Ironies of Solidarity: Insurance and Financialization of Kinship in South Africa (Politics and Development in Contemporary Africa)

Politics and Development in Contemporary Africa Published by one of the world’s leading publishers on African issues, ‘Politics and Development in Contemporary Africa’ seeks to provide accessible but in-depth analysis of key contemporary issues affecting countries within the continent. Featuring a wealth of empirical material and case study detail, and focussing on a diverse range of subject matter – from conflict to gender, development to the environment – the series is a platform for scholars to present original and often provocative arguments. Selected titles in the series are published in association with the International African Institute. Editorial board Rita Abrahamsen (University of Ottawa); Morten Boas (Norwegian Institute of International Affairs); David Booth (Overseas Development Institute); Padraig Carmody (Trinity College Dublin); Neil Carrier (University of Bristol); Fantu Cheru (Leiden University); Kevin Dunn (Hobart and William Smith Colleges); Amanda Hammar (University of Copenhagen); Alcinda Honwana (Open University); Paul Jackson (University of Birmingham); Gabrielle Lynch (University of Warwick); Zachariah Mampilly (Vassar College); Henning Melber (Dag Hammarskjöld Foundation); Garth A. Myers (Trinity College Hartford Connecticut); Léonce Ndikumana (UMass Amherst); Cyril Obi (Social Science Research Council); Susan Parnell (University of Cape Town); Mareike Schomerus (Overseas Development Institute); Laura Seay (Morehouse College); Howard Stein (University of Michigan); Mats Utas (Uppsala University); Alex de Waal (Tufts University) Already published Mobility between Africa, Asia and Latin America: Economic Networks and Cultural Interactions, edited by Ute Röschenthaler and Alessandro Jedlowski Agricultural Development in Rwanda: Authoritarianism, Markets and Spaces of Governance, Chris Huggins Liberia’s Female Veterans: War, Roles and Reintegration, Leena Vastapuu and Emmi Nieminen Food Aid in Sudan: A History of Power, Politics and Profit, Susanne Jaspars Kakuma Refugee Camp: Humanitarian Urbanism in Kenya’s Accidental City, Bram J. Jansen Development Planning in South Africa: Provincial Policy and State Power in the Eastern Cape, John Reynolds Uganda: The Dynamics of Neoliberal Transformation, Jörg Weigratz AIDS in the Shadow of Biomedicine: Inside South Africa’s Epidemic, Isak Niehaus Infrastructure and Hybrid Governance in the Democratic Republic of Congo, edited by Kristof Titeca and Tom De Herdt BRICS and Resistance in Africa: Contention, Assimilation and Co-optation, edited by Justin van der Merwe, Patrick Bond, and Nicola Dodd Forthcoming titles Entrepreneurs and SMEs in Rwanda: Conspicuous by their Absence, David Poole Malawi: Economy, Society and Political Affairs, edited by Matthias Rompel and Reimer Gronemeyer Undoing Coups: The African Union and Post-coup Intervention in Madagascar, Antonia Witt Africa’s Shadow Rise: China and the Mirage of African Economic Development, Padraig Carmody and Peter Kragelund Contesting Africa’s New Green Revolution: Biotechnology and Philanthrocapitalist Development in Ghana, Jacqueline Ignatova Economic Diversification in Nigeria: Fractious Politics and an Economy Beyond Oil, Zainab Usman The Politics of Fear in South Sudan: Generating Chaos, Creating Conflict, Daniel Akeck Thiong Front Cover 1 Half Title 2 About the author 5 Title Page 6 Copyright 7 Dedication 8 Contents 10 List of illustrations 12 Figures 12 Tables 12 Acknowledgements 14 1: Introduction 18 Financialization in Africa 21 Caught in the counter-discourse 24 Cape Town: city of hope? 29 Outline and arguments 32 2: An ironic analysis 35 Conflicts in the gift 35 Solidarity in the market 38 Irony in rationality and solidarity 41 Irony in method 49 3: Hope and redistribution 56 Introduction: from labor to redistribution 56 Service delivery and community conflict 59 Black Economic Empowerment and racial tensions 61 Social grants and generational strain 64 Praying for redistribution 68 Tense redistribution 71 4: Penetrating a new market 73 Introduction: classifying risks and clients 73 Negotiating LSM and FSM markets 76 Precarious relations between market and state 82 Defining risk and price 90 Symbols as violence, symbols of protection 94 5: The Janus face of inclusion 98 Introduction: ambiguous inclusion 98 Wretched brokers 99 “Outsourcing” to the community 103 Bureaucracies of exclusion 108 Joyce’s insurance claims 110 Reproducing inequality 115 6: The enchantment of abstract finance 117 Introduction: a caring bureaucracy 117 What actuaries think their clients think 120 Escaping burial societies 125 Aggressive neighbors 130 Alleviating the shackles of sociality 133 7: Transforming mutualities in business 136 Introduction: breaking associations? 136 In and out of control: meeting taxi owners 137 A history of violent solidarity 142 Financialization through the “Recap” 148 Making new inequalities 154 8: Death as moral hazard 157 Introduction: care and conflict 157 Making sure someone dies 160 It’s nothing personal 163 Immoral kin, especially parents 167 Moralities of solidarities 179 9: Conclusion: ironies of solidarity 182 From neoliberalism to irony 182 Solidarity and redistribution 184 Solidarity in care and conflict 187 Solidarity and abstraction 192 Notes 196 Bibliography 207 Index 226 "Set in one of the world's most unequal and violent places, this ethnographic study reveals how insurance companies discovered a vast market of predominantly poor African clients. After apartheid ended in 1994, South Africa became a 'testing ground' for new insurance products, new marketing techniques and pioneering administrative models with a potentially global market. Drawing on Rorty's notion of irony for understanding how the contradictions inherent to solidarity affect inequality and conflict as well as drawing on a vast array of case studies, Ironies of Solidarity examines how both Africans enjoy the freedoms that they have gained in financial terms and how the onset of democracy effected the risks faced in everyday life. Bähre examines the ways in which policies are sold and claims are handled, offering a detailed analysis of South Africa's insurance sector." --Publisher's description "Set in one of the world's most unequal and violent places, this ethnographic study reveals how insurance companies discovered a vast market of predominantly poor African clients. After apartheid ended in 1994, South Africa became a 'testing ground' for new insurance products, new marketing techniques and pioneering administrative models with a potentially global market. Drawing on Rorty's notion of irony for understanding how the contradictions inherent to solidarity affect inequality and conflict as well as drawing on a vast array of case studies, Ironies of Solidarity examines how both Africans enjoy the freedoms that they have gained in financial terms and how the onset of democracy effected the risks faced in everyday life. Bh̃re examines the ways in which policies are sold and claims are handled, offering a detailed analysis of South Africa's insurance sector."-- Provided by publisher

