A CONTRADICTORY CLASS LOCATION? AN EXPLORATION OF THE POSITION AND ROLES OF THE AFRICAN CORPORATE MIDDLE CLASS IN SOUTH AFRICAN WORKPLACES AND COMMUNITIES

[摘要] The corporate middle class, or managers, occupies a contradictory class locationin capitalist relations of production. While they do not own the means ofproduction, this class stratum is not exploited like the working class. This classposition, however, is bound to be different for a black manager whoseadvancement in the workplace may be due to government attempts toeconomically empower black people to redress the injustices imposed by theracially dominated social structure of the past. Through a Weberianunderstanding of social stratification as based on class, social status and power,this research aims to unearth how members of the African corporate middle classunderstand their position and roles in South African workplaces and communities.It also goes deeper to scrutinise the impact of this structural position on theiragency. It is shown that their contradictory class location is exacerbated by theirrace.African managers constantly negotiate their positions and roles in theirworkplaces and communities. Indeed, while their managerial position affordsthem spaces that they could not have occupied during the apartheid era, theirracial character lessens their ability to manoeuvre within these spaces. This can beidentified both in workplaces and communities. It is shown that their middle-classstatus cannot be consolidated because of their perceived lower social status andless power to influence decision making in their organisations. Furthermore, it isshown that, although not all of the interviewees moved to middle-class areas,there is an indication of alienation in previously white-only residential areas. Thisis further exacerbated by expectations from their former communities andmembers of their extended families. As a result of high levels of unemployment inAfrican communities, members of this group are actively contributing to upliftmembers of their extended families.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand