Colonial tales, alter-narratives and the enduring value of anthropology
- Authors: Boswell, Rose
- Subjects: Anthrology , Oral tradition , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20989 , vital:29425
- Description: Stories and story-telling are fundamental to human beings. What stories do we choose to tell, hear and relate? From childhood through to adulthood, stories and story-telling provide social content, example, advice, therapy, continuity, connection and entertainment. Story-telling is also a space for hidden resistance, embodiment and the invocation of rank. Accompanied by song and dance, those intangible heritages which must remain dynamic to endure, stories facilitate an aural and oral community that engenders its own understanding of time, place and identity. In anthropology, the study of humanity in all its complexities, there is the collection, collation and retelling of stories for audiences who would otherwise not understand or seek to essentialise those deemed ‗other‘. In this inaugural lecture I focus on the value of stories gathered from anthropological field research in the southwest Indian Ocean Islands. The stories (often constitutive of a multiply-situated self), shed light on the finer details of gendered, ethnic and raced existence in the island communities. They also offer deep insight into the nature and possible ‗evolutions‘ of contemporary societies. Finally, I suggest that alter-narratives, those stories rarely told, provide access not only to multiple worlds, they are part of an aural epistemology which might lead to alternative ways of connecting with others and thereby conceptualising and articulating identity in our contemporary global society.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Boswell, Rose
- Subjects: Anthrology , Oral tradition , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/20989 , vital:29425
- Description: Stories and story-telling are fundamental to human beings. What stories do we choose to tell, hear and relate? From childhood through to adulthood, stories and story-telling provide social content, example, advice, therapy, continuity, connection and entertainment. Story-telling is also a space for hidden resistance, embodiment and the invocation of rank. Accompanied by song and dance, those intangible heritages which must remain dynamic to endure, stories facilitate an aural and oral community that engenders its own understanding of time, place and identity. In anthropology, the study of humanity in all its complexities, there is the collection, collation and retelling of stories for audiences who would otherwise not understand or seek to essentialise those deemed ‗other‘. In this inaugural lecture I focus on the value of stories gathered from anthropological field research in the southwest Indian Ocean Islands. The stories (often constitutive of a multiply-situated self), shed light on the finer details of gendered, ethnic and raced existence in the island communities. They also offer deep insight into the nature and possible ‗evolutions‘ of contemporary societies. Finally, I suggest that alter-narratives, those stories rarely told, provide access not only to multiple worlds, they are part of an aural epistemology which might lead to alternative ways of connecting with others and thereby conceptualising and articulating identity in our contemporary global society.
- Full Text:
Environmental ethics, protection and valuation
- Authors: Du Preez, M
- Subjects: Environmental ethics , Environmental protection , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21022 , vital:29428
- Description: This lecture addresses the environmental ethics, protection and valuation of natural assets. The aim of the lecture is threefold: first, to present a bio-ethical argument for the extension of our moral reference class to include all conscious and non-conscious natural assets; second, to discuss the moral significance of a broader moral reference class in terms of Aldo Leopold’s ‘Land Ethic’; third, to discuss the valuation of natural assets from a system’s perspective with specific reference to the estimation of non-use values. In what follows, Section I discusses environmental protection from a bioethical point of view, Section II discusses the moral significance of a broader moral reference class in terms of Aldo Leopold’s ‘Land Ethic’, Section III describes the concept of valuing natural assets with specific reference to the concept of non-use value and its measurement, and finally, Section IV concludes the lecture.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Du Preez, M
- Subjects: Environmental ethics , Environmental protection , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21022 , vital:29428
- Description: This lecture addresses the environmental ethics, protection and valuation of natural assets. The aim of the lecture is threefold: first, to present a bio-ethical argument for the extension of our moral reference class to include all conscious and non-conscious natural assets; second, to discuss the moral significance of a broader moral reference class in terms of Aldo Leopold’s ‘Land Ethic’; third, to discuss the valuation of natural assets from a system’s perspective with specific reference to the estimation of non-use values. In what follows, Section I discusses environmental protection from a bioethical point of view, Section II discusses the moral significance of a broader moral reference class in terms of Aldo Leopold’s ‘Land Ethic’, Section III describes the concept of valuing natural assets with specific reference to the concept of non-use value and its measurement, and finally, Section IV concludes the lecture.
- Full Text:
Structure and agency in the age of climate change
- Authors: Cherry, Janet
- Subjects: South Africa -- Economic conditions , South Africa -- Social conditions , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21033 , vital:29429
- Description: What I will present here is based on my grappling over the past three decades with one of the central problems of social science – the relationship between social structure and human agency. This is not a new problem for social scientists; from Karl Marx, who understood that human beings make history, but not in circumstances of their choosing; to the French structuralists who conceived the term ‘relative autonomy’ and ‘overdetermination’; to Anthony Giddens’ ‘structuration theory’ and other contemporary sociologists. What is new are the changing physical circumstances of the world in which we live, which mean that human society can no longer afford to analyse ourselves and our social, political and economic systems independently of the natural world.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Cherry, Janet
- Subjects: South Africa -- Economic conditions , South Africa -- Social conditions , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21033 , vital:29429
- Description: What I will present here is based on my grappling over the past three decades with one of the central problems of social science – the relationship between social structure and human agency. This is not a new problem for social scientists; from Karl Marx, who understood that human beings make history, but not in circumstances of their choosing; to the French structuralists who conceived the term ‘relative autonomy’ and ‘overdetermination’; to Anthony Giddens’ ‘structuration theory’ and other contemporary sociologists. What is new are the changing physical circumstances of the world in which we live, which mean that human society can no longer afford to analyse ourselves and our social, political and economic systems independently of the natural world.
- Full Text:
Utilising new technology to enable sustainable chemical and drug manufacturing in Africa
- Authors: Watts, Paul
- Subjects: Drug development , Pharmacology , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21000 , vital:29426
- Description: Over the last few decades organic chemists have developed highly sophisticated chemical reactions to prepare very complex molecules. The pharmaceutical industry uses the methodology that academics develop within research programmes to manufacture drugs to treat a plethora of medical conditions. When unwell, all citizens expect treatment, however it needs to be remembered that the pharmaceutical industry is a business in order to make a profit for its shareholders, and consequently only rich nations can afford access to the most modern treatments available.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Watts, Paul
- Subjects: Drug development , Pharmacology , f-sa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Lectures
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10948/21000 , vital:29426
- Description: Over the last few decades organic chemists have developed highly sophisticated chemical reactions to prepare very complex molecules. The pharmaceutical industry uses the methodology that academics develop within research programmes to manufacture drugs to treat a plethora of medical conditions. When unwell, all citizens expect treatment, however it needs to be remembered that the pharmaceutical industry is a business in order to make a profit for its shareholders, and consequently only rich nations can afford access to the most modern treatments available.
- Full Text:
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