Poverty & Ethnicity

poverty

a state wherein an individual lacks material and financial resources to tend basic needs

explain the poverty rates in South Africa

• around 30.3 million people live in poverty

• below upper bound poverty line

• 18.2 million people in SA live in extreme poverty

• below the poverty line of R760

food poverty line

the amount needed for an individual to afford the minimum required daily energy intake

what is the result of high levels of inequality in SA 

• racialisation (colonisation and apartheid)

• differences in education, health care, etc. 

how is physical well-being effected by poverty

• affects access to nutrition and appropriate diet

• affects access to water and sanitation

• increases risks of injuries and burns from open fires

• impacts infant mortality rates and life expectancy

how does poverty impact psychological well-being of a person

• hopelessness

• uncertainty about the future

• alienation from mainstream society

• cultural imperialism

hopelessness

very few opportunities for escaping poverty/upward mobility

uncertainty about the future 

anxiety and a lack of nets - erosion of Ubuntu in day labour markets 

alienation from mainstream society

lack of participation

cultural imperialism

dominant norms erase lived experiences

how is the socio-economic class in SA

it continues to be divided across racial and ethnic lines in SA

ethnicity 

refers to the cultural values and norms that distinguish members of a group from other groups 

what is ethnicity a form of

othering that overlaps with other ideologies that promote social inequalities

ethnocentrism

the degree to which individuals perceive their own social group as being superior to others, whil simultaneously harbouring feelings of negativity towards out-groups

stereotypes 

inaccurate overgeneralisations applied to all the members of a perceived social category

prejudice

a negative attitude that may be based on irrational in-group beliefs about out-group(s)

what is the purpose of politicisation of ethnicity 

rallying political support 

how are ethnic identities given social meanings

through ideologies

ideology

a system of beliefs that is reflected in social practice

what do ideological beliefs shape for us

how we do things and how we think about practices of distribution

what ideologies contribute to forms of ethnicity 

racism, nationalism, anti-Semitism, anti-Islamism 

what does poverty and ethnicity help to create and maintain

• unequal social relationships

• e.g. one group as superior to the other = more deserving of access to resources and opportunities