point regarding access to the different forms of human causing a shift from a racially skewed distribution of
capital – cultural, social and symbolic – is that the income to a class-based one. The white elite is argued to
possession or lack of human capital and position the have co-opted the emergent black elite in a partnership
individual occupies in the social stratification system that protects white wealth and privilege and has
will be both powerfully shaped by and influence been accommodated by the former elites’ adoption of
access to, or the failure to access, opportunities and the current globalised neo-liberal economic policies,
resources and hence locate the individual in the which have worsened the situation of the poor. The
hierarchy of social inequality. In contemporary South implication of this class-based elitism is that the
African society, marked by a gendered, racialised and political transition facilitated the emergence and co-
class-based system of social stratification, access to option of a black elite into a lifestyle, a world view and
or the failure to access opportunities and resources, policy preferences which separates them from those of
despite the possession of human capital, will more the black underclass.
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Table 12.2 Employment equity – employment by occupation, race and sex, 2015
African Coloured Indian/Asian White Foreign Totals

% male/ m/f m/f m/f Nationals m/f
% female m/f
Top management 9.9 / 4.5 3.1 / 1.6 6.4 / 2.2 56.2 / 12.6 3.0 / 0.5 78.6 / 21.4
Senior 13.7 / 7.4 4.6 / 2.8 6.8 / 3.4 40.1 / 18.1 2.4 / 0.7 67.6 / 32.4
management
Professionally 19.7 / 21.5 4.9 / 4.5 4.8 / 3.7 22.4 / 15.6 2.0 / 0.8 53.8 / 46.1
qualified and
experienced
specialists, and
mid-management
Skilled technical 32.5 / 26.3 6.0 / 5.6 3.1 / 2.8 11.8 / 10.2 1.3 / 0.4 54.7 / 45.3
and academically
qualified
workers, junior
management,
supervisors,
foremen, and
superintendents
Semi-skilled and 45.5 / 30.5 5.9 / 6.3 1.5 / 1.5 2.7 / 3.8 2.0 / 0.2 57.6 / 42.3
discretionary
decision making
Unskilled and 51.0 / 32.3 5.8 / 5.4 0.5 / 0.3 0.8 / 0.4 2.9 / 0.6 61.0 / 39.0
defined decision
making
(Source: SAIRR 2017: 263)
The ANC is often seen as very closely aligned with classes, with the exception of the ‘poorest of the poor’
an emergent black capitalist class and which has who have benefited from social grants, has worsened.
indeed ‘been very deliberately engineered by the There is concern about the policies which favour
ANC’ (Southall 2016: 65). The ANC committed itself the development of a black economic elite with a
to a BEE policy aimed at acquiring black ownership determination and official sanction to fast track their
and control of productive property through the accumulation of wealth that undoubtedly places their
privatisation of state assets or companies and the economic policy preferences, their lifestyles and
selling of shares in historically white companies interests far above and removed from those of the
to black investors at discounted rates. BEE has black majority (Adam, Van Zyl Slabbert & Moodley
economically empowered a narrow base of historically 1998: 201). BEE creates a business elite who operate by
disadvantaged individuals. The party defends this as principles or policies similar to any other capitalist
a redistributionist strategy where its BEE strategy (Business Day 2004):
would create a black capitalist class able to challenge
white dominance of the economy. However, concern Empowerment isn’t creating any jobs and it isn’t
is raised that, while there has been improvement changing the way businesses run. Patrice Motsepe
in the material circumstances of a broadly defined may be Harmony chairman, but that doesn’t
category called the ‘black middle class’, the poverty mean Harmony won’t cut jobs when the cost to
and inequality of a large section of the black poorer price ratio turns against it.
310

Defenders of the rise of a wealthy black elite warn that accumulated, it pales into insignificance given that
it is racist to object to the reality of black business whites, who make up 10 per cent of the population,
people becoming millionaires. However, the strategy continue to own and manage the vast bulk of the
has had limited success, culminating only in the country’s productive wealth and major companies. For
economic empowerment of a small black elite. It has some years after the 1994 political transition concern
not drastically altered the race profile of the wealthy prevailed that black people still only controlled less
and too often there is suspicion that the beneficiaries than 4 per cent of shares in the Johannesburg Stock
of the most lucrative empowerment deals are always Exchange and that around nine out of ten senior
those with connections to the ANC, consequently management positions are held by white people
vindicating the ‘elite pacting’ argument that it is ‘a (Carroll 2004). Since then a black elite (made up of
device for white dominated corporations to build African, coloured and Indian people) is steadily rising
bridges with the ANC elite. Whatever wealth a into the ranks of directorships in companies listed on
relatively small segment of the black population has the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (see Table 12.3).
Table 12.3 Johannesburg Stock Exchange black directorships, 2006–2016
JSE black 2006 2011 2016 Change 2006–2016

directorships
Total number of 485 1 035 1 043 115.1%

black directors
Black male directors 371 714 658 77.4%
Black female 114 321 385 237.7%

directors
Besides the BEE measures which have permitted upward mobility through affirmative action measures,
considerable upward social mobility of a small black namely, the Employment Equity Act (RSA 1998). Data
business elite we also need to look at the effects of in Tables 12.2, 12.3 and 12.4 suggest what contribution
legislation to transform the race hierarchy in the affirmative action may be making to social mobility.
workplace and facilitate African, coloured and Indian
Table 12.4 Racial composition of top occupational categories, 2001
Legislators, senior Professionals Technicians All three categories

professionals, and and associated
managers professionals
African 25% 35% 52% 41%
Coloured 7% 8% 11% 9%
Indian 7% 7% 4% 5%
White 60% 50% 33% 44%
(Source: Seekings 2005: 312)
311

Summary Are you on track?

• Social inequality arises out of the social 1. What insights do Marxist, Weberian and functio-
stratification system characterising that society. nalist perspectives offer you into how social
The social stratification system is humanly inequality emerged during South Africa’s
constructed and hence so by implication is social industrial take-off?
inequality. 2. What insights do Marxist, Weberian and functio-
• This chapter introduced the traditional four main nalist and Bourdieusian perspectives offer you
types of social stratification systems namely: into new trends in social inequality following the
slavery, caste (including race and ethnicity), estate policies adopted by government after 1994?
and class.
• The depiction of the four social stratification More sources to consult
systems showed their applicability to the South Pillay U, Hagg G, Nyamnjoh F, Jansen J (eds). 2013. State
African context despite their origin in presenting of the Nation. South Africa 2012–2013. Addressing
the roots of social inequality in a society far Poverty and Inequality. Pretoria: Human Sciences
removed from ours. Research Council.
• A brief historical account of social inequality A collection of recent essays on state policies,
in the apartheid era with race as its central p r o g r a m m e s a nd c h a l le n g e s t o ov e r c o m e
motif showed how in South Africa class was co- unemployment, poverty and social inequality with
terminus with institutionalised and legislated special focus on industrial development strategies,
racial discrimination. housing delivery and urbanisation trends.
• Overviews were given of four mainstream Seekings J, Natrass N. 2006. Class, Race and Inequality
perspectives on class inequality in industrialised in South Africa. Pietermaritzburg: University of
societies. These perspectives were those of Marx KwaZulu-Natal Press.
(1818–1883), Weber (1864–1920), Parsons (1902– Provides statistically detailed information on
1979) and Bourdieu (1930–2002). inequality across the apartheid and post-apartheid
• The chapter briefly concluded with noting some trends.
of the changes and continuities relating to social Seekings J, Natrass N. 2016. Poverty, Politics & Policy
inequality in South Africa today. Improvements in South Africa. Why Has Poverty Persisted After
in social inequality via noting access to senior Apartheid? Johannesburg: Jacana.
positions in the state and the private sector Analyses aspects of neoliberal welfare state policy
were shown to have been accomplished in some in post-1994 South Africa, persistent poverty and
areas. Social inequality remains a pressing issue different perspectives on poverty and the effects of
in South African society today and regarding various welfare state measures to combat poverty.
which increasing social scientific research can
be anticipated.
References
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314

Chapter 13
Work
Paul Stewart
Work is a universal human activity. Through the purposive activity of work, the humanly constructed world and society
is created. This is qualitatively different from the way in which other animals construct their own habitations by instinct.
For, as Marx incomparably put it, the difference between the best bee and the worst architect is that the architect first
erects in their imagination the structure to be built. Work is at once both a cognitive and physical activity. The purposive
physical activity of work has hunger and the need to survive as its motivating driving force and out of this activity, ideas
of how to ensure survival are born. The purpose of work is hence to make or produce something useful and needed to
satisfy human wants and needs. In the earliest of communal societies, production would have been intimately bound up
with religious rites, rituals and festivals. But in all social contexts, past and present, it is work which creates society and
ensures its survival.
This chapter will first offer a definition of work and then make the explicit argument that work is at the centre
of human consciousness, the formation of individual identity and the creation of communities and social classes. The
analysis thus presented is explicitly a materialist one. Understanding ourselves and the social world must start from the
mundane, everyday things we have to do in order to survive and flourish. As human beings overcome nature and work
with tools according to a purpose, the human species shapes itself in the process.
As work is very largely collective – including intellectual work such as preparing this textbook – specific forms of
social relations between people develop. In the beginning of human development, under different conditions and over
time and with the application of different aptitudes, the more successful would have gained power and ensured that
others worked for them. Much work was soon to be reduced to labour – hard toil done under the pain of subservience
and compulsion. This kind of work is not the choosing of the slave, the peasant or the worker. Under these conditions
free purposive work transformed into labour becomes a tool of domination and exploitation.
The nature and organisation of work shapes all societies. This can be seen when the four great transformations in
the world of work fall under the sociological gaze. Where this chapter departs from all other accounts in the sociology
of work, is to go back to the way in which mining, had taken root in Africa some 200 000 years ago. This is evidence for
abstract and symbolic thought and modern forms of human behaviour occurring considerably earlier than had previously
been thought. Early African societies were not merely agriculturalist, but also traded far and wide as they had developed
sophisticated techniques to mine and smelt metals and which signals the first great transformation in the world of work.
In South Africa, the mining of diamonds and then gold, initiated on an industrial scale with European finance and
American engineering expertise, fundamentally changed the shape of African societies. Science was soon to be applied
to work, with scientific management leading the way in the second great transformation in the world of work. This
transformation was to be followed by the dominance in production environments of the assembly line of Henry Ford and
then, finally, our own contemporary post-Fordist, nuclear, fast-paced globalised age driven by information technologies.
Work for many has become flexible, specialised and precarious. These transformations in the world of work shape the
form of society to which they give birth.
In short, the argument and evidence presented in this chapter shows how work shapes society. Space here does not
permit showing how the absence of work and employment has similar effects. Instead, what follows, traces the increasingly
rational way in which the collective work of its members is organised as the division of labour rapidly became more
complex. With China rapidly establishing itself as the factory floor of the modern global economy, elsewhere much work

is related not to production, but the provision of services. If you are a waiter or shop assistant you must smile at customers
and hence present what sociologists call emotional labour. No longer is physical coercion at work dominant, instead the
social structuring forces of the global economy compel us to work as we need money to survive. As two leading sociological
theorists of work powerfully show, our consent is manufactured and the human heart is now managed in the contemporary
world of work. The overall social effect of the collective work of society finds its expression in the economy. The global
economy now exerts its influence over South African society and its prospects. Much work has become precarious. It
must be clear that not having work, not being employed and unemployment in our modern age is a critical social concern
of our times.
Case study 13.1 Learning to lead in the Fourth Industrial Revolution
Professor Alwyn Louw, President of Monash South Africa, said the following in an article in the Mail&Guardian:
Ultimately, the security and resilience of tomorrow’s employees does not lie in their ability to do a job. It is inextricably linked to
their ability to adapt and their capacity to harness the constant flow of new knowledge to create the tomorrow they desire – for
themselves, and their fellow man.
Questions
1. What is the role of work in society?
2. What are knowledge workers and can everyone be one?
3. What is the Fourth Industrial Revolution?
•• Introducing the concepts of work, labour and production

•• Work as a universal human activity
•• Defining the concept of work
Key Themes
•• The evolution of work and corresponding forms of society

•• Transformations in the world of work
•• Tracing the sociology of work in Africa
•• Pre-industrial mining and the first great transformation in production
•• The rise of scientific management
•• Fordism
•• Post-Fordism.
Introduction
Work is a universal human activity. Work has always variety of conditions throughout the course of
played the central role in economic and hence, perhaps human history. The individual members of society
even, social life. The activity of work has taken many are likewise created and formed – in the self-same
forms and continues to evolve. New kinds of work moment – by the society they create. This is the central
emerge while others disappear. Work shapes not only conceptual insight arising out of the perspective in the
the individual’s social position and status within sociology of work presented in this chapter. In brief,
society, but the character of society itself. Simply put, the very identity of individuals who make up society is
the result of the collective work of all active members powerfully fashioned by the work they do. How work
of society creates society itself. It is through this is at the very centre of individual identity formation
collective activity that society makes and remakes and the creation of communities and social classes is
itself. It has done so under the most extraordinary hence a key theme in what follows.
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To elaborate this central insight, people’s perceptions, is very different from industrial society dominated by
their social interactions and general behaviour the motor car and the mechanic. How different again
are powerfully influenced by their occupation is industrial society from that of the post-industrial
or profession or, crucially, whether they are even automated machine-making robotised production
employed at all. To give a simple example, the systems driven by communication technologies? Will
experience, perceptions and social position of a technologies still to be invented dispense with work
plumber and a public relations officer of a multi- altogether? Is this at the heart of the Fourth Industrial
national company are very different. Obviously, the Revolution? Or will new forms of work such as the
chief executive officer of a major company and workers call centre operator and the cell phone salesperson
on the factory floor do very different kinds of work. simply emerge as has happened thus far in the story
They consequently see the world and act within it of human development?
from very different perspectives. In general, the work To tackle such questions, this chapter begins by
of the company executive is abstract and conceptual. defining some key concepts in the sociology of work.
It is largely mental labour. The work of the factory The chapter will use the concept of work to delve into
floor worker is concrete and practical. It is largely the earliest beginnings of human experience. Clearly,
manual labour. for instance, agricultural work dominated society for
Labour is, however, to be distinguished from the greatest part of human history as it still does in
work. To labour implies not just to work hard, but Africa and elsewhere in developing societies today.
to toil and do heavy, often painful, back-breaking When Africa is the focus, however, what seldom
work under duress or compulsion and which is not attracts attention is how mining, over a thousand
under the worker’s control. Much work, such as years ago, was an integral part of agricultural society
that of slaves is this kind of labour and this often and was responsible for a major transformation in the
continues to be the case. The term labour has, world of work and fundamentally changed African
probably not incidentally, also become used to refer society. When industrialisation later exploded
to the social group of workers as a whole, strongly onto the stage of human history and initiated the
suggesting that much of their work is inordinately beginnings of a global society, this marked the single
hard work performed under circumstances not of most important change in human evolution and social
their own choosing (see Standing 1999: 305). When experience. This astonishing historical moment will
one studies the nature of work, how and why much of absorb our attention in this chapter, not only because
it has become labour and the ways it has undergone it is responsible for initiating the modern era in which
significant transformations, this chapter will suggest, we currently live, but because of the way in which it
it is noteworthy how significantly work defines the changed the way we think about the world around us
character of the human agents who perform it and the as well as ourselves.
societies they create. The chapter then turns to discussing these
In following on from these preliminary developments. It specifically notes the four major
observations in the sociology of work, what this transformations of work which take place with the
chapter will further show is that we cannot understand advent of industrial capitalism. The re-discovery of
society without understanding the nature of work: precious metals and the beginning of modern mining
what it is, why it is necessary, how it is performed and in South Africa, how scientific management was
how it changes. In brief, what the chapter even further implemented in the goldmines and how Western
wants to show is how work remains at the heart of the forms of work organisation were implemented in
social and economic life of every society across time mines and then factories in South Africa, becomes the
and space. focus. In discussing these themes in the sociological
This chapter will present the case that one study of work, the broader story of the world of work
form of society gives way to another due to the and its intimate relationship to society at large, is
transformations occurring in the world of work. introduced.
These transformations have been remarkable. The chapter ends by posing an important question
Agricultural society dominated by the horse and the as to the future of work. This and similar questions are
farrier (an old occupation of putting shoes on horses) noted as of critical importance in trying to understand
317

both South African society and the global world do anything else. Logically speaking, the instinct of
around us. In short, such is the centrality of work that survival precedes the formulation of ideas. Only once
one prominent theorist has asked the question whether basic physical needs have been satisfied can ideas
work is not in fact the key sociological category fruitfully emerge, often first expressed as art painted
(Offe 1985). or etched onto rock. Surely it was only through the
struggle for survival that traditional and practical
13.1 Work as a universal activity rules of life then gradually developed, later to be
It is doubtful whether society will ever attain the inscribed in modes of education, law and politics?
dream of science fiction, namely artificial intelligence, These activities have in turn resulted in different
a state where fully automated robotised machines run occupations and kinds of work. In the context of
a world in which people are idle and superfluous. Or engaging in some activity, that of work especially, ideas
is it? For the foreseeable future, the workplace will develop. In short, work is an activity devoted to the
remain a central feature of society despite its ever- practical end of producing something as a service or
changing nature. Thousands of years ago the ancient goods to be consumed. It does not matter whether work
Greeks thought work was a necessary evil. Founded is predominantly manual or mental or predominantly
on slavery, Greek citizens constituted a social class practical or intellectual. Work is the centrally crucial
who never did any actual physical work. Around the activity in which human beings have had to engage
same period, in the Judeo-Christian-Islamic tradition, in creating and sustaining society from its very first
work was seen as a curse. In our modern globalised beginnings.
world, dominated by capitalism, it is a curse if you are
unemployed and do not have work. What, we may ask, 13.2.1 Work as constitutive of individual
is this thing called work? How has it changed, how is identity
it changing and what is the future of work? It is hard not to agree with Karl Marx that it is through
work that we become fully human or ‘realise our
13.2 Work as purposeful activity species being’, as he put it. Through actively engaging
Work can be defined as the purposeful activity with the world around us, we gain mastery over nature
or effort of using tools and materials to make or and over ourselves. Are we not all pleased when a
create something useful. The primary tools of work job of work is done well? It could have been a simple
were always the human hand and brain. Current household chore, a school project or a task performed
technologies such as the cell phone and laptop can in a part-time job. In fact, through actively engaging
be viewed as an extension of the human hand and in the world through the activity of work, we interact
brain. If work was previously viewed as a necessary with others in society and in the process transform
evil or curse, the nineteenth century thinker Karl the identity we acquired at birth. This is the identity
Marx, once referred to as the ‘philosopher of work’, ascribed to us by factors such as our race, sex and
shared the view of his contemporaries who saw work socioeconomic position and over which we had no
in a much more positive light. Marx correctly saw control. We can change this ascribed identity into an
work as a universal condition of human existence. identity we have achieved for ourselves. For better or
Work, he thought, is the first and necessary worse, we are continually required to develop ourselves
historical act in which human beings engage. Work and thereby gain social recognition. We then become
is, moreover, fundamentally collective. It is, he more confident of our role in the world. Much of such
suggested, the very fountain of the development of an achieved identity has to do with our performance
human consciousness. If this is true, the study of in our working environment which, for those engaged
work must surely be the very starting point of social in some form of work, generally absorbs a significant
understanding. proportion of time across the span of a lifetime. If
These are big claims. They are made for the this is true, then the seriousness of being unemployed
following simple but profound reason. Human beings and not having work or something meaningful to do
need to engage in the activity of work or what can to sustain life, becomes self-evident. As we will also
be called material production to satisfy their basic see, however, much work has become repetitive and
physical needs of food, shelter and clothing before they monotonous with soul destroying consequences.
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Chapter 13: Work
13.2.2 The origin of work amount of work further occurs in the informal sector
Work originated alongside the most primitive forms where there is generally no wage paid, but where
of social organisation in the domestic household. The manufactured articles might be resold, such as in
home was for long the basic social unit of the economy. ‘spaza’ shops or on the street corner. There is an
The immediate environment of the family or kinship increasing number of people who provide services,
group, despite significant differences in the ways such as cleaners, nurses, teachers and those in law
it has been organised in the course of development enforcement – the police and military. But before we
of the human species, would have provided the first look at how the activity of work eventually evolved
experiences of social contact and social co-operation. into these different occupations, there is one curious
The very first sets of social relations would have thing we must note about work.
formed as the household needed to hunt and gather and
thereby survive as a social group. Through such basic 13.2.3 Work as a function of social
forms of collective behaviour and action, social life circumstances
began to take shape and assumed a variety of different Work is central to the development and fortunes of
forms. More complex forms of organisation, such as society. Yet one and the same activity can be either
settled agriculture and larger hunting and gathering work or play. Take the example of baking a cake. If
parties, production for barter and as we shall see, the you are enjoying baking a cake for your party, it’s a
activity of mining, began to appear. kind of play or recreation. If you are a chef cooking or
The survival of any form of society more complex domestic employee baking a cake, then that is work.
than nomadic hunting and gathering requires The same activity (baking or cooking) is either work or
that more must be produced than is immediately play depending on its social circumstances. We need,
consumed. Every social group of human beings must in other words, to look at the sets of social relations
create a surplus. In a rural economy the seed needed within which the activity is located before we can
for planting for the next season is, for instance, often define that activity as work. Is the activity being paid
jealously guarded by the women to prevent the men for? Is there an owner and a worker, a self-employed
from consuming it. worker/owner or is there no financial transaction
If work then was originally necessary for survival, taking place? If the same activity can be either work
today one needs money to make a livelihood and or play, can we imagine a society in which work
survive. In a modern economy, even those who are not becomes play? Was work in the dim and distant past
formally employed need to find some way of acquiring more playful than it is today? Or was work always the
money. In our modern globalised economy especially, product of the sweat from one’s brow?
work generally means access to money. When people
are put to work and paid, whether this is a salary or a 13.3 The evolution of work
wage, work becomes paid or wage labour. When that is Since the dawn of human history work has assumed
the kind of work we do we expect something in return. many forms, but has always been closely related to
We can hence expand our definition of what work is by different types of economy. These types of economy can
saying that work is the purposive productive activity themselves only be understood once those very forms of
or effort applied at a specific time and particular space work are examined. The history of work can be divided
for a reward. The reward might not be in the form of into three types. By dividing societies into this three-
money. As soon as we adopt this definition of work, fold conceptual typology, this does not mean that the
a wide range of different forms and different kinds of previous types of society and forms of work disappear
work come into view. entirely. There are still parts of the world in many
Work must be understood more broadly than developing societies where work is still performed
the activity associated with formal employment much in the same way as it was centuries ago. Across
earning a wage or a salary. Much work, for instance, southern Africa in far-flung rural areas you can still
continues to occur in the home or is what sociologists witness the tilling of the land with a rudimentary hoe
call domestic or reproductive work. Yet this work often wedged onto a sturdy shaft of wood. This work is
is often not paid work. There might only be the generally done by women. The point is that analytical
reward of satisfaction or a ‘thank you’. An increasing distinctions – such as between different types of society
319

