Submitted to the faculty of Arts in fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Sociology in the Department of Sociology at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1982. / The study is concerned with the role of rural women in society. It
focuses on a typically agricultural, grass-root community where the
forces of traditional Zulu culture are still at work in family and clan
relationships. This traditional way of life is retained and enforced
through the most powerful institutions of religion and politics. Thus
the authority structure and religious philosophy permeate interpersonal
relationships giving them a character which is distinctively rural.
Architecture, mode of dress, dietary habits and household settlement
attest to the rurality of the community.
This is an exploratory case study of a small section of a larger commu=
nity, and which section represents the overall ~eneral character of the
community. Although typically rural in terms of value and normative
system, nevertheless it is already being steadily exposed to elements
of an industrial society e.g. a money economy, agricultural technology,
formal schooling and outmigration of male workers. We therefore see in
this microcosm two forces at work - traditional as well as modern. The
research population is representative of a traditional community in
transition.
The study focuses on role-behaviour of rural women and its implications
for development. The research group is already partially exposed to the
effects of rural development. To what extent their present role affords
them meaningful participation and benefit from their community's
changing status will be revealed with greater clarity as their particular
role-behaviour,within their given environment, is analysed.
With respect to rationale for choosing this particular group, we can
argue that they are the most suitable respondents on whom to do research which focuses on rural behavioural patterns, on the one hand, and social
change and development on the other. The population is neither totally
isolated in its rural social system nor influenced by forces of
modernisation to the extent that the basic cultural ~radition is
effaced.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uzulu/oai:uzspace.unizulu.ac.za:10530/1034 |
| Date | January 1982 |
| Creators | Nene, Daphne Sbongile |
| Contributors | du Plessis, A.P. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | application/pdf |
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