Connecting at the intersection: Conversing identities on a street corner in Cape Town

The research proposes to unpack the process of identity negotiation among a group of Cape Bush doctors, as well as to reflect on my own negotiation. During the time spent together, these claimants of a KhoeSan identity presented a permeating Rastafari sense of belonging and reconnected with their...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Calleja, Remi
Other Authors: Swai, Marlon
Format: Dissertation
Language:English
Published: University of Cape Town 2020
Subjects:
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32465
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spelling ndltd-netd.ac.za-oai-union.ndltd.org-uct-oai-localhost-11427-324652020-12-31T05:11:34Z Connecting at the intersection: Conversing identities on a street corner in Cape Town Calleja, Remi Swai, Marlon Anthropology The research proposes to unpack the process of identity negotiation among a group of Cape Bush doctors, as well as to reflect on my own negotiation. During the time spent together, these claimants of a KhoeSan identity presented a permeating Rastafari sense of belonging and reconnected with their Indigenous identity through their work with herbs. The research participants challenged hegemonic perspectives on identity, culture, health, and respectability. They carried out their practices and beliefs within an urban environment represented by the space of the street corner. A central relational ontology emerged throughout the research, emphasizing the multiple underlying connections and interdependencies that structure their worldview and deeply influencing my personal development. The negotiation of their identity was shaped by constant processes of re-appropriation, adaptation, and re-composition and contributed to bridging historical, cultural, and social gaps imposed by years of colonisation, oppression, and marginalisation. I argue in this research that understanding the production of identity through a dynamic and fluid framework of knowledge participates to foster reinterpretations of agency, power, wealth, and marginality. To contend with the plurality of crisis we face in the contemporary moment, We must learn from these alternative worldviews. 2020-12-30T10:17:59Z 2020-12-30T10:17:59Z 2020 Master Thesis Masters MSocSc http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32465 eng application/pdf University of Cape Town Faculty of Humanities Social Anthropology
collection NDLTD
language English
format Dissertation
sources NDLTD
topic Anthropology
spellingShingle Anthropology
Calleja, Remi
Connecting at the intersection: Conversing identities on a street corner in Cape Town
description The research proposes to unpack the process of identity negotiation among a group of Cape Bush doctors, as well as to reflect on my own negotiation. During the time spent together, these claimants of a KhoeSan identity presented a permeating Rastafari sense of belonging and reconnected with their Indigenous identity through their work with herbs. The research participants challenged hegemonic perspectives on identity, culture, health, and respectability. They carried out their practices and beliefs within an urban environment represented by the space of the street corner. A central relational ontology emerged throughout the research, emphasizing the multiple underlying connections and interdependencies that structure their worldview and deeply influencing my personal development. The negotiation of their identity was shaped by constant processes of re-appropriation, adaptation, and re-composition and contributed to bridging historical, cultural, and social gaps imposed by years of colonisation, oppression, and marginalisation. I argue in this research that understanding the production of identity through a dynamic and fluid framework of knowledge participates to foster reinterpretations of agency, power, wealth, and marginality. To contend with the plurality of crisis we face in the contemporary moment, We must learn from these alternative worldviews.
author2 Swai, Marlon
author_facet Swai, Marlon
Calleja, Remi
author Calleja, Remi
author_sort Calleja, Remi
title Connecting at the intersection: Conversing identities on a street corner in Cape Town
title_short Connecting at the intersection: Conversing identities on a street corner in Cape Town
title_full Connecting at the intersection: Conversing identities on a street corner in Cape Town
title_fullStr Connecting at the intersection: Conversing identities on a street corner in Cape Town
title_full_unstemmed Connecting at the intersection: Conversing identities on a street corner in Cape Town
title_sort connecting at the intersection: conversing identities on a street corner in cape town
publisher University of Cape Town
publishDate 2020
url http://hdl.handle.net/11427/32465
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