– are not meant to necessarily follow chronologically or families – such as agricultural peasants – would have
can ever fully characterise the extraordinary variety of had to give a significant proportion of their labour
forms of social existence. time to work for their traditional chiefs as would serfs
for their lords in European traditions. At every step of
13.3.1 Nomadic, pastoral and agricultural the way, as societies became more complex, various
societies forms of social organisation developed which mirrored
Before the advent of science and technology all societies the forms of work and production with which those
were either nomadic, pastoral and based on agriculture. societies were engaged. With the density of the world’s
These were pre-industrial societies. In such societies population increasing, ever greater congregations of
work was embedded in the extended family, clan, tribe people formed themselves into villages and towns.
or immediate community. The social group of clan or Ancient civilisations built great cities. Civilisations
tribe was primary with little differentiation between rose and fell. The shift from agricultural to industrial
the individuals. Everyone knew one another and society would mark the single most critical change in
relationships were close. Seniority, generally of the human history. The division of labour exploded and
men, was the hallmark of decision making. The way in specialisation of work and its labours, occupations and
which work was divided, the division of labour, was professions and their many tasks became the way of
based on gender. Generally men hunted or looked after life. Every person came to require the contribution of a
the cattle and were responsible for cultural rituals, great many others to satisfy their needs. Society would
while women worked the fields. Such forms of society now hold together, as Durkheim explained, through
were fairly homogeneous. Everyone did much the same complex forms of organic solidarity.
kind of work. The surplus produced in such economies
was shared. The contemporary legal notion that land 13.3.2 Industrial society
could be private property was foreign. Work took The invention of electricity and steam engines in
place in the context of webs of traditional obligations Scotland and the emergence of industrial society
and duties. The collective collaboration which work followed the Industrial Revolution in the mid-
demanded signalled strong bonds of social solidarity nineteenth century in England and spread to the rest of
or what Émile Durkheim called mechanical solidarity. the world. These developments transformed virtually
In southern Africa, the ancient San communities were every aspect of human experience and social life. No
nomadic. The Khoi-Khoi were cattle breeders and longer was brute human energy the sole source of
clashed over grazing lands with the early Afrikaner power required when it came to doing any job of work.
farmers in the Cape who were often partly nomadic The power of steam and electrically driven machines
and partly, like the Khoi-Khoi, cattle farmers. completely transformed work (see Berg 1979). Industrial
Economic wealth in such settled agricultural societies societies developed. Urban populations grew. People
would have been measured in terms of the number of now thought of themselves as more advanced and even
cattle the social group or community possessed. In superior to other societies which were not urbanised
rural communities in South Africa and elsewhere this and industrialised.
is still the case. With the advent of industrialisation, the amount,
Since time immemorial then, apart from nomadic performance and intensity of work which could be
groups of people, society was based primarily on performed was thoroughly revolutionised. Machines
agriculture. The driving force of this type of society came to dominate work. Men, women and children
was human labour, aided by the domestication of became slaves to ever bigger and more efficient
animals. Camels and horses were used for transport machines which now produced great masses of
and draught animals such as oxen would draw ploughs commodities and products. This new form of work
in the fields. All manner of crafts and industrious overwhelmed the old familial and communal sets of
forms of activity evolved. Populations increased in size social relations which had nurtured and sustained
and society became more complex and heterogeneous. it as an activity. The invention of machines brought
Some people ended up working for others. Some, like with it an astonishing array of different kinds of jobs
slaves, would have had to devote all their time to the and an explosion in an increasingly complex division
masters who owned them. Even freemen and their of labour. Where previously there may have been
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miners digging at the earth with crude implements, financial institutions emerged with the expansion
now miners would employ sophisticated machinery of the legal system. New branches of law evolved to
at great depths underground. An entire social class of regulate the ownership of the economic resources
artisanal and technical trades emerged. These artisans in society. The means of production rapidly became
worked increasingly powerful industrial lathes considerably more complex. Wealth would now be
designed by engineers. The widespread use of the measured in terms of the money and capital circulating
internal combustion engine, still found in effectively in a society. The institution of private property would
every motor vehicle today, despite the looming of take the place of shared and communal ownership.
electrically powered driverless cars, transformed Ever-expanding and advancing industrial technologies
society entirely. enabled the manufacturing of the everyday goods and
Beyond the productive heart of industrial society commodities which continue to form the foundation
in the factory, these changes were foundational ones. of all modern urban lifestyles – from electric light
Every member of society, across all social classes, bulbs to skyscraper elevators and movie houses to jet-
now became a consumer. The availability of goods powered passenger aircraft.
and services, previously the exclusive preserve of the With the advent of modern industrial society,
wealthy aristocratic elite, now became potentially great advances came with great costs. Ordinary men
available to everybody. With the production of whole and women were forced to relinquish the control
new ranges of commodities, markets increased they had over their own work. The greatly enhanced
rapidly, became hugely sophisticated and continue social surplus was no longer commonly owned,
to extend their global reach. Work and society, now but was increasingly privately appropriated by the
freed from deeply entrenched age-old traditions formation of a powerful new social class which drove
and obligations and ways of doing things, became this revolution in society and became intertwined
increasingly embedded in an economy dominated by with it – the hugely progressive entrepreneurial,
the market. In these new marketplaces the emerging capital owning class or bourgeoisie. Under industrial
middle classes were free to buy and sell and invest capitalism, economic growth and profit were to
their money. Stripped from communal land, the newly become the guiding principles dominating society.
formed urban industrial working class would sell the Work increasingly came to dominate social life. The
only commodity they had at their disposal, namely time allocated to work regular and standardised
their labour power or, in other words, their capacity hours, measured by the clock, would now powerfully
to work. shape society. Time was no longer just experienced
Accompanying this process of industrialisation, as passing along with the seasons as in pre-industrial
an entire range of planning, conceptual and society. Time would rather now be ‘spent’. Time
organisational forms of work emerged to regulate, itself came to represent money – as EP Thompson
control and administer the new capitalist mode of (1967) famously observed in his article, Time, Work-
production which characterised industrial society. Discipline and Industrial Capitalism fifty years ago.
With the family and traditional obligations around
which work cohered overwhelmed, written and 13.3.3 Post-industrial society
contractual obligations become dominant in defining In an ever rapidly changing and fast-paced world
human and social relationships. New organisations where daily life can seem to pass in a blur, the
came into being. The old guilds of the skilled craftsmen emergence of the third type of society is perhaps
who worked by hand were replaced with the trade less socially visible, until one pauses to reflect how
unions of the semi-skilled industrial workers who much has changed in one or two short generations.
tended the new machines. Small business family firms Sociologists suggest that society entered the post-
were rapidly swallowed up by emerging national and industrial age with the dropping of the atomic bomb
then multinational companies and corporations. The on the cities of Hiroshima and Nagasaki in 1945,
legal contracts these new institutions required became which ended the Second World War. It signalled
increasingly complex as specific production processes the explosive birth of the global village in which
developed and required ever-increasing amounts of we now live. At the level of daily experience, the
money and capital. More sophisticated and complex ‘wireless’ radio, long playing records and reel-to-
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reel tape recorders and the land-line telephone were out-sourced, contracted out or conducted at home. These
shortly to be replaced by cellular telephony and our are generally precarious forms of employment and the
current rapidly expanding ever increasingly remote- struggle of many people is now to find some decent
based communication technologies. In short, now the work or any work at all. Work has become increasingly
technologies of the post-industrial age powerfully temporary and precarious. Where manufacturing and
shape our lives. When separated from our cell phones, industry dominated industrial society, social classes
for instance, we are suddenly isolated and can even divided fairly neatly into a working class and socially
feel lost. Such is the power of the productive forces in identifiable ruling bourgeoisie. Now the financial and
society, born out of the socio-technical conditions of banking sectors and an increasingly faceless global
contemporary, largely automated production systems. super-rich, transnational elite, a growing precariat –
Nuclear power now drives many advanced those who only ever find temporary work – and those who
capitalist societies. While coal mining remains the have been marginalised and permanently unemployed
mainstay of the generation of electricity in South and unemployable increasingly characterises post-
Africa, and the nuclear future remains uncertain, our industrial society.
age is an electronic and informational one. In advanced
capitalist societies, the importance of industrial
Box 13.1 Work
manufactures has shrunk as automated computerised
electronic technologies and robotisation produce new How has work and society changed from the time
goods and commodities at an ever-accelerating rate. when your grandparents were your age?
A wide variety of service industries has overtaken Ask them – or one of their peers:
manufacturing in the technologically advanced •• to describe what work they did
societies of Europe and North America, and South •• to tell you how long they spent working
Africa stands on the cusp of the same development •• how they listened to music – or did they have to
with the increase of the so-called knowledge economy. make their own?
In what are called ‘emerging economies’ such as
South Africa, brands such as ‘Made in China’ and
‘Made in Malaysia’ signal the industrial workshops of 13.4 Transformations in the world of
the world as powerfully as ‘Made in England’, ‘Made work
in Hong Kong’ or ‘Made in Japan’ ever did. All manner We need to take a closer look at the nature of these
of technologies, both industrial and post-industrial, transformations. The key sociological question
are in evidence in these societies. The advance and posed here is whether the shape and form of work
development of a global information technology, really does give us the society in which we live.
where virtually anything can be ‘Googled’, has The sociology of work generally begins with
accelerated in an ever more closely interconnected the transformations of work in industrial society
world economy. Businesses which were the most which has assumed a capitalist form of society. We
widely known brand names in the industrial era, are, however, going to go back further and delve into
such as Coca-Cola and Ford, while still around, have the rich past and blur a distinction often imposed
been replaced with Nike and Nokia. Everything on Africa and other developing societies still moving
now seems to be subject to the power of the market towards full industrialisation or which has been
– available for sale and purchase. Sociologists call stalled in others, not having been able to keep up.
this phenomenon and process, commodification. The distinction is often made between an unwritten
Alongside this process which was previously pre-history of ‘primitive’ societies and the recorded
communal and social has become commercialised. history of more technologically and industrially
With these changes a seismic shift in the world of advanced or so-called ‘civilised’ societies. It is to
work has occurred. Full-time jobs in the formal sector of the former and the case of the deep history of the
the economy are no longer the norm. What was once the southern African continent this chapter now turns.
regular, structuring capacity of working hours, shaping There is an important assumption being made here.
the form social life assumes, is for many now a thing of the The theoretical assumption is that to be socially
past. Work is increasingly part-time, piece-work, casual, scientifically rigorous, sociology must be sensitive to
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Chapter 13: Work
the forces of historical experience. The subtext here diamonds in 1868 in Kimberley and gold in 1886 on
is that history itself can be viewed in a different and the Witwatersrand. African agriculturist societies,
clearer light if it is informed by certain key critical however, had been mining and processing ore-
concepts, in this instance, the concepts of work and bearing rock thousands of years before. It is clear from
production but looked at from our location in the archaeological evidence that the mining of oxides
global south. Before we broach this topic, however, for use as a pigment and the work of mechanical
one perhaps unusual construal of work must processing, was undertaken around 200 000 years ago
be noted. during the Middle Stone Age. The existence of finds
of much both ground and polished ochre attests to
13.4.1 War as work significant pigment production which was processed
If every society must produce a surplus in order to by shamanic labour. The shaman was the medicine-
survive, war has often been a crucial and important man, healer, inyanga or ‘witch doctor’ in these early
mode of either securing or protecting the surplus societies. The production of pigment was of central
production of communities and societies. The rationale importance to these early communities. Pigment
for waging wars across and down the ages of human was used as a medium of cultural expression, both
history illustrates how powerful elite leadership groups artistically and for body paint to signal the growing
in very different kinds of society disguise and provide complexity of social position, status and identity.
ideological justifications for getting others to work. In the Later Stone Age, archaeologists suggest
It was suggested above that when one is put to work, that ochre and pigment were not used purely for
work then becomes labour. Often it is paid, generally symbolic purposes, but played a more complex social
meagrely, but in the case of slavery – an alarmingly role. Weberian-orientated sociologists would nod in
increasing feature in the late twentieth and early agreement with the conclusions of two contemporary
twenty-first centuries – work is not even paid labour, archaeologists, Shadreck Chirikure and Simon Hall
but rather forced labour. Much war is conducted on this (2008), who suggest:
basis, for the generally exorbitant costs of war cannot
be higher than the envisaged spoils of war, otherwise the processing of pigment and the tools of its
there is no surplus or benefit to be gained. application are inseparably linked to the deeply
This view of war as work can and must, like religious structures these images communicated.
all sociological perspectives, be tested against the Pigment itself has an essence that was integral to
evidence, but which cannot be tackled here. It is left meaning.
for you to investigate and test for yourself as you make
sense of society from a sociological point of view. To The systematic decorations made of ochre during this
give but one example, a war which heavily impacted age point to the fact that between 70 000 and 80 000
on South African society was the South African War years ago, the use of mined oxides represent evidence
of 1899 to 1902. While the causes of this war, like of abstract and symbolic thought and are crucial in
most human events, were complex, historians very debates around cognitive development and the display
largely agree that it was fought to gain control over of modern forms of human behaviour. The decorative
the largest ore-bodies of gold ever discovered – the work of these early human beings, in other words,
Witwatersrand goldfields. The systematic exploitation tells us that African societies were considerably
of these goldfields ushered in the transition of South more advanced than Euro-North American epistemic
Africa from a pre-industrial to the most industrialised frameworks held.
society in Africa. Yet mining of precious metals took
place in Africa long before this watershed event. 13.4.3 The first great transformation of
production
13.4.2 Stone Age mining of iron oxides The first major transformation in the production of
and Iron Age farmers in southern pigments and ochre was from the mechanical crushing
Africa of pigment-bearing mineral ores by stone to a complex,
Virtually all South African studies in the sociology heat-driven chemical transformation of the smelting of
of work begin with mining and the discovery of these oxides. This significant technological advance in
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production occurred early in the Early Iron Age, the auriferous (gold-bearing) sands to the river banks
period up to the year 1000. At this point, by means which would be winnowed and separated from the silt
of a complex pyrotechnology (using fire), clay was until all that was left was gold dust. Weighed down
transformed into ceramics and iron ore into metal. by weights, African miners would dive into rivers
Although the history is contested, it appears this and collect auriferous sand in bowls which would be
technology was introduced into southern Africa by carefully washed off to leave the gold dust behind.
trade with communities from the north as part of a It is clear that the organisation of this kind of work
complex package of new food producing economies was vastly different to that of agricultural work even
to which the settled Bantu-speaking agriculturalists if we know very little what forms of organisation this
were central. work assumed.
This discovery was interpreted by means of Early African mining was not, however,
cultural idioms. The chemical transformation of simply confined to sifting alluvial deposits of gold.
mineral ores into metals was associated with birth Underground mining involved using iron gads, stone
and the furnaces themselves were decorated with hammers and the setting of fires to break the ore-
symbols representing the female gender. So advanced bearing rock. A copper mine near Phalaborwa, dated to
were these methods that even contemporary attempts the year AD 800, was found, but destroyed by modern
to generate the high temperatures needed to melt iron, mining. This ancient African mine excavated copper
have failed. Yet the placement of these furnaces was carbonates (malachite and azurite) from a complex of
located away from the household, much in the same adits, shafts and chambers. Many underground mines
way the human birthing process was separated from even had ventilation shafts and supports constructed
the sight of the community. Work and production, of wooden props and ladders and were excavated down
hence, were intimately connected with the form of to between 70 and 80 metres. Again, it is self-evident
social organisation these societies assumed. The point that this kind of mining required considerably more
is that the very process of metal smelting production complex forms of social organisation than did mining
was both shaped by the archetypal gendered division alluvial deposits washed down streams and rivers.
of labour and provided the structuring architectural The range of metals mined and processed during
landscape of the household economy. pre-colonial times was remarkably extensive. Literally
Even more importantly, during the Middle Iron thousands of tons of iron, gold, copper and tin ore were
Age (from around 1000 to 1300) and the Late Iron Age mined. In counties neighbouring South Africa, such as
(1300 up to the nineteenth century) the mining of a Zimbabwe and eastern Botswana, over 500 copper and
range of metals went hand in hand with agriculture. 4 000 pre-colonial goldmines have been identified.
African pre-industrial societies were not then, as Regrettably, the subject has not received the attention
often simplistically understood, merely agricultural it is due in South Africa, despite the evidence that
societies. The mining and production of metals for there were copper mines in Musina and Phalaborwa
decorative purposes, but also for the production of over one thousand years ago. Production debris from
tools such as hoes for agriculture and axes for times of AD 500 has been found at Broederstroom just north
war, were integral to larger social systems. The African of Johannesburg in Gauteng Province. Tswana copper
states, such as Great Zimbabwe state and Mapungubwe miners worked large amounts of copper and produced
(1220–1290) in present-day Mpumalanga, are examples surplus copper and iron for regional trade at Zeerust
of significant sophisticated pre-industrial civilisations. and at Marothodi in the Pilanesberg. Sotho and
The point of production is to create a social surplus, Tswana tin miners produced an estimated 2 000 tons
and with the production of an economic surplus, comes of tin ore or casserite at Rooiberg, in both opencast and
trade. Social interaction between people immediately underground mines from the fifteenth century. The
becomes more complex. Trade in metals in Africa was discovery of the iconic gold rhino together with gold
extensive during the whole of the Iron Age (1000 to beads, bangles and wound helices signalling gold as a
the nineteenth century) with the mining of gold, for status metal, first appeared at Mapungubwe going back
example, occurring in placer (alluvial) deposits as well to the Middle Iron Age (1000–1300).
as underground deposits. Alluvial goldmining was Not only was production sophisticated, but trade
conducted seasonally after the rains had brought down was extensive. During the Middle Iron Age copper
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Chapter 13: Work
beads were found in Natal where there are no copper institution of slavery provided for every conceivable
mineral deposits. Gold was traded with the Indian kind of work required to build the Cape colony. Slaves
Ocean Swahili Arab states, creating wealth for elites worked as herdsmen, household servants and did the
early in the second millennium from around 1100 to bulk of the physical work in the growing, though
1300. Later, around the year 1500, Tswana copper had scattered settlement for the first 150 years of the
found its way through trade to the Eastern Cape. These colonial period. The arrival of the Dutch settlers was
historical facts, uncovered by the science of archaeology, intimately linked to the expansion of the economies
challenge Western-orientated sociological conceptions of Europe. Progress and development was slow and
of the nature of southern African society. And the story this stood in marked contrast to the settlement of
does not end here. Europeans in North America. The simple reason for
Iron, for instance, was particularly important. Iron the relatively stagnant development of the Cape under
tools were not only central to the viability of agricultural Dutch rule was due to the role of the Dutch East India
societies and to warfare and hunting, but also enabled Company (DEIC/VOC), which required a refreshment
these societies to develop in scale and complexity of station at the Cape midway between Europe and India.
organisation. Trade evened out the availability of these No great surplus needed to be produced at the Cape
metals where sources of mineralogical deposits were as it was only the requirements of the refreshment
poor or did not exist, such as in the Free State and the station of the VOC which needed to be met. The only
Northern Cape. Iron Age sites are scattered all over market was the VOC itself, which was largely a law
southern Africa. As Chirikure and Hall (2008) tell us: unto itself and was keen to keep its costs down. This
frustrated the small, but slowly growing group of
Metal was active in all spheres of political, social Dutch free burghers who began to farm independently
and economic life and the practical and utilitarian beyond the reaches of the Cape Town fortified castle
cannot be separated from social structure and which was the VOC’s headquarters. These Dutch
meaning. farmers, it was envisaged, would supply all the basic
food supplies Cape Town needed. In what is a complex
These f i nd i ngs power f u l ly c h a l lenge Wester n history, these free burghers associated closely with the
orientated sociological conceptual categories and Malay slaves, some of whom attained manumission
theorisations. They suggest a radical rethinking of the (freedom) from their slave status and constituted the
concepts sociologists in Africa often uncritically inherit basis of the early Afrikaner communities out of which
from contexts in which they were first formulated. the language of Afrikaans developed in distinction to
In this instance, the concepts of work, production the ‘High Dutch’ spoken in the urban Cape.
and economy clearly need to be conceptualised in These farmers, partly nomadic and partly settled,
a much closer relation to the meanings that African quickly learned they too had need of additional labour
sociologists attach to social and political life. to till their lands. They instituted their own form
of slavery, a form of bonded or indentured labour
13.4.4 Slavery and indentured labour acquired by warlike raiding parties which captured
The pre-industrial rhythm of agriculture and the children of the Khoi-Khoi. The farmers ‘booked
mining which structured African societies for over them into’ their own household economies and so
two thousand years came to an abrupt end when these children were hence called inboekselings. When
Portuguese explorers first rounded the Cape of Good the inboekselings became adults, having shared close
Hope and later with the establishment of the Dutch and intimate though patriarchal relationships with
settlement at the Cape. The colonists brought with the early Afrikaner farming families, they were set
them a wide range of skills and paraphernalia of free and became known as oorlams – literally meaning
European society – resources previously unknown the ‘left over’ slaves. They often continued to live and
to the continent. But crucially, these Europeans had work as part of the Afrikaner household economy (see
a need for labour, particularly unskilled labour. The Delius & Trapido 1994).
Dutch brought with them the institution of slavery, These farmers increasingly established themselves
the majority of the slaves being imported in small beyond the reach of the VOC. They soon found
numbers over a long period of time from Asia. The themselves in stiff competition from a society much like
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themselves, the independent pastoralist Xhosa peoples developed, undermined the traditional handicraft
of the Eastern Cape. A series of wars were fought with technologies. Agricultural peasants were deprived
the Xhosa communities across the Eastern frontier over of their land through Acts of parliament and had
grazing lands, with each group thieving and raiding only their labour to sell. In the first factories this
each other’s cattle. Both pastoralist groups, however, early proletariat was subject to tight control, close
faced the poisoned arrows of the San who raided the supervision and worked extraordinarily long hours
easy target of the cattle of both the established Xhosa to ensure greater productive efficiencies and the
and the emergent Afrikaner farmers. maximisation of profit. What skills remained were
The Afrikaner settlers’ agricultural mode of rapidly to be eroded as machinery was increasingly
life was to be sorely threatened. Only a few decades introduced.
after 1806, when the British annexed the Cape, the In South Africa we cannot talk about the rise of
prospect of the abolition of slavery and the consequent the factory, which only developed later to support the
freeing of their agricultural labour interfered with the mining industry (see Callinicos 1994b), but rather the
generations-old relationship of master and servant and revolution of both production and society brought
thus with the very foundation of their still somewhat about by modern mining. Peasant farmers from across
fragile agricultural economy. The economic foundation southern Africa initially flocked to the Kimberley
of the early Afrikaner communities, slavery in other diamond fields to work. Shangaans from the coastal
words, was being threatened and was a major reason plains of the Gaza empire, for instance, arrived
for these farmers leaving the Cape to settle in what alongside men from Basotholand and men from the
became known as the Boer republics of the Orange eastern Transvaal tramped down the Xingwedsi and
Free State and Transvaal. Pafuri rivers to Pretoria, while others followed the
This series of struggles and wars all went to the heart Olifants and Sabi rivers to converge in Kimberley to be
of a pre-industrial, agricultural mode of production employed in the diamond mines (Harries 1994). When
and the centrality of both land and labour which the new phenomenon of cash wages, paid in exchange
underpinned it. The nature of agricultural work for a for work were cut, Pedi and Sotho workers left. Such
great many Africans of different communities changed behaviour is associated with a modern industrial
in the process. People were no longer free to work the proletariat. Other African workers quickly took
land which was shared by their communities at large their place, a common occurrence under industrial
and was conducted under the authority of traditional capitalism and evidence that South African society
rights and obligations. Work for the indigenous had entered a new stage of development.
peoples of South Africa was conducted under the pain The experience of what it meant to work in southern
of bondage or low wages. This was to continue until Africa was dramatically transformed. The historian
the single most significant transformation of work was Patrick Harries (1994) tells how agricultural and crude
to occur with the re-discovery of precious metals in mining implements were now replaced by not only
Kimberley and what was to become known as Egoli or the pick and shovel, the bucket and the wheelbarrow,
Gauteng – the mining tent-town of Johannesburg. but men learned to work with windlasses, washing
machinery, carts and wagons. The introduction of the
13.4.5 Modern mining and industrial rotary washing machine, driven by horse or steam
manufacturing power, accelerated the rhythm and pace of work, while
The Industrial Revolution in England was marked hundreds of steam engines were imported from Britain
by the rise of a new institution devoted specifically to pump water from the ever increasingly famous and
to make work more efficient. Whereas work had fabulously rich Big Hole at Kimberley. Work went on
previously been conducted within the ‘cottage by day and night and changed long-held conceptions
industries’ under the control of the family, the of both time and work. Time now, as noted above, no
establishment of factories brought workers together longer simply ‘passed’ – but had to be ‘spent’. With
under a single roof. The very word ‘factory’ comes time itself turned into a commodity, the industrial
from the Latin word ‘facere’ and means ‘to make’. clock replaced the rhythm of the natural seasons. This
This new environment, well documented as a cruel revolution in time continues to discipline the whole of
institution in which a regime of inhuman discipline society up to today.
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Chapter 13: Work
Central to the Mining Revolution in South Africa, resources (land) as central to production to the mastery
Harries (1994: 50) tells how ‘Mine labour required of production technology and capital to support it.
an unrelenting discipline and regularity’ with a new This development originally occurred in the context
definition of work being imposed by ‘the fist, the of science and Newton’s mechanical theories and
boot and the whip’. Under these circumstances work world view and which was transported into Africa
became labour. In the workplace working conditions and elsewhere. Capital harnesses science, productivity
were dismal, as were the living conditions around the is dramatically increased and new technologies are
mines. The food was poor and wages were low. The born. Mechanisation is introduced. In the instance
very idea of working for a cash wage, for instance, of the immigrant skilled artisanal European workers,
was the result of a constant process of negotiation and this resulted in the deskilling of their traditional craft
contestation. Despite all this, workers at Kimberley trades. As tasks became simpler and semi-skilled,
were able not only to press for higher wages, but initially unskilled African workers, themselves facing
also managed to struggle for and settle on a pace of a new form of industrial work, replaced the craftsmen.
labour closer to the rhythm of work with which they To generalise sociologically, the organisation of the
were familiar back home by getting the working day factory and mine not only characterises modern
reduced from thirteen hours to nine hours. To attract production systems, but imposes its hierarchical form of
workers, the European diamond diggers had to provide organisation across society. To put it more specifically,
workers with 100 lbs of maize meal a month, Harries in southern Africa a new African proletariat was born
(1994: 53) tells us, together with ‘coarse Kaffir meat’ out of diamonds in Kimberley and the goldfields on the
once or twice a week and a glass of brandy over the Witwatersrand. For a wonderful, illustrated account,
weekend’. Some workers were provided with ‘boer’ read the book Gold and Workers (see Callinicos 1980).
tobacco, cotton blankets and large iron cooking pots.
These commodities, new to southern Africa, would The rise of scientific management
transform rural households and local economies far The new temporal and generally rigid discipline of
away from the mines. the factory and mine provided the foundation for a
Mining resulted directly in new laws to regulate further impetus to greater efficiencies and productive
conditions of work. On the diamond fields, pass laws output. In 1911, an American engineer by the name of
were introduced, workers breaking a 9 pm curfew, at Frederick Winslow Taylor published The Principles
one point being punished with a lashing. A military of Scientific Management, which was responsible for
unit was established – the Diamond Field’s Horse – and the development of what became known as Taylorism
was aimed at preventing insurrection. This pointed to or scientific management. In a famous series of
the essentially tempestuous and violent emergence of experiments at Bethlehem Steel in the United States,
a new black migrant working class directly related to Taylor focused on the time it took to perform each aspect
diamond mining. A new society was in the making of a job in a production process. He wanted to cut the
with effects felt far and wide. The upshot of all this time to its minimum and establish scientifically the
is significant sociologically. Increased co-operation in time units each part of a job should take. The attempt
production, between very different groups of people, was to make people act in as predictable and machine-
led to conflict in production and society at large. This like manner as possible in a hierarchic structure with
conflict lies at the heart of capitalist industrialisation. managers at the top. The managers’ job was one of
Without being too simplistic, this is because what is conception; how and in what time frames jobs should
a wage, representing life for the worker, is a cost to be done. Workers were simply required to attend to
the employer and reduces the profit without which the execution of the job at hand. A key objective was
the employer would face bankruptcy. This is a to prevent workers from being idle while at work
fundamental contradiction as conflict theory points and ensure they worked at their maximum physical
out and issues in a continuous power struggle between capacity. Like many of his contemporaries, Taylor
these two contending classes and which, alongside the thought workers were loafers and lazy. This view
revolution in time, ensues into the present day. was to be overlaid by racial stereotypes on the South
With the establishment of industrial production there African mines where black workers were, in addition,
is generally a shift from the predominance of natural considered to be slow and passively resisted the
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new advanced scientific consciousness of industrial of a crucial social grouping in mining production in
society. Science proved, however, to have a blind side. the rapidly growing venture of mining gold, this trade
The role of science was to gain significantly greater union was, at times, to be courted by the mine owners
control over the production process. Developed at and political authorities alike. What happened at work
the turn of the twentieth century, the broader social on the mines, in other words, impacted on the politics
context for scientific management was a strong belief in society as a whole. Despite later being able to
in rationality (as Weber pointed out) and the limitless establish a ‘colour bar’ preventing black workers from
opportunities of technology. The momentum for these doing skilled work, organised white labour was unable
views was accompanied by the strong belief that to prevent disenfranchised and compounded (see
Europeans were bringing Christian ‘civilisation’ to the Callinicos 1994a), yet capable African mineworkers,
so-called ‘dark continent’ of Africa which decolonial from taking over much of the work performed by
theorists have examined at length. Scientific progress unskilled whites, including Afrikaner workers, at
was, however, not to be halted. The immediate result lower rates of pay (see Johnstone 1994).
of applying science to the organisation of work and
production, justified by a religious ideology, were that Engineers, machine-tools and workers on the
workers become appendages to the speed and pace goldmines
of the industrial machine. The intensity of work was With the discovery of the Main Reef, money and
greatly increased, thinking (conception) and doing people, investors and labourers, both European and
(execution) were seen as separate realms of activity African, had flocked to Johannesburg. American
with no need for workers to have overall knowledge engineers, for instance, were to provide the economic
of the production process or a broad set of skills. Craft and technological leadership of the industry, the legacy
work was consequently broken further down into its of their professional craft, technical authority and
most simple and distinct parts. managerial skill carrying through to the present day
The consequences of scientific management soon (see Nkosi 1987). Significant among those who arrived
became clear. Power was now concentrated in the on the Witwatersrand were the internationally mobile
manager-engineer, the productivity of labour was immigrant miners who had worked on the goldmines
dramatically increased, while the value of labour- in California and Australia. The Cornish specialist
power – the capacity to work – was cheapened in the hard-rock miners were to play an important role. They
process. Worldwide, the social effect of the changes drilled the hard quartzite rock at the face underground
to factory work was the emergence of a new, more with hammer and chisel, a job soon to be taken over by
homogenous social class of unskilled and semi- African workers who quickly took to the job. In fact,
skilled workers. On the South African goldmines the by 1908, the sociologist and labour historian Dunbar
institutional effect was similar to what happened Moodie (1994: 47) said ‘100 000 “holes” 3 feet to 3 ft six
elsewhere, except that race became a central aspect ins [ie 1 metre] deep, were drilled in stopes daily by
(see Allen 1994). Elsewhere industrial trade unions “native” “hammer boys” on the Witwatersrand in hand
emerged for semi-skilled workers to protect them drilling’. To drill a hole of 1 metre in a shift was then
from unskilled workers. These industrial trade unions the norm for a fair day’s work.
replaced the older craft guilds of skilled workers But the mainly American engineers were
established by pre-industrial European traditions. well versed in scientific management. Scientific
In South Africa, the first trade union for general and management techniques had proved that African
semi-skilled workers, the Witwatersrand Employees’ mineworkers could drill more than one hole per
and Mechanics Union, was formed in 1892, in order shift. African mineworkers, however, refused to do
to challenge poor working conditions marked by so in the fear that drilling more than one hole would
excessive hours and protect their unique hard-rock- become the norm for a day’s work. The implication is
breaking craft from the mining companies’ threat to clear. These early African mineworkers may have been
import cheap (white) labour from Britain. Organised formally uneducated, but had quickly picked up a
white labour later effectively protected European modern industrial consciousness despite having been
workers from the mines employing African workers only recently proletarianised as technically unskilled
at lower rates of pay. Due to being the representative migrant workers.
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Chapter 13: Work
Drilling by hand with a hammer and chisel was, and persistent political and technical difficulties
however, to be replaced by machines and resulted in throughout the course of goldmining.
a range of social consequences. By 1899 the American What was required then, as prefigured in diamonds,
engineers had introduced mechanisation in the working except on an even larger scale, was the development
stope rock faces in the underground excavations. of large organisations accompanied with enormous
This first mechanisation at the rock face resulted in capital. A few major mining houses came to dominate
a dramatic change to the composition of the labour South African mining for over a century. American
force. African workers, previously engaged solely in mining engineers enabled this and more. The local and
hand-drilling, unskilled lashing work underground still active Mine Managers’ Association, for instance,
and responsible for all physical labour, were employed was pioneered by American mining engineers in 1892.
to assist with operating the new machines, supervised These engineers resolved the technical problems on
by the now de-skilled white miner. This represented the Main Reef by overseeing the immensely complex
a degradation of work, as explained by Harry and large deep-level mine according to new scientific
Braverman (1974). and business principles. These principles provided for
The numbers of the British craft miners were to efficient managerial and business and cost-effective
decrease dramatically. While in 1905 they constituted production systems and processes. In short, mining
around 85 per cent of underground white workers, the and the application of these techniques at work and
numbers of these European immigrant workers would in production shaped the experience of millions of
rapidly decrease, not least due to early death from mineworkers, changed the face of southern Africa and
silicosis and miners’ phthisis from inhaling the dry laid the basis for modern South African society.
noxious silica dust the machine produced (see Katz
1994). What happened at work in the mines resulted in 13.4.6 The rise of Fordism
the death, through occupational disease, of one social Yet neither the application of science to industry, nor
class of workers. They were replaced by another very the introduction of scientific management was to
different social class of proletarian workers – African satisfy the relentless profit-seeking required for the
rock drillers. It would be this occupation of the rock survival of a capitalist mode of production. Every
drill operators who would burst onto the centre of sociology textbook will tell how Henry Ford instituted
the political stage over a hundred years later in the the assembly line production system in his factory.
wake of deaths and violence culminating in the state- The assembly line proved so successful and became so
sponsored death of 34 workers at Marikana on the widely generalised in production systems worldwide,
platinum mines in August 2012. To make some sense that this great transformation of work in capitalist
of this momentous event, the history of this central societies has become known as Fordism.
occupation in South African mining, the work they Whereas previously workers would move around
perform in the deepest mines in the world and their at work, under Fordism workers were stationary
role in the massive strike wave in mining in 2012 has and the job was brought to them on a continually
been traced (Stewart 2013). moving conveyor belt assembly line system. Fordism
The unique geological conditions of the integrated workers and machines into the labour
Witwatersrand reef presented a wide range of process and specified the position and work tasks of
difficulties. The ore bodies, while vast and extensive, every individual worker. The concept ‘labour process’
were of a very low grade, ranging from anything refers to the combination of workers and machinery
between a mere 4 and 10 or 15 grams per ton of rock organised in production in order to produce a useful
drilled, blasted, trammed, hoisted, milled and refined. commodity. The study of the capitalist labour process
Nodes of higher grades were infrequent. It was soon transformed the sociological study of work in South
apparent that South African goldmines were to go Africa (see Webster 1999).
down to deeper levels than the science of engineering Nowhere is the centrality of the labour process
had previously encountered. Only by employing seen more clearly as when the assembly line labour
considerable quantities of labour and holding down process is studied and revealed to signal the virtually
costs with serious implications for mining wages, were complete loss of a worker’s control over his/her work.
the ore bodies profitable. This presented both acute While work itself became hugely degraded, the power
329

