'Be Your Own Boss': Entrepreneurial Dreams on the Urban Margins of South Africa
| Autor: | Hannah J. Dawson |
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| Rok vydání: | 2021 |
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| Zdroj: | Beyond the Wage ISBN: 9781529208948 Beyond the Wage |
| DOI: | 10.1332/policypress/9781529208931.003.0006 |
| Popis: | This chapter examines the question of why young men in South Africa prefer self-employment in the informal economy to low-end jobs. Drawing upon the life histories of two informal entrepreneurs in Zandspruit informal settlement, it demonstrates the ways in which wage work in South Africa’s racialised economy disrupts the rhythms of life in Zandspruit and disembodies people from the relationships that are essential to achieving socio-economic prosperity. By examining the social, relational and reciprocal dimensions of self-employment—often overlooked in individualistic and self-enterprising accounts of entrepreneurship—the chapter shows how ‘being your own boss’ opens up experimental spaces for forms of identity, agency and association which are otherwise unavailable in a racialised employment market. The chapter concludes by arguing that self-employment is attractive for young men insofar as it provides them with the time and space to invest in valued relationships. |
| Databáze: | OpenAIRE |
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