A critical investigation of the Primary Schools Nutrition Programme (PSNP) in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Houston, Elizabeth Margaret
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Operation Hunger (Organization) , Primary schools nutrition programme -- South Africa , Non-governmental organizations , School children -- Food -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2783 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002993 , Operation Hunger (Organization) , Primary schools nutrition programme -- South Africa , Non-governmental organizations , School children -- Food -- South Africa
- Description: The thesis focuses on the Primary School Nutrition Programme (PSNP), particularly in the Eastern Cape, as a government nutrition and education project, and its failure to achieve its stated goals. The programme experienced problems almost as soon as it was introduced. The press reported incidents of fraud and maladministration and the programme was halted and restarted numerous times. The thesis seeks to offer some insight as to why the government was unable to reach its stated objectives in the implementation phase of the programme. State theory informs the thesis in an attempt to further explain why governments often seem unable to attain their intended goals. The thesis provides an alternative to government development programmes, arguing that NGOs are better equipped to deal with the particular problems that people on the ground experience when dealing with issues like nutritional vulnerability. Operation Hunger provides an excellent case study for how development of this nature ought to occur. The essential argument of the thesis is that there is an inherent tension between what a government's stated intentions is and what, it, in reality, intends to gain from such programmes. It is the contention of this thesis that the Government of National Unity embarked on the PSNP, not to ensure nutritional development for its own sake, but rather to curry favour with its constituents. Operation Hunger, and other organisations like it, provide relief to vulnerable communities with no hidden agenda in mind. Their mandate is solely that they provide assistance. The thesis argues, then, that NGOs have a role in domestic and international politics, that they can make up for or do better, or at least well, things that governments struggle to do.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Houston, Elizabeth Margaret
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Operation Hunger (Organization) , Primary schools nutrition programme -- South Africa , Non-governmental organizations , School children -- Food -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2783 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002993 , Operation Hunger (Organization) , Primary schools nutrition programme -- South Africa , Non-governmental organizations , School children -- Food -- South Africa
- Description: The thesis focuses on the Primary School Nutrition Programme (PSNP), particularly in the Eastern Cape, as a government nutrition and education project, and its failure to achieve its stated goals. The programme experienced problems almost as soon as it was introduced. The press reported incidents of fraud and maladministration and the programme was halted and restarted numerous times. The thesis seeks to offer some insight as to why the government was unable to reach its stated objectives in the implementation phase of the programme. State theory informs the thesis in an attempt to further explain why governments often seem unable to attain their intended goals. The thesis provides an alternative to government development programmes, arguing that NGOs are better equipped to deal with the particular problems that people on the ground experience when dealing with issues like nutritional vulnerability. Operation Hunger provides an excellent case study for how development of this nature ought to occur. The essential argument of the thesis is that there is an inherent tension between what a government's stated intentions is and what, it, in reality, intends to gain from such programmes. It is the contention of this thesis that the Government of National Unity embarked on the PSNP, not to ensure nutritional development for its own sake, but rather to curry favour with its constituents. Operation Hunger, and other organisations like it, provide relief to vulnerable communities with no hidden agenda in mind. Their mandate is solely that they provide assistance. The thesis argues, then, that NGOs have a role in domestic and international politics, that they can make up for or do better, or at least well, things that governments struggle to do.
