Browsing by Author "Ballard, Richard James."

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Are men missing in gender and health programmes? An analysis of the Malawi human rights resource center, a non-governmental organisation in Malawi.
(2010) Nkosi, Chimwemwe Nyambose.; Skinner, Caroline.; Ballard, Richard James.
Literature has shown that the involvement of men in gender and health programmes remains unclear on the ground (Esplen, 2006:1; Rivers and Aggleton, 1999:2-3). This has been happening in the midst of claims to have moved from the Women in Development to the Gender and Development framework which calls for the involvement of men in gender and development work. Furthermore, it has been argued that where literature exists, the work is generally based on studies done in developed countries and the relevance of such findings to the developing world still remains unclear (Abraham, Jewkes, Hoffman and Laubsher, 2004:330; Connell, 1987:235-236). This study therefore attempts to fill this gap by looking at the work of the Malawi Human Rights Resource Center, one of the non-governmental organisations working on gender and health programmes in Malawi. A qualitative approach was used. Six project staff and eighteen project beneficiaries were interviewed to assess their perceptions and experiences. The study found out that men involvement continues to be minimal and unclear in gender and health programmes. Although there is awareness of the importance of men’s involvement this was not implemented effectively. The few men that were involved continue to be intimidated and humiliated by both men and women. The issues of masculinities and patriarchal also continue to shape gender inequalities in the area under study. All these discourage most men from active participation in such work. Furthermore, the few that are involved meet a number of barriers which deter them from greater involvement. Such barriers according to this study include, among other things, cultural barriers, lack of men’s own space where they can discuss their own gender related issues, the view held by some gender activists that gender is equal to women’s issues and men resistance to change considering the benefits accrued by being men. All these have impacted on the way people, especially men, view gender and health programmes. The study further found that although men are regarded as the main perpetrators of violence, not all men are as such, some do acknowledge the effects of the practise. Furthermore, some men also do experience violence. According to the study findings, this is an area which has also continued to be overlooked by most developmental agencies. In Malawi, this is also exacerbated by the fact that there are no specific programmes that target men’s welfare. Nevertheless, the study argues that men’s involvement is crucial in gender and health work. In areas where men were involved positive indicators were noted and reported. The indicators include improved communication within most families, peaceful family coexistence, happy families and changes in sexual behaviour. All these give hope regarding the reduction of HIV/AIDS and development as a whole. This suggests that where gender equality is to be achieved, men need to be actively involved, both as partners and victim of gender and health related violence. When implementing such programme, there is also need to acknowledge that not all men are violent, some are actually willing to join the fight against the malpractice.
Aspirations for higher education : evidence from youth living in Kenneth Gardens municipal housing estate (Durban)
(2015) Mseleku, Zethembe.; Ballard, Richard James.; Diga, Kathleen.
Inadequate and unequal access to higher education has been identified as a major development issue internationally. This issue has received practical attention from different stakeholders in an attempt to increase youth participation and to promote equal access to higher education. However, it has been recognised that such attention was not adequate to ensure access to higher education for the majority of deserving youth. Similarly, in South Africa, limited access to higher education for the majority of youth remains a major development problem. This study was conducted at Kenneth Gardens which is the municipal housing estate in Durban KwaZulu-Natal. Most youth at Kenneth Gardens lack higher education. As a result, higher education is one of the possible aspects making youth vulnerable to non-participation in the economy. It thereby remains critical that the public, private and civil society sectors cooperate to develop appropriate strategies to improve youth access and participation in higher education. The enhancement of competences and skills for young individuals can contribute to development. There are many practical barriers that hinder youth to participate in higher education. This study goes beyond looking at these practical obstacles which hinder youth from accessing higher education. More specifically, the study explores the lesser known factor of “lack of aspirations” for higher education. This study demonstrates that although it is important to address practical barriers such as providing funding for higher education, increasing the number of tertiary education institutions, strengthening the capacity of primary and secondary education to prepare learners for higher education, increasing youth aspirations for higher education is very critical for youth to access higher education. The major finding from this study is that lack of aspirations is one of the major obstacles that hinder youth from accessing higher education. Aspiration for higher education is one of the main drivers for youth to become motivated to access higher education. This suggests the need to implement effective programmes that aim at increasing youth aspirations for higher education.
