Not marrying in South Africa: consumption, aspiration and the new middle class

James, Deborah (2017) Not marrying in South Africa: consumption, aspiration and the new middle class. Anthropology Southern Africa . ISSN 2332-3256 (In Press)

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Abstract

This article explores how marriage, or its absence, features in relation to the aspirations and obligations of members – especially female members – of South Africa’s new black middle class. In a context where the state and credit have played key roles in the newly financialized arrangements of neoliberalism, it considers how ties that are both conflictual and intimate – bonds that simultaneously distance people from, while creating increasingly intimate connections to, both kinsmen and (prospective) affines - operate within this novel space. Women are set apart from their less fortunate relatives, even as they continue to have to support and remain intimate with them; and divided from partners who expect them to conform to conservative female roles, even as they continue to hold positive views about marital exchanges (and payments) more generally.

Item Type:	Article
Official URL:	http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/rasa20/current
Additional Information:	© 2016 Anthropology Southern Africa
Library of Congress subject classification:	G Geography. Anthropology. Recreation > GN Anthropology H Social Sciences > HN Social history and conditions. Social problems. Social reform H Social Sciences > HQ The family. Marriage. Woman
Sets:	Departments > Anthropology
Date Deposited:	11 Nov 2016 12:06
URL:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/68269/

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