Eating from one pot : the dynamics of survival in poor South African households / Sarah Mosoetsa.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Mosoetsa, Sarah, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Communal living--South Africa.

Communal living.

Poverty--South Africa.

Poverty.

Households--Economic aspects--South Africa.

Households.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (xiv, 178 pages) : digital, PDF file(s).

Edition:

1st ed.

Place of Publication:

Johannesburg : Wits University Press, 2011.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

As poverty and unemployment deepen in contemporary South Africa, the burning question becomes, how do the poor survive? Eating from One Pot provides a compelling answer. Based on intensive fieldwork, it shows how many African households are on the brink of collapse. That they keep going at all can largely be attributed to the struggles of older women against poverty. They are the fulcrum on which household survival turns. This book describes how households in two different areas in KwaZulu-Natal are sites of both stability and conflict. As one of the interviewees put it: 'We eat from one pot and should always help each other.' Yet the stability of family networks is becoming fragile because of the enormous burden placed on them by unemployment and unequal power relations. Through careful analysis, the experiences of survival are discussed in relation to the restructuring of the country's welfare and social policies, and the extension of social grants. Mosoetsa argues that these policies shape the livelihoods that people pursue in order to survive under desperate conditions, but fail to address the root causes of poverty and inequality.

Contents:

Front Cover

Title Page

Copyright

Contents

Foreword

Acknowledgements

Introduction

Chapter 1: 'Sharing the little I have with my family': the allocative rules of household resources and income

Chapter 2: 'My wife does not respect me anymore': unequal power dynamics in households

Chapter 3: 'I remain an ANC member, but …': civil society in Mpumalanga and Enhlalakahle

Chapter 4: Theoretical and Policy Implications

Conclusion: Poor households are fragile sites of stability

Selected Bibliography

Index

Back Cover.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (p. 152-170) and index.

Title from publisher's bibliographic system (viewed on 09 May 2018).

ISBN:

1-77614-286-1

1-86814-627-8

OCLC:

1016851416

Access Restriction:

Open Access Unrestricted online access