The role of constructions of race in student's talk of (NON) participation in the activities of students political organisations
- Authors: Botha, Ryan
- Date: 2010-12
- Subjects: South African Students' Organisation. , Students -- Political activity -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/27451 , vital:67329
- Description: South Africa has undergone widespread social, economic and political reconstruction since the inception of democracy in 1994. Underpinning these changes are available discourses on race that individuals use in constructing their identities. This article is an analysis of discourses on race emerging in the talk of white students accounting for (non)participation in the activities of the student political organisations (SPO’s) at the University of Fort Hare in East London. The argument here is that white students consistently assign racialized identities to SPO’s on campus by invoking deeply entrenched racially binarized discourses. These racialized discursive formations are available within South Africa’s contemporary linguistic landscape as well as its colonial past. In their talk, the participants in this study conflated SPO led structures and functions with ‘otherized’ conceptions of ‘blackness’. This confluence that white students create between SPO’s as well as terms that are shorthand for ‘blackness’ results in a distancing from and denigration of SPO’s and, more malignly, ’blackness’. It appears that whites use these problematic and racialized constructions of self and the ‘other’ to justify their non-participation in student politics on campus. This article explores the political implications of white students fixing identity in this manner. Hook’s (2010) notion of ‘white woundedness’ is brought into the discussion as a useful point of departure for rethinking ‘white’ identities in South Africa. , Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2010
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- Date Issued: 2010-12
Heritage transformation and the role of museums in post-apartheid South Africa: the case of the East London museum
- Authors: Sokupa, Thabile https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2265-477X
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Museums , Cultural property , Museums -- Management
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/29054 , vital:76526
- Description: The traditional understandings of museums and the heritage sector in general have been challenged in post apartheid South Africa. The main challenge has been how to transform meaning making, heritage construction, and knowledge production in these sectors from the colonial and apartheid past to represent the diversity of South Africans. Based on an in-depth study using unstructured interviews from a sample of museum staff, museum visitors and community members; this study investigated the extent to which permanent displays in the East London museum have transformed to depict cultural diversity and heritage of all South Africans, in particular the history of black South Africans. The main argument is that despite the efforts made by government to transform the heritage sector since 1994, permanent displays in South African are still Eurocentric and do not sufficiently represent the cultural diversity of all South Africans, in particular the culture of the African majority. Findings seem to confirm the initial argument, that even though government has had good policies to address the transformation of the heritage sector and museums in particular, not much has been translated into real change of permanent displays in museums. Thus, for effective transformation to occur in the museum sector, the study strongly recommends that government should put in place properly skilled personnel and accountability structures to monitor and evaluate its transformation policies. Most importantly, a clear policy framework and a transformation charter to guide the transformation processes of museums and related displays need to be developed. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2010
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- Date Issued: 2010
Practices of media production and positioning of women in South African newspaper articles about abortion, 1978 to 2005
- Authors: Feltham-King, Tracey https://orcid.org/0000-0001-8695-9367
- Date: 2010-01
- Subjects: Abortion -- Press coverage , Abortion -- Law and legislation -- South Africa , Abortion -- Moral and ethical aspects
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/28728 , vital:74638
- Description: The context in which legal abortion occurred changed radically in South Africa from 1978 to 2005. The Abortion and Sterilization Act Act No.2 of 1975 severely compromised most South African women's reprouctive rights. Legal abortions were only accessible in practice to white middle-class women. After the process of democratization was initiated the Choice on Termination of Pregnancy Act Act No.92 of 1996 came into effect. This Act was hailed as a complete transformation of the previous legislation and sought to make abortion legal and accessible to all South African women within the first trimester of their pregnancies. This study sought to examine the influence of this transformation on the practices of media production and the representation of women in newspaper articles written about abortion. A post-structuralist feminist approach to a content analysis was adopted using articles about abortion which were published in 25 South African newspapers over a 28-year period. The practices of media production were quantified by looking at the events which were reported on in the newspapers in relation to abortion as well as the commentators who were called on to comment in those articles. The practices of representation were