Land Tenure, Economic Differentiation and Social Interaction in a Ciskei Settlement

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Periodical article

Title:	Land Tenure, Economic Differentiation and Social Interaction in a Ciskei Settlement
Author:	De Wet, Chris
Year:	1995
Periodical:	Journal of Contemporary African Studies
Volume:	13
Issue:	1
Period:	January
Pages:	57-74
Language:	English
Geographic terms:	South Africa Ciskei
Subjects:	economic inequality land tenure Economics and Trade Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Ethnic and Race Relations Politics and Government Agriculture, Natural Resources and the Environment
Abstract:	In the rural settlement of Rabula, in the Keiskammahoek district of the former Ciskei, South Africa, patterns of economic and social differentiation have in the past revolved largely around land tenure and access to land. In the present article, the author looks at possible correlations between land tenure as a measure of economic differentiation and patterns of social interaction in Rabula in the late 1980s and early 1990s. He considers two different kinds of social interaction, viz. attendance at public feasts, and marriage patterns, and notes that both reflect growing interaction between landowners and the rest of the community. He argues that while still an important factor, land tenure plays a less significant role with regard to economic and social differentiation than it did in the past. Bibliogr., notes, ref.