4 - A Few Good Men in a World of Gangsters: Discourses of Respectability and Risk amongst Student Teachers in the Western Cape, South Africa
Corresponding Author(s) : Fiona Larkan
African Sociological Review,
Vol. 18 No. 2 (2014): African Sociological Review
Abstract
This paper considers the concurrent discourses of risk and respectability which are prominent in South Africa’s Western Cape region and asks how one becomes a ‘respectable’ man in a community which values strong masculine role models and in which there are endemic levels of violence. Through a process of risk ‘mapping’ we explore the means through which a group of young male student teachers consciously ‘locate’ risk in their built environment. We look at the strategies these young men use to negotiate risk in their lives, and the close connection between risk and respectability which they articulate on an ongoing basis.
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- Erasmus, Z., 2001. Re-imagining coloured identities in post-Apartheid South Africa. In Erasmus, Z. (Ed.) Coloured by History, Shaped by Place: New Perspectives on Coloured Identities in Cape Town. Cape Town: Kwela Books
- Gibson, D. and Hardon, A., 2005. Rethinking masculinities, violence and AIDS. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
- Healy, S., 2000. Finding social control in the Western Cape. The role of gangs in the current context. University of Cape Town.
- Hearn, J., 2004. From hegemonic masculinity to the hegemony of men. Feminist Theory, 5:1, 49 – 72.
- Jensen, S. (2001). Claiming community – negotiating crime: state formation, neighbourhood and gangs in a Capetonian township. Unpublished PhD thesis. Roskilde University.
- Kinnes, I., 1995. Reclaiming the Cape Flats: A community challenge to crime and gangsterism. Crime and Conflict, 2, 5-8.
- Larkan, F., 2008. Moralizing culture: community, risk and the female body in Ireland and South Africa. Unpublished PhD thesis. National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
- Lewis, G., 1987. Between the Wire and the Wall: A history of South African ‘Coloured’ Politics. Cape Town and Johannesburg: David Philip
- Lindegaard, M.R., 2009. Negotiating terrains of violence: How South African male youngsters negotiate social change. Social Dynamics, 35:1, 19-35.
- Lindegaard, M.R. and Hendriksen, A., 2005. Strategies of safety. When threats of violence become everyday life. In: D. Gibson and A. Hardon, eds. Rethinking masculinities, violence and AIDS. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
- Morrell, R. (Ed.) 2001. Changing Men in Southern Africa. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press.
- Pinnock, D., 1982. The Brotherhoods – street gangs and state control in Cape Town. Cape Town: Maskew Miller.
- Pinnock, D., 1985. Breaking the web. Gangs and family structure in Cape Town. Cape Town: University of Cape Town press.
- Ross, R., 1999. Status and Respectability in the Cape Colony, 1750-1870: A Tragedy of Manners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Sass, B., 2005. Coping with violence: institutional and student responses at the University of the Western Cape. Unpublished thesis. University of the Western Cape.
- Sauls, H., 2005. Some notions of masculinity in Manenberg, Cape Town. The gangster and the respectable male. In: D. Gibson and A. Hardon, eds. Rethinking masculinities, violence and AIDS. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
- Schärf, W., 1990. Resurgence of urban street gangs: Community responses. In: D Hansson and D. Van Zyl, eds. Towards justice: crime and state control in South Africa. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
- Shefer, T., Ratele, K., Strebel, A. and Shabalala, N., 2005. Masculinities in South Africa: a critical review of contemporary literature of men’s sexuality. In: D. Gibson and A. Hardon, eds. Rethinking masculinities, violence and AIDS. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
- Spronk, R., 2005. ‘There is a time to fool around and a time to grow up.’ Balancing sex, relationships and notions of masculinity in Nairobi. In: D. Gibson and A. Hardon, eds. Rethinking masculinities, violence and AIDS. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
- Standing, A., 2003. The social contradictions of organised crime on the Cape Flats. Institute for Security Studies paper 74.
- Van der Ross, R., 1990 Say it Out Loud: The APO Presidential Addresses and other Major Political Speeches – 1906-1940 – of Dr. Abdullah Abdurahman. University of the Western Cape.
- Van der Spuy, P., 2004. The Politics of Race, Gender and Class in Cape Town, South Africa c. 1910: Dr. Abdurahman and the African Political Organisation. Paper presented at African Renewal, African Renaissance: New Perspectives on Africa’s Past and Africa’s Present. University of Western Australia.