of this form of the organisation of work resulted in society – the case of Fordism is a classic example. The
both positive and negative social effects. question confronting us now, however, is how Fordism
Under Fordist assembly line production processes played itself out in South Africa and how have scholars
the worker became subject to the rule of the speed in the sociology of work understood this phenomenon.
of ‘the line’. Standardised product design was now For one, why did African workers working in the
possible. Every manufactured item – motor cars in assembly plants of Uitenhage and Port Elizabeth and
the case of Ford’s factories – was the same. This came in Pretoria not also drive cars like their American
along with extensive use of new machine technologies counterparts? The short answer is that in South Africa
and the parallel social development of higher wages under apartheid, labour was ‘cast in a racial mould’,
to stimulate consumption. Fordism is in fact usefully a book by that title being prescribed reading for any
conceptualised as mass production plus mass student of the sociology of work in South Africa (see
consumption. Ford instituted not only a revolution Webster 1985).
in production, but also in society. For the first time The assembly line brings together and integrates
even ordinary workers could afford to buy a car, a large number of workers with similar levels of skills
which literally mobilised and completely transformed who share the same monotonous working regime,
American society. both in terms of experience and working hours. The
In brief, not only were the lives of ordinary immediate social consequence of this homogenising
Americans transformed by this development, but workplace resulted, as it did elsewhere, in an upsurge
Fordism also had a significant impact on government of militant trade unionism in South Africa. We can but
planning, politics, the legal system and a change in note here that the car plants in the Eastern Cape and
culture. Fordism initiated unprecedented economic Pretoria, instances of assembly line production, were
growth and social development in North American to become an important basis for the re-emergence
and shortly all European industrial societies. Even of the modern mass-based industrial trade unions
more, Fordism created a homogenous class of semi- for black workers which emerged after the Durban
skilled assembly line production workers whose job strikes in the early 1970s. By 1979 the apartheid state
was regimented and monotonous in a system where would accept the recommendations of the Wiehahn
one worker could technically stop the entire plant and Commission to recognise the right of all workers to
cause huge disruption. associate freely and join trade unions.
The system called Fordism transformed human The most prominent of these unions were formed
capacity and consciousness positively and negatively. under the umbrella of the Federation of South
It did so positively, by providing significantly African Trade Unions (FOSATU) which combined
enhanced access to consumer goods and an increase in 1982 with trade unions in the African National
in standards of living. The negative impact of Fordism Congress tradition to form what remains, despite a
was that the hugely increased rate of repetitive work split in 2017, the largest trade union federation in
it demanded resulted in fatigue, stress, high levels South Africa, the Congress of Trade Unions of South
of absenteeism, high labour turnover and a general Africa (COSATU) (see Baskin 1991).
sense of alienation among the workforce. The social
effect of this production system was contradictory. 13.4.7 The emergence of post-Fordism
Fordism degraded work for the homogenised worker, It should be clear that the Fordist assembly line was
but also empowered workers collectively as the shared not only a rigidly organised workplace, but that its
experience of monotonous work resulted in the rise of products were similarly standardised. It resulted in not
militant trade unionism which spread worldwide. only the alienation of workers and resistance, but was
Fordism consequently had a deep impact on unable to satisfy the needs of the market and customer
American life and globally. American technology and choice. All vehicles were similar initially, even their
its productive power was decisive in the Second Word colour. When Henry Ford’s factories began to produce
War from 1939 to 1945 and a shattered Europe was re- motor cars they were only painted black.
built quickly using this scientific model in production. This was to change as producers gradually came
In line with the question we are examining – as to the to see they had to accommodate increasingly specific
centrality of work and its commanding influence on customer requirements. Producers began to vary
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Chapter 13: Work
their products, often serving niche (specialised) involves ensuring workers exercise a range of skills or
markets and ensuring ever greater degrees of product perform a range of tasks, referred to above as multi-
variety. In order to do this, workers had to learn how tasking and multi-skilling. This went hand in hand
to perform a wider range of tasks and learn different with job-rotation – workers being moved around to do
skills. This has been termed multi-tasking (performing different kinds of jobs – and experimenting with forms
a series of different tasks) and multi-skilling (learning of team work. Interestingly, where this was attempted
and exercising more than one skill). Initially in the South African goldmines, workers were found
this impetus came from Japanese producers who to drift back to the jobs they had got used to. So where
reorganised assembly line work to be less alienating, a worker who used to be a winch driver was also
to be more flexible and to be able to cater for a more required to do timbering work or pipe laying, winch
diverse market and its needs. This orientation – often drivers would often gravitate back to their old jobs (see
referred to as Quality Circles or Green Circles – was Phakathi 2002).
also accompanied by the emergence of personnel Temporal flexibility is the second form of
management and industrial relations departments workplace flexibility. It suited large companies to
within firms as it became increasingly recognised that introduce different kinds of shift systems and when
the worker was a human being with human needs. This orders for their products did not come in, to put
is not to say that the assembly line has disappeared or workers on part-time work or, where possible, to
lost much of its rigidity. It continues to be a boring, perform work at home (like the ‘cottage industries’ of
repetitive and monotonous form of work and is found old) or offer temporary working arrangements instead.
in virtually all large manufacturing enterprises which For worker employees this introduced considerably
have not been fully automated. There were attempts greater uncertainty than before, with few advantages
to break up the assembly line where smaller groups except for women who did not want to work full-time
of workers would assemble an entire vehicle. Where in order to also continue with childcare activities at
the auto manufacturer, Volvo, famously reorganised home. It seems only a minority of workers like shift
production at their Kalmar plant in Sweden, the systems and irregular working time arrangements,
initiative did not last long for one simple reason: it such as working four days on and then four days off – a
gave workers too much control over production, which shift configuration on some South African collieries.
threatened managers’ authority and control over the Wage flexibility was the third form of workplace
production process. flexibility. Various forms of performance-based pay,
Such initiatives nevertheless signalled the incentive schemes and productivity bonuses were
beginning of the contemporary period in the introduced to encourage greater commitment to work
transformation of work known as Post-Fordism. While and make working time more intensive.
the ability of producers to move in the direction of A fourth form of flexibility has been called
making work more meaningful and satisfy a wider numerical flexibility. Instituting this kind of work
range of consumer requirements, there were limits regime means companies can be flexible in the numbers
to the extent of the changes which were constrained of workers they employ. Workers are employed on
by the very structure of production itself. Post- short-term contracts or simply retrenched if sales of the
Fordism, however, became characterised by workplace companies’ products decline. Combined with temporal
flexibility at a number of levels. This would ensure a flexibility, seasonal labour, casual or subcontracted
different kind of control over work in the interests of forms of employment would be offered instead of full-
especially large multinational corporations. Workplace time employment. Such workers are notoriously hard
flexibility has almost certainly not served the interests to organise into trade unions to protect their interests
of those who work for weekly wages. In order to and so have begun to organise themselves (Lenka
meet the demands of an increasingly discriminating 2017). In South Africa and elsewhere subcontracted
consumer market – the people who buy products in and other part-time workers generally do not qualify
other words – companies became more flexible in the for medical insurance, pension benefits and the time
way they both hired and used labour. they spend at work is often not recorded. Such workers
There are four forms of workplace flexibility. are also well known for often not being properly
The first of these forms is functional flexibility. This registered for statutory Unemployment Insurance
331

Fund (UIF) benefits for instance. This deprives them to South Africa as well as many similar emerging
of claiming the modest yet important state-instituted economies. This shift has seen the decline in the
benefits when they are not employed. Workers importance of and the number of workers being
organised and protected by trade unions have also been employed in manufacturing and the rise of what has
known to complain that they feel less secure at work become known as service work. Since the Industrial
when subcontracted workers are employed and work Revolution and the rise of the factory – or in the
alongside them at lower rates of pay and often for longer South African case the emergence of mining – a large
hours. Subcontracted work then threatens trade union number, if not the majority, of workers was employed
organisation built over long years in winning benefits in the manufacturing sectors of the economy. In South
and improved pay and better working conditions Africa, the numbers of mining and manufacturing jobs
from employers. have dropped dramatically over the past generation
Employer business organisations on the other and continue to do so.
hand – as well as political parties who support them Economists often refer to the service sector as
– often accuse trade unions of not being interested part of the tertiary sector of the economy. As its name
in poorer workers and of depriving them of entrance suggests, this sector is not concerned with production
into the formal labour market. Initiated by the of products and commodities, but provides a wide range
International Labour Organisation (ILO), this has of services instead. Those employed in the hospitality
raised huge contemporary questions over the last and entertainment sectors, the banking sector, the
twenty years about what has been called decent work. educational sector, the law enforcement agencies such
What is a decent job? How much should a decent job as the police, prisons and military, the health sector
pay? What hours of work and under what conditions comprising clinics, hospitals and laboratories, all
should workers be employed for it to be called decent provide a specific service in an increasingly complex
work? These are a range of contemporary questions post-industrial or Post-Fordist society. These sectors
being asked in South Africa today as economic policy now employ more people than manufacturing and
to attract foreign investment becomes increasingly industry. What adds to the complexity is that some of
important. COSATU has, for instance, been waging these sectors are part of the formal capitalist economy
a struggle on the streets against labour brokers – while others are part of the public sector and paid
generally but not always smaller companies who hire for by the taxes of citizens. Where trade unions, for
out casual and subcontracted labour. Labour brokers instance, used to confront profit-making businesses
have been accused by COSATU of reintroducing as their employers to make their demands, public
forms of slavery by only offering precarious forms sector trade unions, currently representing the largest
of work at low wages, with long working hours, number of workers in COSATU, are now confronting
poor working conditions and failing to pay fringe the government as their employer and whose wages
benefits to which all workers are legally entitled. come out of the public purse.
To complicate matters, in 2012 the parliamentary To make the overall point of this chapter again
opposition in South Africa, the Democratic Alliance, then, the dominant form of work and its organisation
organised a march against the COSATU head offices in a society powerfully shapes much of what happens
arguing that the trade union federation is depriving elsewhere in that society and changes many of the
poor workers of the opportunity to take up these relationships within it. Hence, when COSATU embarks
jobs. When talking about work under post-Fordism on strike action in the interests of its members, it now
then, there are complexities aplenty and which go no longer often confronts big business or capital to
to the heart of economic policy in a context where a claim a greater share of its profits, but confronts the
developing country such as South Africa suffers from African National Congress (ANC) government with
exceptionally high rates of unemployment. which it stands in the tripartite political alliance
alongside the South African Communist Party (SACP).
The rise of service work This introduces a considerably more complex set
Post-Fordism is, however, best characterised by a of interactional dynamics between different social
fundamental shift that has taken place in the very groups in contemporary South African society as
structure of the global economy and which applies simply opening any newspaper today will reveal.
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Chapter 13: Work
It is not only relationships between different social exploitation of the body (see MacDonald and Sirianni
groups with different and competing interests which 1996). Employee workers must often stand all day
emerge under Post-Fordism. The very nature of the while at work and must present a disciplined, smiling
relationship between individuals changes as well. and sympathetic attitude to their customers. They
Under the previous three forms of the organisation of need to be aware of and are required to manipulate the
work, the primary relationship in the workplace and feelings of their customers so they will come again.
reflected in the social classes in society, is that between Service sector employees must use their bodies and
employer and employee or capitalist and worker. A personal talents to market the services they represent.
third agent enters the relationship under Post-Fordism This has a further implication for control
and that is the consumer or customer. The employer/ within the workplace. The locus of control is now
employee relationship is replaced, in other words, no longer a supervisor exercising external, coercive
by an employer/employee/customer relationship. For control. The locus of control at work has become
services are now increasingly directed towards the internal. Employees are not coerced or forced to
individual consumer. work, but rather must willingly consent to work and
Work has become more people orientated and conduct themselves at work as the new consumer-
involves what theorists have called emotional labour. based and globally orientated economy requires. So
Shop assistants, public officials and air flight stewards powerful is the socially structuring character of the
are required to be friendly. They must sell their smiles modern workplace that theorists have persuasively
and create a welcoming attitude in us – their consumer argued that consent itself is in fact manufactured
customers. Nobody likes a grumpy waiter when (Burawoy 1979) and the human heart is now managed
ordering a cup of coffee when out at a café with friends. (Hochschild 1986).
One theorist, whose work has been influential, has
suggested this places a demand on the service sector Summary
worker and has been called the ‘management of human • This chapter argued that the activity of work is
feelings’ (see Hochschild 1986). If you work as a waiter central to the structure and shape society assumes
in a part-time job to get yourself through university, and the formation of individual identity and
you have to go to work with a smile even though subjectivity.
you may not feel like doing so. We as customers and • Four major transformations in the nature of work
consumers expect such behaviour from those offering in industrial societies developing along capitalist
services. The market of consumers – us as citizens – lines were identified and discussed.
increasingly expects this when we are face to face with • Work includes and integrates us into society as
someone doing their job of serving us. citizens, but which brings to the fore the social
significance of joblessness and unemployment.
• Looking at South African society today in
Box 13.2 People at work
the context of Post-Fordist or post-industrial
Next time you have coffee with friends, closely observe globalisation, work is increasingly experienced as
the service worker who is serving you and ask yourself: flexible and precarious. Work, understood as wage
•• Is their smile natural? labour, is increasingly dominated not by a regular,
•• How are they interacting with their fellow workers? secure routine, but by outsourcing, piece-work,
•• Can you gauge their response when they get a tip contract and temporary work.
or if they don’t get one? • This raises significant sociological questions
•• Is what they are doing work or labour? about South African society, but which are also
applicable elsewhere in emerging economies
Control and supervision of the body especially. How are those excluded from work to
This new three-fold relationship (employer/employee/ be included as fully fledged citizens capable of
customer) in the world of work has implications for exercising their human rights and adopting their
those who perform this kind of work. Some theorists place within society as a whole?
have explained these implications in terms of the
333

Are you on track? More sources to consult

1. Define the concept of work and explain why it is Burawoy M. 1979. Manufacturing Consent: Changes
different to the concept of labour. in the Labor Process under Monopoly Capitalism.
2. Why is ‘work’ seen by Claus Offe to be the central Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
concept in sociology? Callinicos L. 1980. A People’s History of South Africa,
3. What are the four major transformations of work in Volume 1: Gold and Workers. Johannesburg: Ravan
capitalist society? Press.
4. How is the human body exploited in post- Moodie TD (with Ndatshe V). 1994. Going for Gold:
industrial society? Men, Mines and Migration. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Webster E, Alfred L, Bethlehem L, Joffe A, Selikow T
(eds). 1994. Work and Industrialisation in South
Africa. Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
References
Allen VL. 1994. ‘The genesis of racism on the mines’ in Work and Industrialisation in South Africa. Webster E,
Alfred L, Bethlehem L, Joffe A, Selikow T (eds). Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
Baskin J. 1991. Striking Back: A History of COSATU. Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
Berg M. 1979. Technology and Toil in Nineteenth Century Britain. London: CSE Books, Humanities Press.
Burawoy M. 1979. Manufacturing Consent: Changes in the Labor Process under Monopoly Capitalism. Chicago:
University of Chicago Press.
Braverman H. 1974. Labour and Monopoly Capitalism: The Degradation of Work in the Twentieth Century. New York:
Monthly Review Press.
Callinicos L. 1980. A People’s History of South Africa, Volume 1: Gold and Workers. Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
Callinicos L. 1994a. ‘The compound system’ in Work and Industrialisation in South Africa. Webster E, Alfred L,
Bethlehem L, Joffe A, Selikow T (eds). Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
Callinicos L. 1994b. ‘New factories, new workers’ in Work and Industrialisation in South Africa. Webster E, Alfred
L, Bethlehem L, Joffe A, Selikow T (eds). Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
Chirikure S. 2010. Indigenous Mining and Metallurgy in Africa. Cape Town: Cambridge University Press.
Chirikure S, Hall S. 2008. ‘The Archaeology of Indigenous Mining and Metallurgy in South Africa: A brief overview’.
(Unpublished paper.) Johannesburg: The Platinum Centre.
Delius P, Trapido S. 1994. ‘Inboekselings and oorlams: The creation and transformation of a servile class’ in Work
and Industrialisation in South Africa. Webster E, Alfred L, Bethlehem L, Joffe A, Selikow T (eds). Johannesburg:
Ravan Press.
Harries P. 1994. Work, Culture and Identity: Migrant Labourers in Mozambique and South Africa, c 1860–1910.
Johannesburg: University of the Witwatersrand Press.
Hochschild A. 1986. The Managed Heart: The Commercialisation of Human Feeling. Berkeley: University of
California Press.
Johnstone FA. 1994. ‘Class conflict and colour bars in the South African gold mining industry’, in Work and
Industrialisation in South Africa. Webster E, Alfred L, Bethlehem L, Joffe A, Selikow T (eds). Johannesburg:
Ravan Press.
Katz E. 1994. The White Death: Silicosis on the Witwatersrand Gold Mines 1886–1910. Johannesburg: University of
the Witwatersrand Press.
Lenka. 2017. ‘Precarious workers, the Casual Workers’ Advice Office and the 2014 Labour Relations Act
Amendments, MA thesis, University of the Witwatersrand.
MacDonald CL, Sirianni C. 1996. Working in the Service Society. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Mail&Guardian. 2013. ‘Numsa: We don’t want DA policies in the NDP’. [Online] Available at: http://mg.co.za/
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Marx K. 1976. Capital: A Critique of Political Economy (Vol 1). London: Penguin Books.
Moodie TD (with Ndatshe V). 1994. Going for Gold: Men, Mines and Migration. Berkeley: University of California
Press.
Nkosi MK. 1987. ‘American mining engineers and the labour structure in the South African gold mines’. African
Journal of Political Economy, (2):63–80.
Offe C. 1985. ‘Work: The key sociological category?’ in Disorganised Capitalism: Contemporary Transformation of
Work and Politics. Offe C (ed). Cambridge: Polity Press.
Phakathi S. 2002. ‘Self-directed work teams in a post-apartheid goldmine: Perspectives from the rock face’. Journal
of Workplace Learning, 14(7).
Standing G. 1999. Global Labour Flexibility: Seeking Distributive Justice. Basingstoke: MacMillan.
Stewart PF. 2013. ‘Kings of the mine: Rock drill operators and the 2012 strike wave on South African mines’. South
African Review of Sociology, 44(3):42–63.
Taylor FW. 1911. The Principles of Scientific Management. London: Harper & Row.
Thompson EP. 1963. The Making of the English Working Class. London: Penguin Books.
Thompson EP. 1967. ‘Time, work-discipline and industrial capitalism’. Past and Present, 38:56–97.
Thompson P. 1989. The Nature of Work: An Introduction to Debates in the Labour Process (2nd ed). London:
Macmillan.
Webster E. 1985. Cast in a Racial Mould: Labour Process and Trade Unionism in the Foundries. Johannesburg: Ravan
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Webster E. 1999. ‘Race, labour process and transition: The sociology of work in South Africa’. Society in Transition,
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Johannesburg: Ravan Press.
335

Chapter 14
Poverty
Christopher Thomas
Poverty is a major societal problem. It is a tough topic to study. Poverty immediately raises the moral judgement that it is wrong
and should be eradicated. This moral stance results in ethical concerns of what to do about it.
Poverty has rightly been construed in this chapter as the social question in applying the sociological imagination. This
chapter consequently needs the careful application of a studious mind, but if you work through it diligently, the analysis and
argument will become clear.
Conceptualising and defining poverty and impoverishment receives significant attention. This is because the way in which
poverty is conceived leads, for instance, to different poverty reduction or poverty eradication strategies and conclusions
about increases or decreases in poverty. This very way of thinking, however, it must immediately be said – that poverty needs
to be reduced if not eliminated – is what the leading progressive economist, Samir Amin, calls ‘a discourse of charity style
of nineteenth-century thinking’ which does not seek to understand the economic and social mechanisms which generate
poverty. Amin’s answer as to the fundamental cause of poverty in agriculture – which affects three billion farmers (nearly half
of the seven billion people in the world) – is clear: modern capitalist agriculture and the maximisation of the return on capital
in a market-led economy.
Despite Amin’s unambiguous answer as to the cause of poverty, not everyone who investigates poverty, whether the
ruling party, government departments or researchers, agrees about definitions, measurements or is in agreement about
what constitutes a reduction in poverty. In defining poverty more closely, instead of using the three sociological approaches
with which you are familiar, this chapter suggests the mainstream approaches to poverty are based on the question whether
poverty is best understood and analysed from an objectivist, a subjectivist or a combination of these two approaches. The first,
objectivist approach, assumes the self-evident fact of poverty as it exists as an external social reality. This approach is especially
concerned with measuring poverty, with different measures having been established in trying to get to grips with identifying
what poverty is. The measure of the poverty datum line remains an influential approach, popularised by the monetary value
which signals falling below this line – one dollar a day. The second, subjectivist approach, seeks to examine the phenomenon
from the subjective experiences of those who suffer poverty. Within this approach, the capability approach, the social exclusion
and participatory approaches are discussed. The first approach, the capability approach, is the brainchild of Amaryta Sen. In
following Sen’s guide, these approaches all attempt to move beyond the objective monetary approach, not to replace it, but
rather to gauge people’s subjective experiences of poverty on which to base more effective policy interventions to alleviate,
reduce or even eradicate poverty. In short, people suffering in and from poverty must be central in any understanding of
poverty. Theoretically speaking, we here then return to the beginning of this textbook. The sociological imagination needs to
be superseded by many decolonial imaginations – in this instance facilitating the articulations of those in poverty.
Consequently, the way in which people negotiate poverty in their lives and how poverty issues have been raised and
treated in South Africa since 1994 becomes the focus of this chapter. Not having established consensus on poverty in South
Africa, we remain a long way off from not only a ‘discourse of charity’ – the quest for poverty alleviation, reduction and its
eradication – but more seriously, how to transform our thinking about poverty and ensure those who suffer poverty can speak
and act. When it comes to poverty then, sociology is not only sobering, but of critical concern in addressing the social question
of our times.

