Perceptions of the natural environment from a rural African perspective: a case of Cylondropuntia fulgida var. fulgida in Gwanda district, Zimbabwe
- Dube, Nqobizitha, Snowball, Jeanette D, Fraser, Gavin C G
- Authors: Dube, Nqobizitha , Snowball, Jeanette D , Fraser, Gavin C G
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68578 , vital:29289 , http://2015.essa.org.za/fullpaper/essa_2994.pdf
- Description: Publisher version , Community environmental perceptions are instrumental in environmental management programmes given that perspectives govern human-environment relations. Despite numerous studies on environmental perceptions, little is known about how the rural poor particularly in Africa conceptualize, live with, and respond to pressing environmental issues facing them. As such, this paper uses the case of an invasive alien plant (IAP) (Cylindropuntia fulgida var. fulgida (Cff)) in a rural community (Gwanda district, Zimbabwe) to unveil the conceptualisation of the natural environment from a rural African perspective. This paper discloses the environmental worldview of the community and explains the formulation of the attitudes by the local households towards species in the environment. The study uses two horizontal dimensions of environmental attitudes formulation (New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale and Kellet’s (1996) classification of environmental values). Data was collected using a questionnaire survey, group discussions and key informant interviews. A sample of 156 individuals comprised the study respondents. Results showed the residents of rural Gwanda district to hold both a conservation and utilisation conviction (syncretic view) towards the environment. However, utilisation outweighs conservation. Furthermore, older residents are more inclined to conservation in comparison to the youth. The study also divulged that the origin of a species in the natural environment was insignificant to the host community. However, the livelihood effects that species had (regardless of origins) were the major determinants of attitudes developed towards it.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Dube, Nqobizitha , Snowball, Jeanette D , Fraser, Gavin C G
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/68578 , vital:29289 , http://2015.essa.org.za/fullpaper/essa_2994.pdf
- Description: Publisher version , Community environmental perceptions are instrumental in environmental management programmes given that perspectives govern human-environment relations. Despite numerous studies on environmental perceptions, little is known about how the rural poor particularly in Africa conceptualize, live with, and respond to pressing environmental issues facing them. As such, this paper uses the case of an invasive alien plant (IAP) (Cylindropuntia fulgida var. fulgida (Cff)) in a rural community (Gwanda district, Zimbabwe) to unveil the conceptualisation of the natural environment from a rural African perspective. This paper discloses the environmental worldview of the community and explains the formulation of the attitudes by the local households towards species in the environment. The study uses two horizontal dimensions of environmental attitudes formulation (New Environmental Paradigm (NEP) Scale and Kellet’s (1996) classification of environmental values). Data was collected using a questionnaire survey, group discussions and key informant interviews. A sample of 156 individuals comprised the study respondents. Results showed the residents of rural Gwanda district to hold both a conservation and utilisation conviction (syncretic view) towards the environment. However, utilisation outweighs conservation. Furthermore, older residents are more inclined to conservation in comparison to the youth. The study also divulged that the origin of a species in the natural environment was insignificant to the host community. However, the livelihood effects that species had (regardless of origins) were the major determinants of attitudes developed towards it.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
LCT in qualitative research: creating a translation device for studying constructivist pedagogy
- Maton, Karl, Chen, Rainbow Tsai-Hung
- Authors: Maton, Karl , Chen, Rainbow Tsai-Hung
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66465 , vital:28952
- Description: publisher version , This chapter addresses how Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) can be used to overcome this divide in qualitative research. Specifically, we discuss how to develop an ‘external language of description’ or translation device between theory and data. We ground our discussion in the example of a major study that enacted the LCT concepts of specialization codes (Chapter 1, this volume) to explore how constructivist pedagogy shapes the educational experiences of students (Chen 2010). First, we elaborate on Bernstein’s notion of an ‘external language’ – its rationale, its role in research, and ways it has been interpreted – to clarify the nature of a ‘translation device’. Second, we introduce the study we use to exemplify how such a device can be evolved. Third, we analyse the evolving process of that study. There are few published examples of ‘external languages’; there is even less public discussion of how they can be developed. Publications typically reveal the products of research; here we reveal the process as well as the product, to make explicit part of the craft of LCT (Chapter 1, this volume). We analyse the study as an unfolding narrative, focusing on how relations between theory and data were negotiated in the development of an external language of description. Last, we introduce the resulting translation device, discuss how it enables dialogue between theory and data, and consider the nature of the process more generally. We should emphasize that this chapter is intended to be neither a definitive guide nor a template for enacting LCT. More widely, it aims neither to normatively define how theory and data should be related nor to restrict diversity in how this can be achieved. As we discuss, there are several interpretations of ‘external languages’, and, as other chapters in this volume illustrate, there are many ways of using LCT and developing translation devices. Rather, by focusing in detail on one study we hope to shed some illustrative light on how the framework can be used in qualitative research to generate explanatory power through fostering dialogue between theory and data.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Maton, Karl , Chen, Rainbow Tsai-Hung
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/66465 , vital:28952
- Description: publisher version , This chapter addresses how Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) can be used to overcome this divide in qualitative research. Specifically, we discuss how to develop an ‘external language of description’ or translation device between theory and data. We ground our discussion in the example of a major study that enacted the LCT concepts of specialization codes (Chapter 1, this volume) to explore how constructivist pedagogy shapes the educational experiences of students (Chen 2010). First, we elaborate on Bernstein’s notion of an ‘external language’ – its rationale, its role in research, and ways it has been interpreted – to clarify the nature of a ‘translation device’. Second, we introduce the study we use to exemplify how such a device can be evolved. Third, we analyse the evolving process of that study. There are few published examples of ‘external languages’; there is even less public discussion of how they can be developed. Publications typically reveal the products of research; here we reveal the process as well as the product, to make explicit part of the craft of LCT (Chapter 1, this volume). We analyse the study as an unfolding narrative, focusing on how relations between theory and data were negotiated in the development of an external language of description. Last, we introduce the resulting translation device, discuss how it enables dialogue between theory and data, and consider the nature of the process more generally. We should emphasize that this chapter is intended to be neither a definitive guide nor a template for enacting LCT. More widely, it aims neither to normatively define how theory and data should be related nor to restrict diversity in how this can be achieved. As we discuss, there are several interpretations of ‘external languages’, and, as other chapters in this volume illustrate, there are many ways of using LCT and developing translation devices. Rather, by focusing in detail on one study we hope to shed some illustrative light on how the framework can be used in qualitative research to generate explanatory power through fostering dialogue between theory and data.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