- Full Text:
A quantitative survey of knowledge, attitudes and behaviour, related to AIDS/HIV, among Zulu speaking standard eight high school students
- Authors: Harvey, Brian
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , AIDS (Disease) in adolescence -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2987 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002496 , AIDS (Disease) -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , AIDS (Disease) in adolescence -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Attitudes
- Description: AIDS is a serious South African health problem, with HIV infection in KwaZulu-Natal being at the local epidemic's forefront. Adolescents in this province are at additional risk because of their lifestyles. Information on existing risky behaviour and its psychosocial concomitants can provide an important base for educational interventions aimed at reducing further transmission. This study aims to provide baseline information on knowledge, attitudes and reported behaviour, relating to HIV/AIDS, among adolescents in KwaZulu-Natal. A survey, using an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions to collect data, was conducted among standard eight Zulu-speaking students (N = 1511) in five parts of the province. The theoretical framework that informed data collection was drawn from the Health Belief Model and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory. The data generated were first analysed descriptively, providing percentages for responses to individual items. Secondly, cross-tabulations were calculated for relevant items using three independent biographical variables, namely: Locality (rural/peri-urban), gender and students' reports of sexual activity. The results showed inadequate knowledge concerning HIV/AIDS to provide a foundation for developing healthier attitudes. Although most students acknowledged the disease's severity, few reported feeling personally susceptible, denying the immediacy of the threat. Additionally, cues to action and the perceived benefits of adopting preventive behaviours were not influential. Barriers preventing condom use were not primarily logistical, with personal concerns being the main barriers to change. Furthermore, perceived self-efficacy in preventive behaviours was low. Recommendations regarding areas for future research, as well as considerations which will enhance the effectiveness of risk reducing interventions among similar populations, are provided.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Harvey, Brian
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: AIDS (Disease) -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , AIDS (Disease) in adolescence -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2987 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002496 , AIDS (Disease) -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , AIDS (Disease) -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal , AIDS (Disease) in adolescence -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- Attitudes
- Description: AIDS is a serious South African health problem, with HIV infection in KwaZulu-Natal being at the local epidemic's forefront. Adolescents in this province are at additional risk because of their lifestyles. Information on existing risky behaviour and its psychosocial concomitants can provide an important base for educational interventions aimed at reducing further transmission. This study aims to provide baseline information on knowledge, attitudes and reported behaviour, relating to HIV/AIDS, among adolescents in KwaZulu-Natal. A survey, using an anonymous, self-administered questionnaire with closed-ended questions to collect data, was conducted among standard eight Zulu-speaking students (N = 1511) in five parts of the province. The theoretical framework that informed data collection was drawn from the Health Belief Model and Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory. The data generated were first analysed descriptively, providing percentages for responses to individual items. Secondly, cross-tabulations were calculated for relevant items using three independent biographical variables, namely: Locality (rural/peri-urban), gender and students' reports of sexual activity. The results showed inadequate knowledge concerning HIV/AIDS to provide a foundation for developing healthier attitudes. Although most students acknowledged the disease's severity, few reported feeling personally susceptible, denying the immediacy of the threat. Additionally, cues to action and the perceived benefits of adopting preventive behaviours were not influential. Barriers preventing condom use were not primarily logistical, with personal concerns being the main barriers to change. Furthermore, perceived self-efficacy in preventive behaviours was low. Recommendations regarding areas for future research, as well as considerations which will enhance the effectiveness of risk reducing interventions among similar populations, are provided.
- Full Text:
An examination of the factors underlying decision-making about selection and presentation of photographs of political conflict in South African newspapers
- Authors: O'Dowd, Catherine Frances
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Photojournalism , Photojournalism -- South Africa , Photojournalists -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1989-1994
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3478 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002933 , Photojournalism , Photojournalism -- South Africa , Photojournalists -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1989-1994
- Description: What newspaper readers see of an event is detennined by what photographs are seley ted and how they are presented. This thesis attempts to deconstruct the decision-making process around selection and presentation of photographs, with the aim of detennining what factors are taken into account in that process. It is based on the hypothesis that there must be a number of factors involved in decisions about news photographs, although these factors may not necessarily be consciously acknowledged in the decision-making process. The study involves a comparison of how five case studies of incidents of political violence, which occurred between 1990 and 1994 in South Africa, were used'in lrinewspapers. The focus on images of political violence is based on the assumption that politically and visually controversial images will give rise to situations in which gatekeepers will be caned upon to question their decisions. The research is based on qualitative research interviews with the decision-makers involved in the case studies. The analysis of the decision-making procedures is based on the theory of gatekeeping. The interviews are analysed in terms of Lewin's theory offqrces, which suggests that, depending on the context, some factors will manifest themselves as positive forces working in favour of the photograph being selected or well presented, while others will take the form of negative forces. The analysis sets out to determine what factors were taken into account in the decision::making process, what detennined their relative degrees of importance and how those relative degrees of importance determined the final outcome. Following an introduction to the practical case study research, dealing with general issues such as picture policy in newspapers and decision-making procedures, each case study is dealt with in turn. After an outline of the context in which the event occurred, the kinds of pictures that were available to the newspapers are described. Then the decisions taken about which to choose and how to use them are analysed in terms of dominant themes. These are themes such as newsworthiness, gruesomeness of content and concern abo!Jt what other media were using. The analysis examines the way the news context and the decision-making context determine the relative importance of the various factors present. Finally the study looks at the conclusions that can be drawn from the five case studies. The conclusion supports the initial hypothesis in finding that these decisions can be shown to have their basis in a fairly limited set of factors. The different results, from study to study and from newspaper to newspaper within a study, are determined by the changing news context and the decisi~n-making context.