Case study 14.1 Interpreting current poverty in South Africa
Poverty is currently increasing in South Africa. This is confirmed by the recent report of Statistics SA (StatsSA) on poverty
trends which stated that in South Africa 55.5 per cent of the population was poor in 2015. Read in view of this the
following extract and then answer the questions that follow.
Poverty trends
With regards to current poverty trends in South Africa, the StatsSA 2017 report on poverty trends in South Africa stated
the following:
Despite the general decline in poverty between 2006 and 2011, poverty levels in South Africa rose in 2015. When
applying the upper-bound poverty line (UBPL) (R992 per person per month (pppm) in 2015 prices), we see that more
than one out of every two South Africans was poor in 2015, with the poverty headcount increasing to 55,5 per cent
from a series low of 53.2 per cent in 2011. This translates into over 30,4 million South Africans living in poverty in
2015. While the recent increase in the headcount is unfortunate, we are still better off compared to the country’s
poverty situation from a decade earlier when it was estimated that two out of every three people (66,6 per cent or
roughly 31,6 million people) were living below the UBPL in 2006.
Questions
1. When is a person poor and when not? When is a household poor and when not?
2. What level of poverty is reasonable for a country to tolerate?
3. How do you interpret the poverty situation in South Africa?
•• The phenomenon of poverty and inequality

•• The relationship and differences between poverty and inequality
Key Themes
•• Key sociological approaches to understanding poverty

•• Poverty and inequality issues in South Africa
•• The social question
•• Measuring poverty
•• Poverty lines
•• Human development.
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Chapter 14: Poverty
Introduction transition as the persistence of ‘poverty based on huge

On 10 May 1994 former political prisoner Nelson and growing inequalities’ would undermine respect
Rolihlahla Mandela was inaugurated as president of for a praiseworthy constitution. The constitution
South Africa. The event signalled the end of apartheid itself has become an ideological resource in defining
policies that denied the overwhelming majority poverty in South Africa and a beacon for the new
of the country’s people the political franchise, government to defend its achievements in reducing
powerfully contributing to the miserable existence poverty (Magasela 2006).
of poverty and social inequality. Nelson Mandela’s How should we make sense of these concerns as
inaugural speech was an optimistic vision of the sociologists? Debate has raged around the definitions,
new democratic government’s effort to transcend conceptualisations and measurements of poverty.
poverty and discrimination, and usher in a new era The debate around how many people’s circumstances
of prosperity, where all are ‘freed to fulfil themselves’ have improved or worsened in post-apartheid South
and have ‘work, bread, water and salt’ (Mandela Africa is equally alive. The debate about poverty
1994). Seventeen years later, the fourth post-apartheid and widening social inequality within and between
president, Jacob Zuma (2011) acknowledged that, different racial groups has fuelled the construction
although the economy had grown, poverty persisted: of ominous scenarios depicting a fractured society
this was against a background of a body of pessimistic and future social conflict. Case study 14.2 and the
research-based conclusions that claimed South Africa questions that follow are about some of the everyday
had become the most unequal society in the world and issues facing post-apartheid poverty, inequality and
that poverty levels had worsened. social mobility.
Under capitalism in South Africa apartheid This chapter on poverty and how to think about and
poverty was racialised, seriously exacerbating the measure poverty needs to be read in conjunction with
degree, extent and nature of poverty. Whites were Chapter 12 on Social inequality to understand their
generally better off than their black counterparts connection to each other and build on the differences
with concentrated pockets of not inconsiderable between poverty and social inequality. This will help
wealth among a small number of whites. Poverty was you understand these phenomena through sociological
highly concentrated among a large proportion of the theories, provide you with the necessary sociological
black African segment of the population. Capitalist skills to generate and analyse pertinent data, and
social relations coexisted with apartheid policies consequently help you better understand how
creating a racialised system of social stratification circumstances have changed, worsened or remained
compounding the problems of poverty and social unchanged since the political transition. To grasp the
inequality. The anti-apartheid struggle for the equal present under capitalist democracy, this chapter starts
enjoyment of citizenship rights regardless of race by looking at how poverty and social inequality were
culminated in a negotiated political transition to a woven together under apartheid racial capitalism.
constitutional democracy that promised civil, political
and socioeconomic rights. This transition, it has now 14.1 Poverty as ‘the social question’
become clear, needed to be more cognisant of its Sociology emerged in an industrial society context
shortcomings in the way British economist Thomas characterised by extremes of poverty and inequality.
Humphrey Marshall argued how complicated the The question of ‘what do we do about the poor in
pursuit of equality really is. Marshall saw that the society?’ became known as ‘the social question’.
principle of citizenship promises formal equal status Frenchman Auguste Comte saw sociology’s potential
to all citizens. This is in tension with the social class as a positivist science in the sense that it claims to be
inequalities rooted in capitalist market relations and a systematic science about the nature and causes of
the institution of private property. South African problems in human affairs. He also saw how it could
economist and poverty researcher Francis Wilson help us restore order, address poverty and improve
(2000) expressed wariness about the prospects of the human welfare. Sociology has often informed policies
political transition. Wilson has been proven entirely adopted to address social issues demanding urgent
correct when he argued that achieving economic attention. It can claim to have contributed to social
justice would become a leading political issue after the reforms and often aimed at structural social change.
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Much of early sociology has a ‘meliorist’ orientation – this book to return to its first chapter on sociological
sociologists should produce knowledge about human theory – especially in the light of Samir Amin’s
society in order to shape policies and improve the criticism of ‘nineteenth-century style thinking’.
conditions of the poor. Classical sociological theorists Making sense of the prospects of tackling
approached poverty and inequality in industrial poverty in post-apartheid South Africa must have
capitalism differently. Émile Durkheim and Talcott the type of ‘sociological imagination’ – and indeed
Parsons saw poverty as a social problem, but thought the encouragement of decolonial imaginations – that
that, overall, social inequality in society was inevitable understands and explains the interplay and mutual
and indeed functionally necessary for the existence of influences of circumstances in the lives of individuals
society, a view that has come under sustained attack and events and processes in a broader society – as well
since the 1960s. Karl Marx analysed how capitalism as the history of a larger changing world. The prospects
creates poverty and inequality for a subordinate class of the new government to tackle successfully a legacy of
in a simultaneous process of enriching a wealthy poverty and inequality must take into account the new
ruling class. As you know, Marx argued for a transition government’s ascent against the backdrop of the global
to socialist society to overcome capitalist exploitation spread of a neo-conservative economic trend since
and hence, it follows, poverty itself. As you also know, the early 1980s. Conservative Party leader and British
Max Weber expanded on Marx’s views regarding the Prime Minister in the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher led the
economic basis of class and social inequality by adding way in the rise of the dominance of this line of thinking
the significance of status and power as dimensions of about shifting state involvement in the provision
social stratification. of services to the private sector. Whether called the
The immediate relevance of recalling these key ‘Washington Consensus’, or ‘neo-liberal globalisation’,
theoretical signposts is that post-apartheid macro- ‘marketisation’ or simply ‘neo-liberalism’, these
economic policy, its relation to poverty trends and variants of our current globally dominant macro-
the framework of official measures to reduce poverty economic view and practice all prescribe to similar
share a similar positivist orientation with Comte’s economic policy agendas about restructuring capitalist
view of sociology. Notions about measures to fight social and economic relations and dismantling welfare
poverty, namely, ‘poverty relief’, ‘poverty alleviation’, state measures. This is done through fiscal discipline
‘poverty reduction’, and ‘poverty eradication’, as well as a means of reducing national budget deficits; re-
as the concerted international campaign of the United ordering public expenditure priorities such as cutting
Nations’ Millennium Development Goals (2000–2015) subsidies of welfare programmes; trade liberalisation
and its successor, the Sustainable Development Goals which opens economies to international competition;
(2016–2030), to reduce poverty have a positivist tone privatisation of the delivery of social services; and the
about them too. This should make us stop and think protection of property rights as a measure to stimulate
and perhaps take up the suggestion at the beginning of investment and entrepreneurship.
Case study 14.2 South Africa: Inequality not so black and white
Read the issues discussed in the following case study and then answer the questions that follow.
The growing gulf between the haves and have-nots in the black population has given South Africa the dubious
distinction of becoming one of the world’s most unequal societies, according to a recent report by the Organisation for
Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), an inter-government body.
‘From a policy point of view, it is important to flag the fact that intra-African [black] inequality and poverty trends
increasingly dominate aggregate inequality and poverty in South Africa,’ noted the report, ‘Trends in South African Income
Distribution and Poverty since the Fall of Apartheid’.
‘While between-race [black, white, coloured or mixed-race, and Indian] inequality remains high and is falling only
slowly, it is the increase in [black] intra-race inequality which is preventing the aggregate [inequality] measures from
declining,’ the authors commented.
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Chapter 14: Poverty
The demise of apartheid in 1994 left a skewed racial economic hierarchy that placed whites firmly at the top, followed
by Indians, coloureds, and then blacks. Since then the African National Congress (ANC) government has made Black
Economic Empowerment (BEE) a policy centre-piece, but by the party’s own admission it has failed to improve the lot of
the vast majority of black South Africans.
‘We also have to admit that the “broad-based” part of BEE has seemed elusive. In the main, the story of black economic
empowerment in the last 15 years has been a story dominated by a few individuals benefiting a lot,’ Deputy President
Kgalema Motlanthe said on 4 February 2010 at the first meeting of the BEE Advisory Council.
The country’s ethnic composition has seen the black population expand from 70 per cent to 80 per cent between 1970
and 2001, compared to the shrinking proportion of whites – 17 per cent to 9 per cent – over the same period.
‘Clearly such demographic change gives increasing importance to the intra-African distribution in driving the aggregate
distribution,’ the OECD report said.
Usual suspects
BEE has faced sustained criticism over the perception that it is benefiting a few, with the emergence of a disparaged class
known as the ‘usual suspects’, like mining magnate Patrice Motsepe – whose wealth is estimated at about R14.2 billion
(US$2 billion) – and ANC housing minister and struggle hero, Tokyo Sexwale, who is also a mining magnate.
Steven Hawes, manager of research and advocacy at Empowerdex, a company specialising in all aspects of BEE, told
IRIN that the empowerment policy was not ‘a vehicle for oligarchs’ although its initial stages might have appeared that
way. ‘It’s premature to say BEE as a policy has not worked. It needs time to spread its wings.’
He said the introduction of Broad Based Black Economic Empowerment (BBBEE) in 2007 was designed to benefit
greater numbers of previously disadvantaged people.
The OECD acknowledged that the post-apartheid government could be seen as pro-poor, as it had expanded access
to housing, water, electricity and sanitation. In 1993, for example, 51.9 per cent of South Africans had access to electricity
for lighting, but by 2004 this had increased to 80.2 per cent.
‘It should be noted that while the between-race component of inequality has fallen, it remains remarkably high by
international norms, and its decline has slowed since the mid 1990s,’ the report said.
‘Moreover, the bottom deciles of the income distribution and the poverty profile are still dominated by Africans [blacks],
and racial income shares are far from proportionate with population shares.’
Although the country’s ‘levels of poverty and inequality continue to bear a persistent racial undertone’, poverty levels
have been assuaged by social assistance grants rather than the labour market, despite the survey period – 1993 to 2008
– mirroring the longest period of growth the country has witnessed,’ the report commented.
‘Individuals with very low levels of education and with no workers in the household have the highest poverty incidence,
but they have not become poorer over time … rather, those with no children have become poorer.’
Two-thirds of the income of the poorest 20 per cent was derived from social assistance grants, mainly child grants, but
‘orphans are less likely to be receiving the Child Support Grant than children with both parents.
Social grants
South Africa’s level of HIV/AIDS has undoubtedly contributed to its estimated four million orphans. ‘Most significantly,
there appear to be many eligible children in need who are not receiving the grant. The most common reason for not
applying when eligible for the grant is found to be a lack of correct documentation,’ the researchers noted.
More than a decade of uninterrupted growth ended with the global slowdown in 2008, but it had allowed for the rapid
expansion of grants, and speculation that there might be some form of unemployment benefit.
‘It is questionable whether a permanent income support for the unemployed would lead to the desired outcomes.
Many of the unemployed are young school leavers, and while they clearly need some sort of social safety net or temporary
social insurance, the longer-term goal of policy should be directed at helping this group enter the labour market and
remain in work in the long term,’ the report recommended.
➟
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Greater access to education has also not proved a boon to poverty alleviation. ‘The fact that better-educated young
people remain poor suggests that the labour market has not been playing a successful role in alleviating poverty, and that
the education system is not delivering the skills needed in the labour market,’ the OECD said.
‘Thus, it is concluded that it is not the labour market but rather social assistance grants which have driven the relative
improvement in poverty levels over time.’
(Source: IRIN 2010)
Questions
1. Can all black South Africans enjoy considerable social mobility as Tokyo Sexwale did?
2. What do you think the incomes and social statuses of the people who work in the businesses in which Sexwale has
ownership and directorship interests may be like?
3. The businesses likely employ both black and white South Africans: what do you think their locations are likely to be in
an analysis of the companies’ hierarchies?
4. How do you understand the connections being made between political party association and social mobility?
5. What is the chief means whereby the circumstances of the poor have slightly improved?
14.2 Conceptualising, defining and namely the Poverty Datum Line, the Minimum Living
measuring poverty Level, the Supplementary Living Level, the Household
Systematic and comprehensive research of poverty Subsistence Level, and the Household Effective Level.
dynamics in South Africa began in the early It recognised the link between poverty and inequality
twentieth century. The first major study, the Carnegie and referred to the Gini coefficient measures for
Commission on the Poor White Problem in South South Africa. It also drew from human development
Africa between 1929–1932 (Davenport & Saunders approaches that go beyond money metric approaches.
2000: 624–665), dealt with the circumstances of Researchers did not use a single definition or measure,
white people who lost access to land and subsistence instead they got people to talk and participate in
farming, due to war, drought, pestilence-related death the process of defining poverty. Researchers drew
of their livestock, and the transition to commercial correlations between income, ‘race’ and ‘colour-
capitalism in the agricultural sector. Afrikaner whites, castes’. In 2012 social scientists were invited to discuss
in particular, were unprepared for the competitive, the need for a new Carnegie Commission inquiry into
low-wage conditions of the take-off of the mining and poverty in the post-1994 era in South Africa. A growing
urban industrial economy. Following an electoral ‘underclass’ of poor and unemployed, worsening
victory in 1948, the National Party government inequality and expectations of economic changes that
enforced sharper racial segregation policies in order to transcend welfare handouts is seen to be nudging
overturn white poverty. Apartheid policies, however, South Africa closer to the crossroads of intensifying
intensified the impoverishing processes among black violence and class conflict that threaten the security of
South Africans and research on poverty shifted from post-apartheid democracy (see Mbeki & Mbeki 2016).
the ‘poor white problem’ to unveiling and measuring Poverty was structurally rooted in and a
the extent of poverty among black South Africans. The consequence of apartheid policies (Wilson & Mamphela
South African Institute of Race Relations annually 1989). Through the measures of a series of Urban Areas
reported on black poverty trends using some of the Acts black urbanisation was constrained. Black people
standard poverty measurement approaches. In the in urban areas were constantly arrested and fined for
early 1970s the churches released a publication contravening pass laws. There were limits on housing
(Randall 1972) about black poverty. Worsening black built for blacks in urban areas. This constrained black
poverty prompted The Second Carnegie Inquiry into households from accumulating capital. Black people
Poverty and Development in Southern Africa (Wilson had to reside in geographically segregated areas and
& Mamphela 1989) in the 1980s. That study drew from endured high transport costs because they had to travel
the approaches described further on in this chapter, to work in distant white areas. The forced removals of
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Chapter 14: Poverty
blacks out of ‘white areas’ to ethnic homelands and the current poverty (NALEDI 2007: 18). Evaluating the
enforcement of separate residential and business zones achievements of poverty reduction strategies will
in urban areas by the Group Areas Act (1950) caused always be held up against the chosen prevailing
considerable loss of assets. The Bantu Education policy definitions, conceptualisations, and measurements
enforced from 1953 diminished the quality of black of poverty.
education and severely constrained the acquisition of The phenomenon of poverty and impoverishment
skills among the black workforce; it also ensured that is intrinsic to all analyses of the emergence and nature
whites secured the higher income jobs in the economy. of capitalist social relations and market institutions
Having inherited the poverty legacy created by in the classical sociological theory of the nineteenth
apartheid, poverty reduction, as opposed to poverty century. It also is embedded in the theories developed in
eradication, which involves an overall structural the course of the twentieth century and contemporary
change in social relations, is invariably a central sociological theory since the late twentieth century,
policy issue in post-apartheid South Africa. The which has popularised the notion of the gobalisation
ANC published the Reconstruction and Development of ideas, culture, institutions and connections between
Programme (RDP) on the eve of the 1994 elections, different parts of the globe. Theorists acknowledged
which gives significant attention to a policy framework that capitalism and markets impoverish or produce
to undo poverty. President Mandela declared a ‘war on poverty, but have offered different answers about
poverty’ in 1996. The ANC government conducted its whether the institutions of capitalism be improved
first major study of poverty, Key indicators of poverty or replaced by the institutions of a new type of
in South Africa (2007), with the Office of the RDP social order.
and the World Bank contributing to its authorship. Social historian Karl Polanyi conducted research
In 1998, civil society organisations held a ‘Speak out in the mid-twentieth century on the institutions of the
on poverty’ campaign (Budlender 1999). Government market economy. Polyani argued that the operations of
also commissioned researchers for its Poverty and these institutions contradicted some of the dominant
Inequality Report (May 1998) to investigate its extent ideas of freedom, as well as diminished the lives of the
and to analyse the effectiveness of the state’s poverty people who did not own productive capital (Harvey
reduction measures. Mandela’s successor, President 2005: 36–37). Regardless of such warnings, since
Thabo Mbeki, also reiterated the challenge of the 1970s an obsession with the logic and promise
reducing poverty. of markets to achieve economic growth and reduce
More than twenty years after the demise of poverty has influenced societies worldwide. While
apartheid, poverty patterns in South Africa remain enforcing this trend in the 1980s, Margaret Thatcher
similar to that of the apartheid era. When using the infamously declared: ‘There is no alternative!’
notion of ‘households living in extreme poverty’ we (Harvey 2005: 40). Even more infamously, talking to
see that in 2014 approximately 21.7 per cent of African, Women’s Own magazine on 31 October 1987, Thatcher
6.6 per cent of coloured, 1.4 per cent of Indian and 2.9 asserted that: ‘There is no such thing as society.’
per cent of white households are regarded as extremely The basis for this claim is that ‘society’ is merely
poor (SAIRR 2017: 454). Nonetheless, we need to use a collection of individuals. This view lies behind
further concepts and measurement techniques to aspects of the British and American models of neo-
unravel the complexity of this situation. liberalism adopted worldwide. Neo-liberal economic
We all have some notion of what poverty is. The policies oppose one of the main poverty reduction
ruling party, government departments, and social strategies that advocates of the reform of capitalist
researchers in South Africa are not, however, always institutions upheld through the twentieth century,
in agreement about definitions, measurements and namely, that the role of the state should be increased
achievements in poverty reduction. Poverty reduction through public and social spending – core features
measures may fall under one of two approaches or of a social democratic or welfare state. The economic
a mixture of the two. Structural approaches target growth policy-making measures associated with neo-
the societal obstacles that force people into poverty, liberalism and the Washington Consensus have had
while in agency-based approaches the state assists the same impoverishing consequences anticipated in
individuals to empower themselves to move out of classical nineteenth century sociological theory. The
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swing to neo-liberal economic policies has produced economic situation in poorer countries as well as the
increases in productive output and tremendous numbers of people driven to extreme poverty. Nearly
increases in wealth for some. Economic growth is a decade ago this was held as threatening the possible
certainly necessary for poverty reduction, but it does successes of the UN’s 2000 poverty eradication goals
not translate into poverty reduction or a trickling (Smith 2009). The final MDG report acknowledged
down of wealth from its unequal concentration among that about 825 million continue to live in extreme
a few at the top to a distribution among the masses at poverty and 800 million people suffer from hunger.
the bottom. In essence, economic growth simply does It concluded that ‘the world is still far from reaching
not reduce the number of people living in poverty. the MDG of eradicating extreme poverty and hunger’
It is widely acknowledged that unemployment, (United Nations 2015: 23). Although governments
poverty and inequality have increased in developed, have proclaimed successes for their poverty reduction
developing and underdeveloped countries. Poverty policies and programmes, they are held in doubt
levels are highest in African, Asian, Latin American due to a plethora of definitions, conceptualisations
and Caribbean countries. European countries see their and measurements of poverty. Because there are
international development assistance as important different ways of understanding the phenomenon, it
because of its connection to combatting a number of also means that there are different choices of policies
additional issues associated with poverty, namely, and actions to deal with it and claims of successes.
disease, illegal migration, environmental degradation, Poverty reduction strategies require research that
political instability, armed conflict and terrorism, and identifies the main causes of poverty, policies and
crime (OECD 2001: 15). In September 2000, against plans of action to address its causes. Indicators
the backdrop of the global dominance or hegemonic must be useful to monitor or evaluate the successes
thinking about adopting neo-liberal economic and failures of plans of action. Identifying the poor,
policies and acknowledgement of increased poverty targeting poverty reduction measures and monitoring
globally, 189 member states of the United Nations (UN) the outcomes are, to repeat, complicated by the variety
identified eight global challenges to development and of conceptualisations, definitions and measurements.
adopted the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) Since the 1960s there has been a growth in
in New York City (UNDP 2001). The MDG policy was competing definitions, indicators, poverty reduction
signed by 147 Heads of State who committed their strategies and toolkits. Poverty is a contested political
governments to reaching the objectives. The MDG concept and preferences for particular definitions and
included the first objective of halving poverty by 2015. measurements reflect ideological and political choices.
The MDG spoke in terms of reducing the number of This partly explains sociologists’ different conclusions
people living below US$1.25 a day. (This was around about poverty trends in any particular country. One
R8.00 in mid-2012. As of October 2015, this was reason why the debate about poverty rages in South
raised to US$1.90 – R26.85 at October 2017 exchange Africa is because there is no official definition of
rates.) Each MDG signatory country was to adopt its poverty and different researchers use different data
own appropriate conceptualisation, definition and sets. This chapter provides an overview of different
poverty measurement techniques – and report on their definitions, conceptualisations, measurements of
progress. The MDGs were followed by the Sustainable poverty, and integrates discussion of the structural
Development Goals (2016–2030), which continues the origins and history of poverty in South Africa as well
commitment to eradicate poverty. The current global as trends since the 1994 political transition.
economic recession since 2008 has worsened the
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Chapter 14: Poverty
Case study 14.3 Surviving on US$1.90 (ZAR26.85) a day on the margins of the formal economy
Get a glimpse of a day in the life of an innovative recycler

by Kristian Meijer
Work for Eric Mkhinda (37) starts at 04:30 sharp, and after his morning chores he sets off on his trolley. He cannot afford
to change clothes too often and this morning his clothes smell of his fire the previous night. Mkhinda is a street recycler,
colloquially known as a ‘trolley pusher’. He, like others, sift through dustbins for recyclable items. They then process and
pack these items before selling them to recycling companies.
Mkhinda lives in a small squatter camp beneath the Gautrain bridge between Von Willich Avenue and Rabie Street. The
camp is littered with cardboard and plastic bottles, ready to be sorted, packed and sold. He has a set route for each day
where the municipality is collecting trash from dustbins. He made his trolley himself. A sort of ‘frankentrolley’ constructed
from a flat piece of plastic and the handle of a broken shopping trolley. It has big, sturdy wheels.
“Nobody else has a trolley like this. If anybody steals it I will recognise it,” he said with a cheeky grin.
He is a veteran recycler, active in Centurion for more than 13 years.
“Everybody in Lyttelton, even the police, know me. I do not cause trouble,” he said.
Rekord joined Mkhinda on his Tuesday morning route, to see what he does, and how he was treated. We left at 04:05,
setting off towards Glover Avenue. Mkhinda targets residential complexes where dustbins are packed closely together. At
Emerald Park complex the dustbins have not been put out yet, so Mkhinda rolled a cigarette and waited.
“I know the guys who search dustbins in this street.”
When the bins arrived, he started his search.
“I never know what I will get. Sometimes I get a lot, or nothing.”
He aims for cardboard, paper and plastic bottles.
“I get R2.50 a kilogram for PET plastic.”
He sifted through 19 dustbins and salvaged several kilograms of cardboard, around 40 plastic bottles, two shirts, a pair
of pants, two bags of cooked meat, two loaves of bread, three potatoes, two bottles of soda and a toy car. He can sell any
of those items, the car for R2, and shirts and pants for R5. He packed everything in a big bag, and set off for the camp.
Rachel Isaacs looks after the camp while Mkhinda and others collect items. She helps sort the items. When everything
is ready, she calls PWV recycling to collect the items. PWV could not be reached for comment at the time of going to print.
“I make around R800 a month. It is not much, but enough to survive,” said Isaacs.
The camp is a headache for residents, as it is next to a residential complex. Isaacs and Mkhinda were residents of the
recently demolished camp in Von Willich Avenue that was torn down to make way for an office park.
(Source: Meijer K 2016)
Questions
1. If the rand/US dollar exchange rate was an average of R14.13. to US$1 for the month of October 2017, what was Eric
Mkhinda’s daily earnings in US$?
2. Which statement signifies inequality between Eric Mkhinda and other people?
3. Write a list of other lives or activities to sustain themselves outside of the formal economy you have observed the poor
engaging in.
4. Write a paragraph about your views on the probable quality of life living on US$1.25 per day.
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14.2.1 Mainstream approaches to The approaches can be grouped as objectivist and

conceptualising, defining and subjectivist. An objectivist approach has external
measuring poverty reality ‘out there’ as its focus. Sociologists, economists
The summaries below present the foundations of and others can merely agree on a definition and
approaches researchers continue to debate. The proceed to measure poverty. Subjectivist approaches
conceptualisation dimension of the sociology of seek the participation of various stakeholders as well
poverty provides a framework for the development as, very importantly, the poor themselves in defining
of definitions and measurements (Lister 2004: 3–4). their circumstances. Some approaches attempt to
Conceptualisations of poverty attempt to give some reconcile the objectivist and subjectivist approaches.
meaning to the phenomenon such as in the notion of
‘lack of basic needs’. Definitions, however, seek to be Monetary approaches to understanding poverty
very precise about discerning between the ‘poor’ and Two Englishmen are influential in the emergence of
‘non-poor’. Measurements are about operationalising this objectivist approach, namely, Charles Booth’s
definitions in ways that allow us to identify exactly study of poverty in London in the late nineteenth
who is poor, to count these people and to measure the century and Benjamin Seebohm Rowntree’s study of
intensity of their poverty. poverty in York in the early twentieth century. Booth
Our focus is on definitions, concepts and empirical explained his pioneering approach thus:
measurements that are the obvious building blocks
of sociological theories and theories of poverty. This The divisions indicated here by ‘poor’ and ‘very
introduction to the topic does not deal with the range poor’ are necessarily arbitrary. By the word ‘poor’
of theories of the social processes and structures I mean to describe those who have a sufficiently
behind poverty. One such approach examines the regular though bare income, such as 18s [shillings]
‘subculture of poverty’. This approach sees poverty as to 21s per week for a moderate family, and by ‘very
a self-perpetuating culture among the poor. Neither poor’ those who from any cause fall much below
are the structural functionalist and Marxist theories this standard. The ‘poor’ are those whose means
(Townsend 1979: 61–92), discussed in Chapter 12, may be sufficient, but are barely sufficient, for
reiterated here. decent independent life; the ‘very poor’ are those
Debate has steered the sociology of poverty to whose means are insufficient for this according
focus on the following issues: to the usual standard of life in this country. My
• Gender power in the social structure and the ‘poor’ may be described as living under a struggle
consequent feminisation of poverty to obtain the necessaries of life and make both
• Whether it is appropriate to apply approaches ends meet; while the ‘very poor’ live in a chronic
used in developed countries to conditions in state of want. (Booth 1889, in Ledger & Lockhurst
underdeveloped countries 2004: 39)
• Questions about whether to focus on individuals
or collectives (such as families or households) Objectivist approaches regard poverty as a shortfall
• Whether it is appropriate to use the same in income or consumption from a determined poverty
definitions and measurements for both urban and line. One assumption behind this approach is that
rural conditions the subsistence needs of all individuals for food,
• Whether poverty is a hopeless chronic condition or clothing and shelter are the same; their situations,
a transitory phenomenon (from which people can and their consumption needs and satisfaction thereof
be rescued due to seasonal, new work opportunities are taken as the same. Sociologists calculate the total
emerging or as a consequence of successful poverty market value of a specific basket of the minimum of
reduction measures) essential items in a particular context. That basket of
• Whether poverty should be seen as an absolute, minimum items varies among different researchers
objective measurable phenomenon or a relative using this approach, but generally the items include
phenomenon. the monetary requirements for a nutritionally
adequate diet, money for clothes and rent. Sometimes
the basket includes items such as transport costs,
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Chapter 14: Poverty
education costs, and health services. Data are gathered in Table 14.1 that it shows first an increase, then a
on people’s expenditure or incomes. This notion of declining absolute number and proportion of persons
income is somewhat broad in that it includes wages as in these circumstances. The two-dollars-a-day
well as subsidies and grants from state social security measurement ‘gives a better indication of the people
programmes. People with an income below the value of living in poverty in an emerging economy such as
that basket of items are regarded to be living in poverty. in South Africa’ (SAIRR 2012: 321). It would suggest
They experience a shortfall in obtaining the minimum that if you rely solely on this measurement technique
resources. They are below a threshold point, the you are likely to run into criticisms of your argument
poverty line. The ‘one-dollar-a-day’ approach (US$1.90 about poverty trends, hence our discussion of other
in 2015 – still applicable in November 2017) behind the measurements supports different perspectives on
Millennium Development Goals bears the imprint of poverty trends. Furthermore, while this measurement
an absolute monetary approach. The World Bank too technique provides some insight into poverty trends,
includes this income or consumption approach in its we also would like to know what factors or policy-
reports on global poverty trends; it uses the following related measures may explain the positive changes.
definition of poverty: Transfers in the forms of grants and remittances to
black households have increased tremendously: in
The inability to attain a minimum standard of the years 2009 and 2015 the respective increases in
living measured in terms of basic consumption the number of African and coloured households that
needs or income required to satisfy them. (World received grants were as follows: African households:
Bank cited in NALEDI 2007: 9) 5 182 000 to 6 511 000; coloured households: 475 000
to 628 000. Contrarily, there was a decrease in grants
If we were to rely on the one-dollar-a-day approach to Indian households: 112 000 to 105 000 (see SAIRR
to observe poverty trends in South Africa, we see 2017: 423).
Table 14.1 Number and proportion of people in South Africa living on less than US$2 per day
Year Number Proportion
1996 6 809 986 16.2%
2000 8 072 420 18.9%
2005 6 024 650 12.7%
2009 3 100 947 6.3%
2010 2 189 204 4.4%
2011 1 361 421 2.7%

