Inequality, Socio-cultural Differentiation and Social Structures in Africa: Beyond Class

Description

This book contends that conventional class concepts are not able to adequately capture social inequality and socio-cultural differentiation in Africa. Earlier empirical findings concerning ethnicity, neo-traditional authorities, patron-client relations, lifestyles, gender, social networks, informal social security, and even the older debate on class in Africa, have provided evidence that class concepts do not apply; yet these findings have mostly been ignored. For an analysis of the social structures and persisting extreme inequality in African societies – and in other societies of the world – we need to go beyond class, consider the empirical realities and provincialise our conventional theories. This book develops a new framework for the analysis of social structure based on empirical findings and more nuanced approaches, including livelihood analysis and intersectionality, and will be useful for students and scholars in African studies and development studies, sociology, social anthropology, political science and geography. Front Matter ....Pages i-xi Introduction: The Middle Class Debate and Its Limits (Dieter Neubert)....Pages 1-55 Poverty and Inequality in Development Policy: Concepts of Poverty, Vulnerability and Livelihood (Dieter Neubert)....Pages 57-83 Class and Capitalism in the Global South: A Perspective on Africa (Dieter Neubert)....Pages 85-128 Elements of Socio-Cultural Positioning in Africa (Dieter Neubert)....Pages 129-197 Patterns of Individual Social Positioning: Gender, Age and Disability (Dieter Neubert)....Pages 199-234 Risks and Aspirations: Strategies for Coping with Uncertainty (Dieter Neubert)....Pages 235-277 Extended Concepts of Social Positioning (Dieter Neubert)....Pages 279-327 A New Framework for the Analysis of Social Structures in Sub-Saharan Africa (Dieter Neubert)....Pages 329-406 Conclusion (Dieter Neubert)....Pages 407-417 Back Matter ....Pages 419-433