African middle class elite

Nyquist, Thomas E

Title: African middle class elite
Title: Occasional papers, no. 28
Creator: Nyquist, Thomas E
Subject: Black people -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Grahamstown (South Africa) -- History Grahamstown (South Africa) -- Social conditions Social classes -- South Africa -- Grahamstown Black people -- South Africa -- Social conditions Black people -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- Social conditions Grahamstown African Rugby Union Middle class -- South Africa
Date Issued: 1983
Date: 1983
Type: Book
Type: Text
Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2780
Identifier: vital:20325
Identifier: ISBN 0868100412
Description: In this time of crucial change for all of Southern Africa - as the former colonies of Portugal struggle to become viable states, as Rhodesia totters on the brink of political change, and as South Africa girds itself for an uncertain future - the question is: “What of the potential African leaders in South Africa?” We hear of the Bantustans and their thrust forward, but what of those Africans of ability living in the urban areas whose counterparts have provided much of the leadership in other African countries? Who are they? What are their circumstances? What are they thinking? And what are they doing? The goal of this study is to suggest tentative answers through the careful and detailed study of a specific community and its potential leaders, the upper stratum. Such answers can only be approximate, of course. Community circumstances differ. Moreover, the explosive events in Soweto and elsewhere in South Africa during 1976 have altered reality, and our study was carried out during 1966-7 and 1975. The locus of research has been Grahamstown and, most particularly, the African community attached to it (see Maps 1 and 2). Situated in the eastern region of the Cape Province, Grahamstown is a city of regional importance, best known as the centre of the first large English settlement1. Arguments about its suitability for research of this nature are detailed in Appendix A, but from the researcher’s perspective its African population of 35 000+ gives it more than local significance while still being small enough to allow a thorough study. In addition, the community’s depth of contact with Europeans going back to the 1830’s, and the general importance of Grahamstown as an educational centre, imply a more sophisticated population than its size might otherwise indicate. Further, the community's nearness to the African Bantustan of the Ciskei, one of nine such “homelands” for Africans, and to the African university at Fort Hare, add to its significance. The primary group under study has been the upper stratum of the African community, as defined by the Africans themselves. From the research has evolved a series of propositions. They relate, first, to the composition of the African upper stratum and the role of its members in their own community, and, second, to the way in which their marginal position within South Africa contributes to particular attitudes and social behaviour often detrimental to the achievement of a better community. (For a discussion of the research techniques used, see Appendix B.)
Description: Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
Format: 310 pages
Format: pdf
Publisher: Rhodes University, Institute of Social and Economic Research
Language: English
Relation: Occasional papers, no. 28
Rights: Whisson, M G
Rights: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-sa/4.0/

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