tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-84867533503665931442024-03-07T23:33:07.754-08:00Undressing DurbanHenry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comBlogger115125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-71016863785002415732007-07-05T07:17:00.001-07:002007-07-05T07:17:40.308-07:00About the Book<div style="clear:both;"></div><div style="float:right;"><img src="http://www.sugargirlsandseamen.com/undressing-durban/images/undressing-durban-ad.jpg"></div>The School of Sociology and Social Studies on the Howard College and Pietermaritzburg campuses has started a writing initiative support group (WISA) to help academics to write, publish, become research active and produce local resources for teaching. The group was formed in April 2006 and since then one of its major milestones is publishing a book titled <i>Undressing Durban</i> edited by Dr Rob Pattman and Dr Sultan Khan. Undressing Durban was first published to provide insight and a critical orientation to Durban for the international delegates attending the World Congress of Sociology in July 2006.<br /><br />This version of <i>Undressing Durban</i> comprises articles from 54 contributors, most of whom are junior academics and postgraduate students in the Social Sciences (though there are also senior academics and undergraduate students among the contributors). The contributors were encouraged to write about topics with a Durban connection which 'excited' them, and the articles engage with readers as intelligent and critical laypeople (not as academic specialists) employing a variety of evocative styles. Some papers are more conventionally academic, some impassioned and rhetorical, some are self reflective and autobiographical, some focus on the 'voices' of 'minorities' and one deals with 'racial', gender and global inequalities in the form of a play set in Durban.<br /><br />Rather than 'dressing up' Durban, as in familiar tourist images, <i>Undressing Durban</i> investigates how the city is experienced by very different and unequally divided groups of people living there. <i>Undressing Durban</i> not only highlights the vast material inequalities between various groups in Durban, but also investigates the cultures and identities they construct in their everyday lives.<br /><br />It looks at street children and street traders and the problems they experience and the cultures they produce, unequal service provision in housing and transport, deteriorating residential spaces in the city centre, the living conditions, resistances and policing of shack dwellers, moral panics and 'race', student identities in the newly merged University and in mixed 'race' schools, mixed 'race' couples, 'outsiders'' experiences of Durban, loving and hating Jacob Zuma, entertainment, sport, beaches, nightlife and the cultural meanings attached to all of these, crime and paranoia about crime, prisons, corporal punishment in schools, coloured 'gangs' from the viewpoints of their 'members', Indian culture, Indian cinema and Indian heterogeneity, black African identities and culture in Durban, the vulnerabilities and agency of women sex workers, HIV positive young mothers, HIV/AIDS support groups, academic freedom and the problems of being junior academics and support workers at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.<br /><br /><i>Undressing Durban</i> is available at Adams Campus Bookstore at a special rate for students.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-89229872260107498282007-07-05T07:16:00.001-07:002007-07-05T07:30:10.530-07:00Table of Contents & Abstracts*Click any title for the abstract*<br /><br /><b>Section 1: Introducing Durban</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/if-its-durbs-its-poison-alternative.html">If it's Durbs it's poison!: an alternative introduction to Durban for tourists</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/woody-aroun.html">Woody Aroun</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/theatre-of-dreams-narrating-consumption.html">Theatre of Dreams: Narrating Consumption, Exclusion and Banality in Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/07/bernard-dubbeld.html">Bernard Dubbeld</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/old-wine-in-new-bottles-striving-for.html">Old Wine in New Bottles: Striving for the impossible in Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/elias-cebekhulu.html">Elias Cebekhulu</a> & <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/evan-mantzaris.html">Evan Mantzaris</a><br /><br /><b>Section 2: Outsiders in Durban (and Durbanites as outsiders)</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/im-african-not-coloured.html">I'm an African not a Coloured</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/wesley-oakes.html">Wesley Oakes</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/being-young-black-woman-from-botswana.html">Being a young black woman from Botswana in Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/one-selohilwe.html">One Selohilwe</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/creole-mauritian-with-olive-skin-coming.html">A Creole Mauritian with an Olive Skin coming to Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/marie-saramandif.html">Marie Saramandif</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/growing-up-in-durban-and-going-on.html">Growing up in Durban and going on holiday to Europe</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/sheritha-grindlay.html">Sheritha Grindlay</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/foreign-migrants-in-inner-city-of.html">Foreign Migrants in the Inner City of Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/biniam-misgun.html">Biniam Misgun</a><br /><br /><b>Section 3: Mixed 'race' heterosexual partners in Durban</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/but-what-will-your-children-be.html">But, what will your children be?</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/serrenta-naidoo.html">Serrenta Naidoo</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/our-mothers-dont-mind-so-why-should-you.html">Our mothers don't mind, so why should you?</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/06/anne-holloway.html">Anne Holloway</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/guess-whos-coming-for-dinner-and-other.html">'Guess Who's Coming for Dinner' and other Suburban Tales of Horror</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/megan-kleyn.html">Megan Kleyn</a><br /><br /><b>Section 4: Sport, Entertainment and Relaxation</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/white-and-black-sands-of-durban.html">The white and black sands of the Durban Beachfront</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/biniam-misgun.html">Biniam Misgun</a> & <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/wesley-oakes.html">Wesley Oakes</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/nightlife-in-durban-and-racial.html">Nightlife in Durban and 'racial' divisions</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/shabashni-moodley.html">Shabashni Moodley</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/durban-sport-theatre-of-spaces.html">Durban Sport: A Theatre of Spaces</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/lawrence-gordon.html">Lawrence Gordon</a> & <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/stephen-gordon.html">Stephen Gordon</a><br /><br /><b>Section 5: Transport and Residential Spaces in Durban</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/public-transport-challenges-in-durban.html">Public Transport Challenges in Durban—Travelling the Road to the World Cup 2010</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/sultan-khan.html">Sultan Khan</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/durbans-albert-park-residential-area.html">Durban's Albert Park Residential Area—a hundred Years on</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/simon-mapadimeng.html">Mokong