Youth in rural Transkei: the demise of "traditional" youth associations and the development of new forms of association and activity, 1975-1993
- Authors: McAllister, Patrick A , Dumisani, Deliwe
- Date: 1994
- Subjects: Rural poor -- South Africa -- Transkei Rural youth -- South Africa -- Transkei Youth -- South Africa -- Transkei -- Societies, etc Youth -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Transkei Transkei (South Africa) -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2068 , vital:20252 , ISBN 0868102687
- Description: In the rural Xhosa-speaking parts of South Africa there is a strong tradition of youth associations or youth organisations. With a few notable exceptions, these have been neglected in the sociological and historical literature. Our understanding of rural areas, their relationship with other parts of the country, and of rural change, have suffered in consequence. The youth are at the forefront of the urban/rural interface, and at the forefront of rural change. In his analysis of the indlavini youth organisation that existed in Pondoland in the 1950s, Beinart (1991) illustrates how a study of this element of society is important for an understanding of issues such as the nature of migrant labour and worker consciousness, as well as for social change in rural areas, the politics of generation and gender, and rural protest. Our aim in this study has been to document the decline of the 'traditional' youth associations in the Shixini administrative area of Willowvale district, Transkei. By 'traditional' we mean the youth organisations as they existed in the 1960s and early 1970s, though there is evidence to suggest that there had been considerable continuity in this respect from much earlier - at least from the 1930s and 1940s (Mayer and Mayer 1972). We suggest reasons for this decline, as well as some of the consequences, and examine some of the new, alternative youth activities which have replaced the older ones. This allows us to make some comment about the changing role of youth in rural areas like Shixini, and to suggest some of the policy implications of this. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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- Date Issued: 1994
Xhosa beer drinks and their oratory
- Authors: McAllister, Patrick A
- Date: 1987
- Subjects: Beer -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Drinking customs -- South Africa , Xhosa (African people) -- Social life and customs
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: vital:2120 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1012863
- Description: This is a study of 'beer drinks' among Xhosa people living in the Shixini administrative area of Willowvale district, Transkei. Beer drinks are defined as a 'polythetic' class of events distinguishable from other kinds of ceremonies and rituals at which beer may be consumed, and an attempt is made to outline their major characteristics. A detailed description of the way in which beer drinks are conducted is provided in Chapter 3, with emphasis on the symbolism involved in the allocation of beer, space and time, and on the speech events (including formal oratory) that occur. The main theoretical argument is that beer drinks may be regarded as 'cultural performances' in which social reality or 'practice' is dramatised and reflected upon, enabling people to infuse their experience with meaning and to establish guidelines for future action. This is achieved by relating social practice to cultural norms and values, in a dynamic rather than a static manner. It is demonstrated that the symbolism involved in beer drinking is highly sensitive to the real world and adjusts accordingly, which means that 'culture' is continually being reinterpreted. Despite poverty, a degree of landlessness and heavy reliance on migrant labour, Shixini people maintain an ideal of rural selfsufficiency and are able to partly fulfill this ideal, thereby maintaining a degree of independence and resistance to full incorporation into the wider political economy of southern Africa. They achieve this largely by maintaining a strong sense of community and of household interdependence, linked to a sense of Xhosa tradition. It is this aspect of social practice, manifested in a variety of forms - work parties, ploughing companies, rites of passage, and so on - that is dramatised, reflected upon and reinforced at beer drinks. In a definite sense then, beer drinks may be regarded as a response and a way of adapting to apartheid, and this study one of a community under threat.
