Abstract
In this article, we used the capability approach as normative grounding to analyse a particular faith-based intervention targeting ‘youth at the margins’ – in this instance, marginalised migrant youths from Zimbabwe living in Johannesburg, South Africa. We used Albert Street School (AS School), run by Johannesburg’s Central Methodist Church, as our case study to show how this faith-based organisation, through its focus on education, created not only spaces for marginalised youths to aspire towards a better life but also practical opportunities to convert their aspirations into action. Drawing on first-hand accounts of 12 Zimbabwean migrant youths who had completed schooling at AS School, as well as of representatives of both the school and the CMC, the article first sketches the Zimbabwe-South Africa migration context post 2000. A discussion then follows of AS School as a faith-based intervention which addresses the constrained capability for education amongst marginalised migrant youths.
Highlights
There is a growing amount of literature globally considering the interface of religion and development (Alkire 2006; Deneulin & Bano 2009; Swart & Nell 2016), including human development (Deneulin & Zampini-Davies 2016, 2017)
Using the capability approach as our normative grounding, we analyse a particular faith-based intervention targeting ‘youth at the margins’ – in this instance, marginalised migrant youths from Zimbabwe living in Johannesburg, South Africa
We used Albert Street School (AS School) run by Johannesburg’s Central Methodist Church (CMC) as our case study of how an faith-based organisations (FBOs), through its focus on education, created spaces for marginalised youths to aspire towards a better life and practical opportunities to convert their aspirations into action
Summary
There is a growing amount of literature globally considering the interface of religion and development (Alkire 2006; Deneulin & Bano 2009; Swart & Nell 2016), including human development (Deneulin & Zampini-Davies 2016, 2017). When considering the role of FBOs in young people’s lives, we draw on Amartya Sen’s capability approach which sees development as the process of creating opportunities for all people to be and do what they value (Sen 1999). We posit that the evaluation of the migrant youths’ quality of life and educational aspirations formation ought to be based on their individual freedoms and opportunities This is in line with Sen’s argument – that the freedom to achieve well-being is of primary importance and can be evaluated by looking at the opportunities or capabilities that individuals have in pursuing what they have reason to value (Robeyns 2011, 2017). Because of the complexity of defining and categorising migrants, we use the term ‘marginalised migrants’ to denote refugees, asylum seekers and migrants without formal documentation
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