Domestic workers: discussion document 27-29 March 2012
- Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Authors: Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Labor unions South Africa , Household employees South Africa , Cosatu
- Language: English
- Type: book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68711 , vital:29307
- Description: The 5th Cosatu Congress resolved that a research be commissioned by the CEC and conducted by Naledi on the need for establishment of advice centres for servicing and assisting domestic workers. Again, part of the resolution indicated that we should consider finding a viable home for domestic workers. As we move towards the 11th Cosatu Gender Conference, we need to reflect and take stock of the previous resolutions passed on domestic workers, assess the strategies/ steps taken for implementation and make a way forward. This paper has arisen as a follow-up of the afore-mentioned resolution including the commitment made by Cosatu on the Summit held between 27-28 August 2011 which the federation hosted in partnership with the South African Domestic Services and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU) and the South African Office of the ILO. The aim is to stimulate and resuscitate discussions on domestic work acknowledging the positive steps taken at international level of adoption of ILO Convention 189 (C189) on Decent Work for Domestic Workers and its Recommendation 201 (R201).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Labor unions South Africa , Household employees South Africa , Cosatu
- Language: English
- Type: book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68711 , vital:29307
- Description: The 5th Cosatu Congress resolved that a research be commissioned by the CEC and conducted by Naledi on the need for establishment of advice centres for servicing and assisting domestic workers. Again, part of the resolution indicated that we should consider finding a viable home for domestic workers. As we move towards the 11th Cosatu Gender Conference, we need to reflect and take stock of the previous resolutions passed on domestic workers, assess the strategies/ steps taken for implementation and make a way forward. This paper has arisen as a follow-up of the afore-mentioned resolution including the commitment made by Cosatu on the Summit held between 27-28 August 2011 which the federation hosted in partnership with the South African Domestic Services and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU) and the South African Office of the ILO. The aim is to stimulate and resuscitate discussions on domestic work acknowledging the positive steps taken at international level of adoption of ILO Convention 189 (C189) on Decent Work for Domestic Workers and its Recommendation 201 (R201).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Gender Policy: discussion document 27-29 March 2012
- Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Authors: Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68759 , vital:29312
- Description: The Gender policy draws together existing COSATU resolutions into a coherent document, while further enriching these resolutions. This document aims to combine the vision and principles that we aspire towards, with practical relations in the working workplace and economy, in trade unions and in broader society. The issue of gender equality has been on our agenda since the formation of COSATU. However, we require a policy framework to guide our struggles to transform gender relations in the current period. It is therefore important that we reflect on progress in taking forward the vision and programmes adopted on several Congresses since COSATU inception. In broad terms, progress to realise these resolutions has been uneven and varies between affiliates. COSATU and its affiliates are guided by a vision of a society free of sexism, racism, class exploitation, and other forms of oppression. We envisage a future where women participate equally in the economy and society without barriers, and where women are emancipated from all forms of oppression in the household, the workplace and in broader society. We have a vision of a trade union movement as a home for women workers. This policy document was debated and adopted and the National Gender Conference (held on 5-7 July 2000). It is tabled at Congress for discussion and adoption. Once it has been adopted by the Congress all affiliates will have to give expression to this broad framework in their own policies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68759 , vital:29312
- Description: The Gender policy draws together existing COSATU resolutions into a coherent document, while further enriching these resolutions. This document aims to combine the vision and principles that we aspire towards, with practical relations in the working workplace and economy, in trade unions and in broader society. The issue of gender equality has been on our agenda since the formation of COSATU. However, we require a policy framework to guide our struggles to transform gender relations in the current period. It is therefore important that we reflect on progress in taking forward the vision and programmes adopted on several Congresses since COSATU inception. In broad terms, progress to realise these resolutions has been uneven and varies between affiliates. COSATU and its affiliates are guided by a vision of a society free of sexism, racism, class exploitation, and other forms of oppression. We envisage a future where women participate equally in the economy and society without barriers, and where women are emancipated from all forms of oppression in the household, the workplace and in broader society. We have a vision of a trade union movement as a home for women workers. This policy document was debated and adopted and the National Gender Conference (held on 5-7 July 2000). It is tabled at Congress for discussion and adoption. Once it has been adopted by the Congress all affiliates will have to give expression to this broad framework in their own policies.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Intercultural Communication and Vocational Language Learning in South Africa: Law and Healthcare
- Kaschula, Russell H, Maseko, Pamela
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Maseko, Pamela
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175234 , vital:42555 , ISBN 9781405162722 , DOI:10.1002/9781118247273
- Description: The Constitution (1996) of the Republic of South Africa recognizes eleven of South Africa’s most spoken languages as official languages of the country. Of the eleven languages, nine are indigenous African languages and are spoken by about 80% of the total population. The other two, English and Afrikaans, were the only official languages of the pre-democratic regime and are spoken by the remainder of the population. However, when it comes to vocational training at institutions of higher learning, the common trend in South Africa in terms of linguistic composition is in reverse. About 80% of the total student population have English or Afrikaans as their home language, whilst the minority are speakers of indigenous African languages. This is reflected in language practices in the majority of institutions of higher learning where English and Afrikaans are the most common media of instruction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Maseko, Pamela
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175234 , vital:42555 , ISBN 9781405162722 , DOI:10.1002/9781118247273
- Description: The Constitution (1996) of the Republic of South Africa recognizes eleven of South Africa’s most spoken languages as official languages of the country. Of the eleven languages, nine are indigenous African languages and are spoken by about 80% of the total population. The other two, English and Afrikaans, were the only official languages of the pre-democratic regime and are spoken by the remainder of the population. However, when it comes to vocational training at institutions of higher learning, the common trend in South Africa in terms of linguistic composition is in reverse. About 80% of the total student population have English or Afrikaans as their home language, whilst the minority are speakers of indigenous African languages. This is reflected in language practices in the majority of institutions of higher learning where English and Afrikaans are the most common media of instruction.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Maternity Protection: discussion document 27-29 March 2012
- Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Authors: Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68729 , vital:29309
