The intersectionality of social generations, locale, and race, in diversity management in South Africa
Date
2023
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg
Abstract
This qualitative case study explores the intersectionality of social generations (known as cohorts), locale (space and place), and race, how it may influence intra-generational differences in South Africa, and the meanings that intra- generational differences may have for diversity management studies. Whilst intersectionality studies commonly focus on the intersecting of social categories such as race and gender, little is known about the intersectionality of social generations, race, and locale (space and place) in the workspace in South Africa and about intra-generational differences and the meanings it may have for studies on diversity management. Whereas the literature on the phenomenon of social generations tends to portray social generations as homogenous and as defined in the American context, this study contributes to studies on local social generations by examining how intra-generational differences may be facilitated when race, locale (space and place), and social generations intersect. The seminal theory of generations defines locale in terms of space only. By expanding on the definition of locale to include both space (a physical setting) and place (the ambience created when space is socially engineered), this study explores the Black and White lived experiences of social generations, space, and place in the workspace.
A dual case study design was used, and 60 face-to-face qualitative interviews were conducted with Black and White employees who were purposively selected from the three social generations (Generation X, Generation Y, and Baby Boomer) working at Bombela and the Gautrain Management Agency. The research findings were
thematically analysed to explore how Black and White South Africans from each social generation experience spaces and places in present-day South Africa.
The analysis revealed that, in the workspace, Black and White South Africans from different social generations have a shared experience of space but varied experiences of place. Black participants from the Generation Y social generation described their financial burden of caring for extended family members who have been historically disadvantaged by the Apartheid regime in South Africa, terming it a “Black tax” from which, they say, their White counterparts are exempt. White participants from this same social generation described their guilt and remorse for the historical system of Apartheid. They spoke of the emotional burden that they carry for it caused by their Whiteness. The study coins these different Black and White social experiences as the perceived ‘financial and socio- political costs of being Black in post-Apartheid South Africa’ and the perceived ‘socio-political cost of being White in post-Apartheid South Africa’. As a contribution to diversity management studies, the study introduces the term ‘placial planning’, which entails socially re-engineering the ambience in the workplace so that Black and White
South Africans from different social generations have similar experiences of place in the workplace
Description
A thesis submitted in completion of the requirements for the Doctor of Philosophy at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg 2023
Keywords
Social generation, Race, Space, Place, Locale, Intersectionality, Diversity management., UCTD
Citation
Nayager, Kesagee. (2023). The intersectionality of social generations, locale, and race, in diversity management in South Africa[PhD thesis, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg]. WireDSpace.https://hdl.handle.net/10539/40100