Journal•ISSN: 0253-3952
Social Dynamics-a Journal of The Centre for African Studies University of Cape Town
Taylor & Francis
About: Social Dynamics-a Journal of The Centre for African Studies University of Cape Town is an academic journal published by Taylor & Francis. The journal publishes majorly in the area(s): Politics & Social dynamics. It has an ISSN identifier of 0253-3952. Over the lifetime, 1029 publications have been published receiving 11697 citations.
Topics: Politics, Social dynamics, Colonialism, Languages of Africa, Kinship
Papers published on a yearly basis
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TL;DR: In this article, the authors explored meanings and understandings of sexual exchange for material gain in an urban township of Durban, South Africa and argued against the tendency to assume too readily that sexual exchange are oriented towards subsistence, and not consumption.
Abstract: This paper explores meanings and understandings of sexual exchange for material gain in an urban township of Durban, South Africa The analysis argues against the tendency to assume too readily that all forms of sexual exchange are oriented towards subsistence, and not consumption This paper also argues that sexual exchange is the means used by women in this study to pursue images and ideals largely created by the media and globalisation It is revealed that transactional sex is perceived as ‘normal’ leading many women to accept men's multiple partners and to put themselves as risk of contracting HIV/AIDS (despite having knowledge of the pandemic) Finally, the paper highlights women's power and agency whereby women are asserting themselves in order to exploit sexual relationships in the interests of new ‘needs’ – the commodities of modernity
315 citations
TL;DR: In this paper, the current state of HIV/AIDS and youth research with special reference to South Africa is reviewed, focusing on the social context and contemporary sexual culture as shaping factors in the enactment of high-risk sexual behaviour.
Abstract: This article reviews the current state of HIV/AIDS and youth research with special reference to South Africa. As a sector known to be at high risk for acquiring HIV infection, studies aimed at understanding young peoples’ vulnerability are a vitally important part of an informed response to the AIDS epidemic. Discussion focuses on the social context and contemporary sexual culture as shaping factors in the enactment of high‐risk sexual behaviour. Illustrating the importance of these factors, the author describes the rise of a particular sexual dynamic in one community in KwaZulu‐Natal, and analyses its implications for continued high rates of HIV transmission. The question emerges how best to focus research and inform efforts aimed at mediating the ‘dis‐enabling’ environments that effectively nullify safe‐sex messages.
179 citations
TL;DR: This paper provided an overview of evidence on education in South Africa provided by household survey data, with a particular focus on large national surveys such as the 1993 South African Living Standards Survey and the annual October Household Survey.
Abstract: This paper provides an overview of evidence on education in South Africa provided by household survey data, with a particular focus on large national surveys such as the 1993 South African Living Standards Survey and the annual October Household Survey. These surveys indicate that racial gaps in schooling persist in South Africa, although they have declined steadily over time. There is essentially no gender gap in schooling, however, with almost identical schooling outcomes for men and women in all racial groups. The racial gap in schooling can be largely attributed to a high rate of grade repetition for Africans, with only small differences in enrollment rates across racial groups. School quality has an important effect on both grade attainment and adult economic outcomes, and is clearly an important component of the racial gap in schooling. Survey data clearly demonstrate a large effect of schooling on earnings beginning in late primary years, with a higher rate of return to schooling for Africans than for whites. Datasets Used October Household Survey (OHS): South Africa, 1995 Schooling outcomes in South Africa
156 citations
TL;DR: The authors make a case for why a much more differentiated and complex theoretical approach to contemporary African urbanism is required. But they do not address the specificities of everyday practices of ordinary Africans as they stitch together livelihoods, aspirations, socialities, aesthetics and space.
Abstract: The purpose of this essay is to make a case for why a much more differentiated and complex theoretical approach to contemporary African urbanism is required. It builds on an important body of work that has emerged over the course of the past two decades that seeks to explicate and theorise the specificity of everyday practices of ordinary Africans as they endeavour to stitch together livelihoods, aspirations, socialities, aesthetics and space amidst conditions of widespread poverty and deprivation. However, this body of work on ordinary urbanism seeks to make a break with the reductionist tendencies in African urban studies to derive observation and explanation from a materialist reading of difficult living conditions, to foreground instead other ways of understanding the density and spatiality of urban becomings. The essay starts with some orienting information about the dynamics and trajectories of urbanisation in Africa in order to underscore how much we still do not know, and to caution against simpli...
156 citations
TL;DR: In this article, domestic diversity and fluidity among some African households in Greater Cape Town in South Africa have been studied in the context of social dynamic analysis, and the results show that the majority of the households are white.
Abstract: (1996). Domestic diversity and fluidity among some African households in Greater Cape Town. Social Dynamics: Vol. 22, No. 1, pp. 7-30.
154 citations