- Description: Developed with the support of Solidarity Center (AFL-CIO) South Africa We would like to thank the COSATU Affiliates and Provinces for their contribution towards the development of this booklet. Special appreciation goes to the members of the COSATU National Gender Coordinating Committee (NGCC) and National Office Bearers designated to gender for their unwavering support towards the production of this booklet. Also our special gratitude goes to the following organisations who contributed towards compiling and development of the booklet:- • Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) • Gina Barbieri Attorneys • Legal Resource Centre(LRC) • African Diaspora Women Workers Network(ADWWN) • South African Self Employed Women’s Association(SASEWA) • International Labour Organisation (ILO).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68729 , vital:29309
- Description: Developed with the support of Solidarity Center (AFL-CIO) South Africa We would like to thank the COSATU Affiliates and Provinces for their contribution towards the development of this booklet. Special appreciation goes to the members of the COSATU National Gender Coordinating Committee (NGCC) and National Office Bearers designated to gender for their unwavering support towards the production of this booklet. Also our special gratitude goes to the following organisations who contributed towards compiling and development of the booklet:- • Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) • Gina Barbieri Attorneys • Legal Resource Centre(LRC) • African Diaspora Women Workers Network(ADWWN) • South African Self Employed Women’s Association(SASEWA) • International Labour Organisation (ILO).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Perceptions and values of local landscapes: implications for the conservation of biocultural diversity and intangible heritage
- Cocks, Michelle L, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141442 , vital:37972 , ISBN 9789086867493 , DOI: 10.3920/978-90-8686-749-3_10
- Description: South Africa is widely recognised as a highly diverse country with regard to its people, culture, landscapes, biological resources and ecology. The importance of policies on protecting cultural diversity and how they relate to the environment is only just emerging at an international level, but in South African we find there is a complete lack of institutional support for rural communities’ attachment to local landscapes. The main objective of this case study is to improve our understanding of the meanings and values that Xhosa people (amaXhosa) of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa attach to their natural landscapes. It is clear that the amaXhosa are still intrinsically connected to their natural environment, in particular the thicket biome that is called ihlathi yesiXhosa (Xhosa forest). Access to places and spaces within the natural environment provides a sense of wellbeing, a link to ancestral spirits, a location for religious rituals, plus a wealth of culturallyinspired uses of specific species and sacred places in the landscape. We suggest that local cultural values could be incorporated into the formal conservation process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141442 , vital:37972 , ISBN 9789086867493 , DOI: 10.3920/978-90-8686-749-3_10
- Description: South Africa is widely recognised as a highly diverse country with regard to its people, culture, landscapes, biological resources and ecology. The importance of policies on protecting cultural diversity and how they relate to the environment is only just emerging at an international level, but in South African we find there is a complete lack of institutional support for rural communities’ attachment to local landscapes. The main objective of this case study is to improve our understanding of the meanings and values that Xhosa people (amaXhosa) of the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa attach to their natural landscapes. It is clear that the amaXhosa are still intrinsically connected to their natural environment, in particular the thicket biome that is called ihlathi yesiXhosa (Xhosa forest). Access to places and spaces within the natural environment provides a sense of wellbeing, a link to ancestral spirits, a location for religious rituals, plus a wealth of culturallyinspired uses of specific species and sacred places in the landscape. We suggest that local cultural values could be incorporated into the formal conservation process.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Sex work: discussion document 27-29 March 2012
- Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Authors: Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68748 , vital:29311
- Description: The aim of this paper is to resuscitate the debate on the need for decriminalization of sex work and ensure that COSATU and its affiliates further engage within structures, alliance, non -governmental organizations and with the Government in terms of the need for law reform and identify alternative policy framework. However, whatever outcome of the legal processes pertaining to sex work, should be abide by the spirit of the Constitution which is committed to advancing human rights and social justice. Sex work in South Africa is currently criminalised and is restricted by the Sexual Offences Act of 1957 (an un-amended apartheid-era law) which prohibits all activities associated with it. The criminal offences related to sex work include amongst them the keeping or participating in the management of a brothel, procuring someone to become a sex worker, soliciting or selling sex or living of the earnings of a sex worker. In 2007 through the Sexual Offences Act their clients were also criminalised In 2007, the Act was amended to criminalise buyers of sexual services too (SALRC 2009). We therefore argue that the existing laws on sex work are nothing but hypocrisy of the conservatives and elites. They do not improve the conditions of women; instead they worsen the miserable conditions that women in the sex trade already find themselves in. The missing fact is that sex work is a by-product of our patriarchal capitalist society-not something created by some “immoral prostitute” The current oppressive legislation on sex work has stimulated a lot of debates and has led to an upsurge in advocacy work by individuals and organizations around the need to either legalise or decriminalize sex work. Likewise, Cosatu as a key civil society player has also played a leading role in its endeavor to unite the working class and to defend workers from exploitation as well as finding workable solutions to the plight of the most vulnerable people in our society who find themselves with no choice but to engage in sex work. The sex industry is by nature exploitative and inherently dangerous. Women in the industry experience different degrees of abuse, coercion and violence, but all of them are harmed physically and psychologically. As a trade union movement, COSATU has an interest in the debate about sex work, from the point of view that sex work targets mainly the working class and the poor, predominantly black women. High levels of unemployment, poverty and gender inequality are key factors driving sex work. The global economic crisis has aggravated the situation for the poor majority through job losses, casualisation and ultimately increased feminization of poverty. Cosatu has already started some debates and campaigns aimed at devising ways of protecting sex workers through collective workers struggles. As such, the sex work discourse and campaign among Cosatu affiliates for decriminalization was tabled at the Federation’s 10th Congress though it was deferred because of contestation and opposition amongst delegates. However, affiliates had the responsibility to go back and make further consultations, sensitization with their structures and open up a discussion at the level of the COSATU Central Executive Committee. Indeed, it is high time that the debate on decriminalization should be concluded and that sex work be recognized as work as Arnott and Crago (2009) argue that: “The criminalisation of sex work has precluded the enforcement and protection of sex workers’ Labour rights. This disregard for sex workers as workers has left many of those employed in brothels in South Africa vulnerable to labor abuses such as withheld wages, arbitrary fines, restrictions on mobility, and confiscation of belongings including medication. Sex workers on the street or working in brothels and other agencies have no recourse if customers refuse to pay them’’1 The decriminalization of sex work should take the course of a rights- based approach which means that sex workers would be able to enjoy their basic human & labour rights and be protected against sexual harassment, violence, rape and unfair working conditions. By so doing, sex workers would be able to access non-discriminatory health care services, be more empowered and operate within the ambit of protective labour and occupational health & safety laws.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU)
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68748 , vital:29311