- Full Text:
- Authors: O'Dowd, Catherine Frances
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Photojournalism , Photojournalism -- South Africa , Photojournalists -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1989-1994
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3478 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002933 , Photojournalism , Photojournalism -- South Africa , Photojournalists -- South Africa , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1989-1994
- Description: What newspaper readers see of an event is detennined by what photographs are seley ted and how they are presented. This thesis attempts to deconstruct the decision-making process around selection and presentation of photographs, with the aim of detennining what factors are taken into account in that process. It is based on the hypothesis that there must be a number of factors involved in decisions about news photographs, although these factors may not necessarily be consciously acknowledged in the decision-making process. The study involves a comparison of how five case studies of incidents of political violence, which occurred between 1990 and 1994 in South Africa, were used'in lrinewspapers. The focus on images of political violence is based on the assumption that politically and visually controversial images will give rise to situations in which gatekeepers will be caned upon to question their decisions. The research is based on qualitative research interviews with the decision-makers involved in the case studies. The analysis of the decision-making procedures is based on the theory of gatekeeping. The interviews are analysed in terms of Lewin's theory offqrces, which suggests that, depending on the context, some factors will manifest themselves as positive forces working in favour of the photograph being selected or well presented, while others will take the form of negative forces. The analysis sets out to determine what factors were taken into account in the decision::making process, what detennined their relative degrees of importance and how those relative degrees of importance determined the final outcome. Following an introduction to the practical case study research, dealing with general issues such as picture policy in newspapers and decision-making procedures, each case study is dealt with in turn. After an outline of the context in which the event occurred, the kinds of pictures that were available to the newspapers are described. Then the decisions taken about which to choose and how to use them are analysed in terms of dominant themes. These are themes such as newsworthiness, gruesomeness of content and concern abo!Jt what other media were using. The analysis examines the way the news context and the decision-making context determine the relative importance of the various factors present. Finally the study looks at the conclusions that can be drawn from the five case studies. The conclusion supports the initial hypothesis in finding that these decisions can be shown to have their basis in a fairly limited set of factors. The different results, from study to study and from newspaper to newspaper within a study, are determined by the changing news context and the decisi~n-making context.