Attitudes towards new green technologies : a study of households using solar water heaters in low income RDP houses in Kwandengezi Coffee Farm, eThekwini Municipality.
(2013) Nxumalo, Omega Sibusiso.; Ballard, Richard James.
Within the international context, energy has become a central factor in our everyday ways of life. There is increasing dependence on energy resources such as electricity to improve people quality of life. In developing countries, many people still do not have access to energy due to several challenges that have hindered infrastructural development and economic growth. At the same time, there is a growing interest in the protection of the environment and addressing issues of climate change. Green technologies such as solar water heaters are identified as technologies that meet the need of both its end-users and the environment through the provision of hot water. Access to 'hot water' is seen to be an important element resulting in an improved quality of life. In addition, several methods of heating water are explored to assess the attitudes and perceptions that people have towards solar water heaters. The dissertation involved in-depth interviews with residents from low income RDP houses in Kwandengezi Coffee Farm and government officials from eThekwini Municipality involved in the solar water heater programme for low income communities. The interviews revealed that renewable energy interventions such as the solar heater programme for low income communities contribute significantly to an improvement in people‘s quality of life. The availability of solar heaters allows people to enjoy hot water at a free cost, hence an improvement in the quality of life. The research further revealed that such renewable energy interventions can contribute to a reduction in negative environmental impacts, hence facilitating the acquisition of hot water with less dependence on electricity resources.
Business transformation in Durban : perceptions of black entrepreneurs in the context of black economic empowerment.
(2013) Mudenda, Peter Mulinda.; Ballard, Richard James.
The ANC government’s quest for economic transformation in the post-apartheid South Africa came up with black economic empowerment policy. Equal participation in the economy especially for the previously disadvantaged was one of the stated aims of black economic empowerment. This study discusses black entrepreneurs’ perceptions of business transformation in Durban in the context of lack economic empowerment. Qualitative interviews were conducted with fourteen black entrepreneurs that were indentified and located through purposive and snowball sampling methods. The study found out that while there is an appreciation of BEE policy and the transformation that has already taken place, there is also a healthy criticism, discontent, skepticism and impatience over the pace of transformation and implementation of BEE policy.
The child support grant and rural womens’ livelihoods a case study of Umsinga.
(2016) Wiese, Makhosazana Noxolo.; Ballard, Richard James.
There is a body of literature that locates social protection at the centre of poverty reduction. Other discourses see social welfare as creating dependency. In the literature, that links social protection to poverty reduction, social grants are seen as a means of addressing poverty and vulnerability, as they provide safety nets for the poor. The South African Child Support Grant is a well-known example of this as it contributes significantly to household income in a majority of households, especially those whose substantial source of income is made up of social grants. The grant is targeted at children who live in poor households and was introduced in 1998. This study uses the sustainable livelihoods approach (SLA) as a framework for exploring whether and how the child support grant can facilitate access to a wide range of livelihood options and opportunities in rural extended family homesteads. The thesis explores a wide range of literature on social protection starting from the earlier debates on welfare to current works on social protection as part of development policy globally and in the South African context. It also explores the concept of agency and of households. The study was conducted in Msinga, in the province of KwaZulu-Natal using interviews and a focus group discussion with some of the women who receive the grant. In exploring the main research question, the study found that women spent most of the grant money on consumable goods, but also invest some of it on acquiring productive assets. It also found that the grant has generally had positive outcomes for the livelihoods of the women who participated in the study.
Choices of degree or degrees of choice? : a sociological analysis of decision-making in tertiary education.
(2013) Gausdal, Lars.; Ballard, Richard James.; Freund, William Mark.