- Description: The aim of this paper is to resuscitate the debate on the need for decriminalization of sex work and ensure that COSATU and its affiliates further engage within structures, alliance, non -governmental organizations and with the Government in terms of the need for law reform and identify alternative policy framework. However, whatever outcome of the legal processes pertaining to sex work, should be abide by the spirit of the Constitution which is committed to advancing human rights and social justice. Sex work in South Africa is currently criminalised and is restricted by the Sexual Offences Act of 1957 (an un-amended apartheid-era law) which prohibits all activities associated with it. The criminal offences related to sex work include amongst them the keeping or participating in the management of a brothel, procuring someone to become a sex worker, soliciting or selling sex or living of the earnings of a sex worker. In 2007 through the Sexual Offences Act their clients were also criminalised In 2007, the Act was amended to criminalise buyers of sexual services too (SALRC 2009). We therefore argue that the existing laws on sex work are nothing but hypocrisy of the conservatives and elites. They do not improve the conditions of women; instead they worsen the miserable conditions that women in the sex trade already find themselves in. The missing fact is that sex work is a by-product of our patriarchal capitalist society-not something created by some “immoral prostitute” The current oppressive legislation on sex work has stimulated a lot of debates and has led to an upsurge in advocacy work by individuals and organizations around the need to either legalise or decriminalize sex work. Likewise, Cosatu as a key civil society player has also played a leading role in its endeavor to unite the working class and to defend workers from exploitation as well as finding workable solutions to the plight of the most vulnerable people in our society who find themselves with no choice but to engage in sex work. The sex industry is by nature exploitative and inherently dangerous. Women in the industry experience different degrees of abuse, coercion and violence, but all of them are harmed physically and psychologically. As a trade union movement, COSATU has an interest in the debate about sex work, from the point of view that sex work targets mainly the working class and the poor, predominantly black women. High levels of unemployment, poverty and gender inequality are key factors driving sex work. The global economic crisis has aggravated the situation for the poor majority through job losses, casualisation and ultimately increased feminization of poverty. Cosatu has already started some debates and campaigns aimed at devising ways of protecting sex workers through collective workers struggles. As such, the sex work discourse and campaign among Cosatu affiliates for decriminalization was tabled at the Federation’s 10th Congress though it was deferred because of contestation and opposition amongst delegates. However, affiliates had the responsibility to go back and make further consultations, sensitization with their structures and open up a discussion at the level of the COSATU Central Executive Committee. Indeed, it is high time that the debate on decriminalization should be concluded and that sex work be recognized as work as Arnott and Crago (2009) argue that: “The criminalisation of sex work has precluded the enforcement and protection of sex workers’ Labour rights. This disregard for sex workers as workers has left many of those employed in brothels in South Africa vulnerable to labor abuses such as withheld wages, arbitrary fines, restrictions on mobility, and confiscation of belongings including medication. Sex workers on the street or working in brothels and other agencies have no recourse if customers refuse to pay them’’1 The decriminalization of sex work should take the course of a rights- based approach which means that sex workers would be able to enjoy their basic human & labour rights and be protected against sexual harassment, violence, rape and unfair working conditions. By so doing, sex workers would be able to access non-discriminatory health care services, be more empowered and operate within the ambit of protective labour and occupational health & safety laws.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Submission to Press Freedom Commission (PFC) on Media Self-regulation, Co-regulation or Statutory regulation in South Africa:
- Wasserman, Herman, Steenveld, Lynette N, Strelitz, Larry N, Amner, Roderick J, Boshoff, Priscilla A, Mathurine, Jude, Garman, Anthea
- Authors: Wasserman, Herman , Steenveld, Lynette N , Strelitz, Larry N , Amner, Roderick J , Boshoff, Priscilla A , Mathurine, Jude , Garman, Anthea
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143571 , vital:38263 , ISBN , https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/content/ruhome/documents/JMS Submission to Press Freedom Commission.pdf
- Description: Prof Duncan has outlined the relative merits and demerits of self-regulation, co-regulation and deregulation, with which we are in broad agreement. She has also ably dealt with the three functions of regulatory bodies, namely the setting of ground rules for the industry to ensure best practice; enforcement of these; and adjudication of claims and counter claims re journalistic practice (Duncan 2012, p17). Finally, she has also taken up the issue of the necessity of accepting Third Party Complaints as one of the fundamental mechanisms by which citizens can make complaints on the basis of principle, rather than being personally aggrieved. While we are in broad agreement with her on these issues, we would like to highlight some further points for consideration.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Wasserman, Herman , Steenveld, Lynette N , Strelitz, Larry N , Amner, Roderick J , Boshoff, Priscilla A , Mathurine, Jude , Garman, Anthea
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143571 , vital:38263 , ISBN , https://www.ru.ac.za/media/rhodesuniversity/content/ruhome/documents/JMS Submission to Press Freedom Commission.pdf
- Description: Prof Duncan has outlined the relative merits and demerits of self-regulation, co-regulation and deregulation, with which we are in broad agreement. She has also ably dealt with the three functions of regulatory bodies, namely the setting of ground rules for the industry to ensure best practice; enforcement of these; and adjudication of claims and counter claims re journalistic practice (Duncan 2012, p17). Finally, she has also taken up the issue of the necessity of accepting Third Party Complaints as one of the fundamental mechanisms by which citizens can make complaints on the basis of principle, rather than being personally aggrieved. While we are in broad agreement with her on these issues, we would like to highlight some further points for consideration.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Targeting conserved pathways as a strategy for novel drug development: disabling the cellular stress response:
- Edkins, Adrienne L, Blatch, Gregory L
- Authors: Edkins, Adrienne L , Blatch, Gregory L
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/165129 , vital:41211 , ISBN 978-3-642-28174-7 , DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-28175-4_4
- Description: The ability to respond to and cope with stress at a molecular level is essential for cell survival. The stress response is conserved across organisms by the expression of a group of molecular chaperones known as heat shock proteins (HSP). HSP are ubiquitous and highly conserved proteins that regulate cellular protein homeostasis and trafficking under physiological and stressful conditions, including diseases such as cancer and malaria. HSP are good drug targets for the treatment of human diseases, as the significant functional and structural data available suggest that they are essential for cell survival and that, despite conservation across species, there are biophysical and biochemical differences between HSP in normal and disease states that allow HSP to be selectively targeted. In this chapter, we review the international status of this area of research and highlight progress by us and other African researchers towards the characterisation and targeting of HSP from humans and parasites from Plasmodium and Trypanosoma as drug targets.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Edkins, Adrienne L , Blatch, Gregory L
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/165129 , vital:41211 , ISBN 978-3-642-28174-7 , DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-28175-4_4
