Abstract
As the strongest predictor of a sense of meaning in life, Erikson’s psychosocial concept of generativity provides a framework that enables the exploration of meaning-making during middle adulthood. This theoretical lens provides a comprehensive view for the psychobiographer of the developmental precursors and adult expressions of generativity in an individual’s life. Should the eugraphic psychobiography of a single life illuminate important individual strengths and resiliencies, a comparative eugraphic study of individuals navigating life in a similar context, could facilitate a more in-depth understanding of adaptive and optimal human functioning. This comparative study will use purposive sampling to select previously unstudied subjects from a pool of female anti-apartheid activists for comparison to gain deeper insight into extraordinary lives and contributions to society. The authors found similarities in the achievement of potential meaning in the lives of Albertina Sisulu and Ruth First through their successful development of generativity against the background of their shared, as well as different personal and contextual factors.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Similar content being viewed by others
Notes
- 1.
Joe Slovo, a communist deeply involved in anti-apartheid activism, was well known for his work as a defence lawyer in political trials. He was also one of the earliest members of the military arm of the ANC, Umkhonto we Sizwe (MK) and later became Chief of Staff of MK (Wieder, 2013a).
- 2.
The Junior Left Book Club was a socialist group that had weekly meetings to discuss political books and assigned research on issues of oppression and racism in South Africa and throughout the world (Wieder, 2011).
- 3.
The ANC became the dominant force in the anti-apartheid movement, collaborating with other political groups such as the South African Communist Party. Banned for three decades, it operated underground and outside of South Africa until 1990. It became the governing party of South Africa with the 1994 election of Nelson Mandela (Giliomee & Mbenga, 2007).
- 4.
Referring to the apartheid government’s prioritisation of Christianity as well as Afrikaner interests, culture and language which emerged from the descendants from European immigrants (mainly Dutch, but also French and German) who had colonised the Cape Colony (Giliomee, 2003).
References
Burnell, B., Nel, C., Fouché, P. J. P., & Van Niekerk, R. (2019). Suitability indicators in the study of exemplary lives: Guidelines for the selection of the psychobiographical subject. In C. H. Mayer & Z. Kovary (Eds.), New trends in psychobiography (pp. 173–193). Springer.
Downing, C., & Hastings-Tolsma, M. (2016). An integrative review of Albertina Sisulu and ubuntu: Relevance to caring and nursing. Health SA Gesondheid, 21, 214–227. https://hsag.co.za/index.php/hsag/article/view/956/1149
Erikson, E. H. (1963). Childhood and society (2nd ed.). WW Norton.
Erikson, E. H. (1997). The life cycle completed: Extended version. W.W. Norton.
First, R. (1989). 117 days. Monthly Review Press. Originally published in 1965.
Freiberg, K. L. (1987). Human development: A lifespan approach (3rd ed.). Jones and Bartlett.
Giliomee, H. (2003). The Afrikaners. Biography of a people. Charlottesville, VA: University of Virginia Pess.
Giliomee, H., & Mbenga, B. (2007). New history of South Africa. Tafelberg.
Graves, S. B., & Larkin, E. (2006). Lessons from Erikson. Journal of Intergenerational Relationships, 4(2), 61–71. https://doi.org/10.1300/J194v04n02_05
Isaacson, K. (2005). Divide and multiply: Comparative theory and methodology in multiple case psychobiography. In W. T. Schultz (Ed.), Handbook of psychobiography (pp. 104–111). Oxford University Press.
Kasrils, R. (2020). The revolutionary life and times of Ruth First and her legacy. Umsebenzi Online, 19(22) https://portside.org/node/23808/printable/print
Klein, D. R. (2006). Negotiating femininity, ethnicity and history: Representations of Ruth First in South African struggle narratives. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Cape Town: University of Cape Town.
Kuzwayo, E. (1985). Call me woman. The Women’s Press.