Criticisms have been levelled against the monetary local communities for safe drinking water, sanitation,
approach. Its focus on food is seen as problematic public transport, health, education and cultural
because people have differing food tastes, individuals facilities. Furthermore, while the objective, monetary or
of different bodily proportions have different absolute measurements continue to influence poverty
calorie intake requirements, and there is the issue research, concern about the poor’s circumstances in
of specifying what percentage of household income relation to the rest of society and the sense of their
should be spent on food. Criticisms about the focus on exclusion has complemented the monetary approach.
individuals and families and assumptions about their The idea of relative deprivation began to influence
subsistence needs saw the expansion of the approach the definition and conceptualisation of poverty.
and incorporation of the ‘basic needs’ of larger units of The rationale here was that sociologists began to see
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the interdependence between a strictly numerical societies to which they belong. Their resources
scientific (positivist) concept of poverty and the social are so seriously below those commanded by the
structure needs to incorporate also a ‘comprehensive average family that they are, in effect, excluded
and rigorous social formulation of the meaning of from the ordinary living patterns, customs, and
poverty’ (Townsend 1993a: 33). The idea is to capture activities.
the changing relationship of deprivation and income
taking into consideration the changed conditions in Using an objective monetary approach such as an
different moments in time and across communities in official Poverty Datum Line in South Africa goes
different places. Peter Townsend’s (1979: 31) definition back as far as the 1940s (Frye 2005: 8) and continues
of this relative approach links objectivist approaches up to the present. Discussion of poverty trends in the
with social conventions about defining poverty: annual reports of the South African Institute of Race
Relations (SAIRR) relies on monetary measures. Table
Individuals, families and groups in the population 14.2 is an example of this; it discerns sixteen income
can be said to be in poverty when they lack the levels in rands, however, it does not give a breakdown
resources to obtain the types of diet, participate of race group for each income category or the number
in the activities and have the living conditions of households in each income category in each
and the amenities which are customary, or at province, consequently, it does not provide insight into
least widely encouraged or approved, in the countrywide differences in income and poverty.
Table 14.2 Number of households by income category in ZAR, 2015 (figures have been rounded)
Income levels in rands Number of households
0–6000 102 715
6 000–12 000 461 252
12 000–18 000 677 809
18 000–30 000 1 401 141
30 000–42 000 1 774 555
42 000–54 000 1 610 237
54 000–72 000 1 630 452
72 000–96 000 1 451 944
96 000–132 000 1 376 156
132 000–192 000 1 311 848
192 000–360 000 1 603 584
360 000–600 000 1 001 588
600 000–1 200 000 669 324
1 200 000–2 400 000 209 231
2 400 000+ 44 203
Total 15 331 038
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Chapter 14: Poverty
Another way of representing this information is to African households, then coloured households made
divide the different income levels into equal ‘deciles’, up another 6 per cent, then Indian households made up
or ten levels from the highest to lowest incomes another 1 per cent, and white households made up the
(sometimes levels of five ‘quintiles’ are used), and to remaining 4 per cent of households (totalling 100 per
count the number of households by race group found cent of the households at this income level or decile).
in the different deciles. Those found to be below the An overall impression is difficult. Except for decile
minimum income may be the households below a 10 where it is clear that white households are in the
particular decile, say, the fourth decile, which could majority in this higher income level, however, from the
be set at about R1 000 per month, down to the first upper income levels of 7 upward there are noticeably
decile, which is an even lower monthly household different amounts of representation of the different
income. If you examine Table 14.3 it means that, in race groups compared to level 1.
1996, 89 per cent of the poor in the fourth decile were
Table 14.3 Racial composition of income deciles, 1996
Decile African Coloured Indian White
1 90% 4% 1% 1%
2 93% 3% 1% 3%
3 91% 5% 1% 3%
4 89% 6% 1% 4%
5 86% 8% 1% 5%
6 81% 10% 2% 7%
7 72% 12% 4% 12%
8 60% 14% 5% 21%
9 39% 12% 7% 42%
10 22% 7% 5% 65%
The poverty line data can be aggregated to depict income, the line begins to curve. All societies, in fact,
another poverty related phenomenon, that of inequality. have a curved line, however, the more curved the line
Clearly, countervailing forces produced increasing is, the greater the inequality.
inequality when using either the Lorenz Curve or The South African Institute of Race Relations uses
Gini coefficient as indicators of trends. The Lorenz the Gini coefficient to report on inequality trends
Curve, depicted in Figure 14.1 (NALEDI 2007: 36–37), in South Africa and uses the following operational
is a method of representing inequality in a society on definition:
a graph and comparing it with other countries. The
y-axis of the graph represents income and the x-axis The Gini coefficient is used to measure equality
represents population. This gives us an idea of how and inequality within countries or groups of
much a proportion of a society’s income is controlled people. It assigns a value between zero (perfect
by a particular proportion of the population. In a equality) and one (perfect inequality), where one
society with perfect equality the line would be straight household earns all the income.
(actually it is at an angle of 45 degrees): the bottom 10
per cent of the population get 10 per cent of the income. For a considerable time, Brazil, a country regarded
Likewise, the bottom 25 per cent receive 25 per cent of as being in the same middle-income group as South
the income. Once there is an unequal distribution of Africa, was noted for having the worst Gini coefficient.
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However, income inequality has worsened in South to 2009 within the African and coloured groups but,
Africa and it is now the most unequal society in this after a brief spell of worsening within the Indian
group. The Gini coefficient increased from 0.596 in group, some slight improvement within the Indian and
1995 to 0.635 in 2001 (UNDP 2003: 43). The figures in white groups.
Table 14.4 show a slowly worsening trend from 1996
Percentage of y
total income
it y
u al
eq
te
o lu
a bs
of
ne
Li
Lorenz Curve
Percentage groups of individuals
Figure 14.1 The Lorenz Curve
Table 14.4 Inequality within race groups
African Coloured Indian White Total
1975 0.47 0.51 0.45 0.36 0.68
1996 0.53 0.51 0.51 0.48 0.61
2000 0.59 0.57 0.55 0.49 0.66
2005 0.58 0.56 0.52 0.48 0.65
2010 0.57 0.53 0.48 0.44 0.64
2015 0.57 0.53 0.47 0.43 0.63

(Source: SAIRR 2004/05: 191; 2000/01: 374; 2010: 251; 2017: 428)
The capability approach to poverty of commodities. Sen sought a multidimensional

The capability approach tries to move away from approach to poverty that integrates the insights of the
the emphasis of the monetary approach and gives different approaches to poverty; it is an attempt to
attention to the ‘quality of life’. Indian-born Cambridge integrate notions of economic development and social
University economist, Amartya Sen contributed to development. These ideas have influenced the United
the evolution of the ‘human development paradigm’, Nations Human Development Report emerging from
which has sought to restore interest in the concerns 1990 and the notion of Human Poverty and a Human
of classical contributions to the development of Development Index (HDI) in poverty research. Sen’s
economics as a discipline, that is, enhancing the quality influence permeates the human development report on
of human lives, and not just measuring the production South Africa (UNDP 2003) and its conclusions about
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Chapter 14: Poverty
poverty dynamics. Public officials liberally sprinkle human rights, improves participation in society,
their speeches with references to this foremost reduces discrimination, and improves security.
contemporary theorist of poverty as an indication The South African Institute of Race Relations
of the inspiration of his ideas on their poverty uses the HDI in its annual reports on trends in human
eradication policies. welfare, stating the following definition and purpose
The human development approach addresses of the HDI:
income deprivation and other deprivations that
reinforce poverty. Lack of education is characteristic The Human Development Index (HDI) is an
of the poor and also means deprivation of other index that combines normalised measures of
determinants of well-being, namely, employment, life expectancy, educational attainment, and
healthcare, clean water and sanitation. Poverty is gross domestic product (GDP) per capita for
seen as the deprivation of human development: ‘the countries worldwide. It is used as a standard
denial of basic choices and opportunities to lead a means of measuring human development, as well
long, healthy, creative and free life’ (Fukuda-Parr & as to determine whether a country is developed,
Kumar 2005). The HDI is a composite of three variables developing, or underdeveloped. (SAIRR 2001: 71)
measured in different units, namely:
• the life expectancy at birth index, which is Looking at the HDI from the apartheid period and
measured in years using 1975 as a base point where it was registered
• the educational attainment index with regard at 0.65, there was some improvement by the time of
to both adult literacy and the combined gross the political transition of 1994 when it was around
enrolment ratio at primary, secondary and tertiary 0.74, but it has steadily worsened after 1996 and was
levels, which is measured in percentages calculated at around 0.675 in 2005 (SAIRR 2009: 71).
• the gross domestic product per capita index, which The United Nations (UNDP 2003: 44) reports on how
is measured in dollars (Jahan 2005: 154). this index declined after the ANC government’s
macro-economic policy, Growth, Employment and
The maximum value of the HDI is 1 and its minimum Redistribution (GEAR), veered towards neo-liberal
value is 0. Values that steadily approach 0 lead to globalisation trends in 1996.
conclusions that the quality of life is worsening. When In Table 14.5 we see South Africa’s ranking with
the HDI improves, or moves closer to 1, it opens doors the respective rankings of a selection of other countries
for other opportunities, improves the realisation of when using the HDI for comparison.
Table 14.5 HDI of various countries, 2015
Ranking in the world, Country HDI, 2015 Category of Human Development

2014 country
1 Norway 0.949 High HD countries
3 Australia 0.939
11 United States 0.920
91 China 0.738 Medium HD countries
111 Egypt 0.691
119 South Africa 0.666
151 Nigeria 0.527 Low HD countries
139 Zambia 0.579
182 Mozambique 0.418

(Source: United Nations 2016: 200)
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Using composite figures for the components of the HDI African pupils had the lowest pass rates for the
in South Africa hardly helps illuminate the differences matric exams in 2009, at 55 %. White pupils had
across the racial groups, arguably the chief goal of the highest pass rate, at nearly 99 %. Pass rates for
post-apartheid equality policies. The composite figure coloured and Indian pupils were at 76 % and 92 %
for life expectancy in 2015 was 57.7 years. For expected respectively. (SAIRR 2010: 363)
educational attainment it was 13.0 years of schooling.
Given that life expectancy and education attainment The influence of the educational attainment variable
trends are two key factors in the determination of the on the calculation of the HDI is, however, quite
HDI, it is worth isolating and examining their trends complex. When comparing the different racial groups
and projections over a number of years. In Table 14.6 – on the number of persons aged twenty and older who
the life expectancy variable for all race groups clearly have completed matric – we see significant changes
shows a declining trend. This may be due to the low for the two years of 2012 and 2015 (SAIRR 2017: 473).
figure for the African majority, which would explain In 2012, 23.2 per cent of Africans completed matric.
the low composite figure of 57.7 years. A report on This moved up to 30.6 per cent in 2015. For people of
matric pass rates clearly tells that trends in education mixed race it moved from 23.6 to 32.5 per cent. For
attainment are one factor that negatively affects the Indians it moved up from 48.0 to 51.3 per cent. Whites
HDI for black Africans: experienced a decline of 29.1 per cent when the figures
moved downward from 72.9 to 51.7 per cent.
Table 14.6 Projected life expectancy
2002 2009 2012
African 50.4 47.3 47.2
Coloured 62.2 60.8 59.7
Indian 66.7 66.3 65.8
White 71.6 71.5 71.0

The social exclusion approach to poverty minimal income and democratic rights. Empirical
The social exclusion approach emerged in Europe’s rich research in developing countries using this approach,
industrialised countries with well-developed welfare by way of contrast, has focused on exclusion from
state practices (Laderchi et al 2003). This approach health services, education, housing, water supply,
has since also been used to research deprivation and sanitation, pensions and land.
consequent impoverishing processes in developing As you know, the political transition in 1994
countries. The recognition and realisation of social introduced a widely acclaimed constitution (RSA
and economic rights form the basis of the welfare 1996) with a Bill of Rights which recognises the right
state practices of the countries where the approach to certain social and economic rights. The key basic
emerged. The gist of the definition of social exclusion rights are housing (section 26), healthcare, food, water
is that it has the complete, or partial, exclusion of and social security (section 27) and education. (section
people from full participation in the society in which 29). This approach may, arguably, be useful to account
they live as its focus. The excluded are distinguishable for considerable degrees of social exclusion processes,
collectives, that is, racial or ethnic groups, the aged deprivation practices and impoverishment. Vusi
or handicapped, rather than excluded individuals. Gumede (2006), an advisor to former President Mbeki,
Research using this approach is usually adapted to regards monetary approaches to measuring poverty as
the conditions prevailing in particular countries. For a misleading representation of post-apartheid poverty
instance, research in industrial countries focuses on trends. Gumede’s reason is that monetary approaches
indicators such as unemployment, access to housing, do not take into consideration government spending
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Chapter 14: Poverty
on the social wage. The social wage, massively externally imposed from above by researchers and
prominent in China incidentally, includes services their clients. The proponents of the participatory
actually delivered which enhance the quality of life approach, such as Robert Chambers, argue that the
of the poor. The entrenchment of socioeconomic rights views of the poor about what being poor means and
in the constitution, of course, was that their exercise what the magnitude of poverty is, must be taken into
would have material expected redistributive effects. consideration. Both the World Bank and International
Researchers use the following operational definition Monetary Fund (IMF) have included this approach
of the social wage – so crucially important for the poor: alongside others they use. The approach originated in
development strategies that argued the poor are able to
The social wage refers to benefits received by an understand and analyse their own reality – and must
individual that are supplied by the state in the be involved in the production of knowledge about their
form of such things as electricity, water, sanitation lives and reflect their strategies to deal with the lived
services, solid waste disposal, housing, education experience of their conditions. Despite the ideal of
and healthcare. (SAIRR 2009: 534) the poor participating in this process, it usually turns
out that outsiders do the collection and interpretation
In presenting the third and final approach to of the data. Despite laudable commitments, the
measuring poverty, in Table 14.7, we see calculations poor generally play a minor role in even these well-
of state expenditures on different components of the intentioned and deliberately chosen development
social wage as gross values of these expenditures as strategies. In addition, there have been concerns that
well as average values per household. some segments of a community are excluded by others
and are afraid of expressing their views. Another
The participatory approach to understanding problem is that people have limited information
poverty and are conditioned to think of themselves in a
Both the monetary and capability definitions and particular way.
measurements of poverty have been regarded as
Table 14.7 Gross value of the social wage for 2004 (calculated in ZAR millions)
Top 40% of Poorest 60% of Poorest 40% of All households

households households households
Component Rm Rm Rm Rm
Electricity 131 2 774 2 001 2 904
Water 72 1 816 1 312 1 888
Sanitation 34 514 350 548
Solid waste 66 934 638 1 000
Housing 1 179 2 357 1 572 3 536
Education 16 055 31 541 23 064 47 595
Healthcare 9 202 21 565 14 869 30 767
Total: Social wage 26 739 61 500 43 806 88 239
Social grants 4 179 18 901 14 365 23 081
Total 30 918 80 402 58 171 111 320

353

Noble, Ratcliffe and Wright (2004) make the case for and other civil society formations. Needless to say,
this kind of participatory approach to conceptualise, the expressed intention of committed researchers is
define and measure poverty in South Africa. They to influence or shape policy in the direct interests of
accept that objectivist, monetary approaches remain the poor.
vital. These researchers also seek, however, to Poverty is a lived experience. The poor are in
transcend the apartheid legacy of a divided society: social interaction with others and create meaning
in their social world. Poverty is a social condition of
… it is crucial that a definition of poverty is found which the poor have some understanding of the larger
which reflects the common aspirations of all social structural factors behind their impoverishment.
citizens … A consensual definition would provide The poor possess considerable sensibilities when
a truer reflection of what most South Africans comparing their circumstances with others in their
think of as an acceptable standard. (Noble et al society. Somehow, as a social group and individually,
2004: 13) the poor cope with their lived experience of being
poor. Too many of those who suffer poverty, however,
Noble et al see a diminished role for professional, clearly neither cope nor survive when compared with
objectivist approaches: other social classes.
Often studies of the poor draw on the concept of
Furthermore, a broadly consensual and socially relative deprivation. This term refers to individuals
informed definition of poverty would have the or social groups who feel or express their subjective
stamp of democratic legitimacy in a way that sensibilities about being unfairly disadvantaged when
‘expert’ definitions, no matter how theoretically they compare themselves to others. Relative deprivation
acute, do not. In a newly democratic country a occurs when those who share similar circumstances
bottom-up poverty measure, reflecting the views with others in their own society, or when they compare
of most South Africans, could prove important in themselves to the overall standard of living in their
influencing the direction of poverty. (Noble et al society, experience a sense of disadvantage (Giddens
2004: 14) & Sutton 2017: 1012). The sense of relative deprivation
is independent of whatever research strategy
Frye (2005: 7) adds that such a participatory and might be followed. For within any system of social
relative definition of poverty would probably be the stratification, as in everyday life, people compare their
best way of gauging people’s subjective experiences fortunes to those of others. The concept of relative
and would help guide the development of policies that deprivation, however, remains a productive concept
address social inclusion. for studies that attempt to explain the discontent
The operationalisation of the consensual, behind either the acquiescence or radical politics
participatory approach – and its definition and of the poor. As an exercise in evaluating the utility
measurement of poverty – occurs in two stages. Firstly, of this concept, consider watching television news
a list of ‘socially perceived necessities’ needs to be reports about protests in low-income communities.
drafted. Secondly, measures of the items of the list Look out for statements made by protestors explaining
need to be created. their circumstances. Note when and how often such
It should be noted, that in order to implement these statements are made comparing their plight to other
two stages, for this human agent-sensitive approach to communities as reasons for their actions.
meet its aims, this strongly implies closing the often When it comes to reflecting on poverty in everyday
yawning social gap between researchers and the poor. life, the emphasis on quantitative approaches to
understanding poverty discussed above must be seen
Poverty in everyday life as giving a one-sided and unbalanced view about
The foregoing gives considerable attention to the poverty. Quantitative methods which measure and
tools you would use as a sociologist to settle on the count, however important for social science, cannot
appropriate data to measure poverty, develop new capture but instead they minimise the importance
knowledge about poverty in society and likely follow of socio-cultural difference and the qualitative
up through active engagement with state agencies dimensions and lived experience of the life of the poor.
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Chapter 14: Poverty
Qualitative-based approaches describe and explain socialised men into the role of breadwinner, buttressed
the experience of being poor and how poor people by patriarchal culture. However, widespread male
understand their own poverty and the meanings they unemployment and households’ shifting dependence
attach to poverty. Through interviews especially, on incomes brought in by women, Mosoetsa goes on
qualitative approaches bring to the fore feelings of to show, are behind a rise in gender violence. This is a
powerlessness, stigmatisation and discrimination, study worth tracking down. It reveals something of the
as well as the sense of belonging, co-operation and human face of poverty.
solidarity among the poor. The call for holistic
approaches (see Poverty Analysis Discussion Group Post-apartheid poverty trends
2012) when doing research on poverty aims to What has happened since 1994? A reliable answer to
more adequately represent the everyday lives and this vexing question is pertinent to an evaluation of
experience of being poor. Such holistic approaches government’s poverty reduction programmes. Some
acknowledge the fact that poverty is an economic claim that poverty has worsened. Some claim that it
and political phenomenon. Such approaches deal has worsened drastically, others that it has worsened
with power relations in society, which play a role moderately. Still others believe that it has remained
in how opportunities and benefits are distributed. constant among certain categories of the poor. There
Such approaches also focus on the connections in are those who believe that income inequality has
the complex relationship between poverty and social worsened and that there are different trends within
inequality in society. and between the different race groups. Then, there
are views that policy must simultaneously deal with
A brief case study poverty and inequality (see Chita-Mabugu et al 2016:
While the post-1994 government has moved away 183). What adds to this being a vexing question is the
from the racial policies of the apartheid regime fact that the post-apartheid state has adopted a range
which contributed to black poverty, aspects of its neo- of policies and institutions characteristic of welfare
liberal policies have contributed to the continuation states to provide safety nets and redistribute wealth.
of the wealth of whites and the enrichment of some These include ‘social wage’ measures entailing state
black people. Current policy also contributes to provision of basic services such as water, sanitation
unemployment, impoverishment, misery and a and electricity (Chita-Mabugu et al 2016: 182).
despairing sense of well-being among the poor. Social protection measures entail social grants, state
In a study of two communities in Kwazulu-Natal provision of primary healthcare and education. State
Sarah Mosoetsa (2011) captures the voices of the poor, spending on the spectrum of grants for child support,
their understanding of the changing employment foster care, old age and pensions and disability has
opportunities in relation to the new government’s increased in billions of rand since 1994 and the number
policies, their disappointment with aspects of the of recipients has increased by the millions – 31 per
state’s social services and their feelings of the lack cent of the total national population are beneficiaries
of concern about their circumstances on the part of a of some type of grant (Seekings & Nattrass 2016: 142–
new black elite. Objectively, given the continued high 147; SAIRR 2017: 659). In addition, revenues for the
concentration of wealth among whites post-apartheid, Unemployment Insurance Fund (UIF) have risen from
the target of this poor community is misplaced – R13.9 billion in 2010/2011 to R28 billion in 2014/2015
but that is a discussion for another day regarding (SAIRR 2017: 687). This UIF revenue is made up of
methodology in sociological research. monthly contributions by employers and employed
This matter aside, Sarah Mosoetsa (2011) provides workers. When workers who have contributed to the
detailed insights into how impoverished households UIF become unemployed, they are entitled to draw
are mutually supporting, interdependent, depend on from these revenues for a certain period of time to
‘social capital’ and are open to sharing with others in alleviate the immediate effects of being without
similar circumstances. The poor in this community an income. Further state-led initiatives such as the
and more generally are ‘eating from one pot’ (Mosoetsa extended public works programme – to create work
2011: 26). Furthermore, Mosoetsa tells about coping with opportunities for unskilled workers – and land reform
changed gender roles – where the industrial economy – to put productive assets at the disposal of the poor
355

