Browsing by Author "Jooste, Tracy"

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    The 2003 Cape Area Study (CAS 3): A User's Guide
    (2004) Seekings, Jeremy; Alexander, Karin; Jooste, Tracy; Matzner, Isaac
    The Cape Area Study (CAS) comprises an ongoing series of surveys conducted in Cape Town.?The surveys have covered and will continue to cover a wide range of topics.?Over time, however, CAS will have a quality that is unique in South Africa (and perhaps Africa as a whole), in that there will be an accumulation of data on a focused social setting across a span of time, such that the value of the 'whole' is substantially greater than the 'sum of the parts'. CAS is modelled on the Detroit Area Study, conducted annually since 1951 by the University of Michigan.
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    Examining the link between measures of social capital and democracy
    (2005) Jooste, Tracy
    Dominant political theory suggests that social capital is an important prerequisite for sustaining democracy and upholding the civic culture in society. This paper examines the link between facets of social capital and outcomes usually associated with democracy, namely tolerance of diversity, civic commitment and political participation, using data on the South African city of Cape Town from the exploratory 2003 Cape Area Study. A descriptive analysis of respondents' views on tolerance, civic commitment and political participation is followed by the explanatory analysis of the relationship between facets of social capital and these variables. General interpersonal trust and associational activism are both low in Cape Town, but these variables do not explain the positive attitudes towards diversity observed.? While generalised trust is a weak predictor of civic commitment, associational activism is a positive and statistically significant predictor hereof. Social capital does little to explain levels of individual political participation. Thus, despite the fact that generalised trust and associational activism are both low in Cape Town, these variables do not suffice to explain the apathetic levels of political participation observed. The findings suggest that the relationship between social capital and democracy is varied and inconsistent, with some facets of social capital playing a more important role than others in determining democratic outcomes.
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    Inequality and Diversity in Cape Town: An Introduction and User's Guide to the 2005 Cape Area Study
    (2005) Seekings, Jeremy; Jooste, Tracy; Langer, Mirah; Maughan-Brown, Brendan
    The 2005 Cape Area Study comprises a survey of aspects of diversity and inequality in the South African city of Cape Town. The survey was designed as both part of an ongoing study of Cape Town (that includes a series of surveys) and part of an international, multi-city study of aspects of urban life. This report provides an introduction to the survey for prospective users as well as important information for actual users, for example details of sample design and fieldwork.
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    Measuring social capital in Cape Town: providing a more nuanced perspective of trust and networks
    (2005) Jooste, Tracy
    This paper provides a critique of the dominant approach to the study of social capital in political science. Social capital is widely studied in terms of only two variables: general interpersonal trust and formal associational activism. This paper argues that social capital is a multidimensional concept. The measurement of social capital therefore requires a wider range of variables, especially ones that tap into neighbourliness and kin-based networks of association. Trust, especially, is a situational concept, and needs to be analysed in a more nuanced manner. In the South African city of Cape Town, the level of general interpersonal trust is low, but trust and networks between neighbours are relatively strong. Factor and reliability analyses are used to examine the validity, reliability and independence of different measures of social capital. The application of a multi-dimensional concept of social capital to exploratory data from Cape Town shows that ‘bonding’ forms of social capital appear more widespread than ‘bridging’ forms. This important nuance would not be evident if the standard two-variable approach to social capital was used.
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    The social consequences of establishing 'mixed' neighbourhoods
    (2010) Seekings, Jeremy; Jooste, Tracy; Muyeba, Singumbe; Coqui, Marius; Russell, Margo
    The post-apartheid state has, through the provision of subsidies, fuelled a massive expansion of formal, low-income housing in South African towns and cities. The new public housing neighbourhoods are, however, as segregated racially as their apartheid-era predecessors. Whilst the relative importance of different reasons for the reproduction of racial segregation might be unclear, it is clear that the adoption of different procedures for allocating new housing would result in neighbourhoods that are more diverse or mixed in terms of race and other characteristics. Adopting new procedures and creating more mixed neighbourhoods might have undesirable social, economic and political consequences. Mixed neighbourhoods might be characterized by social tensions and conflict, weak social capital, and hence economic disadvantage and political problems. The Department of Housing and Local Government in the provincial government of the Western Cape commissioned research into the social consequences of establishing more mixed neighbourhoods. ‘Mixed’ was understood as including both racial mixing, and mixing in terms of ‘community of origin’, i.e. of the neighbourhood from which beneficiaries had come.