Rural gendered youth perceptions : food-security, capabilities, rights and freedoms : a case study of northern KwaZulu-Natal.
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Date
2012
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Abstract
This case study is a documentation of localised gendered and youth perspectives
regarding food-(in)security, capabilities, rights and freedom. This dissertation explores localised
youth and gendered perceptions of food-security by applying Amartya Sen‟s capabilities
approach. The research is situated within the village of Mboza, the peri-urban locale of Ndumo,
and the town of Jozini, oriented within the Makhathini region of the Pongola floodplain of
Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. In this context, perceptions of capabilities, rights, and
food-security are seemingly based on normative views of rights aligning with South Africa‟s
constitutional first and second generations rights. Additionally, it is noted that perceptions and
aspirations are impacted by socio-historical and economic dynamics that have resulted in
segregated places and constrained opportunities. Practically and ideologically speaking, the state
historically played a role in shaping these dynamics. Perceptions are further influenced by
normalised capitalist ideals relating to consumption, socio-economic mobility, and success.
The research explores whether post-apartheid South Africa‟s incorporation of a rightsbased
approach to development has influenced expectations and thus affected perspectives on the
roles of: the state, communities, and individuals; in securing the right to food. In this manner,
perceptions of food, a primary need necessary for a quality of life with dignity, may be extended
to assess the degree of politicisation of basic needs by people in this context.
South Africa has undergone a liberal democratic transition and embraces the ideology of
human rights. However, the right to food, and the “expansion of the „capabilities‟ of persons to
lead the kind of lives they value—and have reason to value”1 lays enmeshed within the rural
development dilemma, the language of human rights and freedoms, and the developmental
objectives of the South African State.
Description
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2012.
Keywords
Rural youth--KwaZulu-Natal., Food security--KwaZulu-Natal., Human security--KwaZulu-Natal., Human rights--KwaZulu-Natal., Theses--Development studies.