Masters Degrees (Sociology)
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Browsing Masters Degrees (Sociology) by Author "Elliker, Florian"
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Item Open Access The aging experiences of English speaking older white woman in central South Africa(University of the Free State, 2014-01) Hellerle, Ferdinand; Elliker, Florian; Coetzee, Jan K.English: The aim of this study was to explore the aging experiences of older white English speaking women in central South Africa. The initial motivation for this study came from a conversation I had with my study supervisor and mentor regarding the disparity between the manner in which older people were portrayed in society and the way in which they view their own aging experiences. Six women, aged 65 years and older, within the Bloemfontein area (the capital of the Free State Province in South Africa) were recruited to take part in this study. A qualitative research approach is used to explore the stories the women shared of their aging experiences in in-depth interviews. An interpretive sociological approach, which incorporates phenomenology, existential sociology, and reflexive sociology, is chosen for the purpose of this study. The narrative accounts of their stories are constructed in terms of themes that emerged, linking it with the literature. Role changes during their life course are found to influence who they have become. The dissertation starts off by introducing aging as a phenomenon before reviewing the concept of aging and components such as, society’s view of aging, retirement, social relationships, living arrangements and spirituality. Identity and the changing roles during the life course of a women is conceptualized as means of further understanding of the aging process before introducing the ontological and epistemological foundation on which the investigative process is based. The narratives of the older women in the study portray a holistic picture of aging. Contrary to older women being portrayed as frail, dependent individuals in society, the analysis reveals that they view aging as a positive process. They have clear ideas and expectations of what they want from life. It affords them the freedom to utilize their time in a manner that pleases them without having the responsibility of having to take a spouse into consideration, or to care for children. Despite living on a marginal financial budget, they construct themselves as women having close links with family and friends, being active members in their churches and societies, and as independent women who enjoy the freedom of living life on their own terms and within their means. Being older brings with it, for them, confidence, selfawareness, and the freedom to make their own choices.Item Open Access Old stories and new chapters: a biographical study of white Afrikaans speaking identity in central South Africa(University of the Free State, 2013-02) Kotze, Paul Conrad; Coetzee, Jan. K.; Elliker, FlorianSince the fall of apartheid and the emergence of a wholly democratic South Africa in 1994, little research has been done on the topic of white identity in this rapidly transforming multicultural society. Indeed, apart from an array of popular books on the subject, there has been virtually no academic interest in the question of how white South Africans have reconstructed their individual and collective identities since the fall of apartheid, and the resulting erosion of the ready answers previously provided to them regarding questions of belonging and identification. This study set out to remedy this situation through exploring the identities that white South Africans, and white Afrikaans speakers in particular, have constructed out of the wreckage of the 20th century. Embracing a qualitative approach, this study focused on exploring stories of contemporary white Afrikaans speaking identity as told in the participants’ own words. Six individuals, ranging from students in their late teens to a grandson of Hendrik Verwoerd, shared their stories, which were reflexively engaged through an interpretive sociological approach that incorporated elements of phenomenology, existentialism and reflexive sociology. The dissertation starts off with an introduction to the epistemological and ontological foundation upon which the investigative process was built, before investigating the concept identity as conceptualised during the research process, namely as constituting a relatively stable but malleable set of understandings regarding the self and its place within society in general and specific racial, religious and cultural collectivities in particular. A history of white Afrikaans speaking identity is then presented, which makes clear the prior existence of at least three historical white Afrikaans speaking collectivities, namely the Burghers of the 17th and 18th centuries, the Boers of the 1800’s, and the Afrikaners of the 20th century. The stage is then set for the examination of the new collectivities that have developed since the demise of a coherent Afrikaner identity in the late 20th century. The data, collected by means of reflexive individual and group interviews, and analysed using ‘Dialogical Narrative Analysis’ (DNA), a process that focuses on the contents and circulation of individual and collectively shared stories, or ‘narrative repertoires’, indicate the existence of at least three relatively coherent contemporary white Afrikaans speaking collectivities. These are the ‘Pseudo-Boers’, the ‘Afrikaners’, and the ‘Afrikaanses’. These three collectivities, developing simultaneously and largely parallel to each other out of the once coherent Afrikaner collectivity of the previous century, exhibit significant variance regarding the content, structure and circulation of their narrative repertoires. This means that Afrikaners, Pseudo-Boers and Afrikaanses, on both the