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Morality in the middle: choosing cars or houses in Botswana

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  21 May 2020

Deborah Durham
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Abstract

Batswana contrast owning cars with owning houses: the first signals self-centred accomplishment and possibly deceptive status claims, and the second an investment in sociality. The tensions between individual accomplishment and social connectivity are long-standing in Botswana, and a close examination of cars and houses finds that each is tied up with both dimensions of self-making. The new materiality that envelopes Botswana, however, with rising incomes for some and a flood of consumer options, raises the stakes for both sides of this tension, yet also allows them to be resolved in social and emotional practice.

Résumé

Résumé

Les Botswanais font une différence entre être propriétaire d'un véhicule et être propriétaire d'un bien immobilier : le premier est le signe d'un accomplissement égocentré et peut-être de prétention à un statut trompeur, tandis que le second est le signe d'un investissement en socialité. Les tensions entre accomplissement individuel et connectivité sociale remontent à longtemps au Botswana, et un examen approfondi des véhicules et des biens immobiliers révèle que les uns comme les autres sont liés aux deux dimensions de l'autoréalisation. La nouvelle matérialité qui enveloppe le Botswana, cependant, avec une hausse des revenus pour certains et un afflux d'options de consommation, fait monter les enjeux des deux côtés de cette tension, mais leur permet également de se résoudre dans la pratique sociale et émotionnelle.

Type
The lived experiences of the African middle classes
Information
Africa , Volume 90 , Issue 3 , May 2020 , pp. 489 - 508
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Copyright
Copyright © International African Institute 2020

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