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- Date Issued: 1987
Rural communities in transition: a study of the socio-economic and agricultural implications of agricultural betterment and development
- Authors: de Wet, Christopher J , McAllister, Patrick A
- Date: 1983
- Subjects: Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Ciskei -- Case studies Agriculture -- Economic aspects -- South Africa -- Transkei -- Case studies Agricultural development projects -- South Africa -- Homelands -- Case studies Homelands (South Africa) -- Rural conditions -- Case studies Villages -- South Africa -- Homelands -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/1831 , vital:20231 , ISBN 086810101x
- Description: This comparative study, undertaken in the anthropological tradition of long-term field research, highlights the impact of agricultural "betterment" schemes in two rural communities - Chatha in Keiskammahoek district, Ciskei and Shixini in Willowvale district, Transkei. The authors provide a wealth of historical, sociological and ecological detail to describe and assess the implications of the continuation of the present official "betterment" strategy. This is done by comparing conditions in Chatha, where the strategy was implemented in the 1960s, with those in Shixini, where it was being implemented during fieldwork. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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- Date Issued: 1983
Migrancy and development: prelude and variations on a theme
- Authors: Whisson, Michael G , de Wet, Christopher J , Manona, Cecil W , McAllister, Patrick A , Palmer, Robin C G
- Date: 1982
- Subjects: Labor supply -- South Africa Africans -- Employment Working class -- South Africa Ciskei (South Africa) -- Economic conditions Xhosa (African people)
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2101 , vital:20255 , ISBN 0868100994
- Description: Communities which have been characterised by migrancy for a long period of time, such as the Xhosa and the Italians considered in this paper, develop sets 6f terms which describe migrants. The Xhosa have varied criteria for their categories, e.g. amajoyini - those on contract to mainly the mining and construction industries; abafuduga - those who deliberately sell up and go elsewhere; amagoduka - those who intend to return home; imfiki - impoverished migrants from white owned farms. Italians tend to view the crossing of international boundaries as the essence of migration and classify their migrants by the state in which they work e.g. Inglesi, Americani, rather than by the more complex terminology of the Xhosa. Some terms are simply descriptions, others are categories with wider connotations, into which people place others and themselves. As far as possible we shall use the peoples' own categories, which define their relationships to "home", the region to which they migrate and to migrancy as a way of life, as these have important implications for what happens at home. , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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- Date Issued: 1982
Educational needs of adults in Mdantsane
- Authors: McAllister, Patrick A , Young, Michael , Manona, Cecil Wele , Hart, Jo
- Date: 1992
- Subjects: Adult education -- South Africa -- Mdantsane (Ciskei) Adult education -- South Africa -- Mdantsane (Ciskei) -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Book , Text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/2079 , vital:20253 , ISBN 0868102423
- Description: The purpose of the study was to collect some preliminary information in advance of the inauguration of a new educational project at Fort Hare University which, under the guidance of a new Vice-Chancellor, Dr. S.M.E. Bengu, is forging for itself a new course of development as a people's University. The new project arises out of a report prepared by the International Extension College for the University of Fort Hare. The hope is that a number of innovations can be introduced into adult education in the Eastern Cape which will prove of value in meeting the needs of people living in different kinds of localities. The planning will begin in the early winter, as soon as staff have assembled, and as soon as Dr. David Warr, the international consultant to the project, is in post. It seemed sensible to conduct, in advance, one of the surveys which will be needed to underpin plans. To do this at short notice and complete it in a short time (the work did not commence until February, 1992) the best course was to rely on an experienced team from a neighbouring University, Rhodes, which had already conducted surveys in different districts within the Eastern Cape, and to bring in further support from the University of Natal , Digitised by Rhodes University Library on behalf of the Institute of Social and Economic Research (ISER)
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- Date Issued: 1992
Beasts to beer pots - migrant labour and ritual change in Willowvale district, Transkei
- Authors: McAllister, Patrick A
- Date: 1985
- Language: English
- Type: Article
- Identifier: vital:6112 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003832
- Description: [From the introduction]: Why do some rituals disappear while others continue to be performed? Why do some persist in a relatively unaltered state while others are radically modified? In an article published in 1978 Monica Wilson drew attention to the scarcity of information on this subject, and proceeded to consider possible reasons for the 'resilience' of certain rituals, such as those accompanying initiation and death, and the 'obliteration' of others, such as those concerning the birth of twins. My concern in this paper is with the persistence and radical modification of a Gcaleka ritual called umhlinzeko or umsindleko, performed in celebration of the return of a migrant worker to his rural home. The earlier form of the ritual (umhlinzeko) is described and this is followed by an outline of the present-day form (umsindleko). The bulk of the paper is taken up with an attempt to explain why the one form gave way to another. In this respect the analysis concentrates on the relationship between the two forms and their socio-economic contexts, and tries to relate the changes in the form and meaning of the ritual to the changing economic and political circumstances affecting the Gcaleka and other Xhosa-speakers.
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- Date Issued: 1985