– have also been implemented with varying degrees where neo-liberal economic policies were adopted.
of success. The adoption of the Accelerated and Shared Growth
As you have seen above, the choices of different Initiative for South Africa (AsgiSA) in February 2006
definitions, conceptualisations and measurements promised to halve poverty and unemployment by 2014.
undoubtedly contribute to generating a diversity That goal was not realised given a declining trend in
of conclusions. Another reason for the diversity of gross domestic product, for instance, 3.3 per cent in
conclusions is that researchers depend on different 2011, 2.3 per cent in 2013, 1.3 per cent in 2015, and
data sources. They use the October Household Surveys with forecasts of 0.4 per cent for 2016 (SAIRR 2017:
(OHS), the Labour Force Surveys (LFS), the General 83–85). Unemployment steadily increased. The official
Household Survey (GHS), Income and Expenditure definition put unemployment in 2016 at 26.6 per cent
Surveys (IES), the All Media and Products Survey (5 634 000 people) while the expanded definition put it
(AMPS) and the KwaZulu-Natal Income Data Survey at 40.9 per cent (8 880 000 people) (SAIRR 2017: 84). Is
(KIDS). Then there are the StatsSA national censuses, it, however, reasonable to expect a massive successful
as well as the data researchers gather when conducting transition away from the legacy of apartheid only
their own studies. Equally informative data sources are two decades after the political transition? There has
generated by the Development Bank of South Africa, the arguably been ample time to reflect on the trajectory
Bureau of Market Research, the SA Reserve Bank, the and outcomes of the chosen set of policies. The current
South African Advertising Research Foundation and overall approach to addressing poverty takes place
the South African Institute for Futures Research. Not within a framework of realising constitutionally
all of these institutions, however, will either provide guaranteed social and economic rights (food, water,
access to researchers or disclose their data sources. shelter, housing, healthcare, education, a job, social
While apartheid policies left a tremendous legacy security), using ‘legislative measures’ and ‘available
of poverty, South Africa’s approaches to move away resources’. Yet there is to date no official definition of
from the poverty and inequality have, however, not poverty despite almost all government departments
escaped the global trend to neo-liberal economic claiming their policies and programmes aim at
policy-making. After 1994 the new government’s RDP reducing poverty (Frye 2005: 14). The debates about
explicitly recognised a legacy of the mass of people poverty measurement make it clear that different
living in poverty and spoke of redistribution (Everatt measurements have different poverty reduction policy
2003: 81–83). Notwithstanding, the subsequent recommendations. Everatt (2003: 82) contends that
implementation, in 1996, of the Growth, Employment this situation where ‘poverty is endlessly elaborated
and Redistribution (GEAR) policy explicitly veered but rarely (if ever) defined by government as a whole’
towards a neo-liberal macro-economic framework can hold problems – poor definition means misguided
to deal with economic growth and redistribution policies and poor service delivery. While ‘the poor’
goals. This shift is widely acknowledged (Bond 2000; are regularly referred to as a category, if poverty
Marais 2001; Terreblanche 2002) to have generated is not consensually defined, it is difficult to argue
higher unemployment rates and other inequality and what the trends are in terms of success or failure in
impoverishing consequences similar to other countries reducing poverty.
Case study 14.4 Debating post-apartheid poverty trends
Read the article ‘Government spending has reduced inequality sharply. The Gini coefficient ordinarily does not capture the
impact of the social wage’ by Joel Netshitenzhe, then answer the question that follows.
In a perceptive article on the wealth gap in our country, THISDAY (November 2) cited research on social inequality by the
presidency contained in Towards a Ten Year Review. Alas, as often happens with headlines, the claim is made that this
research asserts that the poor are 40 per cent richer than in 1994.
This simplifies complex research beyond recognition and distortions set in. What does the review say and what
methodology is used to assess the effects of government policies on the poor?
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Chapter 14: Poverty
The main assertion is that there has been a massive shift in government expenditure patterns since 1994 in favour of
especially the poorest. Poverty is said to involve three critical dimensions: income, human capital (services and opportunity)
and assets.
The point in identifying these dimensions is that a narrow focus on income can ignore critical redistributive aspects of
a government budget, normally referred to as the ‘social wage’.
This redistribution manifests itself especially in social spending on such services as education, social grants, housing,
water and sanitation.
To quote two examples: since 1994, the government has increased spending on social grants from a racially skewed
R10 billion to more than R34 billion equitably distributed this year. It has transferred assets worth about R50 billion to the
poor through housing subsidies, transfer of title deeds and land reform.
It is this dimension that the Gini coefficient, as ordinarily used, tends to miss. The Gini coefficient measures how far the
distribution of income or consumption expenditure deviates from a perfectly equal distribution.
A low Gini of zero means absolute equality among all citizens, its highest magnitude of 1 means massive inequality.
This Gini coefficient, as ordinarily used, relies primarily on income and ignores the social wage.
An important contribution to this debate has been made by Servaas van der Berg, a professor at Stellenbosch University,
in research that is increasingly being adopted by international institutions. He recalculated the Gini coefficient taking
government expenditure into account.
This is groundbreaking research because in unequal and market-driven economies such as ours a critical question
should be whether and how the government is playing its role as an agent of redistribution.
Starting off with the ordinary Gini, Van der Berg’s calculations show that in 1997, taking into account only income
before taxes and social transfers from the government, South Africa had a Gini coefficient of 0.68, reflecting extensive
inequality. After taking into account taxes and social transfers, that is, after accounting for the social wage, the Gini
coefficient is 0.44. So inequality is reduced by about 33 per cent through the social wage.
In 1993 the apartheid government’s social expenditure was essentially neutral and had no effect on reducing inequality.
The researchers for Towards a Ten Year Review updated the information using Van der Berg’s methodology and the
2000 Income and Expenditure Survey. This produced a pre-tax Gini of 0.57 and a post-transfer Gini of 0.35, a reduction
of inequality of 41 per cent.
Van der Berg’s methodology is important in at least two respects. It helps give quantitative expression to the three
dimensions of poverty: income, services and assets. And it puts the spotlight on governments: are they doing enough as
instruments of redistribution of wealth?
When all is said and done, income inequality cannot be discounted as just another dimension of poverty. Affected
mainly by employment, it also raises the issue of the dignity of a job and if workers are receiving a living wage.
Further, a social wage, such as provision of electricity to those without a job, means that families use electricity only for
lighting because they cannot afford stoves or heaters or, if they have them, they cannot afford the electricity bills.
So, in suggesting a trajectory for the second decade of freedom, Towards a Ten Year Review asserts the importance of
a massive public-works programme, skills development, microcredit and land reform as well as decisions of the Growth
and Development Summit, all critical for job creation and self-employment.
Government programmes over the past nine years have substantially reduced inequality among South Africans.
Though this may not have made the poor 40 per cent of our nation any richer, it has certainly made a significant
improvement to their quality of life.
(Source: Netshitenzhe 2003)
Question
What are your own perceptions about post-apartheid poverty trends and your views about how to measure these?
357

Summary 2. What insights do subjectivist approaches offer in

• This chapter began by describing the necessity terms of understanding poverty trends in post-
of ‘sociological imagination’ to understand 1994 South Africa?
poverty in post-apartheid South Africa through 3. How would you go about ensuring that the
understanding and explaining the interplay and voices of the poor are included in a study based
mutual influences of circumstances in the lives on the capability or participative approaches to
of individuals and events and processes in a studying poverty?
broader society as well as the history of a larger 4. What is the difference between absolute poverty
changing world. and relative deprivation?
• The chapter then describes the definitions, 5. What is a social wage?
concepts and empirical measurements that are
building blocks of sociological theories of poverty More sources to consult
but also describe the lack of agreement in view Pillay U, Hagg G, Nyamnjoh F, Jansen J (eds). 2013. State
of the complexity of the poverty phenomenon. of the Nation. South Africa 2012–2013. Addressing
There exist different mainstream approaches to Poverty and Inequality. Pretoria: Human Sciences
poverty. The first, objectivist approach, assumes Research Council.
the self-evident fact of poverty as it exists as an A collection of recent essays on state policies,
external social reality. The second, subjectivist p r o g r a m m e s a nd c h a l le n g e s t o ov e r c o m e
approach, seeks to examine the phenomenon from unemployment, poverty and social inequality with
the subjective experiences of those who suffer special focus on industrial development strategies,
poverty. Within this approach, the capability, the housing delivery and urbanisation trends.
social exclusion and participatory approaches Seekings J, Natrass N. 2006. Class, Race and Inequality
are discussed. in South Africa. Pietermaritzburg: University of
• The chapter closes by emphasising the importance KwaZulu-Natal Press.
of also understanding poverty as a lived experience Provides statistically detailed information on
that must be holistically analysed. In view of this inequality trends across the apartheid and post-
the challenges and complexities in addressing apartheid trends.
poverty in a post-apartheid South Africa is Seekings J, Natrass N. 2016. Poverty, Politics & Policy
then presented. in South Africa. Why Has Poverty Persisted After
Apartheid? Johannesburg: Jacana.
Are you on track? Analyses aspects of both neo-liberal welfare
1. What insights do objectivist approaches offer in state policy in post-1994 South Africa, persistent
terms of understanding poverty trends in post- poverty and different perspectives on poverty and
1994 South Africa? the effects of various welfare state measures to
combat poverty.
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360

Chapter 15
Crime and deviance

Tapiwa Chagonda & Muhammed Suleman
Crime is anti-social behaviour which has serious social effects. Sociology understands acts of crime as a form of social deviance
which violates norms and cultural standards generally accepted within a significant section of the community within which
the crimes take place. Crime results from a variety of factors, not all of which can be explained within even the vast scope
of sociology. The specialised study of crime, called criminology, is consequently multifaceted, complex, goes well beyond
sociology and involves a range of disciplines. Questions as to who commits crime, why they do so, criminal capacity, statistics
on crime, the different kinds of crime committed and the factors contributing to crime have resulted in a plethora of theories.
These theories have emerged from not only sociology, but also out of the disciplines of biology, psychology and economics.
The legal definition of crime is simple: a crime is a crime because the law defines it as such. Getting to the root of crime and
deviance is, however, considerably more difficult.
The introduction to this chapter confirms the complexity attending the study of crime and deviance. At the risk of over-
simplification, research shows that the majority of crimes are disproportionally committed by unmarried, young, urban-based
males, a small proportion of whom are repeat offenders. Violent criminal offences increase in relation to the number of
crimes a person commits. Nearly half of crimes committed in South Africa are violent and aggressive. A third of crimes are
of an economic nature. It is the capacity for aggression and violence and its deeply-seated roots where the problem of
defining, explaining and understanding crime generally starts. As the case study at the beginning of this chapter clearly shows,
brutalisation of the young is often the first step in the social recipe for the escalation of the development of criminal capacity
in the biography of an individual. Central to understanding this process is the moral development, or lack thereof, in the
socialisation of children. Yet how are we to understand the role of the lack of normative and moral standards in society when
it comes to white collar fraud, theft and corruption? This crime is called white collar crime as it is usually committed within
office environments and for personal gain.
In order to introduce the key aspects of a difficult topic to study, the first part of the chapter grapples with the definitions
of crime and deviance. It then discusses the consequences associated with crime and deviance, social stigma for instance.
The second part of the chapter interrogates the various sociological theories of crime and deviance. The major theoretical
perspectives covered here are the functionalist, sub-cultural, conflict and interactionist paradigms. The contention is that post-
apartheid South Africa has become an exclusive society. Our society is riddled with high levels of poverty, increasing levels
of inequality between the rich and the poor and high levels of unemployment in a country still very largely divided by spatial
apartheid. This social context explains much for the significant degree and extent of criminal activity in South Africa. That we
continue to live in a society characterised by spatial apartheid means, of course, that crime affects different social and racial
groups to different degrees. The nature and extent of crime – as well as forms of deviance – will express itself differently
whether one lives in a suburban gated community, an inner-city high-rise complex, on a farm, in a rural community or in a
township. In short, however, the poor experience crime to a far greater extent than other social groups.
The penultimate section in the chapter contends that social control that might curtail criminal and deviant activities can
be enforced through conformity and obedience. This section argues, however, that in some instances, obedience to authority
or conformity towards certain norms can be harmful, especially if the orders from the authority figures are questionable or
unethical. The same applies to certain norms that might be considered wrong or inappropriate in the context in which they
are applied.

If the chapter has had criminal activity among the youth as its focus, sight must not be lost of what one might call, perhaps
controversially, the ‘real criminals’ – middle and upper middle class ‘white collar’ criminals engaged in fraud and corruption
involving considerable amounts of money. Such criminal activity is often hard to detect, inevitably involves protracted legal
procedures and is often unseen, yet robs society of badly needed resources, usually of a financial nature.
Finally, the chapter closes by reflecting on South Africa’s high crime rate and notes that violent crimes are a huge problem
which requires urgent and serious attention from the state and broader society.
Case study 15.1 Pre-sentence assessment of a young offender
The following case study is about a young adolescent, Joseph Hlongwane, who was recently charged for aggravated
assault. The information was taken from a criminal capacity assessment report compiled by a forensic social worker at the
local Magistrate’s Court in Bloemfontein.
During the pre-sentencing interview, Joseph Hlongwane told the forensic social worker that he had a very difficult
childhood. His biological father used physical force to discipline, intimidate, control and hurt both Joseph and his mother.
This ranged from psychological intimidation to physical attacks to force obedience and respect. For the five-year-old
Joseph, this situation was both frightening and humiliating and he quickly learned that submission brought relief. When
asked to describe his most prominent feelings during this time, Joseph said: ‘I am worthless, I hate them!’ The violence
only stopped when Ann Hlongwane divorced Joseph’s dad and they moved elsewhere. When Joseph Hlongwane was
10, he transferred to a local junior school. He quickly got a reputation for being a ‘bad kid’ and many of his schoolmates
remembered him for hitting a school teacher during an argument when Joseph refused to do as he was told. Due to this
incident, Joseph was the subject of a school disciplinary hearing. He was suspended from school for three months after
which he returned to school. He began to carry a knife to school which he used to victimise other children and extort
money and goods. He used the money to buy drugs and alcohol. Meanwhile his grades were going down. He started
skipping school to hang out with a group of older anti-social boys from his neighbourhood. Under the pressure of his
friends, Joseph started to break into cars to steal radios and other items. He quickly graduated to vehicle theft. Although
he was never caught, everybody knew he was involved in illegal activities. He became known as a ‘gangster’ by others in
his neighbourhood. Joseph enjoyed the feeling and sense of power that came from being associated with a gang of thugs.
He was also becoming increasingly aggressive towards his mother, Ann, and stepfather, Sam Radebe. This led to various
arguments and family conflict. Sam felt that it was a mistake to ever have Joseph at home. Ann, on the other hand, kept
on pleading on Joseph’s behalf saying that it was puberty, a phase he would eventually get over. One night, Joseph came
home under the influence of alcohol. Sam had had enough and threw Joseph out of the house and told him never to come
home again. Joseph took out his knife and threatened to stab Sam. The two got into a physical struggle. In the ensuing
scuffle Joseph stabbed his stepfather in the shoulder. The police were called by a neighbour and Joseph was taken into
custody. A case was opened and the 14-year-old Joseph was charged with aggravated assault.
•• Defining crime and deviance

Key Themes
•• Theoretical perspectives of crime and deviance

•• Crime, poverty and social exclusion
•• Mechanisms of enforcing social control
•• Explanations for the high crime rate in South Africa.
362

Chapter 15: Crime and deviance
Introduction a wide range of offences. They also exhibit other

The above case of a troubled young adolescent problems such as heavy drinking, drug use, have
illustrates the complexity of deviance and crime. What unstable employment records and are often sexually
do we know about offenders? From the case study we promiscuous. For violent offenders, the likelihood of
note importantly that the crimes committed were by a committing a violent offence increases steadily with
young male. This is generally the case regarding socially the total number of offences already committed. In
visible crimes. In the words of Heidensohn ‘gender is the other words, over time more of their total number
single most important variable in criminality’ (1988: 91). of offences will be violent offences, suggesting that
The fact that females make up only 4 per cent of prison intervention at an early stage (when it becomes clear
population’s worldwide, show that males are convicted that a pattern is developing) may break the pattern of
more often than females, and more often than not for the criminal trajectory. Moving beyond these crucial
serious offences. Secondly, crime is a youthful activity, variables of gender and age, we find more complex
or as Smith & Rutter attest, ‘an important fact about factors associated with the likelihood of committing
crime is that it is committed mainly by teenagers and crime. For example, differential association theory
young adults’ (Smith & Rutter 1995: 395). The case study posits that delinquency, like much other behaviour,
reflects the tendency of 15- to 25-year-olds committing is learned in interaction with others in the process
more crime than any other comparable age group. This of communication patterns found in intimate groups.
curve, which for individuals typically peaks in the Young people who are strongly attached to their
late teen years, highlights the tendency for crime to be parents or their school, coupled with high educational
committed during the offender’s younger years and to and career aspirations, are less likely to become
decline as age advances (Blumstein 1995: 3). criminal offenders. Young people who do poorly
In the literature, data represented in this way at school, or have friends who are criminals, are
represents the criminal trajectories of offenders. more likely to resort to crime. Furthermore, crime is
Criminal trajectory research makes a distinction disproportionately committed by unmarried people,
between Life Course Persistent (LCP) offenders and by people living in large cities and those living in
Adolescence Limited (AL) offenders. AL offenders areas of high residential mobility. One other aspect
will engage in criminal behaviour for the duration of consistent with research to add is that while of the
adolescence and will then cease such activities. The male population who are convicted, a much smaller
criminal behaviour of LCP offenders is, according proportion is convicted repeatedly. In other words, a
to Moffitt (cited in Blokland et al 2005), rooted in small minority is responsible for high rates of repeat
early childhood factors: neurological difficulties and offending. For the sake of comparison, Table 15.1 gives
failing parent–child relationships set a small number a detailed breakdown of the major crime categories,
of individuals on a life path of anti-social behaviour the number of un-sentenced offenders, the number of
(Muntingh & Gould 2010). Violent offenders tend to sentenced offenders and totals per crime category for
be versatile rather than specialised and thus commit South Africa in 2011.
Table 15.1 Categories of crimes committed
Crime categories Un-sentenced Sentenced Total
Aggressive 22 914 61 974 84 888
Economic 15 025 25 591 40 616
Sexual 6 578 18 084 24 662
Narcotics 1 437 2 698 4 135
Other 1 950 4 953 6 903
Total 47 904 113 300 161 204

(Source: Basic Statistical Report 2011)
363

From this table sourced from the Management 15.1 Defining deviance and crime
Information System of the South African Department Deviance refers to behaviour that violates norms of
of Correctional Services (Table 15.1), it can be seen that a particular society. It refers to behaviour that goes
there were 161 204 offenders were incarcerated in the against what is expected of people in a particular society
South African Department of Correctional Services. (Schaefer 2013: 174). Someone wearing a swimming
Statistically this table can be read as follows regarding costume to a wedding is considered deviant. In such a
the different categories of crime in 2011: situation, one would expect someone to wear a formal
• 45.1 per cent were crimes of a violent or suit or dress. At the same time, one should remember
aggressive nature that norms are not always universal. This means that
• 33.1 per cent were crimes of an economic nature different societies adhere to different norms. In South
• 8.3 per cent were crimes of a sexual nature Africa, for example, a man who comes from a Zulu
• 2.6 per cent were crimes involving narcotics. ethnic background, can have multiple wives. In 2010,
President Zuma was criticised by the British media
Looking at these statistics, it is evident that by far for having multiple wives, as bigamy (being married
the largest category and percentage (45.1 per cent) of to two wives) and polygamy (having more than two
crimes committed in South Africa were of a violent wives) are illegal in the United Kingdom (Diffin
and aggressive nature. The second highest category or 2010). In addition to not being universal, norms in one
percentage (33.1 per cent) of crimes was of an economic society can also change over time. This means that
nature. Crimes of an aggressive nature, in general refers norms are not stagnant as they are always evolving
to a wide variety of acts that involve attack, hostility, within societies and do so differently. The apartheid
abuse and violence. According to the Diagnostic and government introduced the ‘Prohibition of Mixed
Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (American Marriages Act, Act No 55 of 1949, which prevented a
Psychiatric Association 1994), acts of aggression are white person from marrying anyone who was defined
typically motivated by any of the following: as non-white. Yet in 1985, that law was changed and
• Fear or frustration in the aggressor interracial marriages became legal (SA History 2016).
• A desire to produce fear or flight in others In addition to norms not being universal, who
• A tendency of aggressors to assert their own ideas, decides what is right and wrong should also be
needs or interests at the cost of others. questioned. It is often those who are in power and
possess high status in society who decide what
When studying the crime categories of offenders who is right and wrong in a particular society. The
entered the criminal justice system and eventually normative attitudes of social elites generally become
ended up in prison in 2011, it is evident that most institutionalised. In the United States, for example,
offenders had been incarcerated during this time for for many years, cigarette smoking was considered
violent, aggressive or economic crimes. normal, despite clear medical evidence showing that
Regarding economic crimes, in 2014, a report smoking harms the health of individuals. Smoking was
found that 69 per cent of organisations had been considered acceptable because of the power wielded
victims. The most prominent forms of economic crime by those who manufactured tobacco (Schaefer 2013).
were asset misappropriation, procurement fraud, In South Africa, incidentally, the Tobacco Products
bribery and corruption, and cyber fraud. While the Control Act 83 of 1993 (as amended) and subsequent
last category of economic crime, cyber fraud, was on a Notices laid down rules and regulations regarding
par with international trends, all other categories were smoking in workplaces, public buildings, restaurants
higher in South Africa (Global Economic Crime Survey and even in your own car if transporting a child under
2016). Such ‘white collar’ or office-related crime we the age of 12. If you break any of these regulations you
might refer to as largely socially occluded (hidden or are engaging in a criminal activity. You are not just
invisible) crime. This chapter, however, has what we being deviant, even if you are not caught, charged and
might call socially evident (socially felt or visible) prosecuted due to some of these laws being difficult
crime as its main focus. to enforce.
If crime is easily defined in the legal system,
deviance is less readily defined. Sometimes being
364

deviant and even criminal, are necessary. Take Nelson by adolescents.) Societies often use statistics in
Mandela, Steve Biko, Winnie Mandela, Oliver Tambo, how they define or understand deviance. This is a
Robert Sobukwe, Ahmed Kathrada and many other misconception. If, for instance, someone has bathed
people who were part of the liberation movement. three times a day, they are not harming anyone and
These political stalwarts and others did not agree yet they might be deemed to be deviant in the eyes of
with the norms and values of apartheid South Africa. other people (Goode 1994). The most important aspect
They were considered deviant by the apartheid sociologists need to consider is that it is society that
regime. They also broke many laws on purpose. Yet decides what is deviant and what is not (Haralambos
apartheid norms and legislation deviated from widely & Holborn 2000).
accepted international norms and laws. Sometimes The following sections will focus on some of
conforming to particular norms in a certain context is the key theoretical frameworks that are helpful
considered harmful. For example, in some sections of in understanding how crime and deviance occur
South African society – as found elsewhere in Africa in society.
and Asia according to a study conducted in 2000 by
the United Nations Population Fund (UNPFA) – it is 15.2 Functionalist perspectives on
considered acceptable for a husband to beat-up his deviance
wife. Consequently, even if the wife is badly injured, Functionalist theorists focus on shared norms and
people will often not question the norm. In this values in society. They argue that a widely shared
instance, those questioning the rights of husbands will and generally accepted normative framework is a
be considered deviant (Rasool & Hochfeld 2005). prerequisite for any society to maintain a sense of
While the deviant and illegal behaviour of those stability. If everyone in society agrees on which norms
involved in the liberation struggle in South Africa and values they should aspire towards, then social
clearly served our society positively, in the majority of order is maintained. Bearing this in mind, one would
cases, deviance is viewed negatively. Often, those who think functionalists would view deviance negatively
deviate from accepted norms are stigmatised. After and yet this is not the case.
a former South Africa national cricket team captain,
Hansie Cronje, was found guilty of and admitted 15.2.1 Deviance as functional for society
to match fixing, he was always referred to as ‘the Functionalists argue that deviance is a necessary
disgraced’ former Proteas cricket captain (Chapman part of society, which contributes to the well-
2012). Put simply, deviant behaviour has social effects being of any society. Durkheim (1938) argued that
for the individuals concerned. crime is ‘inevitable’. People come from different
While crime and deviance are often confused, there social backgrounds and are exposed to different
is a distinction to be made between the two phenomena. circumstances. Hence, deviance is bound to happen,
As already noted, crime refers to actions that break the as not everyone will conform to norms in the same
laws of a country. If found guilty, a criminal offender manner. To illustrate this contention, Durkheim
will be punished by the criminal justice system of that imagined a ‘society of saints’. Individuals in such as
country. Note that what may be a crime in one country society would be considered perfect. Yet even in such an
is not necessarily a crime in the legal system of other imaginary society, one would find deviance occurring
countries. How is crime though different to deviance as the standards set would be so high that the smallest
within a society? A person bunking school or talking mistake would be considered deviant. For example,
in class is deviant, although pretty minor depending if someone shares a different opinion they would be
on the age of the learner. The learner is not, however, considered deviant. In addition to viewing deviance
breaking any laws. Infringing on a school rule such as as consequently being inevitable, functionalists also
this is generally not a crime. Therefore, deviance is a consider deviance to be part of how society works and
much broader concept than crime. Deviance includes develops as norms and values change.
crime. In other words, sociologists recognise that all History teaches us that society cannot remain
criminal acts are deviant and yet not all deviant acts the same. Often those who made great scientific
are criminal. (Delinquency generally refers to acts discoveries, especially in seventeenth and eighteenth
of deviance and anti-social behaviour committed century Europe, were considered deviant as they broke
365