Dominant theories on choice of higher education, such as the rational action theory, view prospective students as rational consumers operating in an educational and vocational marketplace. This approach is founded on the assumption that young people are logical, self-interested and utility-maximising beings, and that choice of career or field of study is the outcome of a technically rational process. A growing number of studies are, however, challenging the central assumption of this approach. Recent studies on educational and vocational choice-making indicate that aspiring students may not be as calculating as the dominant research and policy discourse suggests. They emphasise that the decision-making process is, in fact, far more complex and unpredictable than traditionally assumed by the conventional models. As a result, there have been calls for the need to develop an alternative approach. The pragmatic rationality model by Hodkinson and Sparkes is one example. This study employs an unconventional approach to the logic of choice-making. Instead of drawing up a quantitative assessment of a large sample of students – the most common method of inquiry in this field of research – it uses case study research to investigate, in depth, how students from two specific vocational disciplines made their choices. The research is based on qualitative, semi-structured interviews with 26 first-year students in the Civil Engineering and Social Care programmes at the Durban University of Technology and the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. The study explores the applicability of the pragmatic rationality framework in the South African context, and investigates its potential impact on higher education policy. The analysis finds that there are general processes by which all the students had been affected, summed up in the framework of pragmatic rationality. The endorsement of this approach can be read as an implicit rejection of the rational action theory and the dominant assumption of aspiring students as rational agents. Although pragmatically rational decision-making was detected throughout the sample, the students were found to have made very different kinds of choices within very different types of circumstances. These differences were identified particularly in the levels of knowledge upon which the students had based their decisions. The observations made in this study are useful in terms of developing a more accurate understanding of educational and vocational choice-making in South Africa.
'Coloured' identity and reflections of the 'other' in community discourse : a case study of Wentworth.
(2008) Meadows, Briana R.; Ballard, Richard James.
This project explores the persistence of racial frameworks amongst Coloureds in Wentworth, Durban, using perspectives from discourse analysis as a methodological and theoretical framework. In-depth focus groups and interviews with Wentworth residents were conducted to investigate the continued socio-political relevance of such frameworks in the context of their own identity as 'Coloured', especially where these relate to residual racial hierarchies of the colonial era. Three sample groups were utilised to reflect the community's socio-economic spectrum, which enabled a class-based discussion of the way 'Colouredness' and ideals such as national reconciliation may be reflected by different socio-economic groups.
Cookie cutter cooperatives in the KwaZulu-Natal school nutrition programme.
(Taylor and Francis., 2013-06-04) Beesley, Alan.; Ballard, Richard James.
This article examines an initiative by the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government to increase the income opportunities emerging from the school feeding programme. Since the inception of the programme, small medium and micro enterprises (SMMEs) had been enlisted to provide schools with ingredients. However in 2006, the KwaZulu-Natal provincial government replaced some SMMEs with women’s cooperatives. By 2009, 12 of the original 42 cooperatives had collapsed, and some schools being serviced by these cooperatives complained of unreliable delivery of ingredients. This article examines the interface between policy and implementation through a case study of four cooperatives in one district. Our data suggests that some cooperatives struggled to take root as a result of a variety of factors which we discuss under the themes of viability, membership and skills. The top down creation of these cooperatives according to inflexible guidelines also resulted in significant problems.
Daily news and daily bread : precarious employment in the newspaper distribution sector in Durban South Africa.
(2014) Nnaeme, Chibuikem Charles.; Ballard, Richard James.
The outsourcing of newspaper distribution seems to be a source of precarious employment for newspaper contractors and their employees. The labour market experiences of workers in precarious employment due to labour outsourcing have been a source of debate in the literature on the relationship between informal and formal work since the early 1970s. The three main theoretical schools that contribute to the debate include: dualism, structuralism and legalism. In an attempt to contribute to the debate, the research explored the effects of outsourcing newspaper distribution on the labour market experiences of newspaper distribution contractors and their employees in Durban. Structuralism and value chain analysis were used as theoretical frameworks since both give extensive attention to concepts such as labour outsourcing. The major finding from the research was that the interview respondents are exposed to precarious employment conditions irrespective of whether respondents were contracted or not due to outsourcing distribution in Durban. This is because the contractors and their employees experience the same degree of lack of employment benefits, employment security and severe working conditions.
Do large retailers displace small informal retailers? : the case of Pick n Pay in Kwa-Mashu.
(2015) Madlala, Thabani T.; Ballard, Richard James.