identified according to the words used to indicate the subject woman, in those articles and the discourses used to position women in relation to abortion. The media practices of production were shown to be historically contingent. There was a shift from reports of events occurring in the formalised knowledge domain, before the transition to democracy, to events generated by the politics of individual opinion, after 1990. Although state and political commentators were the most prevalent as commentators overall, after 1990 individual media experts comprised the greatest proportion of individual commentators. This coincided with the generation of more dialogue, discussion, opinion and commentary about the topic of abortion. Women emerged more prominently as commentators around the time of legislative change and initial implementation of the new legislation. Overall a strong relationship emerged between the gender of the commentators and their alignment to the abortion issue. Male commentators were most often aligned to the pro-life side of the debate and female commentators most often to the pro-choice lobby. The strategic utilisation of particular indicators and subject positions for women in newspaper articles about abortion was evident. There was an increase of the use of the term girl at the time when the new legislation was being formulated and challenged. Women were only made visible as autonomous subjects after 1990, when the transition to democracy had begun. Despite this visibility and the radical transformation of the abortion legislation, however, women are still most often positioned as victims in newspaper articles written about abortion. , Thesis (M.Soc. Sc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2010
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- Date Issued: 2010-01
Housing delivery and empowerment in Post - Apartheid South Africa: The Case of Nkonkobe Municipality
- Authors: Chakuwamba, Kapesi Antony
- Date: 2009-12
- Subjects: Housing -- Development , Nation-Building , Democratization
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/23293 , vital:57027
- Description: The core argument in the study is that there have been little prospects of housing delivery in Nkonkobe Municipality. The obstacles for housing development in this area are embedded in the inflexibility of current policies and legacies of the colonial as well as the Apartheid era. Furthermore, the findings indicate that local as well as external sociopolitical practices such as lack of funding, unavailability of land, corruption, politicking, lack of community participation, impact of macro-economic policy, planning and lack of capacity seem to hamper the process of housing delivery. Hence, there is a need for an alternative development strategy which is adopted as the conceptual framework of this study. This is to enhance housing development in most rural areas. This conceptual framework propounds that housing provision in Nkonkobe region should be enhanced in the context of empowerment, nation-building and democratization in the post-Apartheid South Africa. The problem of housing has become a worldwide phenomenon. Compared to other countries, the number of people in need of adequate shelter has remarkably increased and in South Africa the number of people who live in substandard housing and those in desperate need of shelter is enormous. However, in the study a view of housing provision in post-Apartheid South Africa is advocated through looking at the nature of the state and its capacity to deliver quality housing service. A qualitative methodology comprising in-depth interviews and observation was employed in order to gain a deeper understanding of the effectiveness of the municipality in delivering quality service to its people. The ideological perspectives view historical causes and present day reasons for the perpetuation of the housing problem from different angles. A strategy based on alternative development is proposed in this study. The conceptual framework views the poor as active people engaged in the production of their own lives not passive recipients of state development projects. An underlying assumption is that housing provision is influenced by previous state forms and spatial practices. Therefore, the level of community participation could influence the success of housing development projects. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2009
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- Date Issued: 2009-12
Identity and difference: a postcolonial analysis of Cape Malay as depicted in the literary texts from selected South African writers
- Authors: Chaudhari, Shamiega
- Date: 2009-11
- Subjects: Postcolonialism , Orientalism
- Language: Afrikaans
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/${Handle} , vital:64143
- Description: The identity of the Cape Malay is usually reduced to the submissive, the comic and the exotic dishes such as bobotie, curry and samosas. Terms like "slams","slaamaaier" and "halfnaatjie" (Roos 2003:3) were just a few of the derogatory names that was awarded to the Cape Malay. Many of these terms and identity constructions are in the South African literature immortalized. The true history, the struggle, tears and sacrifices of this community slipped by unnoticed and in silence. And today, after all this suffering, they become identity is called into question and this identity is referred to as a controversial identity. In the Western Cape this identity mainly centered around being Malay, being Coloured, Being Cape Muslim or Black Muslim. It seems as if the Cape Malay is in an intermediate identity (defined in English as "inbetweenness") are trapped, defined by their "Muslimness","Cape-ness", "Malay-ness" and "Coloured-ness". This dissertation examines the controversy of the Cape Malay identity and focus specifically on identity construction and Otherness. It emphasizes certain characteristics that people divided due to certain character traits that are different from the norm and therefore cause that they are considered the Other. The study is undertaken with the aim of establishing the authenticity of the Cape Malay identity state and how it is depicted in the works of selected South African writers. It intends to look specifically at the construction of identity through Otherness during the colonial period in Southern Africa as well as how these identities were implemented, rejected or accepted is. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2009
