Identity construction: the case of African women workers in South Africa, 1989-1994
Date
1995-08-07
Authors
Leroke, Windsor
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Abstract
Identity is not a social entity. It is not embodied in
a social individual, or social institutions. It is not,
further, inscribed on the space of language. That is,
language does not create or even contain identity. In
this sense, in the absence of the stability of identity
in any social form and representation, the question of
the social status of identity is raised with a critical
awareness that cautions us against any hasty assertion
of the reality of identity. These propositions emerge
from the research that I have been conducting on the
question of the formation of identity among a group of
African women workers in the Retail sector. These women
live in the nearby African townships of Johannesburg.
The majority of them are active members of the dominant
trade union in the retail sector, South African
Commercial and Catering Allied Workers Union (SACCAWU).
The study explores the question of identity formation
in their lives, with respect to two significant social
spaces, the workplace and vicinity. These are the
social spaces within which their lives emerge and are
located. Their lives are dispersed within these social
spaces.
Description
African Studies Seminar series. Paper presented 7 August 1995
Keywords
Women, Black. Employment. South Africa. Johannesburg, Identity (Psychology). Social aspects. South Africa. Johannesburg