‘The capacity to aspire’ refers to aspirations of people to escape conditions of poverty and deprivation
- Future-oriented cultural capacity
- Social spaces based on a broad socio-economic context
- A meta-capacity founded on social and collective action
- Ethics of possibility for improving quality of life
- Navigational capacity that meaningfully realises having a voice and being empowered
Which factors influence the capacity to aspire among young black South African people from working- and middle-class backgrounds?
The framework
Objects
- Immediate objects of aspiration are more about wants (designer clothing, latest gadgets)
- Intermediate objects of aspiration provide long-term rewards with sustained effort
Agency
- Agentic capabilities strengthen active self-formation and discipline
- Agentic transactions involve the use of social networks, historical narratives and role models for youth
Tools
- Windows provide a glimpse of the future, allowing youth to anticipate and plan ahead
- Social safety nets provide guarantees that allow youth to take prepared risks
Spaces
- Imposed spaces are composed of race, class, age, gender and sexual orientation, and vary according to time, location and the individual
- Intended spaces focus on the horizon, the spaces of the future and the ethics of possibility, fed by hope and imagination
The OATS conceptual framework is a unique proposal that seeks to understand the internal workings of the capacity to aspire
Reference:
OATS - A new conceptual framework
In: Black Youth Aspirations: Imagined Futures and Transitions into Adulthood
Botshabelo Maja (2021) ISBN: 9781802620269