Set in one of the world's most unequal and violent places, this ethnographic study reveals how insurance companies discovered a vast market of predominantly poor African clients. After apartheid ended in 1994, South Africa became a 'testing ground' for new insurance products, new marketing techniques and pioneering administrative models with a potentially global market.

Drawing on Rorty's notion of irony for understanding how the contradictions inherent to solidarity affect inequality and conflict as well as drawing on a vast array of case studies, Ironies of Solidarity examines how both Africans enjoy the freedoms that they have gained in financial terms and how the onset of democracy effected the risks faced in everyday life. Bähre examines the ways in which policies are sold and claims are handled, offering a detailed analysis of South Africa's insurance sector.

Set in one of the world's most unequal and violent places, this ethnographic study reveals how insurance companies discovered a vast market of predominantly poor African clients. After apartheid ended in 1994, South Africa became a 'testing ground' for new insurance products, new marketing techniques and pioneering administrative models with a potentially global market.0Drawing on Rorty's notion of irony for understanding how the contradictions inherent to solidarity affect inequality and conflict as well as drawing on a vast array of case studies, Ironies of Solidarity examines how both Africans enjoy the freedoms that they have gained in financial terms and how the onset of democracy effected the risks faced in everyday life. Bahre examines the ways in which policies are sold and claims are handled, offering a detailed analysis of South Africa's insurance sector An ethnographic study of how financial products and services affect inequalities and conflicts in South Africa.