- Full Text:
An investigation into patterns of interaction in small teaching groups at Rhodes University, with particular emphasis on the effect of gender, mother-tongue and educational background
- Authors: Hunt, Sally Ann
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Tutors and tutoring , Multicultural education--South Africa , Group work in education , Small groups--Study and teaching (Higher)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2350 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002632 , Tutors and tutoring , Multicultural education--South Africa , Group work in education , Small groups--Study and teaching (Higher)
- Description: The assumption underlying this study is that knowledge is constructed through interaction. Small teaching groups, or tutorials, are often regarded as a particularly effective context for learning in the setting of tertiary education in that they provide an environment for free interaction between students, and thus facilitate active learning. Factors which systematically affect the degree of participation of the individual in tutorIals -directly affect the learning experience of that individual and raise questions about the equality achieved in tutorials, in terms of opportunities for learning. This study focuses on one such type of factor: culturally acquired norms of interaction. The individual is seen as a composite of cultural identities, utilising norms acquired through socialisation and experience in appropriate contexts. Previous research has demonstrated that gendered norms of interaction and those associated with the individual's mother-tongue are particularly salient. In the educational context, norms acquired through previous experience of education are likely to be carried over to the new setting of the university. Thus these factors form the focus of this study. One flrst-year tutorial from each of five departments in the Faculties of Arts and Social Science at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, was video-recorded and the data thus obtained was analyzed for patterns of interaction in terms of gender, mother-tongue and educational background. A model of utterance types was developed to provide a structured description of the patterns found in the tutorials. Interviews and video-sessions with a sample of the tutorial members were conducted, which add a qualitative dimension to the investigation and allow for triangulation. The recorded tutorials and interviews reveal a marked awareness amongst students of the composition of tutorial groups in terms of gender and ethnicity and this composition appears to affect the relative participation of students, in that members of numerically dominant groups are more willing to participate. This is particularly clear in the case of female students. With regard to second-language (L2) speakers of English, a number of factors are highlighted which tend to decrease participation. Apart from problems with English as the medium of instruction, these students tend to be reluctant to participate due to cultural norms, according to which students, as subordinates, should not take the initiative in interaction, in order to show appropriate respect. Patterns of interaction by L2 students from racially integrated schools, however, do not conform to this set of norms as strongly. It is argued that sensitivity is required to address this situation and a number of options are presented.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Hunt, Sally Ann
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Tutors and tutoring , Multicultural education--South Africa , Group work in education , Small groups--Study and teaching (Higher)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2350 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002632 , Tutors and tutoring , Multicultural education--South Africa , Group work in education , Small groups--Study and teaching (Higher)
- Description: The assumption underlying this study is that knowledge is constructed through interaction. Small teaching groups, or tutorials, are often regarded as a particularly effective context for learning in the setting of tertiary education in that they provide an environment for free interaction between students, and thus facilitate active learning. Factors which systematically affect the degree of participation of the individual in tutorIals -directly affect the learning experience of that individual and raise questions about the equality achieved in tutorials, in terms of opportunities for learning. This study focuses on one such type of factor: culturally acquired norms of interaction. The individual is seen as a composite of cultural identities, utilising norms acquired through socialisation and experience in appropriate contexts. Previous research has demonstrated that gendered norms of interaction and those associated with the individual's mother-tongue are particularly salient. In the educational context, norms acquired through previous experience of education are likely to be carried over to the new setting of the university. Thus these factors form the focus of this study. One flrst-year tutorial from each of five departments in the Faculties of Arts and Social Science at Rhodes University, Grahamstown, was video-recorded and the data thus obtained was analyzed for patterns of interaction in terms of gender, mother-tongue and educational background. A model of utterance types was developed to provide a structured description of the patterns found in the tutorials. Interviews and video-sessions with a sample of the tutorial members were conducted, which add a qualitative dimension to the investigation and allow for triangulation. The recorded tutorials and interviews reveal a marked awareness amongst students of the composition of tutorial groups in terms of gender and ethnicity and this composition appears to affect the relative participation of students, in that members of numerically dominant groups are more willing to participate. This is particularly clear in the case of female students. With regard to second-language (L2) speakers of English, a number of factors are highlighted which tend to decrease participation. Apart from problems with English as the medium of instruction, these students tend to be reluctant to participate due to cultural norms, according to which students, as subordinates, should not take the initiative in interaction, in order to show appropriate respect. Patterns of interaction by L2 students from racially integrated schools, however, do not conform to this set of norms as strongly. It is argued that sensitivity is required to address this situation and a number of options are presented.