Simon Mapadimeng</a><br /><br /><b>Section 6: Shack Dwellers</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/if-you-dont-die-first-fire-water-and.html">'If you don't die first': Fire, water and women in the shack settlements in Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/shannon-walsh.html">Shannon Walsh</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/life-and-death-in-banana-city.html">Life and Death in Banana City</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/evan-mantzaris.html">Evan Mantzaris</a> & <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/elias-cebekhulu.html">Elias Cebekhulu</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/struggles-and-triumphs-of-shack.html">Struggles and Triumphs of Shack Dwellers</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/fazel-khan.html">Fazel Khan</a><br /><br /><b>Section 7: Living on the streets and in hostels in Durban</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/voices-of-street-children-in-durban.html">The Voices of Street children in Durban Shelters</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/jackson-kariuki.html">Jackson Kariuki</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/challenging-stereotypes-of-street.html">Challenging Stereotypes of Street Children</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/shanta-singh.html">Shanta Singh</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/down-but-not-out-in-central-durban.html">Down but not out in Central Durban: 'Streetwisdom' and survival in a post-apartheid city</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/geoff-waters.html">Geoff Waters</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/scenes-from-urban-underworld.html">Scenes from an Urban Underworld</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/thorin-roberts.html">Thorin Roberts</a><br /><br /><b>Section 8: Fear of crime and moral panics</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/glimpses-through-cage-of-fear.html">Glimpses through the Cage of Fear: International Students experience Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/ravi-baghel.html">Ravi Baghel</a> & <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/06/anna-mayr.html">Anna Mayr</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/normalising-life-in-durban-bringing.html">Normalizing life in Durban: Bringing people back to its streets</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/ercument-celik.html">Ercument Celik</a> & <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/07/azad-essa.html">Azad Essa</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/undressing-crime-discourse-in-south.html">Undressing the crime discourse in South Africa</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/ralph-callebert.html">Ralph Callebert</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/defending-animals-defending-suburbs.html">Defending Animals; Defending Suburbs; Defending Civilisation</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/richard-ballard.html">Richard Ballard</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/security-challenge-for-durbans-tourist.html">The Security Challenge for Durban's Tourist Authority</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/sabrina-kettler.html">Sabrina Grosse Kettler</a><br /><br /><b>Section 9: Gangsters</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/devil-himself-walks-through-streets-of.html">The 'Devil' himself walks through the streets of Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/elias-cebekhulu.html">Elias Cebekhulu</a> & <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/evan-mantzaris.html">Evan Mantzaris</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/coloured-gangs-as-communities-in.html">Coloured 'gangs' as communities in Newlands East</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/wesley-oakes.html">Wesley Oakes</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/two-women-researching-male-gangsters-in.html">Two women researching (male) 'gangsters' in Newlands East</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/subashini-govender.html">Subashini Govender</a> & <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/one-selohilwe.html">One Selohilwe</a><br /><br /><b>Section 10: Punishments</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/overcrowding-in-durban-prison.html">Overcrowding in a Durban prison</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/shanta-singh.html">Shanta Singh</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/corporal-punishment-in-durban-schoo.html">Corporal punishment in a Durban school</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/lee-ann-inderpal.html">Lee-Ann Inderpal</a><br /><br /><b>Section 11: Indian identities and culture</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/drawing-curtain-indian-cinema-in-grey.html">Drawing the curtain: Indian cinema in the Grey Street Complex</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/ebrahim-essa.html">Ebrahim Essa</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/gujarati-trading-class-within-indian.html">The Gujarati trading class within the Indian Community—Shaped and styled by historical contradictions</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/kalpana-hiralal.html">Kalpana Hiralal</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/living-double-life-home-and-university.html">Living a double life: home and University</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/sandhisha-jay-narain.html">Sandhisha Jay Narain</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/minority-report-undressing-indians-in.html">The Minority Report: Undressing 'Indians' in Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/kathryn-pillay.html">Kathryn Pillay</a><br /><br /><b>Section 12: Black African Identities and culture</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/black-solidarity-and-black-divisions.html">Black Solidarity and black divisions</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/sibusiso-mpama.html">Sibusiso Mpama</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/homogenisation-and-zulu-nationalism-in.html">Homogenisation and Zulu Nationalism in the Casino City</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/mxolisi-ngcongo.html">Mxolisi Ngcongo</a> & <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/humphrey-glass.html">Humphrey Glass</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/global-cultural-consumption-and.html">Global Cultural Consumption and Aesthetic Choices of Clothing within Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/claudia-martinez-mullen.html">Claudia Martinez-Mullen</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/invoking-culture-and-sexuality-black.html">Invoking 'culture' and sexuality: Black girls in mixed 'race' schools in Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/rob-pattman.html">Rob Pattman</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/loving-and-hating-jacob-zuma.html">Loving and hating Jacob Zuma</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/wangari-muthuki.html">Wangari Muthuki</a> & <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/rob-pattman.html">Rob Pattman</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/who-am-i.html">who am I?