EXPERIENCING DEVELOPMENT: CORPOREAL TENSIONS AND GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM IN SOUTH AFRICA’S LIMPOPO PROVINCE A Dissertation Presented to the Faculty of the Graduate School of Cornell University in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy by Marcus DuBois Watson May 2009 © 2009 Marcus DuBois Watson EXPERIENCING DEVELOPMENT: CORPOREAL TENSIONS AND GRASSROOTS ACTIVISM IN SOUTH AFRICA’S LIMPOPO PROVINCE Marcus DuBois Watson, Ph.D. Cornell University 2009 The Anthropology of Development has studied international aid from numerous perspectives, e.g. development as discourse, transnational processes, and NGO intervention. My dissertation extends the analytic reach of the Anthropology of Development, and will benefit development practice, by focusing on interpersonal dimensions of development practice. Based in Tsonga- and Pedi-speaking areas of South Africa, my case studies include an evangelical church established by an Afrikaner missionary from Cape Town for the purpose of spiritual enlightenment, an HIV-AIDS awareness NGO run by a nun from Ireland, and a school-based project facilitated by a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer (PCV) designed to improve local teaching methods. Collecting information on interpersonal relations between the activists and villagers involved spending time in work spaces and, where applicable, host family settings. My interlocuters and I described interactions, noting corporeal evidence of comforts and discomforts. Following perceptions of grief and relief to conscious statements and social practices revealed the significance of embodiment in international development work. To understand the context for the corporeal perceptions, I accompanied the activists and villagers to their respective social “hangouts.” Attending “alcohol parties” sponsored clandestinely by the missionary’s congregants, frequenting family funerals and weddings of the nun’s co-workers, and accompanying the PCV’s colleagues to their homes and favorite bars helped me discern patterns in how village embodiment worked in everyday gendered and generational situations. With the exception of the PCV, the activists did not fraternize with villagers outside of work. Instead, I observed their interaction styles, for example, during church retreats and PCV parties. Defining her social space as a relief from village work, the nun closed-off her personal life to her village interactants and to me. However, spending time with her religious ex-patriots gave me access into the nun’s interaction context. Villagers and activists differently value interpersonal contact, with their most spontaneous of gestures respectively expressing comfort and discomfort with physical intimacy. These different expressions of intimacy cultivated incompatible senses of trust, truth, and assistance, confounding relationships and aid work. Development falters as much from pragmatic activity as from articulated discourse. BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH The son of a white mother and African-American father, Marcus DuBois Watson grew up dreaming of playing professional football. Despite academically inclined parents, education did not appear on his radar. Listening to his father’s Malcolm X tapes as a senior in high school gave him a renewed sense of purpose, invigorating him to pursue academic excellence as an undergraduate double majoring in History and Political Science at the State University of New York College at Brockport. The plight of African-Americans became his chief intellecutual concern. After college, his mother’s best friend and his informal mentor for years, the late Dr. Alison DesForges, encouraged Marcus to become acquainted with anthropology and to travel abroad. After two years as a Peace Corps Volunteer in South Africa, Marcus knew two things: He wanted to study anthropology, just as Alison thought he might, and skin color was a poor basis for establishing relationships, just as his parents’ union had testified. During graduate work in anthropology at Cornell University, Marcus received a Master’s Degree and converted to Islam, wherein his motto became, “We are one,” the meaning in Zulu of his second daughter’s middle name. iii To my mother and father – just the parents I would have chosen had I had the choice. