Dreams, hope and future; An anthropological study about poverty and future plans among of vulnerable youth in Cape Town

Abstract

This thesis is a result of Minor Field Studies (MFS) carried out in Cape Town, South Africa and funded by the Swedish public authority SIDA - Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency. South Africa struggles with poverty and has the greatest inequality in the world. The overall aim is to investigate life opportunities and conditions for vulnerable young people in today's South Africa, examining the hopes, dreams and plans for the future among young people from economically and socially deprived areas. The intention is to contribute to a deeper understanding of underlying factors that may contribute to young people ending up or remaining in poverty. The thesis is based on participant observation in Wingfield Primary school in Kensington and the suburb of Khayelitsha, an informal settlement, to discuss and understand South Africa today. Interaction and discussions with various youth will be analyzed through theoretical terms such as social mobility and structural violence. Ethnography reveals that vulnerable young people have aspirations and willingness to engage in upward social mobility at an early age. Young people also experience difficulties in reaching their goals, and express how their social class background has impacted their future plan. Political structures and unequal power relations have a central role in youth's aspiration to a better life.