</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/tshque-harcharan.html">Tshque Harcharan</a><br /><br /><b>Section 13: HIV/AIDS</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/voices-of-hiv-positive-young-mothers.html">Voices of HIV positive young mothers</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/nirmala-gopal.html">Nirmala Gopal</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/tree-at-operation-bobbi-bear.html">The Tree at Operation Bobbi Bear</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/hema-hargovan.html">Hema Hargovan</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/reflections-on-activities-of-support.html">Reflections on the activities of the support group in House Number 233</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/wangari-muthuki.html">Wangari Muthuki</a><br /><br /><b>Section 14: University of KwaZulu-Natal</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/significance-students-attach-to-race-at.html">The Significance Students attach to 'Race' at the University of KwaZulu-Natal</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/rob-pattman.html">Rob Pattman</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/coming-to-foreign-country-adjusting-to.html">Coming to a Foreign Country: adjusting to the University of KwaZulu-Natal</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/ntokozo-zulu.html">Ntokozo Zulu</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/relinquishing-my-authority-as-teacher.html">Relinquishing my authority as teacher</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/kibbie-naidoo.html">Kibbie Naidoo</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/restructuring-at-ukzn-and-job-losses.html">Restructuring at the UKZN and Job Losses: the Case of Cleaners and Grounds Staff</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/simon-mapadimeng.html">Mokong Simon Mapadimeng</a> & <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/sthembiso-bhengu.html">Sthembiso Bhengu</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/problems-of-being-junior-academic-at.html">The Problems of being a Junior Academic at UKZN</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/shaun-ruggunan.html">Shaun Ruggunan</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/importance-of-communicating-freely.html">The Importance of Communicating Freely</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/nithaya-chetty.html">Nithaya Chetty</a><br /><br /><b>Section 15: Women sex workers in Durban</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/dehumanising-street-sex-workers-in.html">Dehumanising street sex workers in Durban</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/faith-ka-manzi.html">Faith ka-Manzi</a><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/women-of-durbans-dockside-sex-industry.html">The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/henry-trotter.html">Henry Trotter</a><br /><br /><b>Section 16: Local and global inequalities and challenging these</b><br /><i><a class="table" href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/wonderwoman-vs-world-bank.html">Wonderwoman vs the World Bank</a></i><br /> <a class="table" href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/07/ari-sitas.html">Ari Sitas</a>Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-45634562278417814172007-07-05T07:15:00.001-07:002007-07-05T07:21:59.888-07:00Review by Imraan Buccus<div style="float:right;"><img src="http://www.cpp.org.za/about/staff/Imraan_s.jpg"></div><b>Getting to the heart of the city</b><br /><br /><i>The new book that undresses Durban illustrates how the city is experienced by the different, unequally divided groups of people living here</i><br /><br /><blockquote>WE ARRIVE (in Durban). We haven't slept in a while, come out into the sunshine, drive to the city, see hills.<br /><br />Wow! No one said there were hills here - we thought there was only crime.<br /><br />We drive to a house. It has an electric fence and a remote-controlled gate.<br /><br />Inside there is a board that says this is the GSP refugee camp, there is a pool and palm trees beyond.<br /><br />We don't have accommodation, so this is where we will wait until we find a place to stay. Old friends, new place, high walls - it's all unreal, but need to sleep now.<br /><br />We wake up. The sun is setting. Should we check out the nightlife?<br /><br />"Are you crazy?" our friends, who got here last week, ask us. "You can't go out after 5.30pm."</blockquote><br /><div style="float:right;"><img src="http://vne-resource.iol.co.za/24/picdb/page_thumbs/medium_new/page_6061345.jpg"></div>So begins a chapter in a new book entitled <i>Undressing Durban</i> (edited by UKZN sociologists Sultan Khan and Rob Pattman) and launched at the Time of the Writer Festival in Durban. The book looks at Durban through many lenses and engages with readers as intelligent and critical laypeople, not as academic specialists, employing a variety of evocative styles.<br /><br />Durban is a fascinating and plural city with a co-dominance of African, Asian and European cultures.<br /><br />Fractured<br /><br />But Durban is also in South Africa, and South Africa is a brutalised and fractured society, still recovering from centuries of domination and prejudice, so while there may now be a co-dominance of cultures, most things are still seen through the lenses of the white middle-class minority. And this book attempts to change that.<br /><br />The way "insiders", "outsiders", poor blacks and Indians, gangsters, sex workers and street children experience Durban is vastly different from the way Durban's city fathers promote the city. And different from the way typical middle-class people experience the city.<br /><br />Such a complex and multi-dimensional construction of Durban would mean that a book, especially one edited by sociologists, would make for interesting reading.<br /><br />Rather than dressing up Durban in the images familiar to tourists, <i>Undressing Durban</i> illustrates different experiences of the city, highlighting vast material inequalities between various groups, and investigates the cultures and identities they construct in their everyday lives.<br /><br />One can read about "Coloured gangs" from the perspective of their members, about Indian culture, and the paranoia about crime in a sociologically fascinating city.<br /><br />Interestingly, the book surfaces information that readers in Durban may not be aware of. Durban has pockets of wealth and poverty, and informally racialised spaces sitting next to each other.<br /><br />While Durban has much in common with other cities in post-apartheid South Africa, what gives it its specific character is its particular mix of cultures and races (partly derived from its position as a major sea port on the East Coast).<br /><br />What also makes Durban different from other cities in South Africa is the close proximity of different groups marked by huge disparities in resources and life chances.<br /><br />For example, exclusively black areas such as Amaoti, in Inanda, compete internationally for the lowest ranking on the Human Development Index, whereas Umhlanga, an overwhelmingly white area, just next door to Amaoti, competes with California in terms of the index.<br /><br />Engagement<br /><br />The city's attempts at "hiding away" street children when conferences take place in Durban mean that delegates do not get to experience the real Durban - and only experience Durban as tourists, precluding engagement with various groups of people living here.<br /><br />When visitors to Durban live in beachfront hotels, whisked from one conference venue to another, they do not experience the Durban that also has poverty, street children and a lack of housing.<br /><br />Thus, when Durban is "undressed", the paraphernalia on marketing the city as first class falls away, and what emerges quite starkly is the fact that a great deal more needs to be done to deal with the social issues in the city.<br /><br />One soon realises that the city cannot be taken for granted and be masked behind tourism images.<br /><br /><i>Undressing Durban</i> is a compelling read, not for those seeking a perverted insight into the city, but for those wanting to nurture their social imagination through the lenses of writers with first-hand experience of this urban space.<br /><br />What ultimately emerges from this fascinating read is the idea that human development goes beyond beautiful gardens, buildings and golden sand on the beachfront.<br /><br />-----<br /><b>Imraan Buccus</b> is a political researcher and is undertaking a PhD in issues of poverty and civil society.