with the dominant theological and normative views Fall campaigns of university students in 2015 and
of the world. Similarly, for society to progress, social 2016, which stressed the need for the disruption of
norms also need to change and are indeed part of the colonial norms and practices – which was a call for
process of change. Society needs to have different a ‘new normal’ social transformation – can be seen in
voices. While collective sentiments are important to this light.
maintain order, too great an adherence to collective Previous studies on deviance had focused on the
sentiments prevents people from coming up with new individual. Individuals engaging in deviance were
ideas or opposing oppressive restrictions, neither of viewed as suffering from some form of psychological
which benefits society. Therefore, a certain amount illness. Functionalists adopted a contrasting approach
of deviance is required. The collective sentiments by focusing their analyses of deviance on society,
of society need to make room for this, even though instead of the individual. Robert Merton (1968), for
political leaders, both of high moral and ethical instance, built on the works of Durkheim by developing
standing, in this instance, Nelson Mandela and Martin a modified functionalist theoretical paradigm. Merton
Luther King Junior had to fight for their ideas which did not agree that deviance was a consequence of
deviated from the accepted norms in their societies. individual mental instability. His focus was value
On such grounds, Émile Durkheim and functionalists consensus and normative values in society. In other
who have followed him have argued that deviance words, following Durkheim, his starting point was
paves the way for a new morality and guiding sets societal and normative, or society as normative. Merton
of norms. advanced previous functionalist structuralist analyses
While arguing that deviance is necessary, as he argued that in any society, while members
functionalists have further argued that degrees and might largely share the same values and goals, they
levels of deviance should not get out of control. As you do not have the same opportunities to achieve these
know from your study of Durkheim, the absence of goals. Therefore, materially disadvantaged groups
norms or anomie or a sense of normlessness results in deviate from accepted norms in order to achieve their
the breakdown of social cohesion in society. The level goals. When a dominant set of ideas or norms such
of deviance should, therefore, be kept at a moderate as following the ‘American dream’ of success and
level. The mechanism to ensure this is punishment wealth as in the society Merton studied, yet which not
so that collective sentiments are not completely everyone is able to achieve due to the lack of resources,
disregarded (Graaff, Van Aswegan, Thomson 2002). then people will often use any means necessary to
An American sociologist, Albert Cohen (1966), achieve these goals. This can lead to scenarios in which
developed Durkheim’s ideas. Cohen cited further norms are no longer followed. The overall result is a
social functions of deviance. He argued that deviance state of uncertainty due to the onset of normlessness
can act as a safety valve for society. People can express or anomie.
dissatisfaction with society without fundamentally When this occurs, deviant responses are most
disrupting the social order. The many protest marches, likely to occur according to Robert Merton’s theory
social service delivery protests especially, in South of structural strain (1968). Structural strain occurs
Africa could be taken as an example of collective where the means to which people have access – such
actions which deviate from the normal daily order, but as a job – are insufficient to meet the goals they wish
which signal that there is something wrong is society to achieve – such as material success. The five forms of
and act as a warning device (Haralambos & Holborn response Merton identified below, though interpreted
2000). If people are stealing or children are engaging somewhat differently to the way in which he applied
in unacceptable levels of truancy, it means something his typology to American society, it is suggested, will
is wrong in a particular society. In these cases the differ very largely in social groups depending on their
source of the deviance can be addressed in order to access to their means in relation to their goals.
solve the problem. When something goes wrong,
people share their concerns and this strengthens the Conformity
social solidarity of that community (Graaff et al 2002). Over the long term, despite being punctuated by
Our current decolonial theoretical moment in South disruptions, economic distress, social upheavals
Africa since the #Rhodes Must Fall and #Fees Must and wars, human society is generally characterised
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by different degrees of order. Were it not so, human such forms of deviant behaviour become accepted
society would not have been able to produce its basic within segments of a population, this reinforces the
needs for survival. The need to conform is a strong one. rejection of norms such as that theft is wrong (Graaff et
Conformity entails people using socially prescribed al 2003). Among the working poor this can also be seen
means to achieve their aims and goals. Most people, as a survivalist strategy where people feel they have
across social groups, adhere to social conventions, the no choice but to break norms, which they may even
norms inculcated through successful socialisation and continue to believe.
commonly accepted behaviours born of the strength of
peer pressure, learning, habit and tradition. In short, Ritualists
most people conform to accepted standards, practices Those who accept the means to achieving socially
and the ways things are done in their immediate social accepted goals, but which prove insufficient do not
context. For example, most readers of this textbook relinquish their beliefs that hard work is rewarded
would hold to the belief that hard work (a means) will for instance, but instead lower their expectations of
be rewarded and pays off in the long run as hard work what they can achieve. These individuals are people
achieves set goals. Predominantly socioeconomically who are often socioeconomically middle class. They
middle class or aspiring to this social class in a context have steady jobs, yet these jobs do not pay them
where education promises upward social mobility, enough. Hence, they cannot achieve the goals they set
most readers will hope to graduate from university, out to achieve. At the same time, they have strongly
become self-employed or get a job, get married, buy a internalised the norms of society. Consequently, they
car and pay a bond on a house as the rest of an educated abandon their goals, or become more modest in the
middle class has long done. Statistically speaking, you goals they try to achieve and stick to and appreciate the
will probably try to live a useful, ordered and very means they have. But by abandoning accepted social
largely a disciplined life, have children and hopefully goals, they are still deviant as they have deviated from
grandchildren who will finally bury and remember what is widely considered worthy of achieving. Many
you. Similarly, people who are poor or working class young middle-class married couples, for instance, not
poor, but who work hard are hopeful that if they only locally but globally, discover that the price of
persist in conforming to the ethic of hard work, life owning their own house is beyond their means. They
will improve. continue the daily ritual of keeping down their jobs,
but relinquish the dream of becoming homeowners.
Innovation
Merton suggested ‘innovators’ are those who adhere Retreatism
to the goals of society, such as success and the Statistically, this is the smallest social group that
attainment of wealth especially, but do not have the displays deviant forms of behaviour. Retreatists, in
means to achieve these socially accepted goals. They Merton’s five-fold typology, are those who have fallen
consequently reject the means, such as the belief in into the indigent or underclass in society. They have
hard work which is rewarded, to achieve those goals. become homeless, are perhaps chronically addicted to
Such ‘innovators’ need to find ways of achieving social alcohol or drugs so are unable to hold down the job they
goals despite their lack of means or resources. This had and hence become beggars or vagabonds. Having
response is one most likely to come from people who been unable to succeed, they have ended up rejecting
form part of the working or poorer classes, because their previously internalised normative standards
they lack the available means to achieve success goals. regarding both the means and beliefs of society and its
The jobs they occupy do not pay them enough money goals. Unable to achieve their goals, they retreat and
and so is an insufficient resource (means) to achieve drop out of society, socially isolating themselves in
what they may want or realise their goals. People who the process. Their failure to have achieved what they
fall into this category are likely to feel more pressure wanted to or to make a success of their lives may have
to deviate from accepted norms. Hence, they are more been due to a wide variety of reasons, both individual
likely than other social groups to resort to crime, such and structural, or be a combination of factors. Such
as pilfering from their employer, housebreaking and people are deviant because they reject the means to
entry, petty or vehicle theft, or drug trafficking. Where achieve the socially accepted goals in which they once
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might have believed. They consequently go on also perhaps poor or working class people who suffer from
to reject the goals which seems to be of no use to anomie yet they do not commit any crimes or act in
them anymore (Haralambos & Holborn 2000; Graaff a deviant way. He also does not consider politically
et al 2003). motivated crimes – such as challenging the state
under apartheid – because the focus of his theory
Rebellion is on material rewards. Merton is also accused of
Those who resist and rebel against both the means and exaggerating the crimes committed by the working
the goals of society can be members of classes across class and underestimating the occurrence of white-
social groups. This is not Merton’s view, but seems more collar crime in society. Furthermore, along with other
applicable in our context. Often these are individuals structuralist functionalist theorists, Merton has been
who are members of a rising socioeconomic class who criticised for assuming that everyone in the United
do not agree with the present state of society. Or they States, which was the society he studied, shares the
might be from militant working class communities. Or same values. We saw in Chapter 1 on Sociological
they may be from criminal segments of society who theory that black scholarship pointed this out many
feel they stand above and are independent of generally decades ago.
accepted norms and values. Empirical investigation Robert Reiner (1984) has come to the defence
would be required to test this view. The point is of Merton. Reiner argues that Merton did not ignore
that such groups reject the means to achieve success white-collar crime. He indicated that people become
goals. Unlike those who retreat, they endeavour so driven by material success that they are not satisfied
to revolutionise society – or their own social and with what they have. Hence, they will use any means
economic positions – by creating new goals and means necessary to increase their wealth, including deviance
(Graaff et al 2003). and crime. While acknowledging that not everyone
aspires to the same values in American society,
Criticisms and defences of Merton’s theory of these success values are shared to an extent that
structural strain they account for working class crime. The criticism
Some sociologists, noted in Haralambos’ and Holborn’s regarding political crimes, Reiner further suggests, can
classic Sociology textbook (2000), have disagreed be addressed using the rebellious response to anomie.
with Merton’s views and they have raised the
following issues: 15.3 Sub-cultural theories on
Merton is accused by Steve Taylor (1971) of not deviance
considering the power dynamics at play in society. Like functionalists, sub-cultural theorists explain
Taylor agrees that Merton does not consider that it is deviance from a societal perspective. According to
the political and economic elites in society, located in sub-cultural theorists such as Albert Cohen (1955) and
the apex of government and business hierarchies, who Walter Miller, people who belong to disadvantaged
powerfully influence the shaping of values and norms socioeconomic groups, such as working class people,
of a particular society. Via the exercise of economic hold norms and values which have traditionally,
and political power, elites facilitate institutional over many years, qualitatively differed from the
mechanisms which make rules and regulations. This mainstream norms and values of a particular society.
ensures the continuation and success of their social Hence, such social groups come to constitute a sub-
group. The norms and values are met and disseminated culture within society. For example, certain social
at the expense of other social classes. The ‘rules of groups may admire, bestow status on and even reward
the game’ which favour the interests of the elites are criminal activity. This occurs, for instance, in the
consequently not fair as they ensure only a certain Western Cape where many young people, as well as
category of people can win. This becomes internalised others, admire gangsters whose criminal activity is
within society and are seemingly natural as captured intimately bound up with the local economy. Such
in the expression ‘life is not fair’. criminal activity, in all likelihood, will, however, be
Merton’s theory has also been criticised for being disapproved of by mainstream society – especially
too narrow in the sense that he assumes people who when it becomes excessively violent. Individuals
suffer from anomie will commit crimes. There are belonging to these groups will seem very similar to
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members of the broader society, yet their behaviour, applicable to a small category of people in society.
which is a result of adhering to distinctive norms and Instead of individuals or social groups suffering from
values of a particular group, differentiates them as status frustration, Box felt that those who come from a
deviant members of that society. lower class background behaved in a delinquent way
The following sections discuss different strands of because they did not agree with the norms and values,
sub-cultural theories. not of those held generally by society at large, but
specifically of those who come from the upper strata
15.3.1 A delinquent sub-culture of society.
Albert Cohen (1955) modified the work of the
functionalist, Robert Merton. Like Merton, he argued 15.3.2 Different types of sub-cultures
that deviance was a result of a discrepancy between Richard Cloward and Lloyd Ohlin (1961), in advancing
goals and means. He argued that deviance was a and differing from Albert Cohen’s views, and working
response of a particular collective or social group, as within Merton’s theory of structural strain argued that
opposed to Merton who had consensus around values individuals belonging to the ranks of the working class
as broadly shared across society, as a key focus. While face more stress to deviate due to limited opportunities
the youth in society might aspire to achieving similar – especially that there are insufficient jobs (means). As a
goals – popularity, celebrity status and financial result of being blocked due to the lack of opportunities,
success for instance – due to belonging to different an illegitimate opportunity structure emerges beyond
social groups in society, it becomes difficult for them the legitimate one where jobs are available. This can
to achieve these goals. For example, young people from happen to working class youth, boys especially, who
a working class background and poorer schools and do succeed at school and do not become delinquent at
who often do not have jobs that allow them to achieve school, but afterwards due to the lack of jobs which
materialist goals are more likely to become delinquent. pushes them towards deviance and crime. These two
As a result of the lack of good schooling or access to theorists defined three types of sub-cultures.
jobs, they suffer from status frustration. In order to When there is a strong illegitimate opportunity
deal with this status frustration, they form groups structure, individuals will find themselves adhering
with a sub-culture that includes norms and values to a criminal sub-culture. They learn via mentors how
which are different from society. They create goals and to succeed in this environment, for example how to
norms that allow them to achieve social recognition, steal or deal in drugs. If they are successful, they are
status and even glory, so as to increase their self- ‘promoted’ to higher positions. Individuals subscribing
esteem. Yet these norms and values, fall outside those to this sub-culture engage in deviance, which will
of society more broadly and are not in agreement result in them gaining financial rewards for example,
with generally accepted societal norms and values. property theft, money laundering and white-collar
What broader society rejects, they accept. Truancy crime (Haralambos & Holborn 2000).
and disturbing the peace or membership of a gang In areas where there is overpopulation, and where
are seen as legitimate means towards goals. Hence, the community lacks cohesion, one finds conflict sub-
they develop a delinquent sub-culture. Adhering to cultures to be most prominent. In these areas, there is
these norms and values, seen as delinquent from the a chronic lack of an illegitimate opportunity structure,
mainstream normative value framework, brings joy to again, access to jobs being of crucial importance. This
these individuals and increases their prestige among results in individuals being frustrated. They deal with
peers. This joy and prestige absolves them of the status this frustration by using the illegitimate structures
frustration they experienced. What we notice here is which are available, such as joining gangs and engaging
that Cohen does not only focus on deviance committed in forms of gang violence.
to achieve material goals. We see sub-cultures formed Finally, there is the retreatist sub-culture.
that place high value on deviance such a disturbing Individuals who form part of this sub-culture are those
the peace and rioting, which in general disrupts who have failed in succeeding in both the legitimate
respectable middle-class life. and illegitimate opportunity structures. Hence, they
Cohen was criticised by theorists such as Steven socially exclude themselves from society. They isolate
Box (1981; 2000) who argued that his theory is only themselves because they view themselves as failures.
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They often engage in deviant activities related to with people from other classes. To apply his or any
substance abuse. other theory in the South African context would need
While the work of Cloward and Ohlin has been empirical research to be undertaken to test the validity
lauded for modifying the work of Merton and Cohen of these theories.
whose analyses on deviant sub-cultures are intricate,
they are in turn criticised for assuming that everyone 15.3.4 The underclass sub-culture
in American society wants to achieve materialistic Globally and in South Africa the formally employed
goals. Their work, now over 60 years old, however, working class has been shrinking. A new group
might need to be revisited in the light of massive of individuals comprising of unemployed people
unemployment in our society where the legitimate constituting an ‘underclass’ has been on the increase.
opportunity structure, access to jobs in particular, People belonging to the underclass, live a qualitatively
is increasingly limited especially for the youth. The different life compared to others in mainstream society.
existence of criminal and conflict sub-cultures is not The policies of social services towards the underclass
simply trying to achieve goals of material success or have, controversially, been seen as encouraging
status, but sheer economic survival. deviance. There is no incentive for recipients of
grants to seek employment, it is held. Factors such
15.3.3 Working class sub-culture as unemployment, dispirited job seekers, rising
The previous sections pointed out that lack of social inequality and the emergence of illegitimate
materialistic success led to the development of deviant opportunity structures are instead reasons which need
sub-cultures. Yet, there are sociologists who argue that to be more carefully investigated in our context for the
deviant sub-cultures are developed not because of a development of an underclass. The decreasing need for
lack of materialistic goals but because these cultures unskilled labour due to marketisation and in increasingly
are inherently deviant. As noted, Walter Miller (1962) vulnerable ‘precariat’ (see Standing 2011) – those who
argued that a working class sub-culture consists of only have part-time or casual jobs – has especially led to
norms and values, which are not in harmony with that people becoming members of the underclass.
of other classes in society. Existing for generations, In South Africa, one of the leading sociologists
working class sub-cultures contain norms and values, who has examined the work of the underclass is Jeremy
which encourage individuals to break the law. Working Seekings, for whom the underclass ‘…comprises
class culture, Miller argued, places special emphasis households whose members have little prospect of
on toughness, smartness and excitement. Toughness finding employment or, we might add, establishing
places importance on being physically strong and other livelihood strategies that yield more than meagre
not showing signs of being soft. This can lead to earnings’ (2014: 139).
individuals engaging in physical assault and violence Theories on the underclass sub-culture have
towards another person. Smartness refers to showing come under criticism. Murray in particular has been
how intelligent you are, compared to others. This often severely criticised. Countries such as Sweden which
leads to people becoming thieves, hustlers or conmen. have a strong welfare service have not seen an upsurge
Excitement involves sexual escapades and partying all in crime. Moreover, single parenthood in London did
night long. Manifestations of these characteristics can not lead to an increase in crime. Often individuals
result in property damage and endangering the lives of have been singled out as scapegoats for the lack of
people. Walter Miller argued that working class people proper state governance in society These two societies
engaged in this type of behaviour because they were are well resourced, but the argument holds even for
bored of the blue-collar (low-skilled work) they took less well-resourced societies such as our society.
part in. Delinquency was a result of individuals being In South Africa, where young women were singled
socialised into such sub-cultures, which historically out for falling pregnant in order to get a child grant,
normalised deviant behaviour. this ‘teenage pregnancy myth’ has been exploded
Miller’s work has, however, come under question. by the Statistician-General (Lehohla 2017). Teenage
He has been criticised for painting a false and pregnancy has instead been understood as the result of
misleading picture of working class individuals, a considerably more complex set of social factors than
‘living in a bubble’, where they have no interaction simply blaming the victim (Panday et al 2009).
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15.4 The conflict perspective on • Economic self-interest rather than public duty
crime and deviance motivates behaviour.
The conflict theory on crime and deviance draws its • Emphasis on private property means personal gain
ideas from Karl Marx’s writings on class conflict in rather than collective well-being is encouraged.
society. Marx argued that under the capitalist economic • Competition is encouraged under capitalism,
system, there was bound to be conflict between which means that individual achievements are
the bourgeoisie (capitalists) and the proletariat (the prioritised at the expense of the interests of
working class) because of the exploitative nature of social groups.
capitalism. The conflict perspective argues that laws • Competition breeds aggression, hostility, and
are crafted by those in power (the capitalist class) to particularly for the losers, frustration.
protect their rights and interests (Siegel 2000). Thus,
they define crime and deviance to suit their needs. Despite the merits which the conflict perspective holds
Larry Siegel, for instance, argues that law-making is in explaining how crime is viewed and operates in a
often an attempt by the powerful to coerce others into capitalist system, as with all theories, it is also open to
their morality, and this explains why criminal law criticism. For instance, feminists argue that Marxism
does not represent a consistent application of societal ignores patriarchy and racism and places undue
values, but rather competing values and interests. emphasis on class inequality in its explanation of crime
Laws are, thus, not an expression of value consensus in society. Marxists assume that communism would
but a reflection of ruling class ideology. eradicate crime but this did not happen in attempts at
You will recall that from a conflict standpoint, the establishing communist states such as in the former
state represents the ruling class. The capitalist state Soviet Union, Cuba and China. The contention that
defends and protects private property, which is at the capitalism will always breed high corporate crime rates
heart of capitalism and rarely directly passes laws that is also debateable, given the low levels of such kinds
threaten capitalists’ profits overall and instead spend of crime in capitalist countries such as Switzerland.
large amounts of money to attract investment. The Marxists have countered these criticisms, however, by
state offers tax concessions, cheap loans and grants pointing out that ‘actually existing socialist societies’
to foreign companies that invest in their countries, in fall short of the ideals of communism and that wealthy,
addition to building expensive infrastructure to help advanced capitalist societies continue to depend on the
these companies operate successfully. exploitation of developing societies for their standards
While crime is widespread in all social strata, of living, including low rates of crime.
conflict theorists argue that most of the serious anti-
social and predatory acts committed in industrial 15.4.1 Corporate crime in South Africa
countries are corporate crimes (Siegel 2000). Corporate While the conflict perspective has also been criticised
crime, which is largely invisible, is seen as doing more for having concentrated too much on corporate crime
harm than street crime and yet street crime is seen at the expense of other forms of crime, its extent in
as more serious, partly as it is more socially visible. South Africa currently suggests this may not be the
Corporate crimes cost more money and more lives than case in our context. The problem of illegal capital
street crime according to conflict theorists. Moreover, flight in South Africa has been a serious problem
when white-collar fraud and crime is prosecuted, it over the last three decades and longer. The usual
is small businesses that are more likely to be taken to mechanism for this form of corporate crime to take
court as opposed to big corporates. For Marxists, under money illegally out of the country is mis-invoicing –
capitalism, there is differential justice and this is where generally by over-invoicing, that is by inflating the
suspects are treated differently based on their racial, prices of goods. Under apartheid, between 1980 and
ethnic, or social-class background. 1983, illegal capital flight ran at around 5.4 per cent of
Furthermore, crime is viewed as a natural Gross Domestic Product (GDP). Under democracy, from
outgrowth of capitalist society which generates crime 1994 until 2000, this increased to 9.2 per cent. Between
for the following reasons: 2001 and 2007 this figure increased to an average of
• The capitalist mode emphasises the maximisation 12 per cent. The responsibility for illegal capital flight
of profits and the accumulation of wealth. across South Africa’s borders lies squarely at the feet
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of primarily large corporations and those in mining This theory has been criticised as it does not explain
in particular (Ashman, Fine & Newman 2011). This impulsive behaviour leading to deviant acts or
form of corporate crime is white-collar company fraud behaviour, nor does it consider the background of
on a massive scale. This loss of money ‘contributes to an individual which in turn may or may not have
low levels of domestic investment, so perpetuating enabled the control of impulsive desires. The theory
unemployment, inequality and domestic development’ cannot explain why some people from a poverty-
(Ashman, Fine & Newman 2011: 9). stricken background might steal while others do not.
The importance of Sutherland’s early theory, however,
15.5 The interactionist perspective is that it points to the power of social context and
Thus far, the work discussed has focused on deviance social interaction within particular contexts and
occurring because of social forces preventing environments as key to influencing participation in
individuals from achieving materialistic goals. The forms of crime and deviance.
interactionist perspective places emphasis on how
individuals create meanings of what it means to be 15.5.2 Social disorganisation theory
deviant. These meanings are taken into the interaction This branch of interactionist theory was developed
process. Therefore, individuals who are working class by Phillip Zimbardo (2007). Zimbardo conducted an
are more likely to be labelled as deviant. Meanings that experiment where he abandoned a car in two different
people create are, however, not cast in stone. During neighbourhoods. In one neighbourhood the car was
social interaction individuals may come to modify left alone for two weeks, except that one person closed
how they understand the world around them, most the bonnet. In the other neighbourhood the car was
especially when coming to appreciate the lack of life completely stripped. Social disorganisation theorists
opportunities of those they previously considered to such as Zimbardo attribute this stark difference to a
be deviant. The most prominent social interactionist lack of social cohesion. Where the community had
theories are the cultural transmission theory, the broken down there would be lack of jobs and healthy
social disorganisation theory and the labelling theory. social structures such as proper schools and stable
families. In this context a car would be stripped.
15.5.1 Cultural transmission theory This often occurs when urbanisation occurs at an
The cultural transmission theory was first coined by intense pace. As a result, people might resort to
Edwin Sutherland (1883–1950). Sutherland argued that deviant behaviour. In a well-resourced community an
people engage in deviance because they learn deviant abandoned car would be largely ignored. Individual
behaviour in the same way they learn how to conform deviant behaviour is consequently explained squarely
to the norms of a particular society. They do not in terms of social disorganisation in those parts of
only learn how to perform an act, but they also learn society in which it is most likely to occur.
the rationalisations and motives behind engaging
in specific forms of behaviour and social actions. 15.5.3 Labelling theory
Interaction with groups such as our family and friends As crime is a crime if the law stipulates it as such,
exposes us to different ways of behaving. Sutherland so some sociologists think there is no such thing as a
referred to the notion of differential association to deviant act unless people witnessing it consider it to
explain his point. Whether we become deviant or not be deviant. For example, a husband or wife wearing
will importantly be powerfully influenced by those no clothes in front of each other, will consider this
with whom we interact. If the groups we engage with normal behaviour. Yet if a stranger walks in, then
encourage deviance, we are more likely to engage in the behaviour might be considered deviant. Thus,
deviance. For example, a talented football player who it is important to consider the context, the audience
manifests the hallmark of becoming a superstar may witnessing the act and the person committing the act.
fail to achieve their potential if found frequently When such acts are witnessed the resulting deviant
interacting with groups who engage in crime and other identity is what people will remember them for. The
forms of deviance. The opposite might well be the case following stages occur in a person becoming a deviant:
if the social environment is one which encourages 1. A person is labelled deviant by society. He or she
conformity (Shaefer 2013). is ostracised. They experience social exclusion.
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Their family and friends do not want to have Interactionists have responded to this criticism.
anything to do with them. They acknowledge that deviance can be labelled as
2. The social exclusion or rejection they experience deviance without an audience being present. They call
is likely to lead to the labelled individual engaging this societal deviance. Hence, society, interactionists
in further acts of deviance, often as this translates are saying, knows murder is wrong. People do not
into no longer being employable such as if one has need to witness it. At the same time, one needs to
a criminal record. consider the audience’s reaction. If an individual
3. Such people are then more likely to interact with shoots someone who is trying to harm him or her,
those who are similar to them. This will lead to that might be regarded as self-defence depending on
them engaging in deviant behaviour because the the circumstances, usually established in a court of
only people who are accepting of them are those law, even though ‘the court of public opinion’ might
who engage in similar forms of deviance. disagree with the verdict. Therefore, the reaction of the
4. A deviant sub-culture, complete with its own audience, and what one might call the societal view, is
norms and values, is formed. critical (Haralambos & Holborn 2000; Shaefer 2013).
Defenders of the labelling theory further do
This theory like all other sociological theories has not agree that the theory is deterministic. Deviant
come under criticism for suggesting that a specific individuals can decide to stop being deviant. Labelling
social audience decides whether an act is deviant theorists also reject the final criticism regarding power.
or not. In certain cases, an audience will determine This is an interesting position as they argue that it was
whether something is wrong or right, for example, the interactionists who created an awareness of the
someone killing another person in self-defence. Yet, power dynamics in society. It was they who broached
premediated murder does not require an audience. The questions on who decides what is deviance and what
norms of most societies will deem such an act as both is not within the field of deviance and crime. Here is
deviant and criminal. Secondly, this theory does not an instance where the study of society and its findings
explain why deviance occurs in the first place. We find have an impact on how society considers subsequent
individuals engaging in different types of deviant acts events and happenings within it.
and of different degrees of seriousness in terms of their
impact on society, from petty theft to premeditated 15.6 Crime, poverty and social
murder. These differences require explanation. exclusion
This theory is criticised for being too deterministic. In South Africa one can discern links between aspects
It takes away the power of individuals to make such as poverty and social exclusion and crime. The
decisions. It does not mean that once a person is rising levels of inequality between the rich and the
labelled as deviant, they will necessarily continue poor and the growing levels of unemployment are
on a deviant path. Just as that individual chose to act clearly contributing to high levels of socially visible
in a deviant way, they can also choose to stop acting criminal activity that are witnessed in South Africa.
in a deviant manner, whether the form of deviance These challenges largely have their roots in the
constitutes a crime as defined in their society or not. legacy of apartheid which continues to manifest its
The final criticism of this theory stems from its influence in our society. This section of the chapter
failure to consider power dynamics in society. It fails will present a straightforward definition of poverty
to explain why some actions are deviant and others discussed in greater depth in a previous chapter, social
not. Why is it that young brawlers in a township are exclusion and it will end off with noting one theorist’s
considered deviant, yet a brawl in Sandton might be discussion of inclusive and exclusive societies. The
considered as youngsters letting off steam? Why is it that section concludes with the assertion that the idea of
smoking marijuana is deviant, yet smoking cigarettes an exclusive society is helpful in understanding and
is considered normal? This is largely because it is the explaining some of the crimes committed in post-
people who wield power in society who determine and apartheid South Africa.
decide what is deviance and what is not. The labelling
theory consequently fails to recognise these power
dynamics in society (Haralambos & Holborn 2000).
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15.6.1 Poverty from any of the above might also resort to criminal
Simply put, poverty can be seen as lacking material activities in a bid for them to feel included in society.
resources. On this basis there are two types of poverty,
generally referred to as absolute and relative poverty. 15.6.3 Inclusive and exclusive societies
When individuals are said to be in absolute poverty, Jock Young (1999) argues that between the 1950s
it means they do not have the resources to maintain and the 1970s in the global North societies could be
human life. Under such a scenario people do not have understood as inclusive societies. Some of the key
access to basic human needs such as nutrition, water, features of an inclusive society included the following:
shelter and health. On the other hand, relative poverty • Secure employment
refers to a situation where people lack the resources to • Stability in the economy
participate in the community activities expected by the • Welfare state provided citizenship rights for all
standards of a particular society at a particular time, members of society
for instance, inadequate educational opportunities, • Women were increasingly included in the formal
unpleasant working conditions and powerlessness. economy
If one looks at absolute poverty within the South • Family life was relatively stable
African context, which can also be defined as those • Core values of population centred around work
individuals living below the poverty line, one notices and family life
the dramatic impact of the global financial crisis of • There was a strong sense of community
2008/2009 on the livelihoods of South Africa’s poorest • Most people were included within the social
people (StatisSA 2014). It is argued by Statistics South structure
Africa (2014) that the number of people living below • Values about right and wrong were absolute and
the food line increased to 15.8 million in 2009 from not open to negotiation but society was tolerant of
12.6 million in 2006. Statistics South Africa (2014) also minor misdemeanours.
makes the contention that about 20 per cent of South
Africa’s population lived in absolute poverty between From the 1980s onwards, however, Young argues
2010 and 2013. Poverty in South Africa is also gendered that an evolution took place as the period of ‘late
and racialised (Chagonda 2016). Statistics South Africa modernity’ replaced the era of modernity. An
(2014) found that women in South Africa are more exclusive society generally emerged which has caused
impoverished than their men. In 2011, poverty levels individuals to turn to crime in order to survive in this
of women stood at 47.1 per cent of the total female era. An inclusive society gave way to an exclusive
population and that of men stood at 43.8 per cent of society as mass production of standardised products
the total male population in the country (StatsSA increasingly gave way to more specialist production
2014). There are significant differences in poverty of a wider range of products. Technology increasingly
levels between the different racial groups in South replaced human labour and the labour market has
Africa. In terms of poverty share, more than 9 out of increasingly demanding less, but more highly skilled
10 (94.2 per cent) poor people in South Africa in 2011 individuals (Young 1999). The exclusive society
were black Africans. The high levels of poverty among has also witnessed greater economic insecurity and
this majority group in South Africa partly explains increased levels of structural unemployment. Young
why some of these poverty stricken people engage in (1999) argues that structural unemployment occurs
criminal activities in order to survive. when a labour market is unable to provide jobs for all
job-seekers as there is a mismatch between the skills of
15.6.2 Social exclusion the unemployed and the more advanced skills needed
Social exclusion refers to the dynamic process of being for available jobs. Generally, for Young, an exclusive
shut out, fully or partially, from the social, economic, society leads to disgruntlement among those who are
political and cultural systems which determine the excluded and this results in higher levels of crime.
social integration of a person in society. Social exclusion
thus entails lack of access to resources, inadequate 15.7 Social control
social participation, lack of social integration and a Social control can be defined as the techniques and
lack of power. Individuals who are socially excluded strategies for preventing deviant human behaviour in
374

any society. Social control occurs at all levels in society, closer to the victims. The Milgram experiment helps
whether in the family, peer groups, the university to explain some of the most horrific atrocities that
setting, organisations and within government. Social have occurred in human history such as the harsh
control within the family, as you know, normally takes treatment of black people by the racist apartheid
place under the process of socialisation and sanctions regime in South Africa, the Holocaust of the Second
can be imposed as a form of reinforcing social control. World War, or tortures at Abu Ghraib prison in Iraq
These sanctions can be penalties for deviating against and at Guantanamo Bay in the wake of the United
certain norms and values or they might be rewards for States’ and its allies’ war against terror in Afghanistan
abiding by societal expectations. and Iraq.
15.7.1 Conformity and obedience 15.7.2 Control through laws and