Purpose – This thesis presents a study of large retailers and spaza shops in the township of KwaMashu, South Africa. The aim is to explore the effects of the new large retailer of Pick n Pay on spaza shops. The core research questions are: Are there any links between the spaza shops and Pick n Pay?, Does Pick n Pay stimulate or displace spaza retailing?, Have spaza shop owners lost markets for their goods as a result of the entry of Pick n Pay?, How do spaza shop owners respond to the entry of Pick n Pay? Methodology and findings – The research documents the experiences of current and former spaza shop owners on which data was collected. The core findings confirm that spaza shops in close proximity to Pick n Pay are more likely to be prone to negative impacts – specifically on consumer volume, stock size, and profits – compared to those in outlying areas. In a competitive market spaza shops are vulnerable on prices. Very few of the spaza shops have adopted business strategies in response to the larger competitor. The findings confirm that Pick n Pay’s presence has provided some benefits to local shops in the form of easy access to supplies and reduced transport costs.
Engaging top-down development in the Eastern Cape : a case study of the Xolobeni Mineral Sands Project.
(2011) Wilson, Matthew.; Ballard, Richard James.; Freund, William Mark.
A longstanding trend in development studies literature has emerged that emphasizes the importance of addressing issues of power in all facets of development, including in the planning and design of development interventions. While top-down planning reinforces the view of the poor as impotent, powerless actors whose well-being is dependent upon the actions of others through concentration of decision-making power in the hands of those who take on the role of trustees, popular participation in planning empowers the poor by viewing the poor as competent, rational actors who are better suited to improve their own lives than any external expert. This research report analyzes the power dynamics involved in an attempt by an Australian mining company (Mineral Commodities Ltd) and the South African government to implement a mining project in the Xolobeni area of the Wild Coast of South Africa. The issue of popular participation has always been a large part of the debate of whether to approve the mining license. Opponents of the project claim that the process discouraged and even prevented local participation, while supporters claim variously that either sufficient local participation did take place or that local participation was unimportant because the project would improve the lives of local residents regardless of how much participation took place. This report aims to analyze the power dynamics that came into play throughout the long fight over the proposed mine and draw out whatever lessons can be learned regarding South Africa’s development process.
An explorative study of young people's ecological citizenship in Durban, South Africa.
(2013) Jonusaite, Milda.; Ballard, Richard James.
In the context of growing concern for the potential impact of climate change, climate governance mechanisms are employed by nation states aiming to influence environmental actions of various actors. Promoting green behaviour of individual citizens is one of the current climate governance approaches. Furthermore, increasing attention is given towards the younger generations, as they will have to bear the consequences of climate change. Empowering young people to act against climate change is, therefore, important. This study aims to explore whether ecological citizenship among young people in Durban, South Africa, could be a valuable component of climate governance. It will do so by: 1) exploring how young people conceptualise climate change, 2) how they understand and experience citizenship, 3) whether they possess features of ecological citizenship. This research consists of a qualitative study based on semi-‐structured interviews with eighteen young individuals. The conceptual tools of practice theory and citizenship, that incorporate aspects of ecology and youth, are utilised for understanding the empirical study. The findings suggest that young people in Durban have a vague understanding of climate change-‐related concepts. Furthermore, it shows a gap between the understanding and the experience of citizenship. The youth comprehend citizenship with its features of rights and obligations; however, their experience of citizenship is largely dominated by detachment from politics, a sense of exclusion, and a lack of authentic opportunities to play out citizenship activities. Lastly, everyday practices of young people reveal a limited range of environmentally friendly actions accompanied by a moderate sense of agency in relation to environmental problems. This study shows that in order for young people to be able to act as ecological citizens, there are several structural constraints that need to be transformed into opportunities. This research suggests that there is a need to: 1) enable citizenship options for young people, 2) establish practical alternatives for sustainable behaviour. This study argues that providing such structural opportunities has the potential to develop young citizens that can act in an environmentally friendly way, without providing any guarantee for green behaviour. However, the potential for such behaviour is nevertheless greater with structural opportunities, rather than constrains.
An exploratory study of social networks amongst Pakistani migrants in Durban.
(2006) Jinnah, Zaheera.; Ballard, Richard James.
No abstract available.
Exploring experiences of displacement and cross-border migration in South Africa : implications for Social Work's commitment to Social Justice.
(2016) Hölscher, Dorothee.; Bozalek, Vivienne G.; Ballard, Richard James.
