The politics of researching a familiar field: research on youth unemployment in Daveyton township, South Africa

ABSTRACT

This paper grapples with methodological issues related to ongoing debates on positionality and reflexivity by drawing on the author’s experience of conducting research in a culturally familiar field. The paper is based on in-depth qualitative research that examined the lived realities of unemployed young people residing in the township of Daveyton in South Africa’s Gauteng Province. This paper aims to transcend conventional perspectives on ‘outsider–insider’ dynamics as these do not fully explain the complexity of conducting research in a familiar field. The research involved the use of one-on-one interviews and group discussions. I use the term politics of conducting research in a familiar field to explain the texture, language, and daily realities of Daveyton, which are familiar to me given my upbringing in a similar community that I grew up in. To elaborate on this, I formulate three dimensions of the politics of researching a familiar field which are as follows: (1) Ambiguities of the ‘element of surprise’; (2) Re-negotiating entry; and (3) wider concept of the researcher as ‘outsider’. The paper concludes by calling on researchers conducting studies within their own or similar communities to pay specific attention to the nuances of class privilege, exclusion, and power in order to provide meaningful analysis of the existential conditions that participants face.

KEYWORDS:

• Youth
• unemployment
• positionality
• research methodology
• race
• township

Acknowledgments

I wish to thank my colleague Ms Boitumelo Matlala for her critical comments on earlier drafts of the paper. I would also like to acknowledge Mr Landisile Nomngqokwane who assisted me at various stages of this research. I thank the three blind reviewers for meaningful and constructive comments on the paper.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. The term ‘black african’ is used within nationalist-orientated political approaches such as those of the ruling African National Congress (ANC), which still uses the notion of a ‘National Question’ in its analysis of South Africa’s social formation, that national question speaks of ‘blacks in general and Africans in particular’. While this term is used in general parlance, it is challenged from a variety of viewpoints in South African society.

2. The usage of this type of language is common mainly in black communities and takes different forms. It is gendered in the sense that amongst its main speakers are males who often appropriate it as a means of building rapport and engendering a sense of brotherhood. The term ‘tsotsi’ has been given greater prominence by the Academy Award winning movie ‘tsotsi’, which is based on a story about a street thug who after stealing a car discovers that there is a baby in the back seat of the car.

3. In South Africa these are popular hangout spots where people socialize and have a what Americans call a barbeque, in South Africa we call it a braai. These popular spots are mostly to be found in black townships.

Additional information

Funding

National Research Foundation (NRF) -Centre of Excellence in Human Development: Ref. OPP2018001.

Notes on contributors

Siphelo Ngcwangu

Siphelo Ngcwangu is currently an Associate Professor in the Sociology Department at the University of Johannesburg. His research focusses on skills development, education, and the economy, youth unemployment, racial inequality, and the restructuring of work. He has published a range of journal articles, book chapters, and monographs in his areas of research.