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- Date Issued: 2009-11
Citizenship, social capital and HIV/AIDS: a sociological analysis derived from the experience of the Umkhanyakhude district community, Kwazulu-Nata
- Authors: Nyawasha, Tawanda Sydesky https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4854-9989
- Date: 2009-02
- Subjects: Social capital (Sociology) , AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa , AIDS (Disease) -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/26208 , vital:64965
- Description: This thesis is a multi-level analysis that seeks to examine the utility of applying the concept of social capital in dealing with a complexity of challenges and problems caused by HIV/AIDS in areas of social marginality. It examines social capital in the context of rurality and how its usage can successfully mediate on the effects of all structural factors fuelling the HIV/AIDS epidemic including poverty and social marginality. It does this against the background of scholarly research findings on the relevance of community or neighbourhood social structure in resolving a host of issues affecting its citizens. The study establishes that the ‘public benefit’ of social capital lies in resource connectivity, meso-level interactions and reciprocal transactions useful for HIV/AIDS prevention. Social capital is therefore identified in this study as civic engagement, neigbourliness, voluntary association or civic membership and collective action. The central thesis or argument advanced by this study is that community or village level interactions and associations among people and groups can greatly influence community cohesion and action towards HIV/AIDS prevention, avoidance and mitigation. In its pursuit of a deeper enquiry and understanding of the most often misunderstood concept or rather elusive in both the social science and public health lexicon, the thesis identifies the major sources of social capital as voluntary civic membership or associations in community groups, local village or community assemblages, exchanges of HIV/AIDS specific information, public discussions and other social spaces useful in helping community citizens to get an awareness of HIV/AIDS thereby making them adopt an HIV/AIDS protective behaviour. In this thesis, community or village-level social capital is seen as having a significant effect on household and HIV/AIDS. The study establishes that the prevalence of norms of ‘civicness’ and the vibrancy of horizontal ties at the community or village level generates the needed stocks of social capital for poverty reduction and HIV/AIDS mitigation.Building on Habermas’s(1992) theories of the ‘public sphere’ and ‘communicative action’ andthe Freirian(1996) discourse of ‘dialogue and praxis’, the study highlights the need for social for communication and dialogue in order to break the silence around HIV/AIDS in rural societies. Deliberative discussions or community conversations are suggested to build a critical awareness and consciousness on HIV/AIDS within the community or village context. In this study, quantifiable evidence tends to suggest that there is a strong correlation between lack of HIV/AIDS specific knowledge and HIV/ AIDS vulnerability. The study underscores the need forpublic communication on HIV/AIDS through community-level dialogues and conversations.Community dialogues and conversations are suggested to be active forms of interaction generating significant levels of social capital in the form of public knowledge on HIV/AIDS. This form of public knowledge is perceived as generating action oriented towards HIV/AIDS prevention and fostering the adoption of safer behavioural practices. The thesis also highlights the often muted link or correlation between human capital in the form of education and social capital. In several instances, the study has proven that human capital and education in particular helps in the creation of high stocks of social capital that can be applied to counteract both household and village level HIV/AIDS. The research further establishes the need for citizenship education which is more contextual and calls for critical enquiry, reflection and thinking on the part of all citizens or villagers. All in all, the research extends the existing knowledge on collective efficacy, village or neighbourhood advantage, associational or group membership, village governance and HIV/AIDS in the developing economies. It sheds more light on how village-level processes, interactions and exchanges within the ‘public sphere’ can be streamlined to deal with issues of marginality and rural HIV/AIDS. These study findings on social capital contribute to the ongoing debate about social capital, its relevance and applicability, in solving public health issues and challenges in developing societies. , Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2009
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- Date Issued: 2009-02
Religiosity and sexual risk-taking behaviour among Black female students attending university
- Authors: Yona, Nombeko
- Date: 2009-02
