ICTs and the reconfiguration of 'marginality' in Langa Township: A study of migration and belonging

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dc.contributor.advisorNyamnjoh, Francisen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorPowell, Crystalen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-11-11T06:53:54Z
dc.date.available2014-11-11T06:53:54Z
dc.date.issued2014en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references.en_ZA
dc.description.abstractMobility and migration are survival tactics for long-term security and sustainability within Africa and South Africa is perceived as offering opportunities to those seeking greener pastures. South Africa's history of 'selective immigration' has made many local South Africans, particularly the disadvantaged black population, reluctant to welcome African immigrants or 'outsiders' seeking to integrate. This poses considerable difficulties for many migrants attempting to negotiate acceptance. African migrants often end up living on the margins of South Africa, ultimately disconnected from mainstream populations. Langa Township in Cape Town, South Africa, the site of this study, is located at the margins of the city. Its residents, local South Africans and African immigrants, are considered a marginalized population and therefore face multiple challenges of belonging within and outside the township. Such challenges are intertwined with and complicated by the complex realities of marginality. In exploring the role of new Information and Communication Technologies in negotiating migration and belonging, this study focuses on the mobile population of Langa Township. As a settlement initially established by migrants from other South African provinces, Langa residents are able to historicize the significance of communication technologies in the lives of migrants. Ethnographic approaches were used to investigate the role of new communication technologies in Langa, exploring the ways that technology has provided opportunities for development, facilitated the negotiation of various marginalities, and offered new ways of belonging for residents. Fieldwork included extensive participant observation and informal interviews. Concluding that Langa's marginality is not as obvious fixed as generally assumed, the study shows that new communication technologies have both mitigated and exacerbated some complexities of marginality for residents within and outside the township. It reveals that mobile phones (1) manipulate residents – to the extent the residents allow – as much as residents manipulate mobile phones; (2) provide new ways of belonging inside and outside the township; (3) mitigate distance for some residents while burdening others with meeting social obligations against their wishes; (4) provide opportunities for development; and (5) are not used to redefine socio-political relations among residents. These findings are significant for (a) assessing the impact of mobile phones for social, economic and political development, while (b) cautioning against undue euphoria associated with the presumed benefit of mobile phones for underprivileged populations, and (c) challenging stereotypical representations of townships and marginality.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationPowell, C. (2014). <i>ICTs and the reconfiguration of 'marginality' in Langa Township: A study of migration and belonging</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Social Anthropology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9526en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationPowell, Crystal. <i>"ICTs and the reconfiguration of 'marginality' in Langa Township: A study of migration and belonging."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Social Anthropology, 2014. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9526en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationPowell, C. 2014. ICTs and the reconfiguration of 'marginality' in Langa Township: A study of migration and belonging. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Powell, Crystal AB - Mobility and migration are survival tactics for long-term security and sustainability within Africa and South Africa is perceived as offering opportunities to those seeking greener pastures. South Africa's history of 'selective immigration' has made many local South Africans, particularly the disadvantaged black population, reluctant to welcome African immigrants or 'outsiders' seeking to integrate. This poses considerable difficulties for many migrants attempting to negotiate acceptance. African migrants often end up living on the margins of South Africa, ultimately disconnected from mainstream populations. Langa Township in Cape Town, South Africa, the site of this study, is located at the margins of the city. Its residents, local South Africans and African immigrants, are considered a marginalized population and therefore face multiple challenges of belonging within and outside the township. Such challenges are intertwined with and complicated by the complex realities of marginality. In exploring the role of new Information and Communication Technologies in negotiating migration and belonging, this study focuses on the mobile population of Langa Township. As a settlement initially established by migrants from other South African provinces, Langa residents are able to historicize the significance of communication technologies in the lives of migrants. Ethnographic approaches were used to investigate the role of new communication technologies in Langa, exploring the ways that technology has provided opportunities for development, facilitated the negotiation of various marginalities, and offered new ways of belonging for residents. Fieldwork included extensive participant observation and informal interviews. Concluding that Langa's marginality is not as obvious fixed as generally assumed, the study shows that new communication technologies have both mitigated and exacerbated some complexities of marginality for residents within and outside the township. It reveals that mobile phones (1) manipulate residents – to the extent the residents allow – as much as residents manipulate mobile phones; (2) provide new ways of belonging inside and outside the township; (3) mitigate distance for some residents while burdening others with meeting social obligations against their wishes; (4) provide opportunities for development; and (5) are not used to redefine socio-political relations among residents. These findings are significant for (a) assessing the impact of mobile phones for social, economic and political development, while (b) cautioning against undue euphoria associated with the presumed benefit of mobile phones for underprivileged populations, and (c) challenging stereotypical representations of townships and marginality. DA - 2014 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2014 T1 - ICTs and the reconfiguration of 'marginality' in Langa Township: A study of migration and belonging TI - ICTs and the reconfiguration of 'marginality' in Langa Township: A study of migration and belonging UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9526 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/9526
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationPowell C. ICTs and the reconfiguration of 'marginality' in Langa Township: A study of migration and belonging. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Social Anthropology, 2014 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/9526en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentSocial Anthropologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.titleICTs and the reconfiguration of 'marginality' in Langa Township: A study of migration and belongingen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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