- Description: The ability to respond to and cope with stress at a molecular level is essential for cell survival. The stress response is conserved across organisms by the expression of a group of molecular chaperones known as heat shock proteins (HSP). HSP are ubiquitous and highly conserved proteins that regulate cellular protein homeostasis and trafficking under physiological and stressful conditions, including diseases such as cancer and malaria. HSP are good drug targets for the treatment of human diseases, as the significant functional and structural data available suggest that they are essential for cell survival and that, despite conservation across species, there are biophysical and biochemical differences between HSP in normal and disease states that allow HSP to be selectively targeted. In this chapter, we review the international status of this area of research and highlight progress by us and other African researchers towards the characterisation and targeting of HSP from humans and parasites from Plasmodium and Trypanosoma as drug targets.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Technauriture: Multimedia Research and Documentation of African Oral Performance
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175223 , vital:42554 , ISBN 9783643901309
- Description: This paper seeks to assess the contribution of technology to the preservation and popularizing of oral performance in Southern Africa. An example will be provided which looks at the oral poetry, izibongo, produced by Xhosa oral poet Bongani Sitole (both in book and technological form). It will trace this poetry from the moment it was orally produced, through to the technologising and publication of this poetry in book form and on a website. A number of websites will also be analysed. The initial part of the paper provides a contextual analysis of selected poetry. This genre will also be compared (in terms of technological influence) with more contemporary Southern African performers such as the story-teller, Gcina Mhlophe as well as Lebo Mashile and Botsotso, spoken word artists and the oral poet Zolani Mkiva. The latter part of the article concentrates on issues related to technology and its relationship to the oral and written word.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175223 , vital:42554 , ISBN 9783643901309
- Description: This paper seeks to assess the contribution of technology to the preservation and popularizing of oral performance in Southern Africa. An example will be provided which looks at the oral poetry, izibongo, produced by Xhosa oral poet Bongani Sitole (both in book and technological form). It will trace this poetry from the moment it was orally produced, through to the technologising and publication of this poetry in book form and on a website. A number of websites will also be analysed. The initial part of the paper provides a contextual analysis of selected poetry. This genre will also be compared (in terms of technological influence) with more contemporary Southern African performers such as the story-teller, Gcina Mhlophe as well as Lebo Mashile and Botsotso, spoken word artists and the oral poet Zolani Mkiva. The latter part of the article concentrates on issues related to technology and its relationship to the oral and written word.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Troubling White Englishness in South Africa:
- Authors: Garman, Anthea
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/159756 , vital:40340 , ISBN 978-1-84888-105-1
- Description: To be white in Africa is to be part of a minority - but a very powerful minority. To be white in South Africa is to be implicated and complicit in historical dispossession and disenfranchisement. However, in post-apartheid South Africa, whiteness is no longer the invisible condition of the default human being, a condition to which all other humans must aspire. In fact, to be white is suddenly to be very visibly Other to the black African majority who are increasingly shaping the social landscape in ways that undermine the trajectories of both the colonial project and the apartheid project in this country.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Garman, Anthea
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/159756 , vital:40340 , ISBN 978-1-84888-105-1
- Description: To be white in Africa is to be part of a minority - but a very powerful minority. To be white in South Africa is to be implicated and complicit in historical dispossession and disenfranchisement. However, in post-apartheid South Africa, whiteness is no longer the invisible condition of the default human being, a condition to which all other humans must aspire. In fact, to be white is suddenly to be very visibly Other to the black African majority who are increasingly shaping the social landscape in ways that undermine the trajectories of both the colonial project and the apartheid project in this country.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Voices from the forest: celebrating nature and culture in Xhosaland
- Dold, Anthony P, Cocks, Michelle L
- Authors: Dold, Anthony P , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141427 , vital:37971 , ISBN 9781431402991 , https://www.amazon.com/Voices-Forest-Celebrating-Culture-Xhosaland/dp/1431402990
- Description: The link between people and nature is explored in this fascinating book, revealing how plants, animals, and landscapes are profoundly reflected in South Africa’s Xhosa language, stories, poetry, religious rituals, healing practices, and everyday customs. While the South African landscape has for centuries been molded and manipulated by humans, the country and its plants and animals have in turn influenced South Africans’ cultural and spiritual development. Based on 10 years of research, it consists of unique photographs that portray how both contemporary rural and urban South Africans still find great value in nature. A fresh, positive approach to biodiversity conservation, this volume serves as a guide to sustainable practices in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
- Authors: Dold, Anthony P , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2012
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141427 , vital:37971 , ISBN 9781431402991 , https://www.amazon.com/Voices-Forest-Celebrating-Culture-Xhosaland/dp/1431402990
- Description: The link between people and nature is explored in this fascinating book, revealing how plants, animals, and landscapes are profoundly reflected in South Africa’s Xhosa language, stories, poetry, religious rituals, healing practices, and everyday customs. While the South African landscape has for centuries been molded and manipulated by humans, the country and its plants and animals have in turn influenced South Africans’ cultural and spiritual development. Based on 10 years of research, it consists of unique photographs that portray how both contemporary rural and urban South Africans still find great value in nature. A fresh, positive approach to biodiversity conservation, this volume serves as a guide to sustainable practices in the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2012
Cultural importance of non-timber forest products: opportunities they pose for bio-cultural diversity in dynamic societies
- Cocks, Michelle L, López, Citlalli, Dold, Anthony P
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , López, Citlalli , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141453 , vital:37973 , ISBN 9783642179822 , DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-17983-9_5
- Description: There is an increasing awareness that monetary value does not fully represent the complete value and significance of NTFPs. Consequently, there is growing interest in the cultural dimensions of biodiversity and the role that it plays in human well-being. This chapter presents two case studies, one on traditional brooms in South Africa, and the other on amate paper in Mexico, to demonstrate the importance of cultural values on driving demand for NTFPs. Because cultural values are so deeply embedded, the demand for culturally valued NTFPs continue across the rural-urban divide, and are maintained even by modernising urban communities. This poses particular challenges, not only for conservation of the NTFPs, but also to sustain cultural diversity in a rapidly changing world.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Cocks, Michelle L , López, Citlalli , Dold, Anthony P
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141453 , vital:37973 , ISBN 9783642179822 , DOI: 10.1007/978-3-642-17983-9_5
- Description: There is an increasing awareness that monetary value does not fully represent the complete value and significance of NTFPs. Consequently, there is growing interest in the cultural dimensions of biodiversity and the role that it plays in human well-being. This chapter presents two case studies, one on traditional brooms in South Africa, and the other on amate paper in Mexico, to demonstrate the importance of cultural values on driving demand for NTFPs. Because cultural values are so deeply embedded, the demand for culturally valued NTFPs continue across the rural-urban divide, and are maintained even by modernising urban communities. This poses particular challenges, not only for conservation of the NTFPs, but also to sustain cultural diversity in a rapidly changing world.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
From Oral Literature to Technauriture: What’s in a Name?