The phenomena of displacement and cross-border migration highlight pertinent injustices under conditions of globalisation and neoliberalism. Social work is entangled in these injustices. Against such background, this study was intended to explore the implications of displacement and cross-border migration in South Africa for social work’s commitment to social justice. I conducted a multisite ethnographic study while practicing as a social worker in a refugee services organisation and participating in the responses of a local church to the mass displacement of foreign nationals during South Africa’s first xenophobic pogroms. Data collection lasted from May 2008 to October 2009 and included a reflexive diary, life story interviews with cross-border migrants, and depth individual interviews with practitioners of care. The data was analysed using a combination of grounded theory and critical discourse analysis and was further explored with reference to a range of writings on social justice. While foregrounding feminist relational/ethics of care approaches, I also drew on the ideas of capabilities and agency, and considered anti-oppressive and structural traditions in social work. Five empirical papers emanated from this study and were published as scholarly articles in peer-reviewed journals. Cross-border migrants participating in the study shared pervasive experiences of exclusion, exploitation, deprivation, powerlessness, violence, and Othering. Members of the church community and practitioners of care in both sites were witness to some of the injustices experienced by the migrants. In those situations that facilitated face-to-face encounters, the response was one of solidarity and care. However, I found a general disregard for the structural nature of the injustices experienced by the migrants. Practitioners and community members also disregarded their own implication in these injustices. In the absence of any sustained and political response, there was a tendency to reify the economic, political, social, and cultural conditions surrounding these encounters. When expectations towards successful interventions were not met, cross-border migrants tended to be blamed for their situation, apt to be framed as undeserving of help. Finally, members of all participant groups – cross-border migrants, practitioners of care and members of the church community – shared a range of negative emotions pertaining to their surrounding social injustices. Together, there was a tendency to re-enact historical scripts for relationships between members of different races, classes, and nationalities in post-apartheid South Africa. These scripts were structured further by a well-established welfare discourse around service provider/service user relationships. The thesis concludes with a number of recommendations. These concern, firstly, territorial borders and nation state membership as a specific source of injustice, and the need for targeted, yet multifaceted interventions in the field of social work with cross-border migrants. It is also recommended that efforts to mainstream feminist relational/ethics of care approaches continue, and that their compatibility with other ethical approaches be further explored. With regard to the formulation of aspirational statements such as the global definition of social work and its statement of ethical principles, I recommend greater recognition of the relational and process aspects of social justice, and that the language of the documents reflects notions of care and of social justice as a shared and forward-looking responsibility. Historical consciousness, contextual understanding, criticality and emotional reflexivity are highlighted as important ingredients in socially just interventions, as well as in teaching and learning and research practices. In this context, attention to emotion and affect should not be seen simply as an end in itself, but also be regarded as an important means to revitalise social work as a political practice. I suggest that the ideals of care, participatory parity and dialogical forms of engagement can usefully guide such endeavours. Finally, I recommend the formation of communities of practice to provide safe spaces for mutual support, debate, and to explore ways of responding to pertinent social injustices under difficult circumstances.
Exploring the gains of local businesses within the hospitality industry during an event: the case of the Top Gear Festival.
(2014) Drysdale, Roisin.; Ballard, Richard James.
Top Gear is a long-running television programme now shown in over 50 countries with international versions of the show created. It has recently branched away from television and started live stunt shows and weekend car festivals. The Top Gear Festival, a weekend long event with a circuit race, live stunt shows and car exhibitions took place in South Africa for the first time in 2011 in Johannesburg and was then contracted to take place in Durban for three consecutive years. Events such as the Top Gear Festival are being favoured by urban managers to be used as a mechanism to promote the economy and development especially within the tourist industry. This study aimed to investigate the impact the Top Gear Festival had on the hospitality industry in Durban. Following the occurrence of the 2013 event, an interview was conducted with the eThekwini Municipality and data was collected from hotel and restaurants managers and owners. From the data it was found that many businesses believed their restaurant or hotel was busier over the festival weekend and experienced positive impacts due to increased patron numbers and higher turnovers. However, despite this, it was also found that whilst hotels were almost full over the festival weekend compared to a normal weekend in June, restaurants appeared to suffer and were not as busy.
Geographies of development II: cash transfers and the reinvention of development for the poor.
(Sage., 2013) Ballard, Richard James.