The ebb and flow of the separation of powers in South African constitutional law – the Glenister litigation campaign
- Authors: Krüger, Rósaan
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71103 , vital:29784 , https://doi.org/10.5771/0506-7286-2015-1-49
- Description: This article considers the application of the doctrine of separation of powers by the South African judiciary in a series of judgments flowing from applications and appeals concerning the disbanding of a specialised crime-fighting unit, the Directorate of Special Operations (‘DSO’, colloquially known as ‘the Scorpions’) and the establishment of another unit, the Directorate of Priority Crimes (‘DCPI’, colloquially known as ‘the Hawks’) through legislative enactment. It traces the judiciary’s stance on the separation of powers in the different stages of the litigation - before, during and after the conclusion of the legislative process. It does so against the background of South African precedent on the doctrine and in the light of a perceived power imbalance between the branches of government. Ultimately, it questions the appropriateness of the current understanding of the doctrine of separation of powers in the context of a dominant-party democracy.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Krüger, Rósaan
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/71103 , vital:29784 , https://doi.org/10.5771/0506-7286-2015-1-49
- Description: This article considers the application of the doctrine of separation of powers by the South African judiciary in a series of judgments flowing from applications and appeals concerning the disbanding of a specialised crime-fighting unit, the Directorate of Special Operations (‘DSO’, colloquially known as ‘the Scorpions’) and the establishment of another unit, the Directorate of Priority Crimes (‘DCPI’, colloquially known as ‘the Hawks’) through legislative enactment. It traces the judiciary’s stance on the separation of powers in the different stages of the litigation - before, during and after the conclusion of the legislative process. It does so against the background of South African precedent on the doctrine and in the light of a perceived power imbalance between the branches of government. Ultimately, it questions the appropriateness of the current understanding of the doctrine of separation of powers in the context of a dominant-party democracy.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
Electrochemical Detection of Nitrite on Electrodes Modified by Click Chemistry Using Asymmetrical Co (II) and Mn (III) Phthalocyanines Containing Push-Pull Substituents
- Nkhahle, Reitumetse, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Nkhahle, Reitumetse , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/231425 , vital:49886 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ac377f"
- Description: The more conventional route to synthesizing asymmetric push-pull phthalocyanines (Pcs) involves pairing electron-donating substituents with electron-withdrawing groups in either an A3B or AB3 manner. In this work, a push-pull system fashioned from a substituent bearing different functional groups was created. Symmetric and asymmetric cobalt and manganese Pcs in which acetaminophen was the dominant substituent were synthesized where the asymmetric analogues bore an alkyne-terminated substituent. These complexes were applied as sensors towards the electro-oxidation of nitrite. In addition to comparing the asymmetric Pcs to the symmetric counterparts, an assessment on the different central metals as well as the method of electrode modification was made. From the studies performed, the results showed that the manganese complexes are generally better suited (more so when clicked on to the electrode) in the electrocatalysis of nitrite with a limit of detection and a catalytic rate values of 2.15 μM and 6.91 × 106 s−1 M−1 being recorded for the asymmetric MnPc.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
- Authors: Nkhahle, Reitumetse , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2021
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/231425 , vital:49886 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1149/1945-7111/ac377f"
- Description: The more conventional route to synthesizing asymmetric push-pull phthalocyanines (Pcs) involves pairing electron-donating substituents with electron-withdrawing groups in either an A3B or AB3 manner. In this work, a push-pull system fashioned from a substituent bearing different functional groups was created. Symmetric and asymmetric cobalt and manganese Pcs in which acetaminophen was the dominant substituent were synthesized where the asymmetric analogues bore an alkyne-terminated substituent. These complexes were applied as sensors towards the electro-oxidation of nitrite. In addition to comparing the asymmetric Pcs to the symmetric counterparts, an assessment on the different central metals as well as the method of electrode modification was made. From the studies performed, the results showed that the manganese complexes are generally better suited (more so when clicked on to the electrode) in the electrocatalysis of nitrite with a limit of detection and a catalytic rate values of 2.15 μM and 6.91 × 106 s−1 M−1 being recorded for the asymmetric MnPc.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2021
Assessment in higher education: reframing traditional understandings and practices
- Clarence, Sherran, Quinn, Lynn, Vorster, Jo-Anne
- Authors: Clarence, Sherran , Quinn, Lynn , Vorster, Jo-Anne
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: Book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59534 , vital:27624
- Description: The case studies in this publication provide examples of lecturers who have considered the role of assessment in their courses carefully. All of them have engaged with matters related to assessment as part of the formal courses or qualifications offered by staff of the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning (CHERTL) at Rhodes University. In these courses lecturers are encouraged to reflect critically on their current assessment practices, engage with some of the literature and research on assessment in higher education, and then re-conceptualise their assessment methods and approaches. These case studies were drawn from the assignments and portfolios that they completed as part of the summative assessment for the courses they attended. The purpose of the case studies is pedagogic and to illustrate a range of assessment practices and principles. For the sake of clarity some of the details have been omitted or slightly changed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Clarence, Sherran , Quinn, Lynn , Vorster, Jo-Anne
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: Book , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59534 , vital:27624