- Kaschula, Russell H, Mostert, André M
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Mostert, André M
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175201 , vital:42552 , ISBN 978-0-9566052-3-8 , https://aspace.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/237322
- Description: Oral traditions and oral literature have long contributed to human communication, yet the advent of arguably the most influential technology—the written word—altered the course of creative ability. Despite its potential and scope, the development of the written word resulted in an insidious dichotomy. As the written word evolved, the oral word became devalued and pushed to the fringes of society. One of the unfortunate consequences of this transition to writing has been a focus on the systems and conventions of orality and oral tradition. Although of importance, a more appropriate focus would be on ways of supporting and maintaining the oral word, and its innate value to human society, in the face of rampant technological development. Yet it is ironic that technology is also helping to create a fecund environment for the rebirth of orality. This paper offers an overview of the debate about the relationship between oral literature, the written word and technology, and suggests that the term technauriture may offer a suitable encompassing paradigm for further engagement with the oral word and its application to modern society. We discuss the late Bongani Sitole, a poet whose oral works were transformed into public and educational resources through the application of technology, and we consider the utility of the term technauriture for describing the relationship between orality, literature and technology.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Kaschula, Russell H , Mostert, André M
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175201 , vital:42552 , ISBN 978-0-9566052-3-8 , https://aspace.repository.cam.ac.uk/handle/1810/237322
- Description: Oral traditions and oral literature have long contributed to human communication, yet the advent of arguably the most influential technology—the written word—altered the course of creative ability. Despite its potential and scope, the development of the written word resulted in an insidious dichotomy. As the written word evolved, the oral word became devalued and pushed to the fringes of society. One of the unfortunate consequences of this transition to writing has been a focus on the systems and conventions of orality and oral tradition. Although of importance, a more appropriate focus would be on ways of supporting and maintaining the oral word, and its innate value to human society, in the face of rampant technological development. Yet it is ironic that technology is also helping to create a fecund environment for the rebirth of orality. This paper offers an overview of the debate about the relationship between oral literature, the written word and technology, and suggests that the term technauriture may offer a suitable encompassing paradigm for further engagement with the oral word and its application to modern society. We discuss the late Bongani Sitole, a poet whose oral works were transformed into public and educational resources through the application of technology, and we consider the utility of the term technauriture for describing the relationship between orality, literature and technology.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
MMORPG: Towards a Sustainable Livelihood Model for Africa and Beyond
- Mostert, André M, Kaschula, Russell H
- Authors: Mostert, André M , Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175212 , vital:42553 , ISBN ViNOrg 2011 , https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-31800-9_4
- Description: The burgeoning worlds of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) coupled with increasing access to the internet is opening a new paradigmatic window for a number of disciplines. Many of these have been slow to take up the challenges associated with this emergent framework, due, in no small measure, to the perception that work and play are mutually exclusive. The dominance of this dichotomy contributed to the slow uptake of the potential for these virtual worlds to be harnessed in the fields of education and employment. This reticence was due in no small measure to the technophobia that tends to characterise the adoption of new technologies within fields that have customarily eschewed an embrace.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
- Authors: Mostert, André M , Kaschula, Russell H
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/175212 , vital:42553 , ISBN ViNOrg 2011 , https://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-31800-9_4
- Description: The burgeoning worlds of massively multiplayer online role-playing games (MMORPG) coupled with increasing access to the internet is opening a new paradigmatic window for a number of disciplines. Many of these have been slow to take up the challenges associated with this emergent framework, due, in no small measure, to the perception that work and play are mutually exclusive. The dominance of this dichotomy contributed to the slow uptake of the potential for these virtual worlds to be harnessed in the fields of education and employment. This reticence was due in no small measure to the technophobia that tends to characterise the adoption of new technologies within fields that have customarily eschewed an embrace.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2011
Know your rights! A basic guide for domestic workers in South Africa
- Labour Research Service (LRS)
- Authors: Labour Research Service (LRS)
- Date: 2010-06
- Subjects: Household employees -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- South Africa , Household employees -- Employment -- South Africa , Labour contract -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60041 , vital:27725