- Subjects: College students -- Sexual behavior , Women college students , Risk-taking (Psychology)
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25129 , vital:63980
- Description: The degree to which religious identity acts as a protective buffer against sexual risk - taking in late adolescence and young adults was investigated among 100 Black female university students. Allport and Ross’ Religious Orientation Scale was used to examine the relationship among religiosity, sexual activity and condom use. The results indicated that greater intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity were associated with less sexual activity and condom use. Religious identification therefore protected respondents from sexual risk- taking but sexually active students with high levels of intrinsic and extrinsic religiosity were less likely to use condoms. , Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2009
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- Date Issued: 2009-02
A new light on the pre-colonial history of South-East Africa, where the 'Other' is the European and the 'Silence' has a voice, based on evidence from shipwreck survivor narratives 1552-1782
- Authors: Vernon, Gillian Noël
- Date: 2009
- Subjects: Shipwrecks -- South Africa -- History Shipwrecks -- Mozambique -- Personal narratives
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD (History)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/7930 , vital:30924
- Description: The aim of this dissertation is to extract information from shipwreck survivor narratives, which will add to the known body of knowledge of the pre-colonial history of Southern Africa during the years 1552 to 1782. The discourse analysis focuses on the voice of the African peoples where the Europeans are the 'Strangers', the 'Other', reversing the view that the people of non-European cultures were termed as the 'Other'. Indigenous inhabitants of south-east Africa, south of Kosi Bay, first encountered Europeans in 1552 when a Portuguese ship was wrecked at present-day Port Edward. Subsequently, eight more Portuguese ships were wrecked between Plettenberg Bay and Kosi Bay between the years 1554 to 1647. Two Dutch ships landed on the shore, one south of the Bay of Natal in 1686, and the other being wrecked near the mouth of the Keiskamma River in 1713. There were also two English ships, with one striking the rocks on Bird Island in Algoa Bay in 1755 and the other, the more famous Grosvenor of 1782, coming aground at Lambazi Bay, north of the Mzimvubu River. The survivor groups were large, varying in size from 72 to 500, and most included a large complements of slaves. The survivors of the Portuguese ships made their way to present-day Mozambique where the Portuguese had trading outposts. The survivors of the Dutch ships, as well as those of the Grosvenor tried, with limited success, to make their way to Cape Town. The survivors from two of the Portuguese wrecks and the English group on Bird Island, constructed small ships and managed to sail away.
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- Date Issued: 2009
An evaluation of the integrated approach to community development: case study of Alfred Nzo Municipality in the Eastern Cape Province
- Authors: Manqina, Nzaliseko Erasmus
- Date: 2009-01
- Subjects: Community development
- Language: English
- Type: text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25162 , vital:63984
- Description: Development in South Africa during the apartheid era was characterized by separate development, where social welfare services and programmes for individuals and communities were fragmented and administered along racial lines (White Paper for Social Welfare, 1997). The segregated social policies prevented inter-sectoral collaboration and a holistic approach to the development of communities. This lack of integration resulted in fragmentation, duplication of services, inefficiency and ineffectiveness in meeting the needs of the majority of individuals and communities. This legacy continues to impact on the implementation of social services in the current context of democratic South Africa (White Paper for Social Welfare, 1997:5-6). This study examined how integration and the integrated approach by stakeholders/role players is applied in community development in the Alfred Nzo District Municipality. Alfred Nzo District was chosen as the case study area since it is one of the nodal points for the implementation in 2004 of the Integrated Sustainable Rural Development Program (ISRDP) initiated by the National government to address poverty in the rural areas of the Province. The research was qualitative in nature. The sample comprised of nine managers, fourteen practitioners and sixty two community members in eight focus groups. Data was collected through self administered interview schedules for managers and practitioners while focus group interviews were conducted by the researcher for community members involved in community development projects. The findings suggest varied understanding of the concepts of integration, ISRDP, community development and collaboration. The findings also revealed challenges in terms of integration and co-ordination by stakeholders in community development. The study established that there is a need for improvement of the integration efforts for community development processes that involves a number of role players. , Thesis (MSoc) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2009
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- Date Issued: 2009-01
A comparison of ethical models for conflict resolution in the African context
- Authors: Mbangu, Muyingi
- Date: 2008
- Subjects: Africa -- Politics and government , Conflict management
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/25052 , vital:63948