- Description: The case studies in this publication provide examples of lecturers who have considered the role of assessment in their courses carefully. All of them have engaged with matters related to assessment as part of the formal courses or qualifications offered by staff of the Centre for Higher Education Research, Teaching and Learning (CHERTL) at Rhodes University. In these courses lecturers are encouraged to reflect critically on their current assessment practices, engage with some of the literature and research on assessment in higher education, and then re-conceptualise their assessment methods and approaches. These case studies were drawn from the assignments and portfolios that they completed as part of the summative assessment for the courses they attended. The purpose of the case studies is pedagogic and to illustrate a range of assessment practices and principles. For the sake of clarity some of the details have been omitted or slightly changed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Towards a Mobile Bioethanol Unit for point of source conversion of sugar sources to bioethanol: design and feasibility study for South Africa
- Authors: Cech, Alexandra Louise
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59141 , vital:27439
- Description: Restricted access-thesis embargoed for 5 years
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Cech, Alexandra Louise
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/59141 , vital:27439
- Description: Restricted access-thesis embargoed for 5 years
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Preparation and use of maize tassels’ activated carbon for the adsorption of phenolic compounds in environmental waste water samples
- Olorundare, O F, Msagati, T A M, Okonkwo, J O, Krause, Rui W M, Mamba, Bhekie B
- Authors: Olorundare, O F , Msagati, T A M , Okonkwo, J O , Krause, Rui W M , Mamba, Bhekie B
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125331 , vital:35773 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3742-6
- Description: The determination and remediation of three phenolic compounds bisphenol A (BPA), ortho-nitrophenol (o-NTP), parachlorophenol (PCP) in wastewater is reported. The analysis of these molecules in wastewater was done using gas chromatography (GC) × GC time-of-flight mass spectrometry while activated carbon derived from maize tassel was used as an adsorbent. During the experimental procedures, the effect of various parameters such as initial concentration, pH of sample solution, eluent volume, and sample volume on the removal efficiency with respect to the three phenolic compounds was studied. The results showed that maize tassel produced activated carbon (MTAC) cartridge packed solid-phase extraction (SPE) system was able to remove the phenolic compounds effectively (90.84–98.49 %, 80.75–97.11 %, and 78.27–97.08 % for BPA, o-NTP, and PCP, respectively) . The MTAC cartridge packed SPE sorbent performance was compared to commercially produced C18 SPE cartridges and found to be comparable. All the parameters investigated were found to have a notable influence on the adsorption efficiency of the phenolic compounds from wastewaters at different magnitudes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Olorundare, O F , Msagati, T A M , Okonkwo, J O , Krause, Rui W M , Mamba, Bhekie B
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/125331 , vital:35773 , https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-014-3742-6
- Description: The determination and remediation of three phenolic compounds bisphenol A (BPA), ortho-nitrophenol (o-NTP), parachlorophenol (PCP) in wastewater is reported. The analysis of these molecules in wastewater was done using gas chromatography (GC) × GC time-of-flight mass spectrometry while activated carbon derived from maize tassel was used as an adsorbent. During the experimental procedures, the effect of various parameters such as initial concentration, pH of sample solution, eluent volume, and sample volume on the removal efficiency with respect to the three phenolic compounds was studied. The results showed that maize tassel produced activated carbon (MTAC) cartridge packed solid-phase extraction (SPE) system was able to remove the phenolic compounds effectively (90.84–98.49 %, 80.75–97.11 %, and 78.27–97.08 % for BPA, o-NTP, and PCP, respectively) . The MTAC cartridge packed SPE sorbent performance was compared to commercially produced C18 SPE cartridges and found to be comparable. All the parameters investigated were found to have a notable influence on the adsorption efficiency of the phenolic compounds from wastewaters at different magnitudes.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
‘It's just taking our souls back’: discourses of apartheid and race
- Authors: Bock, Zannie , Hunt, Sally
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124888 , vital:35707 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2015.1056196
- Description: Although apartheid officially ended in 1994, the issue of race as a primary identity marker has continued to permeate many aspects of private and public life in post-apartheid South Africa. This paper seeks to understand how youth at two South African tertiary institutions position themselves in relation to race and the apartheid past. Our data include four focus group interviews from two universities, one which can be described as historically ‘black’ and the other as historically ‘white’. Given the complex nature of the data, we elected to use a combination of corpus linguistics and discourse analysis as our methodological approach. We explore how words such as black, white, coloured, they, we, us and them feature in the interviews. Our analysis shows that the positioning by the interviewees reflects a complexity and ambivalence that is at times contradictory although several broader discourse patterns can be distilled. In particular, we argue, that all groups employ a range of discursive strategies so as to resist being positioned in the historical positions of ‘victim’ and ‘perpetrator’. Our paper reflects on these findings as well as what they offer us as we attempt to chart new discourses of the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Bock, Zannie , Hunt, Sally
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124888 , vital:35707 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2015.1056196
- Description: Although apartheid officially ended in 1994, the issue of race as a primary identity marker has continued to permeate many aspects of private and public life in post-apartheid South Africa. This paper seeks to understand how youth at two South African tertiary institutions position themselves in relation to race and the apartheid past. Our data include four focus group interviews from two universities, one which can be described as historically ‘black’ and the other as historically ‘white’. Given the complex nature of the data, we elected to use a combination of corpus linguistics and discourse analysis as our methodological approach. We explore how words such as black, white, coloured, they, we, us and them feature in the interviews. Our analysis shows that the positioning by the interviewees reflects a complexity and ambivalence that is at times contradictory although several broader discourse patterns can be distilled. In particular, we argue, that all groups employ a range of discursive strategies so as to resist being positioned in the historical positions of ‘victim’ and ‘perpetrator’. Our paper reflects on these findings as well as what they offer us as we attempt to chart new discourses of the future.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Shadow of the Sun – the distribution of wellbeing in Sub-Saharan Africa
- Roberts, Benjamin J, Gordon, Steven Lawrence, Moller, Valerie, Struwig, Jare
