The Impact of Class and Race on the Cultural Preferences of Youth in Cape Town and Belo Horizonte
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New Distinctions: The Impact of Class and Race on the Cultural Preferences of Youth in Cape Town and Belo Horizonte Jan Schenk Thesis Presented for the Degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY University of Cape Town in the Department of Sociology UNIVERSITY OF CAPE TOWN February 2015 The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town Abstract Sociological treatments of the reproduction of social inequality in South Africa largely focus on its historical, political and economical aspects while references to popular culture are commonly used to describe differences, often in combination with racial discourse, rather than explain them. As a result much of South African cultural sociology, especially with regards to youth cul- ture, is entailed in in-depth ethnographic descriptions of particular subcultures. Less common is scholarly work dealing with the role of taste and cultural preferences in the reconfiguration of common perceptions of ‘otherness’, both in class and race terms. This dissertation shifts the focus towards the structural aspects of popular culture and, particu- larly, youth culture. First, inspired by Bourdieu’s work on distinction, it explores the segregating potential of contemporary youth culture in South Africa, especially where class and race con- notations meet. It then follows this thread of adapting Bourdieu’s work to contemporary South African youth by identifying the media as a crucial factor alongside family and school for the pre- servation of racialised class characteristics. In a third step it takes the observations made in the South African context and compares them to youth culture in Brazil in order to establish the ex- istence of common structures of difference that exist in different countries as a result of glocalization. The thesis established in this dissertation is that the cultural preferences of youth often come with class and race connotations. This interplay between class and race can be explained historic- ally as well as structurally through media consumption, which plays a significant role in the way young people learn to dress, speak, carry themselves and generally position themselves in relation to others. Due to global cultural flows these processes do not remain purely local phenomena but they find expression in localised forms as common structures of difference around the globe, thus structurally undermining local efforts to build a non-racial, non-classist society. These conclusions are based on primary research using a multi-method approach combining sur- veys on taste and racial attitudes with school-going youth in South Africa (Cape Town, n=1196) and Brazil (Belo Horizonte, n=860) with in-depth focus group interviews (only Cape Town). Us- ing descriptive statistics and multiple regression analysis (survey data) combined with qualitative data analysis (interviews) it was possible to demonstrate that there are clear differences in the cul- tural and media preferences of South African youth along class and race lines, which are reflec- ted, to a lesser extent, in the cultural and media preferences of Brazilian youth. i Acknowledgements First and foremost I would like to thank my parents – without their support this thesis would not have been possible. I would also like to thank my supervisor, Professor Jeremy Seekings, for giving me the freedom to follow my interests and pushing me when I was getting stuck. His help in securing funding and getting me to Brazil will also remain unforgotten. In Brazil I would like to thank Fabrício Mendes Fialho and Rodrigo Ednilson de Je- sus who helped me with my research in Belo Horizonte and making me feel at home. I would further like to extend my gratitude to everyone who gave me advice, con- structive criticism and encouragement related at seminars, workshops and conferences. Among my friends, there are many, too many to mention, I would have to thank for keeping me sane over the years, but I would like to mention especially Andrew Singleton, who actually read through the entire thesis, as well as Alex MacKay, Aara Welz, Mariagrazia Galimberti, Sam Smith and Tom Herbstein who made me go the final stretch. ii Contents 1 Introduction 1 2 Research Design 10 2.1 Preliminary Considerations............................................................................................10 2.2 Survey Samples................................................................................................................12 2.2.1 Cape Town .........................................................................................................12 2.2.2 Belo Horizonte ..................................................................................................18 2.3 Data Analysis ...................................................................................................................22 2.4 Key Concepts ..................................................................................................................28 4.2.1 Youth...................................................................................................................28 4.2.2 Class.....................................................................................................................28 4.2.3 Race .....................................................................................................................30 2.5 Operationalisation...........................................................................................................31 5.2.1 Cape Town .........................................................................................................31 5.2.2 Belo Horizonte ..................................................................................................36 3 Subcultures or Cultural Omnivores? 40 3.1 The View from Within: (Post-)Subcultural theory ....................................................40 3.2 The View from Above: Bourdieu’s Distinction in Contemporary Society............43 3.3 The Extended View: Cultural Glocalization...............................................................55 4 Youth, Social Inequality and Race in Cape Town and Belo Horizonte 60 4.1 Youth in Post-Apartheid South Africa........................................................................60 4.2 Media Segmentation in South Africa ...........................................................................73 4.3 Brazilian Connections ....................................................................................................77 iii 5 Race and Identity in Numbers 86 6 Distinction 106 6.1 Who are your idols?......................................................................................................109 6.2 What music do you like?..............................................................................................121 6.3 What are your favourite brands? ................................................................................134 6.4 Discussion......................................................................................................................150 7 Recasting Race 154 7.1 Television and Radio....................................................................................................157 7.2 New Media and Communication ...............................................................................177 7.3 Discussion......................................................................................................................183 8 Common Structures of Difference? 186 8.1 Who are your idols?......................................................................................................187 8.2 What music do you like?..............................................................................................195 8.3 Media Access and Communication............................................................................202 8.4 Discussion......................................................................................................................213 9 Conclusion 216 Bibliography 224 Appendix 236 iv v 1. Introduction At the FIFA World Cup 2010 the world saw a new South Africa. Visitors from home and afar enjoyed the tournament in state-of-the-art stadiums, FIFA gave the country a near-perfect ‘9 out of 10’ for hosting the event, the cities where matches were being held were shining and the roads connecting them in a better shape than ever before. It was also a remarkably peaceful event in spite of fear-mongering articles in foreign newspapers predicting a chaotic tournament marked by crime and violence. But above all visitors remarked positively on the friendly atmosphere and the hospitality of South Africans. Although the divisions of the past were still visible to those who cared enough to venture outside the hotels, stadiums and bars, South Africa was portrayed to be on the path of overcoming its divisive past and becoming a united nation. The other image that was brought to fans in the stadiums and on the TV screens was that of a cosmopolitan and open South Africa steeped in its African heritage. The tone was set by the tournament’s opening concert: local bands and musicians shared the stage with African and international, mostly American, big names such