- Description: The demand for domestic services has increased globally during the last two decades and today domestic workers constitute a large portion of the workforce, especially in developing countries. Yet domestic work is undervalued and poorly regulated, and many domestic workers are underpaid and unprotected. This has been recognised by international organisations, such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The struggle of domestic workers has lead to improvements to their rights and conditions in many countries. Yet working conditions and wages remain poor in many countries, including South Africa. This booklet sheds light on this problem. There are 888 000 domestic workers in South Africa, which accounts for 7% of total formal employment (Labour Force Survey, May 2010). The vast majority of these workers do not belong to a trade union and do not partake in collective bargaining or are unaware of their rights to bargain and to join trade unions. The South African Domestic Services and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU) is a trade union for domestic workers in South Africa and campaigns for the improvement of rights and conditions of domestic workers. It recognises that it is not as powerful as it could be and it would have a bigger influence on the legislating authorities if there were more members which were strongly organised. There are numerous difficulties to organise domestic workers, some are related to the education level of the workers and some lies within the nature of the work (many are live-in workers and therefore have no contact with other domestic workers as a natural part of their work). However, SADSAWU has over many years built up a lot of experience and developed a solid vision to build a strong domestic workers movement, and is therefore well placed to fight these difficulties. This booklet also serves as an organising tool for domestic workers. The aim is to raise awareness of the rights of domestic workers and to encourage workers to organise.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010-06
- Authors: Labour Research Service (LRS)
- Date: 2010-06
- Subjects: Household employees -- Legal status, laws, etc. -- South Africa , Household employees -- Employment -- South Africa , Labour contract -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/60041 , vital:27725
- Description: The demand for domestic services has increased globally during the last two decades and today domestic workers constitute a large portion of the workforce, especially in developing countries. Yet domestic work is undervalued and poorly regulated, and many domestic workers are underpaid and unprotected. This has been recognised by international organisations, such as the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The struggle of domestic workers has lead to improvements to their rights and conditions in many countries. Yet working conditions and wages remain poor in many countries, including South Africa. This booklet sheds light on this problem. There are 888 000 domestic workers in South Africa, which accounts for 7% of total formal employment (Labour Force Survey, May 2010). The vast majority of these workers do not belong to a trade union and do not partake in collective bargaining or are unaware of their rights to bargain and to join trade unions. The South African Domestic Services and Allied Workers Union (SADSAWU) is a trade union for domestic workers in South Africa and campaigns for the improvement of rights and conditions of domestic workers. It recognises that it is not as powerful as it could be and it would have a bigger influence on the legislating authorities if there were more members which were strongly organised. There are numerous difficulties to organise domestic workers, some are related to the education level of the workers and some lies within the nature of the work (many are live-in workers and therefore have no contact with other domestic workers as a natural part of their work). However, SADSAWU has over many years built up a lot of experience and developed a solid vision to build a strong domestic workers movement, and is therefore well placed to fight these difficulties. This booklet also serves as an organising tool for domestic workers. The aim is to raise awareness of the rights of domestic workers and to encourage workers to organise.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010-06
Born-frees and worn trees: home grown medicinal plants and poverty
- Husselman, Madeleen, Cocks, Michelle L
- Authors: Husselman, Madeleen , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141464 , vital:37974 , ISBN 9781136886072 , DOI: 10.4324/9780203839645-19
- Description: Despite the widespread use of modern medicines, the parallel role of traditional medicine remains popular in both rural and urban areas and among both wealthy and poor African communities in South Africa. A substantial body of literature exists which documents some of the salient characteristics of the trade and use of traditional medicines (Ngubane 1977; Cocks and Wiersum 2002; Cocks and Møller 2002; Cocks and Dold 2006). Mander (1998) estimated that 27 million people used indigenous medicine in South Africa in a decade. The use and trade of plants for medicine is no longer confined to traditional healers but has entered both the informal and formal sectors of the South African economy (Dauskardt 1990, 1991; Cocks and Dold 2000), resulting in an increase in the number of herbal gatherers and traders (Dold and Cocks 2002). The largely informal trade in traditional medicines forms part of multi-million rand ‘hidden economy’ in southern Africa, and it is now bigger than at any time in the past. It is certainly one of the most complex resource management issues facing conservation agencies, healthcare professionals and resource users in South Africa today (Cunningham 1997). Research points towards a trend of increasing harvesting pressures on traditional supply areas linked to a growing shortage in supply of popular medicinal plant species (Williams et al. 1997, 2000; Mander 1998; Dold and Cocks 2002).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Husselman, Madeleen , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141464 , vital:37974 , ISBN 9781136886072 , DOI: 10.4324/9780203839645-19
- Description: Despite the widespread use of modern medicines, the parallel role of traditional medicine remains popular in both rural and urban areas and among both wealthy and poor African communities in South Africa. A substantial body of literature exists which documents some of the salient characteristics of the trade and use of traditional medicines (Ngubane 1977; Cocks and Wiersum 2002; Cocks and Møller 2002; Cocks and Dold 2006). Mander (1998) estimated that 27 million people used indigenous medicine in South Africa in a decade. The use and trade of plants for medicine is no longer confined to traditional healers but has entered both the informal and formal sectors of the South African economy (Dauskardt 1990, 1991; Cocks and Dold 2000), resulting in an increase in the number of herbal gatherers and traders (Dold and Cocks 2002). The largely informal trade in traditional medicines forms part of multi-million rand ‘hidden economy’ in southern Africa, and it is now bigger than at any time in the past. It is certainly one of the most complex resource management issues facing conservation agencies, healthcare professionals and resource users in South Africa today (Cunningham 1997). Research points towards a trend of increasing harvesting pressures on traditional supply areas linked to a growing shortage in supply of popular medicinal plant species (Williams et al. 1997, 2000; Mander 1998; Dold and Cocks 2002).
