Fragmented Families addresses a central question in the demographic debates on poverty and fertility transition in southern Africa: . In what ways do women's recurrent encounters with poverty serve to shape their sexual unions, social relationships and reproductive practices? The book focuses on the lives of a group of mothers and daughters from fifteen families in a demarcated part of the Winterveld area in South Africa, and draws attention to historical, socio-cultural, political and economic concerns in order to place in context or make sense of reproductive dynamics and family life at the micro-level. Vignettes, drawn from fieldwork, highlight the particularities of the area: the persistence of historical tensions, diverse livelihoods and complex gender relationships. The intergenerational stories of the women suggest that they live with immense and increasing adversity and that strategies to contend with them sometimes include attempts to assert control over sexual encounters and reproductive outcomes. The book contributes to a continuing debate on how changing socio-economic conditions could influence prospects for and the nature of fertility transition in African countries. The study concurs with alternative arguments that shifts toward lower levels of fertility might be due, in certain contexts, to experiences of severe hardship rather than favourable economic circumstances. Instead of seeking security and risk-aversion through bearing many children the response of indigent women in this area has been largely to resist reproduction, at particular stages of their lives, whilst using sexual relationships and child-bearing as strategies to manipulate and secure resources. In reflecting on methodological approaches, the book draws attention to the limitations of survey research in efforts to elicit 'accurate' representations of reproductive behaviour and fertility preferences, and emphasises the usefulness of more engaged, qualitative and long-term fieldwork endeavours in building substantive insights on women's familial and reproductive lives. _________________________________________ Kammila Naidoo is an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Pretoria, South Africa. She completed her PhD at the University of Manchester in 2001 where she was a Commonwealth Scholar between 1998 and 2000. Her work on poverty, family and women's lives has been published in several journals including the Journal of Asian and African Studies, African Sociological Review, South African Review of Sociology and Forum: Qualitative Social Research. Contact: [email protected]. Publication date: August 2009

This edited volume offers a rich collection of up-to-date research and critical scholarship from various African institutions on incidents of youth violence, intervention and prevention in sub-Saharan Africa. It integrates thinking, evidence, responses, and debates relating to this topic, laying the basis for fresh insights and innovative strategies. The chapters capture a spectrum of pertinent issues such as economic hardship, lockdowns, sexual and reproductive health, pregnancy, online sexual harassment, xenophobic violence, and micro-aggressions in school contexts, and present guidelines on how countries might learn from successful interventions recently implemented. They explore young people's access to familial and community resources, state-sponsored initiatives, peer counselling, youth-friendly services, and other relevant structures. Thus, among other things, this volume stimulates further debate on what is driving violence in different African contexts-specifically, how intersectional identities create vulnerabilities to violence-and influences ways of dealing with the issue. This interdisciplinary and cross-cutting volume serves as a vital resource for experts at universities, in international organisations, civil society groups and intergovernmental organisations who wish to both analyse and take action to address and prevent the type of violence that currently afflicts young people sub-Saharan Africa today.

South Africa is currently experiencing high levels of poverty, increasing unemployment and widening social and economic gaps between the wealthy and poor of all racial groups. This study focuses on four racially demarcated areas within the capital city, Pretoria, and offers survey data and qualitative illustrations of day-to-day hardship and ordinary people's efforts to sustain the continuity of households and familial relations. Additionally, attention is paid to descriptions of health and perceptions of the post-apartheid state's commitment to transform the socio-economic existences of indigent communities. It is shown that whilst sectors of the poor acknowledge positive changes to their lives, many view themselves as marginalised and disengaged from active forms of citizen participation. The comparative focus on African,white, coloured and Indian communities highlights particular challenges and South African realities. This book will be of interest to researchers working in the field of poverty and who wish to draw on contemporary South African comparative case study material.