- Authors: Roberts, Benjamin J , Gordon, Steven Lawrence , Moller, Valerie , Struwig, Jare
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67235 , vital:29062 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9178-6_23
- Description: publisher version , Despite the enthusiasm that prevailed during sub-Saharan Africa’s initial wave of independence, representations of quality of life in the region over the last half-century focused on themes that typically characterize failed states: maladministration, violence and conflict, disease, impoverishment and suffering. Although considerable hardship persists, the subcontinent experienced impressive economic growth over the last decade. This, together with increasing gains from state-led social spending, has prompted a new narrative that speaks of promise and opportunity. Against this backdrop, the chapter reviews quality of life in the region using select objective and subjective wellbeing measures. The results confirm the general pattern of recent social progress, though lingering deprivation, inequality and often difficult political conditions. While this situation is reflected in relatively low life satisfaction evaluations, it is also accompanied by a resolute optimism that attests to the resilience of the region’s citizens in the face of adversity. The chapter also assesses the influence of certain objective conditions on subjective wellbeing at the macro-level.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Roberts, Benjamin J , Gordon, Steven Lawrence , Moller, Valerie , Struwig, Jare
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , book
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67235 , vital:29062 , https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-017-9178-6_23
- Description: publisher version , Despite the enthusiasm that prevailed during sub-Saharan Africa’s initial wave of independence, representations of quality of life in the region over the last half-century focused on themes that typically characterize failed states: maladministration, violence and conflict, disease, impoverishment and suffering. Although considerable hardship persists, the subcontinent experienced impressive economic growth over the last decade. This, together with increasing gains from state-led social spending, has prompted a new narrative that speaks of promise and opportunity. Against this backdrop, the chapter reviews quality of life in the region using select objective and subjective wellbeing measures. The results confirm the general pattern of recent social progress, though lingering deprivation, inequality and often difficult political conditions. While this situation is reflected in relatively low life satisfaction evaluations, it is also accompanied by a resolute optimism that attests to the resilience of the region’s citizens in the face of adversity. The chapter also assesses the influence of certain objective conditions on subjective wellbeing at the macro-level.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
Informed Interdependence: A model for collaboration in fostering communicative competencies in a Commerce curriculum
- Siebörger, Ian, van der Merwe, Kristin, Adendorff, Ralph D
- Authors: Siebörger, Ian , van der Merwe, Kristin , Adendorff, Ralph D
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124822 , vital:35700 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2015.1023502
- Description: The current orthodoxy among academics in higher education studies is that content and language learning should be integrated in order to facilitate communicative competencies in degrees seeking to prepare students for business and professions such as accounting, engineering and pharmacy. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been well-theorised and its goals are laudable; however, we contend that a one-size-fits-all solution of complete integration is not the most practicable or pedagogically-sound option in all contexts. Instead, we argue that establishing relationships of Informed Interdependence between content and language courses may offer greater benefits in specific contexts. This argument may appear counterintuitive, but we believe it has significant insights to add to the continuing dialogue around the use of CLIL. Accordingly, we describe a Professional Communication course at Rhodes University and then outline how we have responded to changes in our context through a process of engagement which led to a new course, namely, Professional Communication for Accountants, and recurriculation of the original Professional Communication course. In reporting on this process we foreground the importance of suitable boundary objects and discursive spaces around which interdisciplinary collaboration can occur. We provide staff and student reactions to a pilot project designed to test the curricular innovations made thus far, and conclude by reflecting on the efficacy of an Informed Interdependence model in our context.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Siebörger, Ian , van der Merwe, Kristin , Adendorff, Ralph D
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/124822 , vital:35700 , https://doi.org/10.2989/16073614.2015.1023502
- Description: The current orthodoxy among academics in higher education studies is that content and language learning should be integrated in order to facilitate communicative competencies in degrees seeking to prepare students for business and professions such as accounting, engineering and pharmacy. Content and Language Integrated Learning (CLIL) has been well-theorised and its goals are laudable; however, we contend that a one-size-fits-all solution of complete integration is not the most practicable or pedagogically-sound option in all contexts. Instead, we argue that establishing relationships of Informed Interdependence between content and language courses may offer greater benefits in specific contexts. This argument may appear counterintuitive, but we believe it has significant insights to add to the continuing dialogue around the use of CLIL. Accordingly, we describe a Professional Communication course at Rhodes University and then outline how we have responded to changes in our context through a process of engagement which led to a new course, namely, Professional Communication for Accountants, and recurriculation of the original Professional Communication course. In reporting on this process we foreground the importance of suitable boundary objects and discursive spaces around which interdisciplinary collaboration can occur. We provide staff and student reactions to a pilot project designed to test the curricular innovations made thus far, and conclude by reflecting on the efficacy of an Informed Interdependence model in our context.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Reflecting on patient-centred care in pharmacy through an illness narrative:
- Authors: Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156687 , vital:40038 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1007/s11096-015-0104-5
- Description: Patient-centred care (PCC) is rapidly adopting a central position in discussions on the quality of healthcare, with patient-centredness deemed essential to transforming the healthcare system. PCC speaks to the quality of patient-provider relationships and has been defined as an approach to providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values, while ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions. However its place within pharmacy practice is unclear and is as yet undefined, particularly in relation to pharmaceutical care. Through my personal illness narrative, I briefly explore the visibility and evidence of PCC in the pharmacy literature as well as from personal experience of pharmacy care, and find it lacking. I conclude that an integrated, seamless understanding of PCC and the use of shared language within the health professions is essential in successful teamwork with both the patient and with other health professions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Dowse, Roslind
