Swines, hazels and the dirty dozen

Masculinity, territoriality and the youth gangs of Soweto, 1960-1976

Dados Bibliográficos

ID4603293
AutoresClive Glaster (University of the Witwatersrand, autor correspondente)
Ano1998
Volume24
Fascículo4
Páginas719-736
Data de publicação1998-12-01
Peer ReviewedSim
Open AccessNão
TipoARTICLE
PeriódicoJournal of Southern African Studies (JOURNAL)
Identificadores do periódicoISSN: 0305-7070 • E-ISSN: 1465-3893
EditoraInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/03057079808708598
OpenAlexW2105783215
IdiomaEN
Citações recebidas26
Referências citadas9

During the 1960s and early 1970s, the youth gangs of Soweto, like their predecessors throughout the Witwatersrand in the 1940s and 1950s, developed a sense of masculine identity intimately linked to their territories. There was a great deal of cultural continuity between these exclusively male urban gangs and rural age grades: groups of male adolescents separated off from established households to experiment with their sexuality, hone their fighting skills and assert their independence. The social mobility of most city‐bred black youths, however, was blocked and much of their masculine dignity was invested in their ability to dominate their local streets. Gang identity depended on an overlap of personal and spatial familiarity, which took time to develop. Gangs therefore usually emerged in fairly settled neighbourhoods. While there was relative continuity in gang formation in the older parts of Soweto, especially Orlando, gangs took longer to cohere in the newly resettled parts of Soweto like Meadowlands and Diepkloof

Criminology · Dignity · Dozen · Human sexuality · Masculinity · Political science · Sociology · Territoriality · African studies and sociopolitical issues · Gender Studies · HIV, Drug Use, Sexual Risk · Law · South African History and Culture