Emily Margaretten
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- April 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780252039607
- eISBN:
- 9780252097690
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of Illinois Press
- DOI:
- 10.5406/illinois/9780252039607.001.0001
- Subject:
- Anthropology, African Cultural Anthropology
An exemplary ethnography of post-apartheid life: this book takes the reader to a place that few people know even exists—a self-run shelter for homeless young people in Durban. What emerges is a ...
More
An exemplary ethnography of post-apartheid life: this book takes the reader to a place that few people know even exists—a self-run shelter for homeless young people in Durban. What emerges is a searing portrait of drugs, violence, and AIDS but also of compassion, love, loyalty, and humanity. Point Place (a self-run homeless shelter for the young homeless) stands near the city center of Durban, South Africa. Condemned and off the grid, the five-story apartment building is home to a hundred-plus teenagers and young adults marginalized by poverty and chronic unemployment. This book draws on ten years of up-close fieldwork to explore the distinct cultural universe of the Point Place community. The investigations reveal how young men and women draw on customary notions of respect and support to forge an ethos of connection and care that allows them to live far richer lives than ordinarily assumed. The book's discussion of gender dynamics highlights terms like nakana—to care about or take notice of another—that young women and men use to construct “outside” and “inside” boyfriends and girlfriends and to communicate notions of trust. The book exposes the structures of inequality at a local, regional, and global level that contribute to socioeconomic and political dislocation. But it also challenges the idea that Point Place's marginalized residents need “rehabilitation.” As the book argues, these young men and women want love, secure homes, and the means to provide for their dependents—in short, the same hopes and aspirations mirrored across South African society.Less
An exemplary ethnography of post-apartheid life: this book takes the reader to a place that few people know even exists—a self-run shelter for homeless young people in Durban. What emerges is a searing portrait of drugs, violence, and AIDS but also of compassion, love, loyalty, and humanity. Point Place (a self-run homeless shelter for the young homeless) stands near the city center of Durban, South Africa. Condemned and off the grid, the five-story apartment building is home to a hundred-plus teenagers and young adults marginalized by poverty and chronic unemployment. This book draws on ten years of up-close fieldwork to explore the distinct cultural universe of the Point Place community. The investigations reveal how young men and women draw on customary notions of respect and support to forge an ethos of connection and care that allows them to live far richer lives than ordinarily assumed. The book's discussion of gender dynamics highlights terms like nakana—to care about or take notice of another—that young women and men use to construct “outside” and “inside” boyfriends and girlfriends and to communicate notions of trust. The book exposes the structures of inequality at a local, regional, and global level that contribute to socioeconomic and political dislocation. But it also challenges the idea that Point Place's marginalized residents need “rehabilitation.” As the book argues, these young men and women want love, secure homes, and the means to provide for their dependents—in short, the same hopes and aspirations mirrored across South African society.
Roger Bergman
- Published in print:
- 2011
- Published Online:
- January 2012
- ISBN:
- 9780823233281
- eISBN:
- 9780823241736
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Fordham University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5422/fordham/9780823233281.003.0005
- Subject:
- Religion, Religion and Society
This chapter argues for well-integrated service-learning as an effective pedagogy for justice. Students in such programs often report experiencing painful emotions in homeless shelters and other ...
More
This chapter argues for well-integrated service-learning as an effective pedagogy for justice. Students in such programs often report experiencing painful emotions in homeless shelters and other domestic sites where their previously unacknowledged privilege is put in shocking contrast with the hardships faced by the poor. This chapter proceeds in four steps. First, it outlines Kristjánsson's argument for Aristotle as a theoretical source for service-learning. Second, it presents examples of service-learning student outcomes in which painful emotions play a prominent role. Third, it outlines Curzer's argument that Aristotle's path to virtue is a sometimes painful one. This completes the conceptual circle: Aristotle and service-learning; service-learning and painful emotions; painful emotions and Aristotle. Fourth and last, it reflects briefly on what it might mean to disrupt the students' lives through service-learning experiences of injustice in the lives of others.Less
This chapter argues for well-integrated service-learning as an effective pedagogy for justice. Students in such programs often report experiencing painful emotions in homeless shelters and other domestic sites where their previously unacknowledged privilege is put in shocking contrast with the hardships faced by the poor. This chapter proceeds in four steps. First, it outlines Kristjánsson's argument for Aristotle as a theoretical source for service-learning. Second, it presents examples of service-learning student outcomes in which painful emotions play a prominent role. Third, it outlines Curzer's argument that Aristotle's path to virtue is a sometimes painful one. This completes the conceptual circle: Aristotle and service-learning; service-learning and painful emotions; painful emotions and Aristotle. Fourth and last, it reflects briefly on what it might mean to disrupt the students' lives through service-learning experiences of injustice in the lives of others.
