Class in Soweto

by Peter Alexander, Claire Ceruti, Keke Motseke

The book presents findings and analyses from six years of research on class structure and class identity in Soweto, South Africa's most populous and politically-important township. This is placed within the context heightened socio-economic inequalities in nearly all countries around the world; renewed academic interest in class alongside a paucity of literature on the character of class in the global south; and the specific value of a study on South Africa, with its extremes of unemployment, strike action, and ongoing insurrectionary unrest among the urban poor. The book draws on a large, wide-ranging representative survey and extensive qualitative fieldwork. It makes an original contribution to the sociology of class and to the politics of contemporary South Africa. *** "An exemplary study of social class and its ramifications for the lives of people, this book is an all-too-rare example of sociological research that systematically weaves together quantitative and qualitative data with both macro- and micro-analysis. The result is a complex, multidimensional understanding of how class works. It should be read not only by people specifically interested in the dynamics and dilemmas of contemporary South Africa, but by anyone interested in the problem of class in the contemporary world." - Erik Olin Wright, Vilas Distinguished Professor of Sociology, U. of Wisconsin-Madison; President of the American Sociological Assn. *** "Class in Soweto is a pioneering research project which has already resulted in important journal articles and an outstanding documentary film. The team has now gathered their research together into a wonderful book that will transform how we understand social change in contemporary South Africa. Drawing on solid qualitative and quantitative research, the authors challenge prevailing conceptions of stratification. It is especially innovative and important in its analysis of perceptions and languages of class. There is no other book like it on any South African urban area." - Jeremy Seekings, Center for Social Science Research, U. of Cape Town *** "This landmark in urban sociology addresses essential questions about the precise delineation of the huge inequalities marring postapartheid South African life. No one will be able to write about contemporary urban South Africa without addressing its findings and methods. Highly recommended." - Choice, January 2014, Vol. 51, No. 5 *** Featured in 'Outstanding Academic Titles', a prestigious list of publications for the year 2014. - Choice, January 2015, [ Sociology, African Studies, Urban Studies, Politics]

334 pages, Paperback

First published February 28, 2013

About the author

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Reviews

[Anne Lutomia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Within ten chapters, the authors are successful in discussing how residents of Soweto township where there is with its 69% unemployment detail other ways in which class is understood, enacted, named away from the relatively usual socio-economic and work related lens. Although, the authors are generally anchored in the discourses of Karl Marx, Max Weber and Pierre Bourdieu but were open to learning from their informants. Using qualitative and quantitative inquiry, the authors illustrate how gender, age, education, living standards, politics, religion, history, migration to name a few intersect to inform the character of class in Soweto township, South Africa. A major findings of these authors is that the is a linguistical lacuna in class naming and that there are forms of resisting to be boxed into a class in Soweto.