Abstract

BAHRE, Erik. Inclusive networks and exclusive bureaucracies: risks and commercial insurance for the South African poor. Etnográfica [online]. 2010, vol.14, n.3, pp.465-485. ISSN 0873-6561.

Recently, large-scale South African companies are establishing a myriad of policies that aim to incorporate the previously excluded, mostly non-White, poor and middle classes. Here I examine definitions of risks and costs, as well as the attempt to save costs by relying on social capital among the poor. This casts a new light on lively debates on risk, inequality, and social capital. Research among clients living in the townships of Cape Town, as well as among insurance brokers, actuaries, and others involved in the world of insurance, reveal how policy costs are directly related to the many risks and adversities that the poor are exposed to. It reveals how insurers mobilize social capital to gain access to new markets - sometimes with disastrous consequences - and simultaneously have complex bureaucracies that make it very difficult for clients to submit claims successfully. This study counter-intuitively suggests that the rapid expansion of insurance could aggravate risks that the poor are exposed to and could increase inequalities.

Keywords : South Africa; insurance policies; risk; poverty; social networks; marketing.

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