Echoes of the Past in Imaginings of the Future
The Problems and Possibilities of Working with Young People in Contemporary South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 13005685 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Jill Bradbury (0000-0001-9696-9956, University of the Witwatersrand, corresponding author), J Ransom Clark (University of KwaZulu-Natal) |
| Year | 2012 |
| Volume | 2 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 176-189 |
| Publication date | 2012-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Global Studies of Childhood (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2043-6106 • E-ISSN: 2043-6106 |
| Publisher | SAGE Publishing (PUBLISHER • US) |
| DOI | 10.2304/gsch.2012.2.3.176 |
| OpenAlex | W2078958319 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 2 |
| References cited | 18 |
This article presents an exploration of how past and future are articulated in the construction of youth identities in the context of South Africa, with a particular focus on the possibilities for change in discourses of nationality and gender. The authors' selective focus on these two dimensions of identity is not only informed by theoretical interests, but is also driven by their implication in the critical social problems of xenophobia and gender-based violence in contemporary South Africa. The authors present two illustrative empirical examples that have emerged from (and reflexively inform) their domain of practice in working with young people, providing for some exploratory theoretical trajectories and pedagogical possibilities: (1) ‘national’ identity and dialogues of difference, and (2) gendered identities and constructions of sexual violence. Young people are quite evidently actively engaged in crafting their own fluid and hybrid identities, suggesting imaginative new ways to be in the world, energising us and provoking an orientation towards future possibilities. However, this articulation does not escape the past, which echoes in the reassertion of rigid categories of identity, such as gender and nationality. The authors not only consider the possibilities for creating ‘better childhoods, better futures’, but also explore the constraints on their conscientisation work
Aesthetics · Articulation (sociology · Context (archaeology · Identity (music · Immigration · Masculinity · Nationality · Political science · Politics · Sociology · Children's Rights and Participation · Gender Roles and Identity Studies · Gender Studies · History · Law · Youth Education and Societal Dynamics
Tense Past
Actual Minds, Possible Worlds
The Ethics of Identity
The Psychology of Life Stories
Narrative Possibilities
Go Home or Die Here
The ignorance contract
Possible Lives
Charting the narrative unconscious
Imagined communities
Performativity in practice
Imagined Communities. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism
| Unique citing works | 2 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2020 (5) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 2 |