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I owe so much thanks to so many, so let me begin by thanking God for surrounding me with the best of people. Dominic Boyer served as my dissertation advisor, and his support, guidance, and expertise proved indispensable. He expected the best of me, pushed me to reach my full potential and, for this, I am forever grateful. From my first to last day at Cornell University, Jane Fajans made sure I was always on the right track, both intellectually and practically. Conversations with Andrew Willford helped keep me grounded in my roles as a husband and father. Their detailed commentary on the dissertation and their general encouragement are incalculably appreciated. I must also thank Johanna Schoss, whose determination to ensure my Africanist credentials is sincerely appreciated. My parents and Doug Anderson of Medaille College read and commented on chapters I drafted early on. All I needed in those early moments was attention and a “thumbs up.” Thank you for giving me both. Pop, your lessons in alkhabir are the very essence of who I am. I am you. I love us. I owe a special debt of gratitude to my brother, Malcolm Watson. Malcolm read several drafts of the dissertation cover to cover and provided detailed commentary on each draft. Malcolm returned his comments within days of me sending him the lengthy documents. His comments taught me to write all over again. Thanks big bro’. At various stages, I have received generous support from the National Science Foundation and from Cornell University’s Sage Graduate Fellowship. Their funding facilitated my extensive coursework and positioned me to make contact with many people indispensable to the research and to my personal life. The Ngobeni family hosted me and my family in South Africa. When I remember how Kokwana and Sesi Leah bathed, fed, and generally cared for our then v newborn son Malik, I know our families are truly one. I thank Sergeant, Valerie, and Ishmael for welcoming me into their lives and Ishmael for his enduring friendship. Thank you to my interlocuters, especially Chobi and Dean, for their companionship. You made researching a lot of fun. To the South African youth, teachers, and HIV-AIDS clients and careworkers, I thank you for your participation and for seeing in me what I saw in you—beauty. Hosi Muhlaba II, Councilman Shitlhangu, and Ndunas Hosana and Mageza, thank you for welcoming me. Momma, you of course answered the call every time I needed financial help during the research. But I want to stress how loving and being close to you since I was a boy is my greatest blessing and secret weapon. If I have any sensitivity and empathetic powers to speak of, they are traced directly to our special bond. I love you, Momma. To my darling Sarah, my wife, my love, my rock, how can I thank you enough? From uprooting to a new place, through caring for our children and working, to your insider knowledge of Africa, you wrote half of this thesis. Ketisa, Helisa, and Malik, you gave me the gift of your hugs every day. As Grandpapa-Rue says, “I love us all forever.” I hope that my intention to remember you and to love all people in all I do and say will in some small way repay you all for what you have done for me. Insha’Allah . vi TABLE OF CONTENTS BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCH iii DEDICATION iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS v TABLE OF CONTENTS vii LIST OF PSEUDO CODES ix INTRODUCTION PHENOMENAL DEVELOPMENTS / DEVELOPING PERCEPTIONS 1 DEVELOPMENT as INTERPERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS 2 PHENOMENOLOGY and DEVELOPMENT 7 ETHNOGRAPHIC CASE STUDIES 11 THE ARGUMENT 15 THE CHAPTERS 25 PART I: BACKGROUND 28 CHAPTER ONE HOPING FOR MODERNITY IN LIMPOPO 29 RURAL LIMPOPO: AN ANALYTIC CATEGORY 32 JUDGING OTHERS 33 JUDGING THEMSELVES 36 STATE OF MARRIAGE 39 PREMARITAL LIFE 43 INTIMATE RELATIONALITY 45 HIV-AIDS and EMPLOYMENT 50 TRUST and JEALOUSY 55 STATE of COMMUNITY: GIVING and RECEIVING 58 CONCLUSION 63 CHAPTER TWO THREE DEVELOPMENT PROJECTS – DESCRIPTIONS 67 PROJECTS: IN TERMS OF EACH OTHER 69 THE PROJECTS: WHEREABOUTS, APPEARANCES, STATUSES 72 SPIRTUAL DEVELOMENT – TUVO CHRISTIAN CHURCH 78 HEALTH DEVELOPMENT – KURISANANI 91 EDUCATIONAL DEVELOPMENT – PEACE CORPS 103 CONCLUSIONS 112 vii PART II: THE PROBLEM OF DIFFERENCE 116 CHAPTER THREE DEVELOPMENT AND RESIDENCE 117 RESIDENCE IN DEVELOPMENT ANTHROPOLOGY 119 GOOD INTENTIONS OF THE AID-GIVERS 123 SERGEANT’S SPECIAL FORK AND KNIFE 126 VALERIE’S LIFESAVING VEHICLE 142 ISHMAEL’S RENT CALCULATION 148 CONCLUSION 159 CHAPTER FOUR DEVELOPMENT AND FRIENDSHIP 167 FRIENDSHIP, FIELDWORK, AND DEVELOPMENT 167 ANTHROPOLOGICAL STUDIES OF FRIENDSHIP 168 FIELDWORK FRIENDSHIPS 171 DEVELOPING FRIENDSHIPS? 204 CONCLUSION 217 CHAPTER FIVE YES-BODIES AND NO-BODIES 219 BODY PERCEPTIONS – CHANGE-AGENTS 221 BODY PERCEPTIONS – LIMPOPO VILLAGERS 226 DEVELOPMENT BODIES AND PHENOMENOLOGY 231 EMBODYING A REJECTION OF BRACKETS 239 RESIDING AND BEFRIENDING BODILY IN LIMPOPO 245 PART III: YES-ING AND NO-ING DEVELOPMENT 256 CHAPTER SIX EMBODYING PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT 257 PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT IN ANTHROPOLOGY 257 PARTICIPATORY INTENTIONS OF PROJECTS 266 CONTRADICTING PARTICIPATORY IDEALS IN PRACTICE 269 ANALYSIS OF SUPERFICIAL PARTICIPATION 272 CONCLUSION 292 CHAPTER SEVEN CORPOREAL INTENTIONS 296 NO-ING the LIFE out of DEATH 301 NO-ING INTERSUBJECTIVITY in TWO 310 NO-ING WORK from