Abstract
This chapter explores ‘coloured’ men’s narratives in constructing a classed, gendered and raced Bishop Lavis in Cape Town. For decades, research on men who identify as ‘coloured’ has not adequately problematised ‘coloured’ masculinities. Young men who identify as ‘coloured’ have been found to be the most likely to perpetrate intimate partner violence, rape and gang rape. It has also been suggested that violence, drug abuse, gangsterism and alcoholism are prominent features of communities in which those who were identified as ‘coloured’ during apartheid reside, one such community being Bishop Lavis in Cape Town, South Africa. These narratives have led to this complex group of people and their communities being reduced to negative stereotypes. In this chapter, we present the findings of a study exploring the lives of young men who identify as ‘coloured’ living in Bishop Lavis, and provide alternative and more nuanced narratives of their identities, communities and spaces. We used Photovoice as a form of decolonial praxis and participatory action research methodology. The findings presented are drawn from the narratives of the participants, collected through individual interviews, photo-narratives and a focus group. The young men who participated in this study spoke of the complex experiences which have been and continue to be shaped by their race, age, class, gender and location.
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Notes
- 1.
- 2.
Operation Prosper saw the deployment of the army on the Cape Flats. It was initiated by South African Police Minister, Bheki Cele, after pressure was applied on national government from communities on the Cape Flats to effectively combat crime and gangsterism. After much debate and engagement, the army remains deployed on the Cape Flats (Hyman, 2019) although it is still not clear that their presence is having any effect on crime and violence in these areas.
- 3.
South Africa law divided the population into four major racial groups: white, ‘coloured’, Indian and African people. African refers to South Africans who are from different ethnic tribes such as the isiXhosa, Nguni, Sotho, and Zulu, to name a few.
- 4.
Lekker is an Afrikaans term which, translated into English, means nice.
- 5.
Kak is a slang word that can roughly be translated into extremely or shit.
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Peters, S.M., Kessi, S., Boonzaier, F. (2022). Constructing Race and Place in South Africa: A Photovoice Study with ‘Coloured’ Men in Bishop Lavis. In: Kessi, S., Suffla, S., Seedat, M. (eds) Decolonial Enactments in Community Psychology. Community Psychology. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-75201-9_8
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