Patterns of social reciprocity in the 'new' South Africa.
Date
2010-08-31
Authors
Stauffer, Carolyn Swart
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Abstract
As discontent amongst the poor continues to ignite flashpoints of unrest across South
Africa, issues surrounding how to effectively address chronic levels of inequality
dominate the national debate. This has progressively put the spotlight on newer points of
economic fissure, namely growing inequalities now surfacing more readily within black
communities themselves. This research probes the critical issue of how black
communities mediate these internal economic cleavages; it does so by focusing on how
resource transfers are reciprocally employed between a purposive sample of Gauteng’s
black professionals and their communities of origin. Measuring levels, types and
frequencies of exchange, surveys were used to gather data on the fiscal, time and in-kind
resource transfers of respondents, whilst in-depth interviews captured the qualitative
meanings attached to these reciprocity repertoires. The findings of this research pivot on
three converging notions of exchange found to be active in this equation: Economies of
Affection, Moral Economies and Enclave Economies. Economy of Affection rationales
shaped how respondents transfers exhibited primarily within extended family support
networks, Moral Economy logics dictated the obligatory aspects of ‘giving-back’ mores,
and national Enclave Economy conditions propelled black professionals into enacting
intermediary roles between the economic ‘centre’ and ‘peripheries’. Whilst the question
of whether Gauteng’s black professionals will maintain these unique bridge-spanning
roles over the long-term remains open for debate, the stimulating interaction between
these 3 notions of ‘reciprocity’ provokes reflection on their cogence and interaction also
within other contemporary southern hemisphere contexts.