Cultural Understandings and Lived Realities of Entrepreneurship In
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Cultural Understandings and Lived Realities of Entrepreneurship in Post-Apartheid South Africa by Melissa Beresford A Dissertation Presented in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Doctor of Philosophy Approved September 2018 by the Graduate Supervisory Committee: Amber Wutich, Chair H. Russell Bernard Takeyuki Tsuda Abigail York ARIZONA STATE UNIVERSITY December 2018 ABSTRACT This dissertation examines cultural understandings and lived realities of entrepreneurship across South Africa’s economic landscape, comparing the experiences of Cape Town’s Black entrepreneurs in under-resourced townships to those of White entrepreneurs in the wealthy, high finance business district. Based on 13 months of participant observation and interviews with 60 entrepreneurs, I find major differences between these groups of entrepreneurs, which I explain in three independent analyses that together form this dissertation. The first analysis examines the entrepreneurial motivations of Black entrepreneurs in Khayelitsha, Cape Town’s largest township. This analysis gives insight into expressed cultural values of entrepreneurship beyond a priori neoliberal analytical frameworks. The second analysis compares the material resources that Black entrepreneurs in Khayelitsha and White entrepreneurs in downtown Cape Town require for their businesses, and the mechanisms through which they secure these resources. This analysis demonstrates how historical structures of economic inequality affect entrepreneurial strategies. The third analysis assesses the non-material obstacles and challenges that both Black entrepreneurs in Khayelitsha and White entrepreneurs in wealthy areas of downtown Cape Town face in initiating their business ventures. This analysis highlights the importance of cultural capital to entrepreneurship and explains how non-material obstacles differ for entrepreneurs in different positions of societal power. Taken together, my findings contribute to two long-established lines of anthropological scholarship on entrepreneurship: (1) the moral values and understandings of entrepreneurship, and (2) the strategies and practices of entrepreneurship. I demonstrate the need to expand anthropological understandings of entrepreneurship to i better theorize diverse economies, localized understandings and values of entrepreneurship, and the relationship of entrepreneurship to notions of economic justice. Yet, through comparative analysis I also demonstrate that diverse and localized values of entrepreneurship must be considered within the context of societal power structures; such context allows scholars to assess if and how diverse entrepreneurial values have the potential to make broad-scale social and/or cultural change. As such, I argue for the importance of putting these two streams of anthropological research into conversation with one another in order to gain a more holistic understanding of the relationship between the cultural meanings and the practices of entrepreneurship. ii DEDICATION For my family. To my parents, Ken and Susan Baldwin. Thank you for your unyielding love and support. I would not be here without you. To Graeme and Tiffany. Thank you for keeping me in the moment and reminding me what is truly important. To Ben. Words cannot express my gratitude for having you as my partner in this journey. To Isla and Quinn. You were with me through every step of the research and writing for this dissertation. I do this for you, in the hopes that my scholarship will help make the world a better place for you and yours. iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS This dissertation would not have been possible without the help and support of a number of people. Their contributions, large and small, have shaped not only the course of this research, but also my own intellectual and emotional growth. I give all of you my heartfelt thanks. At Arizona State University, Dr. Amber Wutich, my chair and mentor, has worked tirelessly to teach, support, and believe in me, even when I did not believe in myself. She has pushed me when I needed pushing and caught me when I needed catching. She has instilled in me not only the necessary skills for rigorous, careful, and ethical social science research, but also the requisite flexibility and resilience to keep pushing forward. My committee members, Dr. H. Russell Bernard, Dr. Takeyuki Tsuda, and Dr. Abigail York, have also each contributed enormously to this project. Their penetrating questions and insightful feedback every step of the way have made this dissertation a better piece of scholarship and me a better scholar. At ASU, I have also benefited from the mentorship and support of Dr. Alexandra Brewis and Dr. Alissa Ruth. Without their advice and guidance at crucial moments in my career, I would not be where I am today, and this dissertation would certainly not have been possible. I would also like to thank my network of friends and peers in the Culture, Health, and Environment Lab who provided companionship, laughter, and doughnuts in times of need. iv In South Africa, I would first like to thank all of the entrepreneurs who generously gave me their very valuable time in order to contribute to my research. It was an honor and a pleasure to work alongside you and get to know each of your stories. I would especially like to thank Pug Roux, Nicole Chalkley, Chris Vermeulen, Michal Szymanski, Peggy Mpahlwa, and Lesedi Kgaka, who each provided insights and assistance that were crucial to development of this project and the execution of my fieldwork. I am also grateful for the research funds provided by the National Science Foundation, the Social Science Research Council and Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, the School of Human Evolution and Social Change, and the Graduate College at ASU. During my stay in South Africa, Debby and Neil van Zyl provided a warm and supportive home base. They went the extra mile for two strangers from the other side of the world, and it was a pleasure and an honor to share their home. My South African family also supported me in countless ways – materially, emotionally, spiritually. Kim De Villiers ensured that I could get around town. Allison Porter made sure I stayed grounded a whole. Jane Porter ensured my physical and emotional safety. Heidi Vorster always knew when to call and check in. Alex Proctor kept me on my toes and laughing. Allister and Stacey Mowbray provided countless meals and glasses of wine along with loving companionship. Finally, I give my eternal thanks to my family and support network in California and Minnesota. To Ben, Mom and Dad, Rick and Mary, Graeme and Tiffany, Grahame and Kati, Gesine and Chris, Kerstin and Adam, Andrea and Eric, Claire and Harvey, Amy and Beck, and Liz and Steve – you have all supported me during the times I have needed it the most. Thank you. v TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER Page 1 INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................... 1 Theoretical Approaches to Entrepreneurship ......................................... 3 Research Objectives............................................................................. 9 Dissertation Format and Organization ................................................ 12 References ......................................................................................... 13 2 ENTREPRENEURSHIP AS LEGACY BUILDING: RE-IMAGINING CAPITALISM IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA ............................................................ 18 Introduction ....................................................................................... 19 Anthropology, Capitalism and the Economic Imaginary ..................... 21 Entrepreneurship: Reproducers of Neoliberal Capitalism, or Agents of Economic Change? ............................................................................ 23 Econoimc Insiders and Outsiders: South Africa’s Distributional Regime ......................................................................................................... 25 Personhood, Dependency, and Economic Opportunity in South African Townships ......................................................................................... 27 The New Khayelitsha Entrepreneurs .................................................. 30 Research Methods ............................................................................. 31 “Mummy built and empire for us”: Entrepreneurship as Legacy Building ......................................................................................................... 33 vi CHAPTER Page Conclusion: Legacy Building and Re-imagining Capitalism in a Post- Apartheid Economy ........................................................................... 45 References ......................................................................................... 49 3 RE-THINKING ENTREPRENEURSHIP THROUGH DISTRIBUTION: NON- MARKET RELATIONS AND INEQUALITY AMONG SOUTH AFRICAN ENTREPRENEURS ............................................................................................... 54 Introduction ....................................................................................... 55 From Productive Labor to Distributive Mechanisms of Support: Re-thinking the Base of Entrepreneurship .............................................................. 58 Entrepreneurship as Economic Development Policy in South Africa ... 62 Distributive Livelihoods in South Africa: Survival, Entrepreneurship, and Traditional Forms of Social Support ..................................................