Fruit of the Vine, work of human hands : farm workers and alcohol on a farm in Stellenbosch, South Africa

Bibliography: leaves 112-115.I argue that alcohol is embedded in forces of structural violence that create circumstances of social suffering amongst farm workers in the Western Cape. argue that the labour relations on the research farm are shot through with violence and I trace the use of paternalism as a means to control the work force. I argue that the principles of paternalism have been internalised by the majority of the workers. I further explore the current changes in labour relations as they are played out the field work farm and demonstrate that exploitation and oppression continue to be features of structural violence exercised today. In order to understand alcohol consumption amongst farm workers in the light of structural violence, I argue that farm workers who drink heavily in the mode of the weekend binge do so in an attempt to ameliorate the conditions of their existence. I argue that alcohol consumption is ritualised and that ritual serves to provide a space outside the everyday that facilitates escape from suffering and legitimates drinking. It is my contention that the ritual fails to provide real escape and instead serves to further immiserate farm workers. In an attempt to escape the negative consequences of alcohol consumption those who are able to abstain from drinking alcohol do so largely by converting to a form of Christianity that prohibits alcohol use. I employ the notion of unlearning drinking behaviour to understand the creation of a new person within a support system that enables new ways of being in the world, I contend though, that this new identity is fragile and the potential to revert to previous identities is always present.In addressing the phenomena of alcohol consumption and abstinence, I argue that the social suffering caused by structural violence and the perceived negative effects of alcohol use must not be conflated