individual and collective levels, differ from each other in terms of the stories they tell and dynamics pertaining to the circulation of these stories, as well as the genres, plots and character types prevalent in them. These shared stories in turn represent, according to this study, the matrix out of which identity is constructed, be it individual or collective. The uncovered data are further represented in a manner borrowing from certain techniques used in the fields of semi-fiction writing and journalism, with the aim to aid understanding through presenting the data themselves in a storied form. This choice was made in line with the hypothesis, developed throughout this dissertation, that the uniquely human phenomenon of storytelling in fact underlies much of the social construction of reality, and serves to inform individual and collectively shared meaning frameworks and understandings regarding the world of everyday life.Item Open Access Young and upwardly mobile: voices from historically disadvantaged groups(University of the Free State, 2015-02) Kok, Michael Edward; Coetzee, Jan K.; Elliker, FlorianEnglish: South Africa’s first democratic elections in 1994 signalled a fundamental shift in the country’s social environment. The institutionalized racism that once subjugated the Black majority during apartheid gave way to legislature that aims to bring South Africa into a wholly new era of egalitarianism, the most striking result of which has been the steady influx of young Black people achieving upward mobility and making the transition into the middle- and upper-classes. The aim of this study is to conduct a phenomenological exploration into young Black South Africans’ lived experiences of upward mobility (the transition from a lower to a higher social class) with the express purpose of understanding how they construct their identities, both subjectively and in their interactions with others. Although there has been considerable interest in South Africa’s Black Diamonds and Buppies (as upwardly mobile Black people are often referred to), academic work on the upward mobility of Black people has largely been limited to quantitative studies in the field of economics and market research. This study thus attempts to fill a gap in the academic literature by offering insight into young Black South Africans’ subjective experiences of upward mobility and identity navigation. The foundation of this study is guided by the philosophical principles of interpretive research. As such, the aim is not to provide an objective explanation of the research participants’ experiences, but to explore how they perceive various experiences from their own unique perspectives. The research participants for this study are comprised of young, Black South Africans (between the ages of 18 and 30) who reside in the Bloemfontein area of Central South Africa. They are also specifically chosen to participate in this study because they have acquired professional occupations through educational attainment, which has placed them in a social position that is comparatively higher in the social hierarchy than that of their parents. The data for this study is collected by way of one-one-one interviews and a focus group discussion. The ultimate aim of the data collection is to obtain data that gets as close as possible to providing a first-hand account of the participants’ experiences with upward mobility and identity. This study therefore makes use of a narrative-centred approach to research, and the research participants’ stories are analysed according to an analytical framework known as the narrative practice approach. Rather than focusing purely on the content of the research participants’ stories, the narrative practice approach also focuses this study’s attention on how they tell their stories. The findings presented in this study touch upon numerous aspects of young Black South Africans’ lived experiences of upward mobility and identity, the most notable of which relate to the intersection of race and class in their interaction with others. Having made the transition from a lower social class that has historically been occupied by Blacks, into a higher social class that has historically been reserved for Whites, the research participants’ narratives richly illustrate how the accomplishment of upward social mobility is intrinsically affected by the everyday social process of identity construction and the unequal distribution of economic and cultural capital. As the dissertation’s findings suggest, the transition into a higher social class is not without its hardships. Apart from overcoming the more recognizable economic obstacles inherent in achieving upward mobility, the research participants’ narratives also shed light on transcending more implicit challenges to achieving upward mobility, such as cultural biases towards education, the lack of cultural knowledge needed to attend university, as well as the lack of cultural knowledge required to occupy a higher social class. More specific to the issue of identity construction, the research participants’ narratives indicate that because of their achievements, they are identified as members of a higher social class, both by people in their social class of origin, and by those in their achieved social class. However, the salience of race in South African society, coupled with the fact that South Africa’s class structure has invariably been shaped by race politics, means that the research participants find themselves in a unique position that requires them to successfully negotiate the presence of two separate and often contrasting identities. On the one hand, is an identity shaped by African traditions and culture within the lower class, and on the other hand, is a higher class identity that requires adherence to White South African culture if the participants are to fit in with those in their achieved social class.