Original Articles

‘I have plans’. Scrutinising the meaning, production and sustaining of hope in safe sexual practices among young men in Khayelitsha, Cape Town

Published in: Anthropology Southern Africa
Volume 30 , issue 1-2 , 2007 , pages: 1–10

DOI: 10.1080/23323256.2007.11499941

Author(s): Diana Gibson Department of Anthropology and Sociology, , Krishnavelli Nadasen Department of Anthropology and Sociology,

Keywords: Hope , safe sex , young men , attitude , behaviour , plans

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Abstract

This paper scrutinises hope from an anthropological perspective and in a South African setting. While public, theological and other discourses have attended to hope, anthropologists in South Africa have not done so and the paper aims to highlight it as an area of interest for the social sciences. One exception to the general trend is Crapanzano's (2003) work on hope, which sees it as somewhat passive. By drawing on research among young men in Khayelitsha, the paper argues that they view hope as active and as part of making and realising their plans for the future. In this regard the production and reproduction of hope impacts positively on safe sexual practices.

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