Since the mid-1990s, a number of governments in the global South have instituted programmes which provide regular cash grants to poor people. The results of cash transfer programmes have been impressed those searching for ways to improve welfare: the depth of poverty has been reduced, more children are being educated and vaccinated, and the poor are more likely to get jobs and start enterprises. Advocates of social democracy are hopeful that this heralds the possibility of comprehensive social protection. Experiments in welfare in the global South do not, however, inevitably signal an epochal shift to a postneoliberal era. They form part of an increasingly heterodox approach which combines an enduring emphasis on liberalised economic growth with bolder biopolitical interventions for the poor.
Geographies of development: without the poor.
(Sage., 2012) Ballard, Richard James.
Some contemporary narratives of development give privileged status to middle classes in the global South. In the face of intractable poverty, policy makers take heart from the success stories of ordinary people who have, over generations, realised and consolidated the gains of development and who embody society at its most functional. Their presumed virtues are their self‐sufficiency, their ability to articulate with the global economy, their buying power, and their good sense as responsible citizens. This, the first of three reports on geographies of development, reflects on recent research that interrogates the privileged status of middle classes in some narratives of development. As this burgeoning literature suggests, celebratory narratives elide the complex circumstances that make and unmake middle classes. Furthermore, middle class gains do not automatically translate into development for others. Indeed, efforts to centre the middle class threaten to displace, and justify the displacement of, economically marginalised groups seen as surplus to development.
Ideology and agency in protest politics: service delivery struggles in post-apartheid South Africa.
(2011) Ngwane, Trevor.; Bond, Patrick Martin.; Ballard, Richard James.
My aim in this dissertation is to explore the manner in which protest leaders in the post-apartheid context understand themselves and their actions against the backdrop of the socio-historical, political and economic conditions within which protests take place. The aim is to contribute to the debate around the nature of the challenge posed by protest action to the post-apartheid neoliberal order. The study uses an actor-oriented ethnographic methodology to examine at close range the nature of the protest movement in working class South African townships focusing on the so-called service delivery protests. In the quest to understand the action, forms of organisation and ideologies characteristic of the protests, and their significance for post-apartheid society, I use concepts and insights from the literature on social movements, discourse theory and, in particular, Gramsci's ideas on hegemony. The latter helps me to define and assess the threat posed by the protests to the dominant order which I characterise as neoliberalism or neoliberal capitalism. The conclusion that I come to is that the protests are best understood in the context of the transition from apartheid to democracy: its dynamics and its unmet expectations. They represent a fragmented and inchoate challenge to the post apartheid neoliberal order. Their weakness, I argue, partly derives from the effects of the demobilisation of the working class movement during the transition to democracy. It will take broader societal developments, including the emergence of a particular kind of leadership and organisation, for the protests to pose a serious challenge to the present order. The experience of the struggle against apartheid suggests the necessity of a vision of alternatives to inspire, shape and cohere struggles around everyday issues and concerns into struggles for radical society-wide alternatives. Protest action was linked to imagination of a different way of doing things and organising society. Without this link, it is likely that the protest movement will be increasingly isolated and contained with some of its energy used negatively, for example, in populist chauvinism, xenophobic attacks, mob justice, and other forms of anti-social behavior that are becoming a worrisome feature of post-apartheid society. Nonetheless, it provides hope and the foundation for a different future.
"In-between" : a study of domestic workers' children who have been informally fostered by their mothers' employers.
(2015) Morrison, Alice Ruth.; Ballard, Richard James.; Mottiar, Shauna.
This research explores the subjective experiences and life stories of 4 domestic workers’ children who were informally fostered by their mothers’/grandmothers’ employers in South Africa. Using a narrative thematic approach to analyse the semi-structured interviews conducted with each participant, the research sought to develop an understanding of the experience of being informally fostered, and how it may have shaped their understanding of themselves and their place in society. Themes related to notions of ‘identity’ and ‘belonging’ dominated the interview data and hinted that essentialist notions of race and culture still dominate social discourse in South Africa. A key finding of this research was that receiving unconditional support and acceptance from both their biological and their informal fostering families was important. Perceived or actual abandonment from either of these parental systems potentially resulted in significant threats to self-esteem, sense of personal agency, identity, and security of belonging. Another important finding was that the colour of the participants’ skin led them to question whether their identity, their sense of belonging, and their ‘ways of being’ were ‘natural’ to them or divergent as they differed from South African society’s essentialist expectations of black identities.
