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Pathways into the Middle: Rites of Passage and Emerging Middle Classes in Namibia

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Middle Classes in Africa

Part of the book series: Frontiers of Globalization ((FOG))

Abstract

This anthropological chapter analyses how members of the Namibia n middle class have thoroughly changed the form and meaning of important rites of passage from open ceremonies to exclusive pathways into and for the middle class. The term ‘middle class’ is used as an analytical category to describe social differentiation and inequality . The author also looks at practices of ‘being and becoming middle class’, blending approaches that perceive ‘middle class’ as an aspiration al category with those that focus on boundary making aspects of ‘middle class(es)’. In addition, the term elite is used to mark social differentiations that depend on context and scale. During apartheid , only a small indigenous elite existed within the artificial ‘homelands’, while a ‘white’ minority occupied national elite and middle-class positions. With independence in 1990, a new, ‘black’ middle class emerged in urban areas, which is still strongly connected to its rural ‘homeland’. The author suggests labelling this group as ‘class commuters’. When visiting their rural ‘homelands’, they blend into the local rural elite. But during most of their time, they are part of the urban Namibian middle classes.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    For example, in a recent compilation of ethnographic case studies on global middle classes there are no in-depth treatments of collective or life-cycle rituals (Heiman et al. 2012a). Contrary to this, some researchers studying middle classes in Asia have paid close attention to life-cycle rituals, especially weddings (Adrian 2003; Brosius 2009, 2010; Kendall 1996).

  2. 2.

    Despite the aims of apartheid , the Fransfontein region has always been, and continues to be, multi-ethnic and multilingual. While Khoekhoegowab is the most common language in the area, Otjiherero, Ovambo, English, and Afrikaans are also spoken.

  3. 3.

    For further comparable definitions of elite see Behrends and Pauli (2012), Cohen (1981), Cohen (1983), Lentz (2015).

  4. 4.

    In Fransfontein, only women have received ‘keys’ and a 21st birthday party. However, as I observed during my last (08/2015 until 01/2016) stay in Namibia, some urban middle-class families have also started now to celebrate the 21st birthday of young men.

  5. 5.

    In 2003, the exchange rate between Euro and Namibian Dollar (N$) was about 1:8.

  6. 6.

    All names and some personal information have been changed to protect the anonymity of my informants.

  7. 7.

    This ritual practice also reflects that in Namibia the age of legal majority is 21. At 21 a person can independently bring or defend a court case or enter into a civil marriage without parental consent, among other rights.

  8. 8.

    This is slowly changing, though, as I have shown for premarital births (Pauli 2012a, b).

  9. 9.

    Damara and Nama, the two most important ethnic groups in the region, share a common language, the Khoisan language Khoekhoegowab. The diacritical marks //, /,!, and # indicate the four meaning differentiating click sounds in Khoekhoegowab.

  10. 10.

    Cf. also Mupotsa (2015) for an interesting interpretation of ‘white weddings’ in South Africa .

  11. 11.

    As I have shown elsewhere this difference cannot be explained with a later age at marriage (Pauli 2010a).

  12. 12.

    Fransfontein and the wider Kunene region have experienced several terrible droughts, the last one occurring in 2015.

  13. 13.

    Weddings have been common and widespread for at least the last 150 years (Gockel-Frank 1998).

  14. 14.

    There are variations (Johnson-Hanks 2002).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Universität Hamburg, Hamburg, Germany

    Julia Pauli

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  1. Julia Pauli
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Editors and Affiliations

  1. Bayreuth Academy of Advanced African Studies, Bayreuth, Germany

    Lena Kroeker

  2. Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany

    David O'Kane

  3. Max Planck Institute for Social Anthropology, Halle, Germany

    Tabea Scharrer

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Pauli, J. (2018). Pathways into the Middle: Rites of Passage and Emerging Middle Classes in Namibia. In: Kroeker, L., O'Kane, D., Scharrer, T. (eds) Middle Classes in Africa. Frontiers of Globalization. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62148-7_11

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-62148-7_11

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