Towards an Anthropology of Survival
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Towards an Anthropology of Survival Exploring the narrated experiences of private and government school youth in Bulawayo: Navigating the self in a sea of schizophrenic moralities MSc Cultural and Social Anthropology Graduate School of Social Sciences Giada Serena Sabbion 11046627 Amsterdam – July 6th, 2017 Master thesis submitted to the Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences at the University of Amsterdam, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Science, Department of Cultural and Social Anthropology. Word count thesis: 27.450 Supervisor: Dr. Yatun Sastramidjaja Second reader: Dr. Rachel Spronk Third Reader: Dr. Ria Reis Plagiarism Declaration I hereby declare that this thesis meets the rules and regulations for fraud and plagiarism as set out by the Examination Committee of the MSc Cultural and Social Anthropology at the University of Amsterdam. This thesis is entirely my own original work and all sources have been properly acknowledged. Giada Sabbion July 6th, 2017 Disclaimer For the purpose of ensuring the anonymity of my interlocutors, this version of the thesis, Towards an Anthropology of Survival, will only be available within the Anthropology Department of the University of Amsterdam Graduate School of Social Sciences. Abstract In spite of the official political agenda since independence to re-establish black authority and foster indigenous empowerment, the memory of Zimbabwe’s colonial past and the remnants of its irreparable influences still permeate the country’s contemporary ideological and structural framework. Carrying out ethnographic research amongst youth within private and government schooling in Bulawayo led to the uncovering of discourse indicative to the existence of a conflict between a nation striving for a western-centric ideal of socio-economic modernity whilst seeking to maintain traditional pre-colonial socio-cultural values through the philosophy of Ubuntu. By examining youth’s narratives and experiences within formal education structures, this paper explores the way in which this conflict is played out within the schooling system and the implication it has on the way in which youth conceptualise their sense of self. It presents a brief genealogy of Zimbabwean formal education and youth socialisation structures before examining the dynamics of the contemporary moral systems within which they operate particularly with respect to figures of authority. It goes on to look at the way in which youth experience schooling and the value that they attribute to it in relation to the expectations and aspirations they have for the future. Looking at two situationally opposed micro sites of society is aimed at exploring how the need for Zimbabwean youth to navigate ‘themselves’ in and around this underlying conflict is a struggle which is shared, albeit in different ways, across the two spectrums of Zimbabwean society. This sets the path for arguing in favour of the existence of a unified culture of survival, as through this struggle, youth work towards the subjective interpretations of what anthropologist Joel Robbins termed, the ‘pursuit of the good’. Ultimately what this paper seeks to clarify is how youth feel they need to behave and what they think they have to do in order to achieve it given their situational circumstances. Acknowledgements I would like to begin by thanking the participants of this research who entrusted me with their stories, making me feel welcome and included in their daily routines and experiences. I would also like to extend my gratitude to the Averys who opened their home to me during the three months I spent in the field and to my parents who have supported me throughout this this process. I am indebted to my fellow classmates whose invaluable council and encouragement fueled my writing and whose friendship has been a source of great joy. Finally, I would like to give special thanks to my supervisor Yatun Sastramidjaja whose advice, patience and dedication gave me calm in moments of crisis. Table of Content 1. INTRODUCTION 1 1.1- WHAT WAS IT LIKE MUM? 1 1.2- LIVING IN A TIME CAPSULE 2 1.3- CHOOSING A SCHOOL IN BULAWAYO 4 1.4- TOWARDS AN ANTHROPOLOGY OF SURVIVAL 7 2. LOOKING FROM THE INSIDE-OUT 11 2.1- SITUATING MEANING IN EDUCATION 11 2.2- I AM THEREFORE WE ARE 16 2.3- CULTURAL AMNESIA 18 2.4- UNCOVERING THE MECHANISMS OF SOCIAL TRANSFORMATION 21 3. CONNECTING PARALLEL REALITIES OF PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOLING 23 3.1- WHO IS THIS MAKIWA? 