- Van Wyk, B.E. and Theron, W.H. 2005. Fighting gangsterism in South Africa: a contextual review of gang and anti-gang movements in the Western Cape. Acta Criminologica, 18:3, 51 – 60.
- Van Wyk, B.E., 2001. Constructions of gang membership among high school youth.Unpublished masters thesis. University of Stellenbosch.
References
Erasmus, Z., 2001. Re-imagining coloured identities in post-Apartheid South Africa. In Erasmus, Z. (Ed.) Coloured by History, Shaped by Place: New Perspectives on Coloured Identities in Cape Town. Cape Town: Kwela Books
Gibson, D. and Hardon, A., 2005. Rethinking masculinities, violence and AIDS. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
Healy, S., 2000. Finding social control in the Western Cape. The role of gangs in the current context. University of Cape Town.
Hearn, J., 2004. From hegemonic masculinity to the hegemony of men. Feminist Theory, 5:1, 49 – 72.
Jensen, S. (2001). Claiming community – negotiating crime: state formation, neighbourhood and gangs in a Capetonian township. Unpublished PhD thesis. Roskilde University.
Kinnes, I., 1995. Reclaiming the Cape Flats: A community challenge to crime and gangsterism. Crime and Conflict, 2, 5-8.
Larkan, F., 2008. Moralizing culture: community, risk and the female body in Ireland and South Africa. Unpublished PhD thesis. National University of Ireland, Maynooth.
Lewis, G., 1987. Between the Wire and the Wall: A history of South African ‘Coloured’ Politics. Cape Town and Johannesburg: David Philip
Lindegaard, M.R., 2009. Negotiating terrains of violence: How South African male youngsters negotiate social change. Social Dynamics, 35:1, 19-35.
Lindegaard, M.R. and Hendriksen, A., 2005. Strategies of safety. When threats of violence become everyday life. In: D. Gibson and A. Hardon, eds. Rethinking masculinities, violence and AIDS. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
Morrell, R. (Ed.) 2001. Changing Men in Southern Africa. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press.
Pinnock, D., 1982. The Brotherhoods – street gangs and state control in Cape Town. Cape Town: Maskew Miller.
Pinnock, D., 1985. Breaking the web. Gangs and family structure in Cape Town. Cape Town: University of Cape Town press.
Ross, R., 1999. Status and Respectability in the Cape Colony, 1750-1870: A Tragedy of Manners. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Sass, B., 2005. Coping with violence: institutional and student responses at the University of the Western Cape. Unpublished thesis. University of the Western Cape.
Sauls, H., 2005. Some notions of masculinity in Manenberg, Cape Town. The gangster and the respectable male. In: D. Gibson and A. Hardon, eds. Rethinking masculinities, violence and AIDS. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
Schärf, W., 1990. Resurgence of urban street gangs: Community responses. In: D Hansson and D. Van Zyl, eds. Towards justice: crime and state control in South Africa. Cape Town: Oxford University Press.
Shefer, T., Ratele, K., Strebel, A. and Shabalala, N., 2005. Masculinities in South Africa: a critical review of contemporary literature of men’s sexuality. In: D. Gibson and A. Hardon, eds. Rethinking masculinities, violence and AIDS. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
Spronk, R., 2005. ‘There is a time to fool around and a time to grow up.’ Balancing sex, relationships and notions of masculinity in Nairobi. In: D. Gibson and A. Hardon, eds. Rethinking masculinities, violence and AIDS. Amsterdam: Het Spinhuis.
Standing, A., 2003. The social contradictions of organised crime on the Cape Flats. Institute for Security Studies paper 74.
Van der Ross, R., 1990 Say it Out Loud: The APO Presidential Addresses and other Major Political Speeches – 1906-1940 – of Dr. Abdullah Abdurahman. University of the Western Cape.
Van der Spuy, P., 2004. The Politics of Race, Gender and Class in Cape Town, South Africa c. 1910: Dr. Abdurahman and the African Political Organisation. Paper presented at African Renewal, African Renaissance: New Perspectives on Africa’s Past and Africa’s Present. University of Western Australia.
Van Wyk, B.E. and Theron, W.H. 2005. Fighting gangsterism in South Africa: a contextual review of gang and anti-gang movements in the Western Cape. Acta Criminologica, 18:3, 51 – 60.
Van Wyk, B.E., 2001. Constructions of gang membership among high school youth.Unpublished masters thesis. University of Stellenbosch.