- Description: Remarkably little research has been done about the potential of ethical models for violent conflict resolution in the African context. I will argue here that ethical models such as Utilitarianism, Deontologism, Virtue ethics, and African ethics can exert influence to help resolve conflict situations peacefully for the sake of African civilians generally and the DRC civilians in particular. This influence firstly becomes visible in the fact that ethical models can guide conflict resolution attempts to bring about conditions of peace, justice and freedom among African civilians in whichever nations state they find themselves. Secondly, ethical models can be established in the resolution of conflict for a lasting peace in the African context, and lastly, ethical models can be proposed as a guideline for all African leaders to lead their countries in peace. The conclusion I draw is that a normative framework of ethical models can be applied in conflict resolution in the African context. This framework draws on all four models, but leans toward deontology because of its strictness or rigour of universal rules or principles in any situation. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Social Sciences and Humanities, 2008
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- Date Issued: 2008
Hegemonic conceptualisations of contestation in the Middle East: a case study of Iraq
- Authors: Kwitshi, Aviwe
- Date: 200
- Subjects: Terrorism Insurgency
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSoc. Sci (Political Science)
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18130 , vital:42235
- Description: This dissertation illustrated how the production of discourse defining ‘terrorism’ evolved after the emergence of the United States as hegemon, a position that enabled it to develop meaning narratives to arrive at discursive constructs that were selfrewarding, in that they justified its invasion of Iraq in 2003. This study was able to analyse the construction of the ‘war on terror’ discourse used about the Middle East (ME) as a result of the US hegemonic position, using both Gramsci’s analysis of discourse and Foucault’s concepts of power relations. Gramsci proposes the production of discourses through the concept of ’hegemony’. On the other hand, for Foucault (1980: 93), ‘‘relations of power cannot in themselves be established, consolidated nor implemented without the production, accumulation, circulation and functioning of a discourse’’. This study focuses on the period after World War II, drawing on events in the Middle East, in particular Iraq, and examining the influence of the US in the region during this period. In addition, this study addresses the conceptualisation of ‘terrorism’ and discourse around this phenomenon as a function of power and a generally accepted outcome of the exercise of hegemony. The study illustrates how power works through discourse based on Foucault’s conceptualisation of the relationship between power and discourse, and the hegemon’s intention of utilising its discursive power in shaping the views and actions of others.
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- Date Issued: 200
Poverty alleviation strategies and their impact on the livelihoods in Gqumahashe Village (Alice, Eastern Cape) South Africa
- Authors: Thengela, Ntombizanele
- Date: 20xx
- Subjects: Poverty Alleviation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MSW
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10353/18291 , vital:42249
- Description: There are between forty-five to fifty-seven percent (45-57%), South Africans who are engulfed in poverty. In an attempt to identify policy instruments that could help change the status quo, the South African government introduced various strategies to alleviate poverty and some have been seen to be relatively successful. The aim of the study was to identify poverty alleviation strategies in Gqhumahashe village and their impact on the livelihoods of the inhabitants. A qualitative approach and a phenomenological research design were used in conducting this study as these approaches allowed participants to share first-hand experiences regarding the issue under investigation. Purposive sampling method was employed to select participants for the study. Twenty-five participants were selected to participate in this study to share their experience as beneficiaries of these poverty alleviation programmes. The data obtained through in-depth interviews were analysed thematically as well as discussed and supported by the relevant literature. Thematic analysis was used to analyse audiotaped interviews. The findings revealed that there are poverty alleviation strategies in place in Gqhumahashe village. Those strategies include free basic and higher education, school feeding schemes, early childhood development and Kari-Gude literacy programmes for elderly. There are also projects such as the Expanded Public Works Programmes; Community Works Projects and the Municipality Infrastructure Grants. Lastly, Free Health Care Services and Social Welfare Service or Social Grants are strategies that are available in the village to alleviate poverty. The findings also revealed that there is high rate of unemployment in the village. In conclusion, the participants were very happy about the Municipality Infrastructure Grant because it has opened many opportunities for the inhabitants to be employed and it improved the road infrastructure. The recommendation drawn from the study, were that government should create more sustainable jobs for the disadvantaged. Government should also create jobs for the unemployed young graduates. The study recommends that these programmes to alleviate poverty should be extended to other villages across South Afric
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- Date Issued: 20xx