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/156687 , vital:40038 , https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1007/s11096-015-0104-5
- Description: Patient-centred care (PCC) is rapidly adopting a central position in discussions on the quality of healthcare, with patient-centredness deemed essential to transforming the healthcare system. PCC speaks to the quality of patient-provider relationships and has been defined as an approach to providing care that is respectful of and responsive to individual patient preferences, needs, and values, while ensuring that patient values guide all clinical decisions. However its place within pharmacy practice is unclear and is as yet undefined, particularly in relation to pharmaceutical care. Through my personal illness narrative, I briefly explore the visibility and evidence of PCC in the pharmacy literature as well as from personal experience of pharmacy care, and find it lacking. I conclude that an integrated, seamless understanding of PCC and the use of shared language within the health professions is essential in successful teamwork with both the patient and with other health professions.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Comparative photophysicochemical behavior of nanoconjugates of indium tetracarboxyphenoxy phthalocyanines covalently linked to CdTe/ZnSe/ZnO quantum dots
- Oluwole, David O, Nyokong, Tebello
- Authors: Oluwole, David O , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:7294 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020357 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2015.07.009
- Description: This work reports on the photophysicochemical behavior of different nanoconjugates of core/shell/shell (GSH-CdTe/ZnSe/ZnO), core/shell (GSH-CdTe/ZnSe) and core (GSH-CdTe) (quantum dots QDs) with indium tetracarboxyphenoxy phthalocyanines ((OH)InTCPPc) in dimethylsulfoxide. The fluorescence quantum yields (Φf) and lifetimes (τf, in brackets) of QDs ranged from 0.20 (13.9 ns) to 0.42 (25.6 ns). The highest Φf value was obtained for GSH-CdTe/ZnSe/ZnO (4.5) while the least was observed in GSH-CdTe/ZnSe/ZnO (7.6), the numbers in brackets refer to the sizes. For (OH)InTCPPc alone a Φf and τf values of 0.02 and 2.43 ns, respectively were obtained. In the nanoconjugates, pivotal decrease in the Φf and τf of the QDs were observed with increase in the triplet and singlet oxygen quantum yields of (OH)InTCPPc. , Original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2015.07.009
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Oluwole, David O , Nyokong, Tebello
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Article
- Identifier: vital:7294 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1020357 , http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2015.07.009
- Description: This work reports on the photophysicochemical behavior of different nanoconjugates of core/shell/shell (GSH-CdTe/ZnSe/ZnO), core/shell (GSH-CdTe/ZnSe) and core (GSH-CdTe) (quantum dots QDs) with indium tetracarboxyphenoxy phthalocyanines ((OH)InTCPPc) in dimethylsulfoxide. The fluorescence quantum yields (Φf) and lifetimes (τf, in brackets) of QDs ranged from 0.20 (13.9 ns) to 0.42 (25.6 ns). The highest Φf value was obtained for GSH-CdTe/ZnSe/ZnO (4.5) while the least was observed in GSH-CdTe/ZnSe/ZnO (7.6), the numbers in brackets refer to the sizes. For (OH)InTCPPc alone a Φf and τf values of 0.02 and 2.43 ns, respectively were obtained. In the nanoconjugates, pivotal decrease in the Φf and τf of the QDs were observed with increase in the triplet and singlet oxygen quantum yields of (OH)InTCPPc. , Original publication is available at http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jphotochem.2015.07.009
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
The trade in and household use of Phoenix reclinata palm frond hand brushes on the Wild Coast, South Africa: Effects on soil nutrients
- Mjoli, Nwabisa, Shackleton, Charlie M
- Authors: Mjoli, Nwabisa , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/180800 , vital:43647 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-015-9316-9"
- Description: The Trade in and Household Use of Phoenix reclinata Palm Frond Hand Brushes on the Wild Coast, South Africa. This paper reports on an investigation of the harvesting, trade, and use of hand brushes made from fronds of the wild palm, Phoenix reclinata. We considered both the abundance of the resource as well as the demand. Within the harvesting areas, there were approximately 141 palm plants per hectare, of which almost two-thirds showed no signs of frond harvesting. During harvesting, most fronds (82%) were left on the plant, 16% were removed to make brushes, and 2% were cut and discarded. Although the number of harvesters had increased during the last decade, most felt that the number of palm plants had remained stable or even increased over the same period. There was strong consensus that cut fronds were replaced within two months, after which a particular stem could be harvested again. Harvesting and trade were practiced largely by middle-aged to elderly women, who had limited formal education, skills, and employment prospects. Most had entered the trade because of cash income poverty. The main markets for selling the palm brushes were in nearby urban areas. The income earned from the trade was modest, but still rated highly by the traders, for most of whom it was the second most-important source of cash income. For many users, the palm brushes was found to be the only type of brush suitable for cleaning mud and cow-dung flooring and, most importantly for many, their use forms part of a long household use history and culture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Mjoli, Nwabisa , Shackleton, Charlie M
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/180800 , vital:43647 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1007/s12231-015-9316-9"
- Description: The Trade in and Household Use of Phoenix reclinata Palm Frond Hand Brushes on the Wild Coast, South Africa. This paper reports on an investigation of the harvesting, trade, and use of hand brushes made from fronds of the wild palm, Phoenix reclinata. We considered both the abundance of the resource as well as the demand. Within the harvesting areas, there were approximately 141 palm plants per hectare, of which almost two-thirds showed no signs of frond harvesting. During harvesting, most fronds (82%) were left on the plant, 16% were removed to make brushes, and 2% were cut and discarded. Although the number of harvesters had increased during the last decade, most felt that the number of palm plants had remained stable or even increased over the same period. There was strong consensus that cut fronds were replaced within two months, after which a particular stem could be harvested again. Harvesting and trade were practiced largely by middle-aged to elderly women, who had limited formal education, skills, and employment prospects. Most had entered the trade because of cash income poverty. The main markets for selling the palm brushes were in nearby urban areas. The income earned from the trade was modest, but still rated highly by the traders, for most of whom it was the second most-important source of cash income. For many users, the palm brushes was found to be the only type of brush suitable for cleaning mud and cow-dung flooring and, most importantly for many, their use forms part of a long household use history and culture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Pecha Kucha 1: Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143915 , vital:38294 , https://ischp.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ischp_2015_abstract_booklet.pdf