Social control can be enforced through conformity socialisation
and obedience. Conformity entails abiding by rules Norms considered important to society are normally
set by our peers who have no special right to direct formalised into laws regarding people’s behaviour
our behaviour and obedience means compliance with and this is governmental social control. Some laws
higher authorities in a hierarchical structure. Under are directed at all members of society, for instance,
certain circumstances, both conformity and obedience prohibition against murder while others primarily
can have negative consequences on people’s behaviour. affect particular categories of people for example
A highly controversial experiment was conducted at fishing and hunting regulations. It should be noted
Yale University in the United States corroborates this that laws are not a static body of rules handed down
point. The primary aim of what became known as from generation to generation. They reflect continually
the ‘Milgram experiment’ was to see how individuals changing standards of what is deemed to be right and
in positions of power or authority could use their wrong, how to determine violations and the sanctions
leverage to persuade other people to accept their that are supposed to be imposed. Socialisation and
understanding of deviance and to then influence these the internalisation of norms are the primary source
people to administer punishment. This experiment of conformity and obedience. Norms are seen as valid
tested whether people would obey instructions to and desirable and we are committed to observing them.
administer increasingly painful electric shocks to a As individuals, we are normally socialised to want to
subject. Ordinary people were selected and the results belong and to fear being viewed as different or deviant.
were themselves extraordinarily shocking. Social
scientists were dismayed by results that came out of 15.7.3 Informal and formal forms of control
the experiment. They had predicted that virtually Informal social control is the casual use of
all subjects would refuse to shock innocent victims mechanisms to encourage conformity and obedience
except only a pathological fringe of about 2 per cent such as smiles, laughter, frowns, raised eyebrows,
which would continue administering shocks up to ridicule or ostracism. Many cultures view spanking or
the maximum level. On the contrary, an astonishing slapping children as a proper and necessary means of
67 per cent of the participants administered shocks informal social control. However, spanking children
at the maximum level. Possible explanations of the is increasingly being viewed in a negative light. It is
shocking results of the Milgram experiment are that inappropriate as it teaches children to solve problems
people are accustomed to submitting to impersonal through violence and can escalate into more serious
authority figures whose status is indicated by a title. forms of abuse. With respect to formal social control,
People also normally shift responsibility for behaviour this is carried out by authorised agents, such as police
to the authority figure by convincing themselves that officers, judges, school administrators, employers,
they are doing their duty by obeying orders. Further military officers etc.
studies have shown an even greater willingness to
inflict shock if participants feel the victim deserves 15.7.4 Technology as a form of social
the punishment. A follow-up study on the Milgram control
experiment further showed that participants were less Technology is increasingly being used to control
likely to impose shocks if they were moved physically people’s behaviours through surveillance. The work of
375

Michel Foucault (1979) on governmentality is of great poverty, inequality and unemployment remains stark.
utility in assisting us to understand the increasing use The phenomenon of gangsterism and the rise of ‘protest
of technology to monitor people and in the process, masculinity’ in some communities, notably among the
control their actions. In his book Discipline and Punish, youth, as job opportunities decline, continue to be
Foucault (1979) makes reference to a panopticon. A elusive. Poverty and unemployment also contributes
panopticon is a structure that allows someone in a towards the increase in marginalised and troubled
position of power to observe individuals or a group of masculinities as some men resort to criminal activities
people. Foucault argues that the mere fact that people and violence because they feel insecure and challenged
are always convinced they are being monitored by by successful women.
officials through panopticons, such as prison towers or Crime has also been exacerbated by the history of
cameras, acts as a form of social control. Being aware a culture of violence. The experience of institutional
of being continually observed constrains people and violence during apartheid weakened parental control.
forces them to behave in a way which conforms to The strategy of ungovernability by the oppressed
certain social norms. In this present day of advanced majority bred a culture of violent lawlessness and
technologies, people are increasingly being monitored distrust of authority. As a consequence, some of the
by cameras, cell phones can be tapped and internet murderous intolerance that is witnessed in the country
use can be monitored by the authorities. Thus, is the result of the effects of apartheid, coupled with
technological advances have improved mechanisms years of political violence and continued exposure
of surveillance and in the process, the enforcement of to violence in the home and in especially poor
social control. neighbourhoods.
Violent crime is a major problem in South Africa as
15.8 Crime in South Africa Figure 15.1 and Figure 15.2 show. Even though robbery
Crime is one of the biggest challenges facing South with assault and common assault accounted for the
Africa today and as has been discussed earlier, the most reported violent crimes in 2016, murder is a
country is becoming more of an exclusive society. The serious problem in the country as the graph in Figure
country has moved away from the unique exclusivity 15.2 shows. The graph highlights the murder rate per
of apartheid towards the more familiar forms of 100 000 population in all of South Africa’s provinces
exclusion practised in late modern market societies. between 2013 and 2014. South Africa’s murder
The period of transition has been long and many rate during this period was 32.2 people murdered
previously disadvantaged groups under apartheid per 100 000 individuals. The international average
remain disadvantaged. There is also a culture of during the same period was 6.2 people murdered per
violence in some communities and the triple threat of 100 000 population.
Attempted murder Murder

3% 3%
Common robbery
9%
Sexual offences Assault GBH
10% 29%
Aggravated robbery
19%
Common assault
27%
Figure 15.1 Breakdown of South Africa’s violent crime categories as at end of 2016
(Source: Institute for Security Studies)
376

52.2
48.3 International
average:
6,2
37.7
34.7 34.4
32.2
26.2
22.9
19.6
13.2
pe
pe
pe
al
ng
ga
po
es
at
RS
at
an
Ca
Ca
Ca
te
po
W
St
N
au
al
m
u-
th
n
rn
ee
m
er
er
Li
G
ul
te
or
Fr
pu
st
th
aZ
es
N
Ea
or
M
Kw
W
Figure 15.2 South Africa’s murder rate at provincial level in 2013/2014

(Source: Institute for Security Studies)
Summary the capitalists, and yet the law mostly focuses of

• Deviance is the violation of societal norms, while ‘less serious’ street crimes that are committed by
crime entails breaking the laws of a country. All working class people.
criminal acts are a form of deviance; however, not • The interactionist perspective on crime and
all forms of deviance are a crime. deviance argues that in order for us to understand
• For the functionalists such as Durkheim, deviance deviance and crime in society, we need to look
is functional and inevitable in society. If changes at the small-scale interaction that takes place
are to occur in society, then some deviance has to between individuals, since it is individuals who
occur. According to the functionalists, even though decide and determine whether a particular act is a
small doses of deviance are required in society, form of deviance or a crime or not.
acts of deviance should not get out of control, • South Africa is becoming more of an exclusive
otherwise that society will become dysfunctional. society as it faces the major challenges of poverty,
• Sub-cultural theories of deviance argue that unemployment and rising levels of inequality.
deviance normally occurs in groups when As a consequence of the exclusive nature of post-
disgruntled or frustrated sections of society come apartheid South African society, crime has been
together to constitute a deviant group that creates on the increase.
its own norms and values that are at odds with the • Social control can be enforced through the process
norms and values of mainstream society. Once this of socialisation or the promulgation of laws by
happens, such a group can be said to have created the state. In contemporary societies, technology
its own sub-culture anchored in acts of deviance. is proving to be a very useful tool in controlling
• The conflict theory on crime and deviance draws people’s behaviour and possibly even reducing acts
its ideas from Karl Marx’s writings on class conflict of deviance and crime, as people can be monitored
in society. Marx argued that under the capitalist with devices such as cameras on the streets,
economic system, there was bound to be conflict buildings and other public spaces. However, the
between the capitalists and the working class use of technology as a tool of surveillance has not
because of the exploitative nature of capitalism. eradicated criminal activities in society.
Under such a scenario, the conflict perspective • Violent crimes are a major problem in post-
makes the contention that laws are crafted by apartheid South Africa. There is also the problem
those in power (the capitalist class) to protect of gangsterism and the rise of ‘protest masculinity’
their rights and interests. This theory also argues in some communities, notably among the youth,
that the most serious crimes that occur in society as job opportunities continue to be elusive.
are of a corporate nature and are committed by Poverty and unemployment also contributes
377

towards the increase in marginalised and troubled Are you on track?

masculinities as some men resort to criminal 1. Critically discuss the conflict perspective on
activities and violence because they feel insecure deviance.
and challenged by successful women. 2. Critically discuss Merton’s theory of anomie. Is his
• Crime in the country has also been exacerbated discussion relevant to the South African context?
by the history of a culture of violence. The 3. Provide an explanation for South Africa’s high
experience of institutional violence during crime rate.
apartheid weakened parental control. The strategy
of ungovernability by the oppressed majority bred
a culture of violent lawlessness and distrust to
authority.
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379

Index
Page numbers in italics refer to tables, figures or graphs
A nature, leisure and race in South Africa 222–223

African feminism 256 Nazareth Baptist Church 138
African traditional healthcare 185–189 post-apartheid poverty trends 356–357
agents of socialisation 56–58 power, politics and race 228
anomie 24 pre-sentence assessment of a young offender 362
anti-colonialism 37–38 race and identity 220
apartheid and segregation in South Africa 201–203 radical elitism in South African society 214
association and affectual social action 29 service delivery protests 198
assumptions 7–8 Shembe 138
social inequality, legacy of apartheid 293–294
B textbook saga 112
Berger, Peter and Thomas Luckmann’s social trolley pushers 345
constructivism 54–55 categorisation 60
Biko, Steve, on race 227–228 charisma and revolutionary leadership 33
binary claims of the gendered body 248–249 child abuse 105–106
binary tension between religions 141 childhood and youth 97
biomedical model 168–171 civil rights movements in the USA 235–236
Black feminism 255 class
Black scholarship 38–39 Class in Soweto 287–289
Bourdieu, Pierre’s perspective 308–309 class interests and social action 276–277
bureaucracy, continuing dominance 32 concept 19
conceptual status of 281–282
C conflict and struggle 272
capability approach to poverty 350–352 consciousness 272–274
capitalism, analysis 19 defining 269
case studies formation 270–271
civil religion 145 integrated perspectives 278–280
class and race 268 Making of the English Working Class 280
current poverty in South Africa, interpreting 338 Marxian class analysis of apartheid 284–286
Elsje’s story 165 Marx’s theory 269–275
excellence thrives in rural isolation 130 and material inequality 274
fast food 70 modifying class analysis 282
Fourth Industrial Revolution 316 people and community 280–281
gender issues in South Africa 246 and politics 274–275
a grandmother 86 Politics of Production 279–280
Hawking, Stephen 164 race and economics 228–232
inequality in post-apartheid South Africa 208 and race, post-apartheid 231–232
inequality: not so black and white 340–342 and rationalisation 275–276
isolation 48 as a relation 271–272
just one bag 112 South African society and class analysis 282–289
Kliptown hero 113 as the starting point 270
leopard skin 138 status and party 277–278
nation building 145 Weberian class analysis of apartheid 283–284

Index
Weber’s theory 275–278 definitions 364–365

Wright, Eric and class 278–279 functionalist perspectives 365–368
classical sociological theory, developments and interactionist perspective 372–373
challenges introduction 363–364
anti-colonialism 37–38 poverty and social exclusion 373–374
assumptions flowing from social context 34–35 social control 374–376
Black scholarship 38–39 in South Africa 376–377
decolonial imaginations 42 sub-cultural theories on deviance 368–370
decolonial thinking 41–42 criterion of simplicity 4
decolonisation 39–41 cult of the individual 25
post-colonialism 37–38 culture
post-modernism and post-structuralism 36–37 conflict perspectives 76–77
sociology of knowledge 33–34 definition 72–74
sociology of knowledge applied to sociological diversity 78–79
theory 35–42 elements 77–78
class inequality in industrialised societies identity and race 238–241
Bourdieu, Pierre’s perspective 308–309 post-colonial perspectives 77
Marxist perspective 299–303 socialisation and identity 79–82
structural functionalist perspective 305–308 structural functionalism 74–75
Weberian perspective 303–305 symbolic interactionism 75–76
class interests and social action 276–277 theoretical perspectives 74–77
cohabitation and marriage 101–102
collective conscience 25 D
colonialism, race and slavery 229–230 decolonisation 39–42
community and traditional social action 29 deviance and crime see crime and deviance
complementary and alternative medicine (CAM) dictatorship 20
189–190 disease, definition 181–182
Comte, Auguste, and positivism 14–16 disenchantment 32
influence of Comte 16 dissolution of relationships 102
philosophical stage 15 diversity 78–79
scientific stage 15 division of labour 23–24
static and dynamic social analysis 15–16 domestic violence
theological stage 15 child abuse 105–106
theory of three stages 14–15 elder abuse 106
conceptual analysis 6–7 gender violence 104–105
conflict perspective 115–116 perpetrators and victims 104–106
crime and deviance 371–372 theoretical views 104
culture 76–77 types of 103
religion 155–156 see also families and households
conflict, struggle and class 272 dominance of ‘Western’ sociological theory 10
conflict theory dominant ideas of ruling class, challenging 19
families and households 93–94 Du Bois, W.E.B on race 226–227
health and disease 174–178 Durkheim, Emile and positivist social science 22–26
conquest and incorporation 234 anomie 24
conservative feminism 256–257 application 26
contradiction in capitalism 20 collective conscience 25
Cooley, Charles and ‘the looking glass self’ 54 cult of the individual 25
crime and deviance division of labour 23–24
conflict perspective 371–372 functionalism 23
381

homo duplex 25 patterns of joining and dissolving 100–102

mechanical solidarity 24 rational choice and social exchange theory 95–96
normative nature of society 25 selected historical trends 90–91
norms and morality 24 structural functionalism 92–93
order and social conflict 24 see also domestic violence
organic solidarity 24 family
social cohesion 23 as agent of socialisation 57–58
social cohesion as the function of religion 26 education 131
social facts 22 Fanon, Frantz on race 227
social research 23 fatherhood 99–100
structuralism 23 feminism 253–260
suicide research 22–23 feminist theories on families and households 94–95
dynamic relationship between religions 142 first great transformation of production 323–325
Fordism, rise 329–330
E functionalism 23
eco-feminism 256 functionalist perspectives on deviance 365–368
education 125 fundamentalism 151–152
current challenges 125
family 131 G
historical background in South Africa 117–122 gender
restructuring, post-1994 122–125 binary claims of the gendered body 248–249
schools 128–131 changing medical technology and the gendered
society 128–129 body 249–250
state 126–127 embodiment 248–251
see also sociology of education feminism 253–260
either/or’ social explanations 26–27 heteronormality 250–251
elder abuse 106 masculinity studies 260–264
embodiment 248–251 social construction 251–253
ethical and moral questions in sociology, gender violence 104–105
emergence 21 Giddens, Anthony and structuration theory 55–56
ethnic identity 64–65 globalisation and identity 62–66
exploitation and revolutionary theory 17 Goffman, Erving ‘Presentation of the Self in Everyday
Life’ 53–54
F grandparenthood 100
families and households
childhood and youth 97 H
cohabitation and marriage 101–102 healthcare contexts 182–183
conflict theory 93–94 health, definition 179–181
definitions 87–89 health and disease
dissolution of relationships 102 African traditional healthcare 185–189
family life, overview 89–91 biomedical model 168–171
family theories 92–96 complementary and alternative medicine
fatherhood 99–100 (CAM) 189–190
feminist theories 94–95 conflict theory 174–178
grandparenthood 100 disease, definition 181–182
intergenerational relations 97–100 healthcare contexts 182–183
life course approach 96 health, definition 179–181
motherhood 98–99 illness, definition 182
parenting 97–98 institutionalisation of healthcare 182–183
382

Index
models of 168–173 limits of conceptual analysis 30

places and sources of care 182–190 Lorenz Curve 350
primary healthcare movement 183–184 Luckmann, Thomas and Peter Berger’s social
social model 171–173 constructivism 54–55
sociological perspective 166–168
sociology, development of 167–168 M
structural functionalism 173–174 male experiences 261–263
symbolic interactionism 178–179 Marxian class analysis of apartheid 284–286
theoretical approaches 173–179 Marxism, and politics and governance 214–216
heteronormality 250–251 Marxist feminism 255
historical materialism and materialist dialectics Marxist perspective on class inequality in
17–18 industrialised societies 299–303
human consciousness 18 Marx, Karl
Human Development Index (HDI) 350–352
class theory 269–275
hybrid identity 65–66
on race 224–225
Marx, Karl, and critical social science 16–21
I capitalism, analysis of 19
Ibn Khaldun, Abdul al-Rahman 11–14
class concept 19
Asabiyyah and cyclical social change 13
contradiction in capitalism 20
Khaldunian sociology, range and scope 13
dictatorship 20
racial difference, explanation for 14
dominant ideas of ruling class, challenging 19
idealistic vision 20–21
emergence of ethical and moral questions in
ideal types 31–32
sociology 21
identity and globalisation 62–66
exploitation and revolutionary theory 17
identity, race and culture 238–241
historical materialism and materialist
illness, definition 182
dialectics 17–18
indigenous people and settlers 234–235
human consciousness 18
individual action as basic unit of social analysis
idealistic vision 20–21
28–29
materialist social analysis as starting point 17
individual, cult of 25
relevance for developing societies 21
industrial society, work 320–321
revolutionary politics 19–20
inequality
within race groups 350 social classes and the mode of production 18–19
and religion 147–148 masculinity and homosexuality in South Africa
in-group and out-group 60 263–264
institutionalisation of healthcare 182–183 masculinity studies 260–264
integrated perspectives on class 278–280 mass media as agent of socialisation 58–59
interactionist perspective on crime and material inequality and class 274
deviance 372–373 materialist social analysis 17
intergenerational relations 97–100 Mead, George and the social self 51–53
interpretive perspective on religion 156–157 mechanical solidarity 24
interpretivist perspective on the sociology of missionary activities 141
education 116–117 modern mining and industrial manufacturing
intersectionality 257–258 326–329
Iron Age farmers in southern Africa 323 motherhood 98–99
L N
labour coercion 230–231 nature vs nurture debate 49–50
life course approach 96 new feminism 257
383

nomadic, pastoral and agricultural societies, people in South Africa living on less than US$2 per
work 320 day 347
norms and morality 24 post-apartheid trends 355–357
projected life expectancy 352
O racial composition of income deciles, 1996 349
order and social conflict 24 social exclusion approach to poverty 352–353
organic solidarity 24 social wage, gross value for 2004 353
poverty and social exclusion linked to crime and
P deviance 373–374
parenting 97–98 poverty as ‘the social question’ 339–340
parsimony 4 primary healthcare movement 183–184
projected life expectancy 352
participatory approach to understanding
poverty 353–354
patriarchy revisited 260–261 R
patterns of joining and dissolving families and race
avenues of further exploration 231, 237
households 100–102
Biko, Steve 227–228
peer group as agent of socialisation 58
civil rights movements in the USA 235–236
people, community and class 280–281
and class and economics 228–232
places and sources of healthcare 182–190
and class, post-apartheid 231–232
pluralism 209–212
colonialism and slavery 229–230
politics and class 274–275
conquest and incorporation 234
politics and governance
consciousness 226–228
key conceptual points 199–201
definition 221–222
Marxism 214–216
Du Bois, W.E.B 226–227
pluralism 209–212
as emergent identity 222
post-apartheid South Africa 203–208
Fanon, Frantz 227
radical elitism 212–214
history of concept 223–228
segregation and apartheid in South Africa 201–203
identity and culture 238–241
positivism and Auguste Comte 14–16
illustrations 241–242
positivist perspective on sociology of education 114–
Kant and Hegel on 223–224
115
labour coercion 230–231
positivist social science see Durkheim, Emile and Marx on 224–225
positivist social science meanings 221–222
post-apartheid South Africa 203–208 origins 223
post-Fordism 330–333 and power, post-apartheid 237–238
post-industrial society 321–322 rise of empire 232–233
post-modernism and post-structuralism 36–37 settlers and indigenous people 234–235
poverty, conceptualising, defining and measuring significance 241–242
capability approach to poverty 350–352 slavery and emancipation 233
every day life 354–355 state and resistance 232–238
households by income category in ZAR, 2015 348 struggle for racial equality in South Africa
Human Development Index (HDI) 350–352 236–237
inequality within race groups 350 radical elitism 212–214
introduction 342–344 radical feminism 254–255
Lorenz Curve 350 rational choice and social exchange theory 95–96
mainstream approaches 346–357 rationalisation and class 275
participatory approach to understanding rationalisation in society 30
poverty 353–354 religion
384

Index
binary tension 141 apartheid period, overview 297–299

conflict perspective 155–156 social stratification systems 296–299
in current society 146–147 in South Africa today 309–311
definition 143–144 traditional typology of social stratification
diversity in South Africa 140 systems 296–297
dynamic relationship 142 see also class inequality in industrialised
elements of 160 societies
fundamentalism 151–152 socialisation, and identity
and inequality 147–148 agents of socialisation 56–58
interpretive perspective 156–157 Berger, Peter and Thomas Luckmann’s social
missionary activities 141 constructivism 54–55
organisation 157–161 categorisation 60
religions introduced through immigration Cooley, Charles and ‘the looking glass self’ 54
140–141 culture 79–82
religious organisations and their members ethnic identity 64–65
160–161 family 57–58
secularisation debate 148–151 Giddens, Anthony and structuration theory
and social change 152 55–56
and social stability 152–155 Goffman, Erving ‘Presentation of the Self in
sociological approach 142–143 Everyday Life’ 53–54
sociological perspectives 152–157 hybrid identity 65–66
structural/functionalist perspective 152–155 identity and globalisation 62–66
types of organisations 157–160 in-group and out-group 60
re-socialisation 59–60 mass media 58–59
revolutionary politics 19–20 Mead, George and the social self 51–53
rise of empire 232–233 nature versus nurture debate 49–50
peer group 58
S re-socialisation 59–60
school school 58
as agent of socialisation 58 social identity 60–61
education 128–131 stereotyping 61–62
secularisation debate 148–151 theories 50–56
segregation and apartheid in South Africa 201–203 work and employment 59
simplicity criterion 4 socialism, Weber’s view 32
slavery social model of health and disease 171–173
and emancipation 233 social stability and religion 152–155
and indentured labour 325–326 social stratification systems 296–299
race and colonialism 229–230 social structure, three basic types 29
social change and religion 152 social wage, gross value for 2004 353
social classes and the mode of production 18–19 society
social cohesion 23 and education 128–129
as the function of religion 26 and rational social action 29–30
social constructivism 54–55 sociological competence 4–5
social context 8–9 sociological inquiry, conceptual and theoretical
social context, assumptions flowing from 34–35 choices 7
social control of crime and deviance 374–376 sociological perspectives
social exclusion approach to poverty 352–353 health and disease 166–168
social identity 60–61 religion 152–157
social inequality sociological theory
385

assumptions 7–8 Fordism, rise of 329–330

concepts as building blocks of theory 4 Iron Age farmers in southern Africa 323
conceptual analysis 6–7 modern mining and industrial
dominance of ‘Western’ sociological theory 10 manufacturing 326–329
power of theory 6 post-Fordism 330–333
simplicity, theory and criterion for 4 slavery and indentured labour 325–326
social context 8–9 Stone Age mining of iron oxides 323
vs social theory 5 war as work 323
sociological competence 4–5 see also work
sociological inquiry, conceptual and theoretical
choices 7 V
sociology a science? 9–10 vast scope of sociology 16
theoretical predictions 5–6 verstehen 28
theory, origin and meaning 3–10
sociology of education W
conflict perspective 115–116 war as work 323
definition 114 Weberian class analysis of apartheid 283–284
interpretivist perspective 116–117 Weberian perspective on class inequality in
positivist perspective 114–115 industrialised societies 303–305
theoretical frameworks 114–117 Weber, Max and interpretive social science 26–33
sociology of health and disease 167–168 application 33
sociology of knowledge 33–34 association and affectual social action 29
applied to sociological theory 35–42 bourgeois Marx 26
sociology vs other disciplines 27–28 bureaucracy, continuing dominance 32
South African feminism 258–260 charisma and revolutionary leadership 33
South African society and class analysis 282–289 class, status and party 31
spirit of capitalism and religion 30–31 community and traditional social action 29
state and education 126–127 disenchantment 32
static and dynamic social analysis 15–16 ‘either/or’ social explanations 26–27
status, party and class 277–278 explicit assumption 28
stereotyping 61–62 ideal types 31–32
Stone Age mining of iron oxides 323 individual action as basic unit of social
structural functionalism 74–75, 173–174 analysis 28–29
families and households 92–93 limits of conceptual analysis 30
structural functionalist perspective on class rationalisation in society 30
305–308 society and rational social action 29–30
structuralism 23 sociology vs other disciplines 27–28
struggle for racial equality in South Africa spirit of capitalism and religion 30–31
236–237 three basic types of social structure 29
sub-cultural theories on deviance 368–370 traditional and legal authority 32–33
suicide research of Emile Durkheim 22–23 understanding society 28
symbolic interactionism 75–76, 178–179 values, objectivity and teaching 27
verstehen 28
T view of socialism 32
theoretical predictions 5–6 Weber’s theory of class 275–278
theory 3–4 Western sociological theory, dominance 10
three basic types of social structure 29 work
transformations in the world of work as constitutive of individual identity 318
first great transformation of production 323–325 evolution of 319–322
386

Index
as function of social circumstances 319 as purposeful activity 318–319

industrial society 320–321 as a universal activity 318
nomadic, pastoral and agricultural societies 320 see also transformations in the world of work
origin 319 work and employment as agents of socialisation 59
post-industrial society 321–322 Wright, Eric and class 278–279
387


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2nd Edition

Sociology cAo South African introduction •

• Has social equality increased in South Africa since 1994?

Paul Stewart & Johan Zaaiman (editors)

Paul Stewart & Johan Zaaiman (editors)

1620 Sociology Concise 2E cvr v4.indd 1 2018/01/19 2:39 PM

Paul Stewart & Johan Zaaiman (editors)

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First published 2014

Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd

© 2018 Juta & Company (Pty) Ltd

ISBN 978 1 48512 121 3 (Print)

ISBN 978 1 48512 575 4 (WebPDF)

Project manager: Carlyn Bartlett-Cronje

Typeset in 9 pt on 13 pt Melior LT Std

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About the authors. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . vii

Chapter 1: Sociological theory. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

Chapter 2: Socialisation and identity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47

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3.4 Cultural diversity. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78

Chapter 4: Families and households. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85

Chapter 5: Education. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111

Chapter 6: Religion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Chapter 7: Medicine and health. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163

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7.2 Models of health and disease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

Chapter 8: Politics and governance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 197

Chapter 9: Race. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 219

Chapter 10: Gender. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245

Chapter 11: Class. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 267

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11.5 Class, people and community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280

Chapter 12: Social inequality. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 293

Chapter 13: Work. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315

Chapter 14: Poverty. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337

Chapter 15: Crime and deviance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 361

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bureaucracy an impersonal system of administration, management and/or governance characterised by

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co-morbidity the simultaneous co-existence of two chronic diseases or conditions

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feminisation of poverty the majority of poor people being women

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7.2 Models of health and disease. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168

11.5 Class, people and community . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 280