Browsing by Author "Wingfield, Matthew Michael"
Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
Results Per Page
Sort Options
- ItemThe time of activism: an ethnographic study on the Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA) campaign and its practices of “working” time and representation in Cape Town(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2022-12) Wingfield, Matthew Michael; Robins, Steven Lance; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social AnthropologyENGLISH ABSTRACT: This research examines an under-resourced activist group, the PHA Campaign, as it has attempted to ‘save the PHA’ from non-agricultural developments. The Philippi Horticultural Area (PHA), which has been an agricultural hub since the mid-1800s, has shrunk in size owing to a slew of spatial policy amendments. These amendments have left the ‘community’ of the PHA fragmented and divided, as some land owners look to sell their properties to developers, contributing to problems of land speculation. This research shows how the PHA Campaign, through its agroecological Vegkop farm, has sought to stop non-agricultural developments in the PHA, while further positioning itself as a stakeholder in the area. By advocating for the protection of the aquifer which lies beneath the area, the PHA Campaign has framed itself in opposition to the environmentally destructive practices of the hegemonic commercial farming model in the area. This research shows how the PHA Campaign has used the ‘Day Zero’ crisis to give impetus to its environmental activism, as it ‘works’ the possibilities that arise in contexts of crisis through the framework of “slow activism” (Robins, 2014). From three years of ethnographic research in the PHA, this research further shows how the PHA Campaign has positioned its “environmental imaginary” (Cock, 2020) within the broader environmental activist networks in South Africa in order to navigate questions of social justice and ‘representation’ which remain fundamental challenges to environmental activism more broadly.
- ItemTracking the many meanings of activisms and occupations: an ethnographic study of ‘Reclaim the City’, in Woodstock and Green Point, Cape Town(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2019-12) Wingfield, Matthew Michael; Robins, Steven L.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology & Social Anthropology.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In the tumultuous post-apartheid period in South Africa, housing has been a topic of continuous contention by both politicians and community-based organisations (CBOs). While apartheid-era policies like the Group Areas Act (GAA) have been abolished, a “spatial apartheid” continues to exist throughout the country. This research focuses on the context of Cape Town specifically, where it looks at a social movement named Reclaim the City (RTC) which has come to fight against this “spatial apartheid” and the exclusionary housing practices produced by gentrification. By problematising the implicitly homogeneous label of “activist”, this research illustrates how the members of RTC differ widely, with each having their own personal commitments, subjectivities, and desires, which are weighed with their commitment to the movement. Furthermore, this research investigates the negotiation of the two occupations held by RTC within the inner city, one in Woodstock and the other in Green Point, with local government and other institutions. Lastly, this research then focuses on the relationship between RTC and the non-governmental organisation (NGO) that it works in conjunction with, named Ndifuna Ukwazi (NU). This relationship is differentiated from the traditional power relations and hierarchies found between social movements and NGOs, where the form of their collaboration is tentatively described as a “purposive coalition”. This research has been conducted over a year-long period consisting of participant observation and semi-structured interviews.