- Description: Despite enabling legislation and policies in the areas of sexualities and reproduction in South Africa, multiple challenges persist, including: forced sexual debut, sexual coercion and violence; HIV infection; hate crimes against lesbian women and gay men; unwanted and unsupportable pregnancies. While it is acknowledged that interventions (e.g., sexuality education programmes, the promotion of antenatal care use and the promotion of non-discrimination) have the potential to improve men’s and women’s sexual and reproductive lives. There are also multiple ways in which such programmes and the surrounding public discourses concerning sexuality and reproduction can serve in often unintended and unwitting ways to perpetuate oppressive heteronormative, gendered, racialised and class-based power relations. The Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction research programme focuses on how particular discourses, narratives, and practices promote inclusion or exclusion, belonging or marginalisation, equity or inequity, justice or injustice, access to, or denial of, sexual and reproductive rights.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Macleod, Catriona I
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/143915 , vital:38294 , https://ischp.files.wordpress.com/2015/08/ischp_2015_abstract_booklet.pdf
- Description: Despite enabling legislation and policies in the areas of sexualities and reproduction in South Africa, multiple challenges persist, including: forced sexual debut, sexual coercion and violence; HIV infection; hate crimes against lesbian women and gay men; unwanted and unsupportable pregnancies. While it is acknowledged that interventions (e.g., sexuality education programmes, the promotion of antenatal care use and the promotion of non-discrimination) have the potential to improve men’s and women’s sexual and reproductive lives. There are also multiple ways in which such programmes and the surrounding public discourses concerning sexuality and reproduction can serve in often unintended and unwitting ways to perpetuate oppressive heteronormative, gendered, racialised and class-based power relations. The Critical Studies in Sexualities and Reproduction research programme focuses on how particular discourses, narratives, and practices promote inclusion or exclusion, belonging or marginalisation, equity or inequity, justice or injustice, access to, or denial of, sexual and reproductive rights.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Baculovirus-based strategies for the management of insect pests: a focus on development and application in South Africa
- Knox, Caroline M, Moore, Sean D, Luke, Garry, Hill, Martin P
- Authors: Knox, Caroline M , Moore, Sean D , Luke, Garry , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/416829 , vital:71389 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2014.949222"
- Description: There is growing concern among governments, scientists, agricultural practitioners and the general public regarding the negative implications of widespread synthetic chemical pesticide application for the control of crop pests. As a result, baculovirus biopesticides are gaining popularity as components of integrated pest management (IPM) programmes in many countries despite several disadvantages related to slow speed of kill, limited host range and complex large scale production. In South Africa, baculoviruses are incorporated into IPM programmes for the control of crop pests in the field, and recent bioprospecting has led to the characterisation of several novel isolates with the potential to be formulated as commercial products. This contribution will provide an overview of the use of baculoviruses against insect pests in South Africa, as well as research and development efforts aimed at broadening their application as biocontrol agents. Challenges faced by researchers in developmental projects as well as potential users of baculoviruses as biopesticides in the field are also discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Knox, Caroline M , Moore, Sean D , Luke, Garry , Hill, Martin P
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/416829 , vital:71389 , xlink:href="https://doi.org/10.1080/09583157.2014.949222"
- Description: There is growing concern among governments, scientists, agricultural practitioners and the general public regarding the negative implications of widespread synthetic chemical pesticide application for the control of crop pests. As a result, baculovirus biopesticides are gaining popularity as components of integrated pest management (IPM) programmes in many countries despite several disadvantages related to slow speed of kill, limited host range and complex large scale production. In South Africa, baculoviruses are incorporated into IPM programmes for the control of crop pests in the field, and recent bioprospecting has led to the characterisation of several novel isolates with the potential to be formulated as commercial products. This contribution will provide an overview of the use of baculoviruses against insect pests in South Africa, as well as research and development efforts aimed at broadening their application as biocontrol agents. Challenges faced by researchers in developmental projects as well as potential users of baculoviruses as biopesticides in the field are also discussed.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
A description of gametogenesis in the panga Pterogymnus laniarius (Pisces: Sparidae) with comments on changes in maturity patterns over the past two decades
- Booth, Anthony J, Hecht, Thomas
- Authors: Booth, Anthony J , Hecht, Thomas
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123542 , vital:35452 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02541858.1997.11448428
- Description: A description of gametogenesis in the panga Pferogymnus laniarius, a common endemic seabream species inhabiting the Agulhas Bank, South Africa, is presented. After sexual maturity, oogenesis and spermatogenesis continued throughout the year and were found to be similar to these processes in other seabream species and teleosts in general. Analysis of maturity data over the past two decades revealed a significant change in both age and size-at-maturity, a response to fishing pressure.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Booth, Anthony J , Hecht, Thomas
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/123542 , vital:35452 , https://doi.org/10.1080/02541858.1997.11448428
- Description: A description of gametogenesis in the panga Pferogymnus laniarius, a common endemic seabream species inhabiting the Agulhas Bank, South Africa, is presented. After sexual maturity, oogenesis and spermatogenesis continued throughout the year and were found to be similar to these processes in other seabream species and teleosts in general. Analysis of maturity data over the past two decades revealed a significant change in both age and size-at-maturity, a response to fishing pressure.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Local institutions, actors, and natural resource governance in Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and surrounds, South Africa
- Thondhlana, Gladman, Shackleton, Sheona E, Blignaut, James
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Shackleton, Sheona E , Blignaut, James
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67689 , vital:29130 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.03.013
