{"id":6669,"date":"2024-06-05T15:30:47","date_gmt":"2024-06-05T13:30:47","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/?p=6669"},"modified":"2024-11-26T16:11:13","modified_gmt":"2024-11-26T14:11:13","slug":"look-back-at-the-policing-appeareances-reclaiming-aesthetics-workshop","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/uncategorized\/look-back-at-the-policing-appeareances-reclaiming-aesthetics-workshop\/","title":{"rendered":"Look back at the \u201cPolicing Appeareances, Reclaiming Aesthetics\u201d Workshop"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

By Karabo Asala<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

On the 22nd<\/sup> of May 2024,\nIFAS-Research hosted the \u201cPolicing Appeareances, Reclaiming Aesthetics\u201d\nworkshop at their offices in Braamfontein, Johannesburg. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This workshop sought to explore how power relationships based on race, gender, class, age and other criteria operate through the policing of appearances and how aesthetic practices contribute to the renegotiation of such power relationships in two South African contexts, namely: the schooling system and gang-present communities. The event, split into 2 sessions,  was organised by two of IFAS-Research\u2019s 2024 grantees: Jeanne Bouyat and Line Relisieux, and was focused on both of their ongoing research projects.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeanne Bouyat (University of Johannesburg) on the policing of appearances in South African schools<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Jeanne Bouyat (credit: Karabo Asala)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Jeanne rendered a presentation during the first session based on her ongoing research project at the University of Johannesburg. She mentioned that her research was initiated by witnessing a girls-led protest against their school\u2019s restrictions on hairstyles in Soweto during her PhD studies back in August of 2017. She is collaborating with Francine Nyambek-Mebenga, a fellow researcher within her field, based from Universit\u00e9 Paris-Est Cr\u00e9teil \u2013 UPE.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeanne provided a brief overview of three research fields connected to their project, namely research that has been conducted on school uniforms<\/strong>, the history of school uniforms<\/strong>, which traces its origins back to religious education and boys-only schools in 13th<\/sup> century England where they were used as a disciplinary tool, as well as the contemporary effects of school uniforms. <\/strong>The history of uniforms have always been intimately tied to the colonial education system, particularly the legacies of the British Empire, although not exclusively. Jeanne shared that although there is a lack of empirical evidence on the correlation of school uniforms to discipline and academic performance, there are however general arguments that persist in favour of them till date.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Interestingly, she raised a proposed plan on the National\nGuidelines on School Uniforms (drafted in 2006) that seeks to not make uniforms\nmandatory in South African schools, in efforts to encourage diversity and\nfreedom of expression. However, this has not yet come into effect.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Focusing on the role that appearances play in identity formation,\nshe delved into research that deals with the policing of \u201cBlack Afro\u201d hair in\nrelation to the schooling institution in particular. This has been a growing\nfield in the United States of late, where investigations into hair being used\nas a proxy for race have been conducted. The CROWN Act, which is a good example\nof legislation that has come as a result of these global developments and their\nlegal developments, continue to extend discussions concerning critical race\ntheory. Recent \u201cnappy hair movements\u201d that have come in the aftermath of protests\nsuch as the one at the Pretoria High School for Girls in 2016 which came as a\nresult of a contemporary apartheid racial classification in the form of a\n\u201cpencil test\u201d. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Line Relisieux (London School of Economics and Political Science) on the reclaiming of aesthetics by maternal figures around street gangs<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Line Relisieux (credit: Karabo Asala)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

The second session of the workshop focused delved into Line Relisieux\u2019s ongoing research project focused on gang-present communities in the Cape Flats and examining the relationships between mothers and gangsters. Line argued that the aesthetics of gangsters can be equated to those of \u2018toughness\u2019, in contrast to the aesthetics of mothers, which are often viewed in society as \u2018modest\u2019 and respectable. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Drawing on Elaine Salo\u2019s research on how\nmen and women in the Manenberg township, located on the outskirts of Cape Town,\nnavigate their daily lives to redefine themselves as dignified individuals\nthrough the everyday practices of \u2018ordentlikheid\u2019, or respectability, Line\nilluminated the clash in the identities of mothers and sons within gang-present\ncommunities.She highlighted the importance of gendered aesthetics, since gender\nis an important identity formation tool in these gang-present communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The findings of her interviews with mothers\nin the Cape Flats whose sons are directly affected by gangsterism was shared\nwith the audience. These women, some of whom are religious, shared challenges\non navigating the complex relationships they had with their sons after they\njoined street gangs. Delving into the aesthetics of the gangsters, Line\nquestioned the women on how they reacted to their sons getting tattoos, which\nare widely considered to be a \u2018rite of passage\u2019 in the Cape Flats, following\ntheir induction into street gangs. They are intentioned to be visible, often\nplaced on either the neck, chest, face or arms and are said to symbolize a\nsense of belonging to a particular group of men in local societies that ascribe\nto heteronormative standards of masculinity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Presentations by both researchers were\ninsightful and sparked interesting conversations with the audience. The event\nwas attended by approximately 15 people, including academics, students, and\nmembers of civil society. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Attendees of the event (credit: Karabo Asala)<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

Presenters:<\/strong><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Jeanne Bouyat:\n<\/strong>Postdoctoral researcher at the Centre for Education Rights and\nTransformation (CERT) at University of Johannesburg. She holds a PhD in\nPolitical Studies from Sciences Po Paris and is also a research associate at\nthe Centre for International Studies (CERI) at Sciences Po and a fellow of the\nConvergences research Institute of Migrations (French National Research\nAgency).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Line Relisieux<\/strong>: PhD\ncandidate in Human Geography at the London School of Economics and Political\nScience. She holds an MA in International Relations at the Johns Hopkins\nUniversity SAIS Europe\/ Sciences Po Lille\/ Westphalian University of M\u00fcnster.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Karabo Asala is a Research Intern at IFAS-Research. She recently completed her Joint Honour’s degree at the University of the Witwatersrand in Development Studies and International Relations. She joined IFAS-Research in April, following the completion of her exchange Master’s programme at Sciences Po Paris.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

By Karabo Asala On the 22nd of May 2024, IFAS-Research hosted the \u201cPolicing Appeareances, Reclaiming Aesthetics\u201d workshop at their offices in Braamfontein, Johannesburg.  This workshop sought to explore how power relationships based on race, gender, class, age and other criteria operate through the policing of appearances and how aesthetic practices contribute to the renegotiation of […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":6676,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[12,21,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-6669","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-blog","category-news","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6669","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=6669"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6669\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":6678,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/6669\/revisions\/6678"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6676"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=6669"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=6669"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=6669"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}