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Cultivation of medicinal plants as a tool for biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation in the Amatola region, South Africa:
- Wiersum, K Freerk, Dold, Anthony P, Husselman, Madeleen, Cocks, Michelle L
- Authors: Wiersum, K Freerk , Dold, Anthony P , Husselman, Madeleen , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141489 , vital:37979 , ISBN 9781402054488 , https://library.wur.nl/ojs/index.php/frontis/issue/view/232
- Description: This paper describes the assumptions and results of a study to assess whether cultivation of medicinal plants can serve as a tool for combined biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation. The study was carried out in the Amatola region of Eastern Cape, South Africa, where sustained beliefs in medicinal plant use, also under non-traditional conditions, has resulted in an increase in commercial demands. It was based on the assumption of poverty alleviation not only referring to an increase in income and labour, but also an increase in social capital and human dignity. The study assessed the local perceptions of the use and cultivation of medicinal plants and the need for conservation of these plants, as well as the features of already ongoing cultivation practices and options for increased cultivation. It consisted of participatory assessments in three villages involving around 250 persons and participatory trials with 14 rural women selling medicinal plants on urban markets. The study indicated that the growing demand for medicinal plants is related to the great cultural significance attached to medicinal plants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Wiersum, K Freerk , Dold, Anthony P , Husselman, Madeleen , Cocks, Michelle L
- Date: 2010
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/141489 , vital:37979 , ISBN 9781402054488 , https://library.wur.nl/ojs/index.php/frontis/issue/view/232
- Description: This paper describes the assumptions and results of a study to assess whether cultivation of medicinal plants can serve as a tool for combined biodiversity conservation and poverty alleviation. The study was carried out in the Amatola region of Eastern Cape, South Africa, where sustained beliefs in medicinal plant use, also under non-traditional conditions, has resulted in an increase in commercial demands. It was based on the assumption of poverty alleviation not only referring to an increase in income and labour, but also an increase in social capital and human dignity. The study assessed the local perceptions of the use and cultivation of medicinal plants and the need for conservation of these plants, as well as the features of already ongoing cultivation practices and options for increased cultivation. It consisted of participatory assessments in three villages involving around 250 persons and participatory trials with 14 rural women selling medicinal plants on urban markets. The study indicated that the growing demand for medicinal plants is related to the great cultural significance attached to medicinal plants.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Global Climate Change, Adaptation and Abatement in a Context of Risk and Vulnerability
- Lotz-Sisitka, Heila, Le Grange, Lesley
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Le Grange, Lesley
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/437338 , vital:73371 , ISBN 9780826440655 , https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/climate-change-and-philosophy-9780826440655/
- Description: Climate Change and Philosophy presents ten original es-says by an international team of expert contributors, ex-ploring the important contribution philosophical inquiry can make to contemporary debates to do with climate change and the global environment. Examining this hugely topical issue through the lens of environmental philosophy, political theory, philosophy of technology, philosophy of education and feminist theory, these es-says interrogate some of the presumptions that inform modernity and our interaction with natural processes. The book asks fundamental questions about human na-ture and, more importantly, the concept of 'nature' itself. The conceptual frameworks presented here contribute to an understanding of the processes of change, of social transformation, and the means of adapting to the con-straints that problems such as climate change pose. The book proposes a way of beginning the important task of rethinking the relationship between humanity and the natural environment. Through enquiry into the basic philosophical principles that inform modern society, each author asserts that reflection informs change and that change is both required and possible in the context of the environmental crisis facing us today.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Lotz-Sisitka, Heila , Le Grange, Lesley
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/437338 , vital:73371 , ISBN 9780826440655 , https://www.bloomsbury.com/us/climate-change-and-philosophy-9780826440655/
- Description: Climate Change and Philosophy presents ten original es-says by an international team of expert contributors, ex-ploring the important contribution philosophical inquiry can make to contemporary debates to do with climate change and the global environment. Examining this hugely topical issue through the lens of environmental philosophy, political theory, philosophy of technology, philosophy of education and feminist theory, these es-says interrogate some of the presumptions that inform modernity and our interaction with natural processes. The book asks fundamental questions about human na-ture and, more importantly, the concept of 'nature' itself. The conceptual frameworks presented here contribute to an understanding of the processes of change, of social transformation, and the means of adapting to the con-straints that problems such as climate change pose. The book proposes a way of beginning the important task of rethinking the relationship between humanity and the natural environment. Through enquiry into the basic philosophical principles that inform modern society, each author asserts that reflection informs change and that change is both required and possible in the context of the environmental crisis facing us today.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
New Possibilities for Mediation in Society: How is Environmental Education Research Responding?
- O’Donoghue, Rob B, Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Authors: O’Donoghue, Rob B , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/437354 , vital:73372 , ISBN 978-9460911590 , https://brill.com/display/title/36964?rskey=xymnmAandresult=1
- Description: African universities have, since their inception in the colonial era, been governed by a colonial framing of research agendas and modernist trajectories. Keeley and Scoones (2003), for example, explain how agronomy in the French colonies in Afri-ca was shaped by the ‘particular form of science’that arrived in Mali as the French set about expanding the production of cot-ton. French scientific research, at the time (in the post World War 1 period) emphasized the economic development of the colonies, which introduced scientific ways of improving the par-ticular production of cash crops, dealing with pests and improv-ing varieties, locating early university-based research in pat-terns of bureaucratic and state formation. Expatriate research-ers from universities in France, England and Belgium were brought to the colonies to set the agenda for research, as most of the colonial universities offered research and teaching pro-grammes that were accredited by universities in the ‘mother country’. While the number of expatriate researchers working in African universities may have declined in recent years, with the emphasis now on short-term consultancies (from the ‘donor country’), funding and technical inputs from mother and donor countries continues to shape research. What is of note here is how research agendas are coupled with particular research conventions and processes of administrative and social organ-ization1 that are seldom explicit..
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: O’Donoghue, Rob B , Lotz-Sisitka, Heila
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/437354 , vital:73372 , ISBN 978-9460911590 , https://brill.com/display/title/36964?rskey=xymnmAandresult=1
- Description: African universities have, since their inception in the colonial era, been governed by a colonial framing of research agendas and modernist trajectories. Keeley and Scoones (2003), for example, explain how agronomy in the French colonies in Afri-ca was shaped by the ‘particular form of science’that arrived in Mali as the French set about expanding the production of cot-ton. French scientific research, at the time (in the post World War 1 period) emphasized the economic development of the colonies, which introduced scientific ways of improving the par-ticular production of cash crops, dealing with pests and improv-ing varieties, locating early university-based research in pat-terns of bureaucratic and state formation. Expatriate research-ers from universities in France, England and Belgium were brought to the colonies to set the agenda for research, as most of the colonial universities offered research and teaching pro-grammes that were accredited by universities in the ‘mother country’. While the number of expatriate researchers working in African universities may have declined in recent years, with the emphasis now on short-term consultancies (from the ‘donor country’), funding and technical inputs from mother and donor countries continues to shape research. What is of note here is how research agendas are coupled with particular research conventions and processes of administrative and social organ-ization1 that are seldom explicit..
