Ironies of solidarity : insurance and financialization of kinship in South Africa / Erik Bh̃re.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Bähre, Erik, author.

Series:

Politics and development in contemporary Africa.

Politics and development in contemporary Africa

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Insurance--South Africa.

Insurance.

South Africa--Economic conditions.

South Africa.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (241 pages).

Distribution:

[London, England] : Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021

Place of Publication:

London, England : Zed Books, 2020.

Summary:

"Set in one of the world's most unequal and violent places, this ethnographic study reveals how insurance companies discovered a vast market of predominantly poor African clients. After apartheid ended in 1994, South Africa became a 'testing ground' for new insurance products, new marketing techniques and pioneering administrative models with a potentially global market. Drawing on Rorty's notion of irony for understanding how the contradictions inherent to solidarity affect inequality and conflict as well as drawing on a vast array of case studies, Ironies of Solidarity examines how both Africans enjoy the freedoms that they have gained in financial terms and how the onset of democracy effected the risks faced in everyday life. Bh̃re examines the ways in which policies are sold and claims are handled, offering a detailed analysis of South Africa's insurance sector."-- Provided by publisher.

Contents:

1. Introduction

2. An ironic analysis

3. Hope and redistribution

4. Penetrating a new market

5. The Janus face of inclusion

6. The enchantment of abstract finance

7. Transforming mutualities in business

8. Death as moral hazard

9. Conclusion: Ironies of solidarity.

Notes:

Online resource; title from PDF title page (EBSCO, viewed December 26, 2019)

ISBN:

9781350220867

1350220868

9781786998569

1786998564

9781786998545

1786998548

OCLC:

1130017862