23 3.2- IDLE HANDS AND PRODUCTIVE PLAY 25 3.3- THE KEY TO SUCCESS 28 3.4- THINGS COULD BE BETTER 31 3.5- PAYING TO PROVE FRIENDSHIPS 33 4. NEGOTIATING THE SELF 37 4.1- QUESTIONING THE UNQUESTIONABLE 37 4.2- ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME? 39 4.4- CONFESSIONS OF YOUTH 44 5. THE BURDENS ZIMBABWEAN YOUTH 48 5.1- PURGING OF THE PAST 48 5.2- IN AMERICA I WOULD BE A DRUG LORD 51 5.3- JUGGLING DREAMS OF WORK AND PLEASURE 54 6. CONCLUSION 57 BIBLIOGRAPHY 62 1. Introduction 1.1- What was it like mum? Touchdown. I arrive in Harare international airport with my father who against his will had accompanied me after much insistence by my mother whom I had tried in vain to convince that I would manage very well on my own. “Giada” she said firmly, “you don’t understand, Zimbabwe is dangerous, people there are desperate and that makes them dangerous.” Born a coloured woman in Rhodesia, my mother had told me stories of her life as the child of a successful and proud businessman who, with the privileges bestowed on him by his wealth and characteristically arrogant sense of self entitlement, insisted on every occasion to ignore the racial restrictions imposed by the colonial government and permit himself and his family all the freedoms normally reserved for white Rhodesian citizens. This included sending his children to private schooling, the memory of which my Mother describes resentfully, “I went to Convent, a private all-girls school. We were taught by Catholic Nuns, they were so evil, very unkind. They would beat the girls at every occasion, luckily my father would not allow them to touch me or your aunties but they were still very cruel, all the coloured girls were made to attend basic secretarial lessons, typing, shorthand etc. that’s all we were good for you see. I used to beg grandad all the time to send me to a normal school but he wouldn’t listen.” As she recalls this reality, she is further irritated by the memory of her subordinate position as a child and the religious impositions that were forced upon her, surrounded by a cloud of conservative discourse: “We were constantly reminded that children should be seen and not heard, and certain topics were off limits as it wasn’t even proper to say the word pregnant in the house.” The environment within which all this occurred however was in direct contrast to the bitter tone with which she described her relationships with adult authority. She spoke fondly of the spatial freedoms she enjoyed whilst growing up, portraying an idyllic setting with large houses and even bigger gardens with swimming pools; all within a temperate climate of warm sun and refreshing rain storms that allowed the subtle scent of mango, guava and avocado trees to fill the air during their respective seasons throughout the year. 1 My mother left Zimbabwe for the U.K. in 1981, only one year into what is now Robert Mugabe’s thirty-seventh year as President of the country. Having visited sporadically over the years, she has not lived the gradual changes and transitions of an independent Zimbabwe. Instead, she witnessed stark moments of systematic decline in infrastructure, resources and rule of law with every trip, describing the very setting that she spoke so fondly of as now being a relic of what once was. The reality of my mother’s childhood is largely unrepresentative of broader Rhodesian society at the time as within the unofficial hierarchy of races, being of mixed Chinese and Indian heritage placed her in a superior socio-political position to the majority black indigenous population. By indigenous, I intend those individuals who identify their heritage as being with one or more tribal groups in the region. As such, my mother’s own heritage disassociated her from any knowledge of pre-colonial Zimbabwean culture and customs. Long before she was born, the imperialist goal of bringing the native population into civilised modernity was executed through systematic Christianisation and the colony-wide imposition of British institutional structures. In present-day Zimbabwe, the white and coloured population has greatly decreased, with many who are able to, having opted to emigrate out of the country. In Bulawayo, Zimbabwe’s second largest city and historically industrial hub, this fact in combination with the government’s efforts to promote black social and economic empowerment, has led to private educational institutions, previously attended and staffed by a majority white students and teachers, now seeing a reversal in racial ratio with most teachers and students being predominantly black. Government schools in poor urban high-density areas on the other hand have remained solely indigenous and have maintained much of the organisational structures that had originally been implemented under colonial rule; what has changed are the architects of the curriculum and its content. Considering the substantial changes that have occurred in postcolonial Zimbabwe over a relatively short period of time, my interest lies in exploring the way in which this has affected the dynamics of socialisation and knowledge acquisition within these educational settings; particularly in relation to the significance it has on youths’ formulation of the self. 1.2- Living in a time capsule I spent my three months of field research being hosted by a coloured Christian family of Seventh day Adventist denomination, the Avery’s with whom my mother had been acquainted, four members of which I had the most contact with.