<br /><br />Originally published in <i>The Mercury</i> - <a href="http://www.themercury.co.za/index.php?fArticleId=3765461">April 04, 2007 Edition 1</a>Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-71394356634283300842007-07-05T07:10:00.000-07:002007-07-05T07:21:24.841-07:00Review by Mavuso DinganiIt’s more than just a book, it’s an idea—an original, punchy, and thoughtful one at that. It has succeeded in undressing and stripping naked the gory underside of the people and the place—Durbanites in Durban. What right today has a collection of buildings and people to call itself a city in the global south, if it does not have, for example, its own fair share of the world oldest ‘professionals’ or gangsters who live and die beyond the law? Or the mosaic of colourful cultures co-existing and of course, sometimes reluctant to share the same space? In the age of global capital, the city has its poor, who are excluded from the technological revolution, living on the edge of survival. Yes, that’s Durban for you; it has it all that and more, and deserves to be called a city in the global south. <br /><br />That is exactly what the recently published <i>Undressing Durban</i> is about.<br /><br /><i>Undressing Durban</i> was a mammoth undertaking to put together. The book runs almost up to 500 pages, contains 52 articles grouped into 16 sections, written by 54 contributors from no less than 12 countries from five continents. But it is more than just the sum total of its articles, it transcends them all because individually none of the articles can quite articulate the complexity of a city such as Durban. <br /><br /><i>Undressing Durban</i> was the brainchild of its editors, Sultan Khan and Rob Pattman, both UKZN sociology lecturers. Their idea was to invite academics, students and members of the community to submit articles from their research field or interest pieces on their experiences of and in Durban. It is challenging to review a book as varied as Undressing Durban, that touches on a lot of diverse and often seemingly unrelated experiences and social phenomena. It is also difficult because one runs the risk of overemphasizing one aspect over another. To put it simply, the reviewer may well tend to focus on aspects that are in his/her interests overlooking other issues that are just as equally important. One may well be accused of being selective. <br /><br />The book’s articles fall into six broad categories: ‘race’ relations, poverty, crime, identity, HIV and AIDS, and the sex industry in Durban. <br /><br />The articles in the category of ‘race’ relations can equally qualify as the best in the whole book, because they provide some of the most moving and frank narratives. They are a gold mine for future research on self perceptions on the issues of ‘race’ and ‘race’ relations. But sadly their very ‘narrativeness’, the idea of just simply telling a story about one self, can also degenerate into a lack self-reflection, a lack of being grounded in the historicity of ‘race’ relations, and thus the ‘here and now’ over-determines all perceptions. As the editors point out in their introduction, that “the ‘Rainbow Nation’ has become a powerful fantasy which glosses over the perpetuation of apartheid-like relations, inequalities and identities in post-apartheid South Africa.” (pg18). <br /><br />This becomes obvious when the book is read as a whole because ‘race’ seems to permeate throughout most of the articles, and when ‘race’ is not specifically stated its very absence somehow shows how much of a salient feature it is in Durban. Thus ‘race’ which was very much a defining feature pre-1994, its no a surprise then that almost every of socio-economic feature that relates to power, poverty, sex, disease and space is still burdened by this powerful ‘illusion’ that we call ‘‘race’’1. In fact it was Marx himself (1852) who pointed out in the Eighteenth Brumaire of Louis Bonaparte that “the tradition of all past generations weighs like an alp upon the brain of the living.” <br /><br />And so it is that the traditions of past generations still weighs upon us when you read the articles by One Silohilwe, Marie Saramandif, Shiretha Grindlay, and Sabashni Moodley of ‘race’ relations in Durban. They are about displacement, a feeling of outsideness, of the right to define oneself independent of essentialist discourses, the pitfalls of ‘race’ categorization and exclusion at UKZN and the city at large. I identify and empathise with them, feeling as an outsider too and having sometimes made my own blunders negotiating the minefields of Durban’s ‘race’ relations. Again notwithstanding the clearness, moving, and brilliant storytelling that each of these articles provide, which I cannot again overemphasize, there seems something that is left unsaid. Or rather it’s the typical Freudian tenet ‘they do not know that they know it’. The writers unknowingly either praise inclusion into white space where it exists and lament exclusion where it manifests itself.<br /><br />None it seems, never talk (praise or lament it) of being excluded in black African spaces, except for one who is surprisingly black herself. Of course, this is certainly no fault of their own considering that historically white economic and cultural capital is so powerful that one naturally wants to be included in white spaces—myself too. Trendy hip nightclubs in Durban are in formally all white areas, where it is safe and cool to be seen. Furthermore, if one has a sport other than soccer, one naturally finds herself with more than average white playmates. Cutting edge art and cultural events are also located in predominantly white environs. Not too mention the ‘middle class-ness’, which all students and young professionals aspire to, is generally associated with whiteness. <br /><br />Thus, the unreflective nature of the articles is that they do not question why their world is so. Why shouldn’t it be the case that art and cultural events be equally divided across all racialised spaces in Durban? In fact why should they be places where one population group (‘race’) predominates in a free South Africa 13 years after democracy. Thus ‘race’, and the editors indirectly alluded to this point, should be viewed through the lens of access, access to resources either economic or cultural. However, there is hope they are all still students, and I am sure sometime in the future they will see these contradiction. <br /><br />There are many articles on poverty and this should not surprise anyone considering that South Africa ranks 11 out of 125 countries listed in the United Nations’ Human Development Report 20062. The Shannon Walsh article on shack dwellers shows the wretchedness of their lives and, for example, that “ (in) Kennedy Road, an informal settlement comprising nearly 7 000 residents, women spend hours queuing for water at a single tap that serves 700 [people].” She highlights the perils of accidental fires that can rage through the settlement killing several people. Coincidentally, today 30 April 2007, two people from the same settlement were killed from a raging fire.