Informalities of urban space, street trading and policy in the city of Bulawayo, Zimbabwe.
(2020) Chibvongodze, Danford Tafadzwa.; Bracking, Sarah Louise.; Ballard, Richard James.
As cities in the global South undergo rapid informalisation, their respective governments have utilised technocratic and modernist “spatial rationalities” to regulate this urban process. Evidently, through use of plans, grids, by-laws, modernist discourses, Bulawayo’s city authorities in Zimbabwe have in past years construed the existence of informality in its city centre as discordant with the aesthetics of a “world class” city. This negative characterisation of Bulawayo’s informal sector is extended to its participants who are normatively described as an “undesirable” and “chaotic” group to be controlled and sometimes excluded from the cityscape. However, this thesis argues that Bulawayo’s deindustrialisation and Zimbabwe’s economic malaise has necessitated the informalisation of urban space which is epitomised by a pronounced presence of street traders on the cityscape. Indeed, Bulawayo’s economic downturn has given some street traders the impetus and legitimacy to violate urban laws and encroach on urban public spaces, remaking them into viable resources to cope with the effects of unemployment. Consequently, this thesis examines how the informalisation of Bulawayo’s urban space has shaped and reconfigured the “everyday” and “lived” interactions between city authorities and street traders in managing informality. It further seeks to examine how the informalisation of urban space in the context of Bulawayo’s deindustrialisation impacts the way its citizens and city officials understand and reimagine Bulawayo’ urbanity, work, and spatiality. Using responses extracted from 41 participants comprising street traders, city officials and representatives of civic organizations, the theoretical works of Foucault (1994), Lefebvre (1974), and Gramsci (1971), and historical analysis, the thesis shows that in the context of regulating informality, interactions between city authorities and street traders have been characterised by contestations, negotiations and sometimes collaborations. On one hand, the Bulawayo’s city authorities operating under a politically violent “state” have responded to urban informality with brute force (raids and evictions). On the other hand, Bulawayo’s street traders have resisted these evictions through picketing, litigations, and sit-ins at the mayor’s office to challenge policies that preclude them from realising their right to the city. They have further demonstrated through campaigns and workshops how street trading is crucial to generating household income, promoting work independence and developing a localised solidarity economy. In negotiating this contested terrain, the thesis demonstrates that Bulawayo’s city authorities have sometimes shown sympathy towards the plight of street traders, embraced them as part of the city’s urban reality. Further, they recognise the important role street trading plays in sustaining urban livelihood, tackling unemployment and contributing to the city fiscus. As such, Bulawayo’s city authorities have revised some of the exclusionary urban planning policies that prevented an integration of informal trade into the mainstream local economy. Additionally, while raids and evictions have been regarded as important methods of managing street trading, Bulawayo city authorities have sought to use other strategies that are less violent and intimidating. This thesis utilises the works of Foucault (1994) on “governmentality” Lefebvre (1974) on “the production of space”, and Gramsci on “hegemony and consent” (1971) to argue that in situations where raids have proven to be violent, city authorities have utilised vending bays, discourses of “cleanliness” visually projected on street signs and billboards to control street traders’ illegal conduct and contain informality from a distance. The thesis also argues that the transformation of Bulawayo from being an industrial city to what Mlambo (2017) refers to as a vendor city has also meant that people’s perceptions of Bulawayo as a place of work have radically changed. Accordingly, the deindustrialization of Bulawayo coupled with the entrenchment of informality has seen the participants in this study rework their social identities and challenge the meaning of work and urban citizenship. While participants in this study argued that street trading fostered work independence, they noted that income and social insecurity associated with informal work makes them susceptible to poverty. Some participants described street trading as an activity characterised by multiple forms of exclusions such as raids, evictions, and shortages of vending spaces that impede their right to the city. This thesis also demonstrates that theories of urbanity still require reworking in the context of the global South city to encompass the experiences of crisis and deindustrialisation outside of the rural/urban dyad and the linearity of development that assumes only modernity through industrialisation.