Learning to aspire, aspiring to subvert: Namibian San youths’ narratives about the future as mimetic work of resistance

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article examines Namibian San youths’ aspirations about the future. Based on 170 essays, the analysis shows that disadvantaged San students aspire for future lives radically different from the lives of their families. We argue that San students have acquired the repertoire of “the good Namibian citizen” as a form of resistance through mimesis. These assertions create an opening for the projection of a positive and “proud” San identity.