- Description: Publisher version , Crafting local institutions to allow more effective decision-making in the management of and access to natural resources in and beyond parks has long been considered key to collaborative governance. South Africa, in particular, has vigorously pursued collaborative governance as a desired approach to managing natural resources as evident in the new arrangements for previously restricted parks. However, though the discourse of collaborative governance has occupied conservation thinking and practice globally, few studies have looked at the interplay between local institutions, actors and collaborative governance involving indigenous hunter–gatherer communities in Southern Africa. In response, we assess the local actors and institutions that were put in place to facilitate collaborative governance of natural resources in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and its surrounds in South Africa. Our findings show that though collaborative governance has a practical appeal, it is hampered by lack of participation in decision-making, information dissemination, transparency, trust and accountability, power relations, divergent interests and unequal access to natural resources. The findings also draw our attention to issues of heterogeneity, even within indigenous communities assumed to be homogenous by local conservation authorities as reflected in land settlement agreements in co-managed parks. We argue that collaborative governance arrangements need to reflect and be understood within the broader background of complex local realities.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Thondhlana, Gladman , Shackleton, Sheona E , Blignaut, James
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67689 , vital:29130 , https://doi.org/10.1016/j.landusepol.2015.03.013
- Description: Publisher version , Crafting local institutions to allow more effective decision-making in the management of and access to natural resources in and beyond parks has long been considered key to collaborative governance. South Africa, in particular, has vigorously pursued collaborative governance as a desired approach to managing natural resources as evident in the new arrangements for previously restricted parks. However, though the discourse of collaborative governance has occupied conservation thinking and practice globally, few studies have looked at the interplay between local institutions, actors and collaborative governance involving indigenous hunter–gatherer communities in Southern Africa. In response, we assess the local actors and institutions that were put in place to facilitate collaborative governance of natural resources in the Kgalagadi Transfrontier Park and its surrounds in South Africa. Our findings show that though collaborative governance has a practical appeal, it is hampered by lack of participation in decision-making, information dissemination, transparency, trust and accountability, power relations, divergent interests and unequal access to natural resources. The findings also draw our attention to issues of heterogeneity, even within indigenous communities assumed to be homogenous by local conservation authorities as reflected in land settlement agreements in co-managed parks. We argue that collaborative governance arrangements need to reflect and be understood within the broader background of complex local realities.
- Full Text: false
- Date Issued: 2015
Modelling stock return volatility dynamics in selected African markets
- Authors: King, Daniel , Botha, Ferdi
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/396104 , vital:69150 , xlink:href=" https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2014.11.008"
- Description: This paper examines whether accounting for structural changes in the conditional variance process, through the use of Markov-switching models, improves estimates and forecasts of stock return volatility over those of the more conventional single-state (G)ARCH models, within and across selected African markets for the period 2002–2012. In the univariate portion of the paper, the performances of various Markov-switching models are tested against a single-state benchmark model through the use of in-sample goodness-of-fit and predictive ability measures. In the multivariate context, the single-state and Markov-switching models are comparatively assessed according to their usefulness in constructing optimal stock portfolios. Accounting for structural breaks in the conditional variance process, conventional GARCH effects remain important in capturing heteroscedasticity. However, those univariate models including a GARCH term perform comparatively poorly when used for forecasting purposes. In the multivariate study, the use of Markov-switching variance–covariance estimates improves risk-adjusted portfolio returns relative to portfolios constructed using the more conventional single-state models. While there is evidence that some Markov-switching models can provide better forecasts and higher risk-adjusted returns than those models which include GARCH effects, the inability of the simpler Markov-switching models to fully capture heteroscedasticity in the data remains problematic.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: King, Daniel , Botha, Ferdi
- Date: 2015
- Subjects: To be catalogued
- Language: English
- Type: text , article
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/396104 , vital:69150 , xlink:href=" https://doi.org/10.1016/j.econmod.2014.11.008"
- Description: This paper examines whether accounting for structural changes in the conditional variance process, through the use of Markov-switching models, improves estimates and forecasts of stock return volatility over those of the more conventional single-state (G)ARCH models, within and across selected African markets for the period 2002–2012. In the univariate portion of the paper, the performances of various Markov-switching models are tested against a single-state benchmark model through the use of in-sample goodness-of-fit and predictive ability measures. In the multivariate context, the single-state and Markov-switching models are comparatively assessed according to their usefulness in constructing optimal stock portfolios. Accounting for structural breaks in the conditional variance process, conventional GARCH effects remain important in capturing heteroscedasticity. However, those univariate models including a GARCH term perform comparatively poorly when used for forecasting purposes. In the multivariate study, the use of Markov-switching variance–covariance estimates improves risk-adjusted portfolio returns relative to portfolios constructed using the more conventional single-state models. While there is evidence that some Markov-switching models can provide better forecasts and higher risk-adjusted returns than those models which include GARCH effects, the inability of the simpler Markov-switching models to fully capture heteroscedasticity in the data remains problematic.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Identification of novel SNPSTRs by 454 sequencing in Nguni and Sotho-Tswana populations
- Authors: Laurence, Jo-Anne Elizabeth
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/55885 , vital:26752