<br /><br />However, as <i>Undressing Durban</i> also shows, people are not passive victims of circumstances beyond their control but also active agents attempting to subjugate and tame the forces that make their lives a living hell. The shack dwellers are also fighting back. Several other articles, eg by Fazel Khan and Evan Mantzaris, show them fighting back against the authorities as they demand land and housing, water, electricity and sanitation. It should be an indictment to society. They are fighting for the right to live like us. <br /><br />For some writers though, shack dwellers are not the worst affected by the gross inequalities that plague our city. In fact, having a shack that you can call home is a blessing in itself because they are others less fortunate who live on the streets of Durban or in its crowded shelters. Shanta Singh and Jackson Kariuki have done research on Durban’s street children, some as young as 10, battling daily to find food and a safe place sleep. The two articles smash our stereotypes of street Kids as delinquents, as thieves targeting women and the elderly, as glue inhalers and so forth. Many are that, that’s for sure. But the writers also show the other side. That the children have dreams of educating themselves, of bettering their life situation. We are also shown their sense of camaraderie as fellow travellers in Durban’s unforgiving streets. <br /><br />Geoff Water and Thorin Roberts have researched people living Durban in shelters for the homeless. We see how a man can survive on R20 a day, which is enough for a bed to sleep in and food to eat. Incidentally I have met a few and befriended one such sort at my favourite watering hole. These guys are pretty decent and many have trades (mechanics, fitters, boilermakers etc) and had served well for the former regimes defence forces – they were not all ‘Prime Evil’. However, in the changing economic landscape of the post-apartheid era, job losses and retrenchments of workers occurred and there was no alternative but the streets. The articles show people who have been left out of the ‘Rainbow Miracle’. The difference is that they are white. The importance of the two articles is that they talk about the plight of people that everyone is quick to denigrate—Afrikaner, white and male. <br /><br />How could one talk about 2010, immigration, amakwerekwere, Durban’s CBD, middle class gated communities, and South Africa in general without crime coming up as a topic? Crime is such a divisive topic that the writers in the book seem to tread on it as if it where a ground strewn with eggs. The authors all more or less articulate the right ‘left’ sentiment, which I of course believe too, But wouldn’t it have been refreshing to have had one article clamouring for the death penalty, castration, or hand chopping? In moments when my suppressed rightwing leanings escape from the deepest recesses of my soul, triggered by a mugging, or being held at knife point without a cent in my pocket; anticipating—where the hell is he gonna knife me, I feel like crying—BRING IT BACK!<br /><br />As a young black male I have experienced that look of fear directed against me and it is rather disturbing. One Thursday evening I was shopping in Musgrave Centre. Late as always, I found myself hurrying to get to a bookshop before it closed shop. I strode towards my destination, oblivious to all around me. Little did I notice a middle aged white woman in front eyeing my rapid approach. As I approached the door of the bookshop, she broke into her a run towards the nearest security guard. Nothing happened though she didn’t say anything to the guard, glad to have escaped yet another mugging. I was also thankful too that she didn’t do anything afterwards. But it left me feeling like a criminal. I actually felt guilty that I had done something wrong. <br /><br />The book also discusses the sex trade in the city. It talks about the women involved, their lives, how they conduct their business and the trappings of the trade. Henry Trotter’s article is a good investigative piece that unravels the best, worst and most gory underside of the sex trade. One can’t help but admire these young women, who are generally functionally illiterate, but are able to drive hard bargains against the most sophisticated sailors who have travelled the world over. But Faith Ka-Manzi’s article on the same topic reminds us that it is still a risky and dangerous business. <br /><br />It is impossible to discuss all the interesting articles in this book. For instance, there is Wesley Oakes’ rather revealing article entitled “I am not coloured, I am an African”, which explores the fluidity of identity, belonging, and how the way others see us, reveals what they are. Or Ari Sitas’ play at the end that wraps up the whole book. Set in the more rural areas of the Durban Metropolitan, the play weaves a cauldron of globalization, poverty, government inaction and the poor people who pay the price for it all – and the taste is bitter. But then that’s Durban for you, it’s a bitter sweet taste. And Undressing Durban goes a long way in proving it so.<br /><br />By <b>Mavuso Dingani</b>: 2 May 2007<br /><br />Originally posted on the <a href="http://www.ukzn.ac.za/ccs/default.asp?2,40,5,1300" target="_blank">Centre for Civil Society</a> website.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-78344527265039748762007-07-04T04:18:00.001-07:002007-07-04T04:18:47.584-07:00Bernard Dubbeld<div style="float:right;"><img src="http://www.sugargirlsandseamen.com/undressing-durban/images/bernard-dubbeld.jpg" alt="Bernard Dubbeld"></div>Bernard Dubbeld is a PhD Candidate in Anthropology and History at the University of Chicago. Before that, he received his BA (Honours) in Philosophy and Masters in History at UKZN. His PhD focuses on the relationship between masculinity and the effects of the decline of wage work in KwaZulu-Natal, and considers how people create communities and forge social bonds as mechanisms of survival and social reproduction.<br /><br />In his chapter, <i>Theatre of Dreams, Narrating Consumption, Exclusion and Banality in Durban</i>, Bernard takes the reader on a tour of Durban. It provides a fascinating cultural geography in and around the city, moving from downtown Durban to the suburban spaces near and further away from the city. <br /><br />Reference:<br />Dubbeld, Bernard. 'Theatre of Dreams, Narrating Consumption, Exclusion and Banality in Durban', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 68-73.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-79656699651763145962007-07-03T13:35:00.000-07:002007-07-03T13:36:45.135-07:00Azad Essa<div style="float:right;"><img src="http://www.sugargirlsandseamen.com/undressing-durban/images/azad-essa.jpg" alt="Azad Essa"></div>Azad Essa was brought up in the States—Durban's Clare Estate—balancing Hindi cinema, cricket and the Famous Five. A graduate of the Global Studies Programme, Azad now slaves away at the Industrial Organisational and Labour Studies Research Unit at UKZN as a researcher (in between freelance journalism and film-making). Azad remains elusive to the city. Durban hasn't quite understood what to make of him just yet.<br /><br />In their chapter, <i>Normalising life in Durban: Bringing people back to its streets</i>, Azad and <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/ercument-celik.html">Ercüment Çelik</a> draw from their frustrations (as local & international students) with crime and fear as ‘an obstacle towards having fun in this city.’ They write about how Durban's city centre is seen as a no go area by ‘the average middle class Durbanites,’ especially whites. While Indians may ‘man’ their businesses, there are few Indian pedestrians. Constructions of Durban city as dangerous are shared more widely at night: the city virtually shuts down. The paper raises questions about how to open up the city to everyone and reclaim the streets at night. It offers imaginative suggestions.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Çelik, Ercüment, and Essa, Azad. 'Normalising life in Durban: Bringing people back to its streets', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 235-242.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-36440037160297718432007-07-01T02:33:00.001-07:002007-07-01T02:33:10.924-07:00Ari Sitas<div style="float:right;"><img src="http://www.gsp.uni-freiburg.de/images/people/sitas-ari-2003a.jpg"></div>Ari Sitas is a writer and sociologist. He is the Head of School of Sociology and Social Studies at UKZN.<br /><br />In his chapter, <i>Wonderwoman vs the World Bank</i>, Ari treats us to a witty and biting play about gender, class, ‘race’, wealth, fax machines and ‘poverty contests’ set in and around Durban (and Geneva). This revolves around a woman—Wonderwoman—living in a rural area near Durban, and her experiences of and responses to local and global inequalities, and her triumphs.