McAdams, D. P. (1996). Personality, modernity and the storied self: A contemporary framework for studying persons. Psychological Inquiry, 7(4), 295–321. https://doi.org/10.1207/s15327965pli0704_1
McAdams, D. P., De St. Aubin, E., & Logan, R. L. (1993). Generativity among young, midlife, and older adults. Psychology and Aging, 8(2), 221–230. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.8.2.221
McAdams, D. P., & Guo, J. (2015). Narrating the generative life. Psychological Science, 26(4), 475–483. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797614568318
McGregor, L. (2011). Albertina Sisulu obituary. The Guardian. http://www.theguardian.com/world/2011/jun/06/albertina-sisulu-obituary
Milton, S., & Pimstone, M. (2009). Ruth First. Jewish Women: A Comprehensive Historical Encyclopaedia. https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/first-ruth
Pinnock, D. (1992). Writing left. Ruth First and radical South African Journalism in the 1950’s. Unpublished Doctoral dissertation, Rhodes University, Grahamstown.
Ponterotto, J. G., & Reynolds, J. D. (2017). Ethical and legal considerations in psychobiography. American Psychologist, 72(5), 446–458. https://doi.org/10.1037/amp0000047
Runyan, W. M. (1983). Idiographic goals and methods in the study of lives. Journal of Personality, 51(3), 413–437.
Sachs, A. (1989). Foreword. In R. First (Ed.), 117 days (pp. 7–12). Monthly Review Press.
Schnell, T. (2009). The sources of meaning and meaning in life questionnaire (SoMe): Relations to demographics and well-being. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 4(3), 483–499. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760903271074
Schnell, T. (2011). Individual differences in meaning-making: Considering the variety of sources of meaning, their density and diversity. Personality and Individual Differences, 51, 667–673. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2011.06.006
Segal, R. (1982a). Ruth First: A memorial address. Review of African Political Economy, 9(25), 52–54. https://doi.org/10.1080/03056248208703514
Segal, R. (1982b). Ruth First. Index on Censorship, 11(6), 29–30. https://doi.org/10.1080/03064228208533457
Sisulu, E. (2003). Walter and Allbertina Sisulu: In our lifetime (2nd ed.). David Phillip.
Sisulu, E. (2004). ‘Mrs Sisulu’s husband’: Subversion of gender roles in an African marriage. Social Dynamics, 30(1), 95–104. https://doi.org/10.1080/02533950408628664
Sisulu, W. (2001). I will go singing: Walter Sisulu speaks of his life and the struggle for freedom in South Africa in conversation with George M Houser & Herbert Shore. Robben Island Museum in association with the Africa Fund.
Slovo, G. (2007). Every secret thing: My family, my country. Virago Press.
Sorell, G. T., & Montgomery, M. J. (2001). Feminist perspectives on Erikson’s theory: Their relevance for contemporary identity development research. Identity: An International Journal of Theory and Research, 1(2), 97–128. https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1207/S1532706XID0102_01
Stevens, R. (2008). Erik Erikson: Explorer of identity and the life cycle. Palgrave Macmillan.
Watson, J. (2009). Her story: Ruth First. Appraisal. Wordsetc., 43–47. https://www.academia.edu/16026687/Her_Story_Ruth_First
Wieder, A. (2011). Ruth First as educator: An untold story. South African Review of Education, 17(1), 86–100. https://journals.co.za/doi/10.10520/EJC99006
Wieder, A. (2013a). Ruth First and Joe Slovo in the war against Apartheid. Monthly Review Press.
Wieder, A. (2013b). Speaking to the present South Africa: Ideas, writing, and the actions of Ruth First and Joe Slovo. Lecture at Lilliesleaf’s 50th Year Commemoration of the Rivonia Raid, 1, 1–10. http://www.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/2/AlanWieder-17JulSeminar.pdf and http://firstslovo.blogspot.com/2013/07/lilliesleaf-talk-july-2-2013.html
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2021 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Burnell, B., Nel, C. (2021). A Comparative Psychobiographical Exploration of the Role of Generativity in Meaning Making for Two Women in the Anti-apartheid Movement. In: Mayer, CH., Fouché, P.J., Van Niekerk, R. (eds) Psychobiographical Illustrations on Meaning and Identity in Sociocultural Contexts . Sociocultural Psychology of the Lifecourse . Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81238-6_5
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-81238-6_5
Published:
Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-81237-9
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-81238-6
eBook Packages: Behavioral Science and PsychologyBehavioral Science and Psychology (R0)