- Description: DNA profiling is currently performed by analysis of the electropherogram that results following the amplification of a panel of Short Tandem Repeat (STR) loci. A need has arisen, however, for the development of a typing method that generates results which are compatible and comparable with existing databases, but that have a higher discrimination power by supplying sequence data as well as repeat-number data. Recent studies that explore these alternative typing methodologies have revealed the existence of a number of STR variants. There is, however, little information about the exact nature and prevalence of these sub-alleles. There have also been limited population studies of the genetic profiles of sub-Saharan African populations, despite the fact that evidence suggests that there is greater genetic structure and genetic diversity in these populations. In this study, a processing protocol for the generation of 454 sequencing-ready amplicons of vWA, D2S441, D3S1358, D13S317, D21S11 and D7S820 loci was developed. This protocol was applied to buccal swabs collected from 144 individuals of the Nguni and Sotho-Tswana population groups. A total of 145 485 reads were obtained from the sequencing of these amplicons, of which 97 400 and 48 085 reads were obtained for the Nguni and Sotho-Tswana populations respectively. The proportional representation for each locus ranged from 8-20%, and the allele calls and observed frequencies of these alleles suggested a high degree of relatedness between population groups. The sequencing results, furthermore, enabled the identification of a number of previously undescribed STR variants and SNPSTRs; with allele 13´ for D13S317 representing a SNP that may be predictive of Nguni-ancestry. The results also demonstrated the usefulness of next generation sequencing for increasing the number of discernible alleles for STR profiling.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Laurence, Jo-Anne Elizabeth
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSc
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/55885 , vital:26752
- Description: DNA profiling is currently performed by analysis of the electropherogram that results following the amplification of a panel of Short Tandem Repeat (STR) loci. A need has arisen, however, for the development of a typing method that generates results which are compatible and comparable with existing databases, but that have a higher discrimination power by supplying sequence data as well as repeat-number data. Recent studies that explore these alternative typing methodologies have revealed the existence of a number of STR variants. There is, however, little information about the exact nature and prevalence of these sub-alleles. There have also been limited population studies of the genetic profiles of sub-Saharan African populations, despite the fact that evidence suggests that there is greater genetic structure and genetic diversity in these populations. In this study, a processing protocol for the generation of 454 sequencing-ready amplicons of vWA, D2S441, D3S1358, D13S317, D21S11 and D7S820 loci was developed. This protocol was applied to buccal swabs collected from 144 individuals of the Nguni and Sotho-Tswana population groups. A total of 145 485 reads were obtained from the sequencing of these amplicons, of which 97 400 and 48 085 reads were obtained for the Nguni and Sotho-Tswana populations respectively. The proportional representation for each locus ranged from 8-20%, and the allele calls and observed frequencies of these alleles suggested a high degree of relatedness between population groups. The sequencing results, furthermore, enabled the identification of a number of previously undescribed STR variants and SNPSTRs; with allele 13´ for D13S317 representing a SNP that may be predictive of Nguni-ancestry. The results also demonstrated the usefulness of next generation sequencing for increasing the number of discernible alleles for STR profiling.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
Environmental conflict resolution: a critical analysis of the role of interests and value
- Authors: Mweshi, John
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/55842 , vital:26740
- Description: This thesis intends to contribute to an enhanced understanding of environmental conflicts and their resolution. To accomplish this task the thesis will ascertain the role that value and interests play in environmental conflicts in order to establish an adequate basis upon which they can be resolved. In the process, the thesis will also examine three different approaches, namely, the Standard Approach; the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) framework; and the Structured Decision Making (SDM) approach. First, the standard approach is informed by the understanding that focusing on interests instead of human values makes the resolution of conflicts more tractable. In contrast, this thesis argues that an exclusive focus on interests, in the context of environmental conflict resolution, is inadequate in some important respects because there are other factors to be considered such as the environmental impacts at the root of the conflict. Second, the thesis examines the focus on impacts that characterises EIAs. It argues that this approach remedies the limitations of the standard approach insofar as impacts are understood in terms of object value. However, the EIA approach does not provide much guidance on how to deal with conflicting human values. Third, taking into account the fact that the standard approach does not address the question of object value, while the EIA addresses object value but does not deal directly with human values, the thesis examines the SDM approach to environmental risk decisions. The thesis argues that while the SDM approach claims to deal with conflicts involving human values head-on, it does not provide a viable alternative in terms of environmental conflict resolution. This is because it fails to recognise the key distinction between human values and object value despite acknowledging the presence of multiple value dimensions as a major obstacle to value trade-offs and therefore to the resolution of value conflicts. Finally, the thesis recommends an adequate basis upon which environmental conflicts can be resolved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015
- Authors: Mweshi, John
- Date: 2015
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/55842 , vital:26740
- Description: This thesis intends to contribute to an enhanced understanding of environmental conflicts and their resolution. To accomplish this task the thesis will ascertain the role that value and interests play in environmental conflicts in order to establish an adequate basis upon which they can be resolved. In the process, the thesis will also examine three different approaches, namely, the Standard Approach; the Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA) framework; and the Structured Decision Making (SDM) approach. First, the standard approach is informed by the understanding that focusing on interests instead of human values makes the resolution of conflicts more tractable. In contrast, this thesis argues that an exclusive focus on interests, in the context of environmental conflict resolution, is inadequate in some important respects because there are other factors to be considered such as the environmental impacts at the root of the conflict. Second, the thesis examines the focus on impacts that characterises EIAs. It argues that this approach remedies the limitations of the standard approach insofar as impacts are understood in terms of object value. However, the EIA approach does not provide much guidance on how to deal with conflicting human values. Third, taking into account the fact that the standard approach does not address the question of object value, while the EIA addresses object value but does not deal directly with human values, the thesis examines the SDM approach to environmental risk decisions. The thesis argues that while the SDM approach claims to deal with conflicts involving human values head-on, it does not provide a viable alternative in terms of environmental conflict resolution. This is because it fails to recognise the key distinction between human values and object value despite acknowledging the presence of multiple value dimensions as a major obstacle to value trade-offs and therefore to the resolution of value conflicts. Finally, the thesis recommends an adequate basis upon which environmental conflicts can be resolved.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2015