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Sitas, Ari. 'Wonderwoman vs the World Bank', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 454-491.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-61325505056282182492007-06-30T15:28:00.000-07:002007-06-30T15:29:10.623-07:00Anne Holloway<div style="float:right;"><img src="http://www.sugargirlsandseamen.com/undressing-durban/images/anne-holloway.jpg" alt="Anne Holloway"></div>Anne Holloway has been a high school English teacher in Durban for the past nine years. Before that, she was a faculty officer at the University of Natal (now UKZN).<br /><br />In her chapter, <i>Our mothers don’t mind, so why should you?</i>, Anne—a white South African married to a black Eritrean <a href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/biniam-misgun.html">Biniam Misgun</a>—reflects upon being stared at with her partner. She does not know whether they are being stared at because they are a mixed couple or because people are not quite sure how to classify her partner who does not look locally black. Elderly white women look at her as if she is ‘degrading’ herself; young black women save their disgust for Biniam (perhaps because he is seen as rejecting them). Hostility may not only be due to their inter-raciality, but by a perception of Biniam as a black ‘outsider’. Indeed, when Biniam became the target of ‘racial’ violence, he was with Anne in a popular shopping centre. Anne's piece offers a sensitive portrayal of Durban's 'racial' fault/lines.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Holloway, Anne. 'Our mothers don’t mind, so why should you?', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 108-111.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-1121505352196840072007-06-30T04:04:00.001-07:002007-06-30T04:04:43.834-07:00Anna Mayr<div style="float:right;"><img src="http://www.sugargirlsandseamen.com/undressing-durban/images/anna-mayr.jpg" alt="Anna Mayr"></div>Anna Mayr is currently studying in the Global Studies Programme, a master of social sciences, jointly offered by Albert-Ludwigs-University, Freiburg, Germany, UKZN and Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi. Looking back at her semester in Durban, she remembers the city as a rich field for observations on aspects of globalisation, identities, perspectives and opinions, leading to never ending discussions at the coffee shop.<br /><br />In their chapter, <i>Glimpses through the Cage of Fear: International Students experience Durban</i>, Anna and <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/ravi-baghel.html">Ravi Baghel</a> show that crime—or rather talk about crime—is one of the main things to hit outsiders when they arrive in South Africa. The writers provide an account of their experiences as international students: not of crime, but of crime discourse. They discuss the dramatic impact of the fear of crime on their lives, as conveyed in conversations with South Africans and reflected in the security arrangements in their neighbourhood. They consider how this made them feel like prisoners in their home. They were eventually brave enough to go downtown to experience aspects of Durban which they would have otherwise missed out on. Their piece also draws attention to the ways fear of crime restricts the movements of women; they refer to women venturing into public spaces in Durban only if accompanied by their fellow male students.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Baghel, Ravi, and Mayr, Anna. 'Glimpses through the Cage of Fear: International Students experience Durban', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 228-234.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-67148353855431458622007-05-17T15:29:00.001-07:002007-05-17T15:29:46.349-07:00Wonderwoman vs the World BankIn the chapter, <i>Wonderwoman vs the World Bank</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/ari-sitas.html">Ari Sitas</a> treats us to a witty and biting play about gender, class, ‘race’, wealth, fax machines and ‘poverty contests’ set in and around Durban (and Geneva). This revolves around a woman—Wonderwoman—living in a rural area near Durban, and her experiences of and responses to local and global inequalities, and her triumphs.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Sitas, Ari. 'Wonderwoman vs the World Bank', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 454-491.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-81381107866077477562007-05-17T15:28:00.002-07:002007-05-17T15:29:06.357-07:00The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex IndustryIn the chapter, <i>The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/henry-trotter.html">Henry Trotter</a> looks at the lives of dockside sex workers who solicit at a nightclub catering to foreign sailors. He considers their experiences as sex workers and how they deal with stigmatization, family concerns, chemical abuse, moral dilemmas, diseases, and violence. He assesses their fears/frustration and their dreams/longings for what they hope to achieve through this work. One set of conclusions Henry offers is that dockside women are relatively empowered compared to their streetwalking & brothel-working counterparts. Hailing from upcountry locales, they successfully live "double lives" that protect them from family and communal reprisals. Their clients—foreign transients—pose no threat to their identities (ie. they have no social power outside the dockside world). Soliciting from a safe nightclub, they retain the right to refuse men they don't like. And because they're the knowledgeable locals in the transaction, they choose the location of sex, greatly enhancing their power to insist on condom-use.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Trotter, Henry. 'The Women of Durban's Dockside Sex Industry', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 441-452.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-16719049284950136892007-05-17T15:28:00.001-07:002007-05-17T15:28:30.076-07:00Dehumanising street sex workers in DurbanIn the chapter, <i>Dehumanising street sex workers in Durban</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/faith-ka-manzi.html">Faith ka-Manzi</a> focuses on the stigmatisation and abuse of Durban's street sex workers. Not only are they subject to physical and sexual abuse by certain men on the streets, but they receive little or no protection from the police. Assumptions about sex workers as bad and immoral are also shared by members of the police and these may lead to them not taking seriously the claims of sex workers of being raped or abused, as if such women have only themselves to blame. Furthermore the criminalisation of sex work makes reporting of abuses particularly difficult. Faith works with women sex workers on the streets in Durban, treating them as human beings, offering them emotional and physical support. Her piece is a powerful account of their dehumanisation by others, their vulnerabilities and lack of voice.<br /><br />Reference:<br />ka-Manzi, Faith. 'Dehumanising street sex workers in Durban', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 438-440.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-91663280015682037382007-05-17T15:27:00.001-07:002007-05-17T15:27:58.601-07:00The Importance of Communicating FreelyIn the chapter, <i>The Importance of Communicating Freely</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/nithaya-chetty.html">Nithaya Chetty</a> raises concerns about lack of openness and academic freedom at UKZN. He refers to a recent Senate resolution that staff exercise due care when communicating with the media so as not to ‘bring the university into disrepute.’ Nithaya argues that what counts as bringing the university into disrepute needs to be specifically and narrowly defined in terms of racism, dishonesty, etc. His worry is that the emphasis on ‘confidentiality’ within the university may lead to important issues, like transformation or equity, being ‘limited only to normal structures within the University’ and debated in a context of ‘fear of retribution.’ Nithaya refers to concerns expressed by the Freedom of Expression Institute about the ‘severe decline’ in ‘free expression and academic freedom’ at UKZN. Ironically it could be argued that it is this which is bringing the university into disrepute.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Chetty, Nithaya. 'The Importance of Communicating Freely', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 433-436.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-25578256085121458302007-05-17T15:26:00.002-07:002007-05-17T15:27:12.376-07:00The Problems of being a Junior Academic at UKZNIn the chapter, <i>The Problems of being a Junior Academic at UKZN</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/shaun-ruggunan.html">Shaun Ruggunan</a> expresses concern about the failure of the University to be sufficiently business-like in its treatment of junior academics. He focuses on his own experiences negotiating academic hierarchies—thrown in the deep end and expected to swim without any kind of orientation. He would like to see the university adopt some of the values of business to ensure the rights of junior academics are recognised and respected. Currently how junior academics are treated—whether mentored, encouraged, ignored or abused—depends on the predispositions of senior academics with in/formal responsibility for them. The idealised notion of ‘collegiality’—under threat from the economisation of relations—may be used or abused to maintain problematic and unequal power structures. Shaun draws attention to the ways ‘extreme and nuanced power relations’ operate at lower levels in the university hierarchy.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Ruggunan, Shaun. 'The Problems of being a Junior Academic at UKZN', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 424-432.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-58218004791245686342007-05-17T15:26:00.001-07:002007-05-17T15:26:38.437-07:00Restructuring at the UKZN and Job Losses: the Case of Cleaners and Grounds StaffIn the chapter, <i>Restructuring at the UKZN and Job Losses: the Case of Cleaners and Grounds Staff</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/simon-mapadimeng.html">Simon Mapadimeng</a> and <a href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/sthembiso-bhengu.html">Sthembiso Bhengu</a> outline restructuring processes in South African higher education and UKZN, focusing on their devastating impact on cleaners and ground staff. They argue that the ideals of the merger (between the old University of Durban-Westville and the University of Natal) to create a non-racialised university and to broaden access to people from all ‘races’, were seriously compromised as it became a tool for neo-liberal ideology. Such restructuring, they argue, has generated huge inequities in pay and conditions between a top-heavy administration and other workers. The authors draw on interviews with support staff who have been retrenched as a result of the merger and with cleaners still in the university’s employment. The entrenched workers claim that they were pressured to take severance packages, of which they received little information and turned out to be much less than expected. The employed cleaners complain about low wages and lack of promotion opportunities. Both groups complain bitterly about the collapse of their pension fund in which, with the authority of the university, their savings had been invested.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Mapadimeng, Mokong Simon, and Bhengu, Sthembiso. 'Restructuring at the UKZN and Job Losses: the Case of Cleaners and Grounds Staff', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 413-423.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-21909486583317386722007-05-17T15:25:00.001-07:002007-05-17T15:25:55.600-07:00Relinquishing my authority as teacherIn the chapter, <i>Relinquishing my authority as teacher</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/kibbie-naidoo.html">Kibbie Naidoo</a> argues for student-centred teaching pedagogies that shift power from teacher to students. This makes the teacher a co-learner and validates student experience and knowledge as crucial bases for education. Kibbie describes how she tried to do this with political activists and trade unionists—adult learners—attending an Access course for admission to a university degree course. They were surprised to enter a classroom where all the usual signifiers of teacher authority—strategically placed tables and chairs, teacher at the ‘front’—were absent. In fact there were no chairs and tables, only cushions. Kibbie reflects on how she tried to act as co-learner, discussing the issues students broached when generating knowledge themselves. The students appreciated working as a group rather than as individuals expected to take down notes or write private essays (as is traditional).<br /><br />Reference:<br />Naidoo, Kibbie. 'Developing transformative learning approaches and relinquishing my authority as teacher', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 407-412.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-79020219152789837862007-05-17T15:23:00.002-07:002007-05-17T15:24:17.323-07:00Coming to a Foreign Country: adjusting to the University of KwaZulu-NatalIn the chapter, <i>Coming to a Foreign Country: adjusting to the University of KwaZulu-Natal</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/ntokozo-zulu.html">Ntokozo Zulu</a> writes about the importance of being black to her as a student at UKZN. Coming from a black single-sex high school, she welcomes the opportunity to interact with students of other ‘races’, as well as males. Significantly, she writes about how little she knows about people in her classes from other ‘races’ despite being with them for two years. But she stresses the importance of lecturers encouraging ‘racial’ mixing in group work. Ntokozo also discusses the concerns of black students who come from relatively resource-poor high school backgrounds: struggles with varsity fees and problems of reading and writing with speed and fluency in English. <br /><br />Reference:<br />Zulu, Ntokozo. 'Coming to a Foreign Country: adjusting to the University of KwaZulu-Natal', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 405-406.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-73886093553112521592007-05-17T15:23:00.001-07:002007-05-17T15:23:42.521-07:00The Significance Students Attach to ‘Race’ at the University of KwaZulu-NatalIn the chapter, <i>The Significance Students Attach to ‘Race’ at the University of KwaZulu-Natal</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/rob-pattman.html">Rob Pattman</a> argues that the university is not a ‘melting pot’. Students tend to congregate and identify with racialised groups. He reports on a project his students conducted on student identities at Howard College, in which ‘race’ emerged as a key group marker. The student researchers also attached much significance to ‘race’ as displayed in their choice of students to work with in teams as well as their choice of subjects to interview. Usually, they were the same 'race'. Rob focuses on the problems his students encountered researching student ‘racial’ identities. Even though the student groups they identified were racialised, the researchers were reluctant to question them about ‘race’ lest they be seen as racist. Referring to some of his students’ positive experiences in working in ‘racially’ mixed teams, Rob argues for pedagogic approaches that encourage students from different ‘races’ to work together. <br /><br />Reference:<br />Pattman, Rob. 'The Significance Students Attach to ‘Race’ at the University of KwaZulu-Natal', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 390-404.