Katrina Greene

The focus of my research is to examine the movement and adaptations of local institutions, specifically informal savings and credit groups, to adjust and respond to varying emergent social and economic opportunity structures, while at the same time, maintaining ties with existing opportunity networks. In my analysis, I explore issues involving flexible accumulation, gender, and community.
My field research occurred from September 1999 through September 2000 in the townships of Khayaletshia, Guguletu, and Langa outside of Cape Town, South Africa. The USIA Fulbright Program and American University funded this fieldwork.

Pictured is Katrina Greene (second from the left) in Vrygrond, an informal settlement in Steenberg. Steenberg is located about 20 to 30 kilometers outside of Cape Town, South Africa. Katrina is pictured attending an "Amabhaso" or traditional Xhosa bridal shower. The bride, dressed in a red traditional Xhosa outfit, is to Katrina's right. The other two women on either side of them are friends who also attended the event. The background displays the informal dwellings in which the residents of Vrygrond and many other blacks live and where Katrina did much of her interviewing and research.