Eating from One Pot The dynamics of survival in poor South African households / Sarah Mosoetsa.
Material type:
TextPublisher: Wits University Press, Manufacturer: Project MUSE, Description: 1 online resource (xiv, 178 p.) : ill., mapsISBN: 9781868146277Subject(s): Households -- Economic aspects -- South Africa | Poverty -- South Africa | Communal living -- South AfricaGenre/Form: Electronic books. DDC classification: 339.470968 LOC classification: HQ972.S62 | K83 2011Online resources: Full text available: Summary: "As poverty and unemployment deepen in contemporary South Africa, the burning question becomes, how do the poor survive? This book 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. Many of the households are extremely poor, relying on a total monthly income of less than R800. People live on little more than maize meal, tea and sugar. However, the book also demonstrates that they are not passive victims of poverty. Women, in particular, show impressive qualities of energy and resourcefulness. They engage in a number of informal sector activities, and many are active in a range of faith, and community and home-based care associations"--Publisher's website.
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eBook
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Digital Library
Resources in this library are accessible in digital format e.g. eBooks or eJournals accessible online. |
HQ972.S62 K83 2011 (Browse shelf(Opens below)) | Link to resource | Available |
Includes bibliographical references (p. 152-170) and index.
Open Access Unrestricted online access star
"As poverty and unemployment deepen in contemporary South Africa, the burning question becomes, how do the poor survive? This book 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. Many of the households are extremely poor, relying on a total monthly income of less than R800. People live on little more than maize meal, tea and sugar. However, the book also demonstrates that they are not passive victims of poverty. Women, in particular, show impressive qualities of energy and resourcefulness. They engage in a number of informal sector activities, and many are active in a range of faith, and community and home-based care associations"--Publisher's website.
Description based on print version record.
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