Making Ends Meet at the Margins?:
Grappling with Economic Crisis and Belonging in Beitbridge Town,
Zimbabwe
Rekopantswe Mate
Published April 2005; 44 pages; ISBN 2-86978-152-0
In
this fascinating study Rekopantswe shows how neoliberalism has
brought far-reaching social change in Zimbabwe, a situation made
worse by other factors such as HIV and AIDS which have created
unprecedented desperation, poverty and helplessness. A
consequence of this is that people are more aware of identity
and deploy it to define access to resources and to elbow out
those that they perceive to be different from them. However, as
the study demonstrates, in their day-to-day interactions, people
do not seem able to make connections between what is happening
locally and the international situation, and as a result blame
their neighbours for their misfortunes. This perpetuates social
tension and increases the potential for conflict. This is indeed
refreshing, insightful, empirically grounded and gender
conscious analysis of the situation of those at the margins of
plenty.
Rekopantswe Mate
lectures at the University of Zimbabwe, Department of Sociology.
Her research interests hover around issues of identities in
societies going through a lot of socio-economic change such as
present-day Zimbabwe. She is currently doing research on youth
sexuality in the face of HIV and AIDS looking at how youths
perceive and respond to this scourge in the face of
socio-economic crises.
Africa:
4.000CFA ;
non CFA zone US$10.00
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Introduction
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Why Beitbridge?
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A
detailed description of Beitbridge town
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Research methods and the field situation
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Differentiating Between ‘Locals’ and ‘Outsiders’
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Language, mannerisms, accents and family names
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Livelihood strategies as definers of localness
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Street trade in foreign currency
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Shortage of Accommodation and the Increase in Crime
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Discussion
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Conclusion
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Notes
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References
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