Stratification in Port Nolloth

West, Martin

Stratification in Port Nolloth

Master Thesis

1969

Publisher

University of Cape Town

Department

Social Anthropology

Faculty

Faculty of Humanities

Abstract

The problem set in this project was to study stratification in Port Nolloth society. It was clear from the start that Port Nolloth society was highly stratified, and that the major strata were formed by the White, Coloured and African people in the town. As the study progressed, divisions within the major strata became apparent, and at once a terminological problem was raised: could the major strata be regarded as castes, with their sub-divisions as classes, or were the divisions of the same order, making the stratification system one of class and sub-class? It became apparent, however, that the major strata and their sub-divisions were not of the same order, the main difference being that the former were endogamous groups of a rigid nature, whereas the latter allowed considerable social mobility. This suggested a system of stratification similar to that posited by van den Berghe tor another South African town, where he considered that "the stratification system can be described as a dual hierarchy of closed castes sub-divided into open classes".

Keywords

Social Anthroplogy

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