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-91866057100054875182007-05-17T15:22:00.000-07:002007-05-17T15:23:10.156-07:00Reflections on the activities of the support group in House Number 233In the chapter, <i>Reflections on the activities of the support group in House Number 233</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/wangari-muthuki.html">Wangari Muthuki</a> writes about an HIV/AIDS support group. She focuses on group dynamics and how members produce—notably through sexualised humour and innuendo—a sense of community and fun that enables them to deal with HIV/AIDS and its stigma. According to members, they could not talk to family and friends about the inter-racial friendships they had established in the group because they would be seen as unusual or strange. One black woman—whose neighbours said she was a ‘prostitute’ because she was friendly to a white man—sustains this illusion rather than reveal that they met at the support group. Wangari notes that black women's voices were more muted than the white men's. One white woman who spoke about her depression was ‘rebuked in good humoured ways’ by the white men, perhaps because this was seen as undermining the group’s focus on living positively with HIV/AIDS and its emphasis on fun and humour as a way of promoting this.<br /> <br />Reference:<br />Muthuki, Wangari. 'Reflections on the activities of the support group in House Number 233', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 382-388.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-46398587621901918812007-05-17T15:20:00.002-07:002007-05-17T15:21:06.959-07:00The Tree at Operation Bobbi BearIn the chapter, <i>The Tree at Operation Bobbi Bear</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/hema-hargovan.html">Hema Hargovan</a> discusses a support group for HIV-positive women & children, and for the physically & sexually abused. This group meets by a tree near the roadside. Hema writes about her experiences visiting the group and reflects on the valuable work they do with no funding from the Government.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Hargovan, Hema. 'The Tree at Operation Bobbi Bear', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 378-381.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-83600086307067498452007-05-17T15:20:00.001-07:002007-05-17T15:20:31.636-07:00Voices of HIV positive young mothersIn the chapter, <i>Voices of HIV positive young mothers</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/nirmala-gopal.html">Nirmala Gopal</a> writes about the concerns and anxieties of young HIV-positive mothers. They speak about the problems of stigmatisation and the difficulties of disclosure, even to boyfriends, partners and close family. But they are most concerned about the welfare of their children. The women hold to ‘traditional’ or ‘cultural’ beliefs which attribute illness to personal conflicts and jealousies. These may be particularly attractive because, Nirmala argues, they offer possibilities of cures through the mediation of the sangoma or witchdoctor (in contrast to modern medicine). However, the women understand the ramifications of their HIV status, illustrated in their concern that their children may have to grow up and manage without them.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Gopal, Nirmala. 'Voices of HIV positive young mothers', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 372-377.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-73423170171323312792007-05-17T15:19:00.002-07:002007-05-17T15:20:03.991-07:00who am i?In the poem, <i>who am i?</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/tshque-harcharan.html">Tshque Harcharan</a> muses on Indian identity in Africa.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Harcharan, Tshque. 'who am i?', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), p. 370.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-12584165292305176582007-05-17T15:19:00.001-07:002007-05-17T15:19:28.607-07:00Loving and Hating Jacob ZumaIn the chapter, <i>Loving and Hating Jacob Zuma</i>, <a href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/rob-pattman.html">Rob Pattman</a> and <a href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/wangari-muthuki.html">Wangari Muthuki</a> discuss how ‘culture’ was invoked by Zuma (former Deputy President of South Africa), in his 2006 rape trial. They argue that he has become a symbol of dis/identification in powerful and conflicting ways—by males & females, and all races, ethnicities, and statuses. Wangari also reflects on her participation in a women’s rights group monitoring the Zuma trial in support of the complainant. She examines conversations with students at UKZN who supported Zuma, assessing their accounts of the rape trial.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Muthuki, Wangari, and Pattman, Rob. 'Loving and Hating Jacob Zuma', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 362-369.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-27350534786477140932007-05-17T15:18:00.001-07:002007-05-17T15:18:51.543-07:00Invoking ‘culture’ and sexuality: Black girls in mixed ‘race’ schools in DurbanIn the chapter, <i>Invoking ‘culture’ and sexuality: Black girls in mixed ‘race’ schools in Durban</i>, <a href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/rob-pattman.html">Rob Pattman</a> and <a href="http://www.undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/deevia-bhana.html">Deevia Bhana</a> focus on the ways young people construct their identities. They note the significance accorded by African boys and girls to notions of ‘modernity’ and ‘tradition’, and how they negotiate identities along this axis. They find that young black women are often criticised for identifying as ‘modern’, which is seen as a cultural violation. Their article draws on interviews with 16-17 year old black girls at a formerly Indian school about ‘being young people of their age’. The girls spoke about culture, ‘race’ and sexuality animated ways, signalling the importance of these in their lives. Many girls feel marginalised at school and due to racism from pupils and teachers. But they often invoke ‘culture’ as powerful resources of self-esteem in contexts where they feel subordinated ‘racially’. However, ‘culture’ was also associated negatively as a form of parental policing and control of their sexuality. The article examines how these girls resist this.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Pattman, Rob, and Bhana, Deevia. 'Invoking ‘culture’ and sexuality: Black girls in mixed ‘race’ schools in Durban', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 343-361.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8486753350366593144.post-79488787061159680332007-05-17T15:17:00.002-07:002007-05-17T15:18:02.643-07:00Global Cultural Consumption and Aesthetic Choices of Clothing within DurbanIn the chapter, <i>Global Cultural Consumption and Aesthetic Choices of Clothing within Durban</i>, <a href="http://undressingdurban.blogspot.com/2007/05/claudia-martinez-mullen.html">Claudia Martinez-Mullen</a> investigates the clothing tastes and language preferences of young Zulus. She finds significant polarisation in relation to wearing jeans and their views of English. Those who wear jeans tend to view English positively, whereas those who do not, tend to see English as an oppressive, colonial medium. The former live in formal urban areas, have better paid jobs, more formal education, and are younger than the latter. Moreover, women were less likely than men to wear jeans, and women from poorer backgrounds and with lower levels of formal education were least likely to wear them. She situates the polarisation of young Zulus along these lines in the context of the post-apartheid/globalisation eras.<br /><br />Reference:<br />Martinez-Mullen, Claudia. 'Global Cultural Consumption and Aesthetic Choices of Clothing within Durban', in Rob Pattman and Sultan Khan (Eds.), <i>Undressing Durban</i> (Durban: Madiba Press, 2007), pp. 338-342.Henry Trotterhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/11964808694183950616noreply@blogger.com