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
The Fishes of Zimbabwe and their Biology
- Authors: Marshall, Brian
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Estuarine fishes -- Zimbabwe , Estuarine fishes -- Africa, Southern , Fishes -- Africa, Southern -- Identification , Estuaries -- Africa, Southern
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167948 , vital:41524
- Description: The first comprehensive book on the fishes of Zimbabwe appeared in 1961 and was written by Rex Jubb. He followed it with a major treatise on the fishes of southern Africa published in 1967. These books were published at a time when interest in fishes – partly stimulated by the creation of Lake Kariba –was growing, and they were welcomed by anglers and scientists alike. Zimbabwean ichthyology progressed rapidly during the years following their publication and knowledge about our fishes grew steadily. New insights and understanding of their systematics led to numerous taxonomic revisions, bringing with them inevitable changes to their scientific names. At the same time increased collecting meant that new species were being added to the Zimbabwean list. By the early 1970s Jubb’s books had become outdated and there was a clear need for a new volume on the fishes of this country. The National Museums and Monuments met this need by publishing Graham Bell-Cross’ The Fishes of Rhodesia in 1976. This book was available at a remarkably low price and such was its popularity that it was soon out of print. It rapidly became outdated as well and was revised by John Minshull as the Fishes of Zimbabwe, published in 1988. This version had a number of new features such as the inclusion of exotic species and species discovered in the country since 1976, as well as name changes brought about by new developments in taxonomy. It, too, was available at a very low price and has proved to be very popular; the demand was so great that it was reprinted without alteration in the 1990s. By this time, however, it had also become outdated and there was a need for yet another revision, or for a completely new type of book. I have chosen the latter option in preparing this book, since there seemed little point in attempting to revise the earlier ones within their original format. I felt that it would not be desirable to produce another field guide type of book that would have to compete with Paul Skelton’s superb volume, A Complete Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Southern Africa, first published in 1993, with a second edition eight years later. Instead, I decided that I should try to summarise the existing data about fishes in Zimbabwe. My dealings with students and inexperienced fish biologists has made it clear that many of them do not know what work has been done, or not done, on Zimbabwe’s fishes and they are not familiar with the literature. Much of it is, in any case, to be found in obscure publications that are not readily available in Zimbabwean libraries, which have declined in recent years and no longer subscribe to major international journals or even to local ones. This makes it very difficult to keep up with information or to track it down. I am aware, of course, that such a book will never be complete and may already be outdated at the time of its publication, but I hope that it will supply the basic background information for anyone interested in Zimbabwean fishes and provide a platform from which further studies can be launched. Wherever possible, I have used only data from Zimbabwe, although there may be an extensive literature from other countries for widespread or economically important species, such as Clarias gariepinus or Oreochromis mossambicus. This was a conscious decision because I wanted to summarise what is known about the fish in this country, so that other workers can assess what still needs to be done. Nevertheless, I have used some data from outside Zimbabwe, especially for fish from the upper Zambezi because of its relevance to our situation. As far as possible I have tried to use only published works as references, with the exception of university theses and some institutional reports, since most unpublished work is generally difficult to locate and ephemeral. The scientific names of fishes often change as systematic knowledge advances and the reader will note that there have been many changes since Bell-Cross & Minshull (1988) was published. Common names are a problem because of local variations and anglers in particular have various names (or nicknames) for popular angling species; I have used the standard names with these other names included in brackets where necessary.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Marshall, Brian
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Estuarine fishes -- Zimbabwe , Estuarine fishes -- Africa, Southern , Fishes -- Africa, Southern -- Identification , Estuaries -- Africa, Southern
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/167948 , vital:41524
- Description: The first comprehensive book on the fishes of Zimbabwe appeared in 1961 and was written by Rex Jubb. He followed it with a major treatise on the fishes of southern Africa published in 1967. These books were published at a time when interest in fishes – partly stimulated by the creation of Lake Kariba –was growing, and they were welcomed by anglers and scientists alike. Zimbabwean ichthyology progressed rapidly during the years following their publication and knowledge about our fishes grew steadily. New insights and understanding of their systematics led to numerous taxonomic revisions, bringing with them inevitable changes to their scientific names. At the same time increased collecting meant that new species were being added to the Zimbabwean list. By the early 1970s Jubb’s books had become outdated and there was a clear need for a new volume on the fishes of this country. The National Museums and Monuments met this need by publishing Graham Bell-Cross’ The Fishes of Rhodesia in 1976. This book was available at a remarkably low price and such was its popularity that it was soon out of print. It rapidly became outdated as well and was revised by John Minshull as the Fishes of Zimbabwe, published in 1988. This version had a number of new features such as the inclusion of exotic species and species discovered in the country since 1976, as well as name changes brought about by new developments in taxonomy. It, too, was available at a very low price and has proved to be very popular; the demand was so great that it was reprinted without alteration in the 1990s. By this time, however, it had also become outdated and there was a need for yet another revision, or for a completely new type of book. I have chosen the latter option in preparing this book, since there seemed little point in attempting to revise the earlier ones within their original format. I felt that it would not be desirable to produce another field guide type of book that would have to compete with Paul Skelton’s superb volume, A Complete Guide to the Freshwater Fishes of Southern Africa, first published in 1993, with a second edition eight years later. Instead, I decided that I should try to summarise the existing data about fishes in Zimbabwe. My dealings with students and inexperienced fish biologists has made it clear that many of them do not know what work has been done, or not done, on Zimbabwe’s fishes and they are not familiar with the literature. Much of it is, in any case, to be found in obscure publications that are not readily available in Zimbabwean libraries, which have declined in recent years and no longer subscribe to major international journals or even to local ones. This makes it very difficult to keep up with information or to track it down. I am aware, of course, that such a book will never be complete and may already be outdated at the time of its publication, but I hope that it will supply the basic background information for anyone interested in Zimbabwean fishes and provide a platform from which further studies can be launched. Wherever possible, I have used only data from Zimbabwe, although there may be an extensive literature from other countries for widespread or economically important species, such as Clarias gariepinus or Oreochromis mossambicus. This was a conscious decision because I wanted to summarise what is known about the fish in this country, so that other workers can assess what still needs to be done. Nevertheless, I have used some data from outside Zimbabwe, especially for fish from the upper Zambezi because of its relevance to our situation. As far as possible I have tried to use only published works as references, with the exception of university theses and some institutional reports, since most unpublished work is generally difficult to locate and ephemeral. The scientific names of fishes often change as systematic knowledge advances and the reader will note that there have been many changes since Bell-Cross & Minshull (1988) was published. Common names are a problem because of local variations and anglers in particular have various names (or nicknames) for popular angling species; I have used the standard names with these other names included in brackets where necessary.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010