- Full Text:
An investigation into the visual literacy skills of Black primary-school children from an informal settlement in Cape Town, with particular reference to visual imagery in educational textbooks
- Authors: Griffiths, Corona Gracelyn
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Textbooks Illustrations , Visual literacy , Literacy -- South Africa , Visual literacy -- South Africa , Visual communication , Black people -- Education (Primary) -- South Africa , School children -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2403 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002199 , Textbooks Illustrations , Visual literacy , Literacy -- South Africa , Visual literacy -- South Africa , Visual communication , Black people -- Education (Primary) -- South Africa , School children -- South Africa
- Description: This thesis provides evidence that learning difficulties some. black primary-schoolchildren may experience with certain textbooks, can be attributed, in part, to the visual text (imagery). These difficulties were established by eliciting responses from educationally dlscfdvantaged urban black primary learners to selected examples of visual texts using the Research Interview method. To further establish if these difficulties were attributable either to poorly executed/unrecognizable visual text, or to low levels of learned educational visual literacy skills - white primary-school children were also interviewed - as it was anticipated that they would be familiar with Western pictorial material due to their consistent exposure to books from an early age. The difficulties experienced by the black interviewees were attributed mainly to their level of learned pictorial perceptual skills and to a lesser extent to poorly/inadequately illustrated visual texts. It was found from interviews with the developers of visual texts - publishing personnel and illustrators - that the former were not entirely certain e.xactly which aspects of visual text were difficult for black primary learners to comprehend, while the latter were generaUy very uncertain. The procedure for visual text development by the developers (including textbook authors), was found to be problematic due to the lack of synthesis and consultative decision making in the process- between these persons. The limited time allocated to illustrators for producing visual text, as well as their professional isolation, were found to be factors which can give rise to ineffective and inadequate visual texts. Most publishers and authors, if they trial (field-test) materials, generally do not trial the visual text. The visual text is usually decided upon ultimately by the poblishers and produced after trialling and/or consultants have examined the written text. Consequently incongruent meanings and inconsistencies can result between written and visual text, which can affect the learning effectiveness of the composite text. Trialling (field-testing) of visual and written text together, was recommended to identify and address any difficulties experienced by learners prior to final publication of the textbook. Recommendations were provided for textbook selection committees, authors, teachers, publishers and illustrators.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Griffiths, Corona Gracelyn
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Textbooks Illustrations , Visual literacy , Literacy -- South Africa , Visual literacy -- South Africa , Visual communication , Black people -- Education (Primary) -- South Africa , School children -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2403 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002199 , Textbooks Illustrations , Visual literacy , Literacy -- South Africa , Visual literacy -- South Africa , Visual communication , Black people -- Education (Primary) -- South Africa , School children -- South Africa
- Description: This thesis provides evidence that learning difficulties some. black primary-schoolchildren may experience with certain textbooks, can be attributed, in part, to the visual text (imagery). These difficulties were established by eliciting responses from educationally dlscfdvantaged urban black primary learners to selected examples of visual texts using the Research Interview method. To further establish if these difficulties were attributable either to poorly executed/unrecognizable visual text, or to low levels of learned educational visual literacy skills - white primary-school children were also interviewed - as it was anticipated that they would be familiar with Western pictorial material due to their consistent exposure to books from an early age. The difficulties experienced by the black interviewees were attributed mainly to their level of learned pictorial perceptual skills and to a lesser extent to poorly/inadequately illustrated visual texts. It was found from interviews with the developers of visual texts - publishing personnel and illustrators - that the former were not entirely certain e.xactly which aspects of visual text were difficult for black primary learners to comprehend, while the latter were generaUy very uncertain. The procedure for visual text development by the developers (including textbook authors), was found to be problematic due to the lack of synthesis and consultative decision making in the process- between these persons. The limited time allocated to illustrators for producing visual text, as well as their professional isolation, were found to be factors which can give rise to ineffective and inadequate visual texts. Most publishers and authors, if they trial (field-test) materials, generally do not trial the visual text. The visual text is usually decided upon ultimately by the poblishers and produced after trialling and/or consultants have examined the written text. Consequently incongruent meanings and inconsistencies can result between written and visual text, which can affect the learning effectiveness of the composite text. Trialling (field-testing) of visual and written text together, was recommended to identify and address any difficulties experienced by learners prior to final publication of the textbook. Recommendations were provided for textbook selection committees, authors, teachers, publishers and illustrators.
- Full Text:
Contemporary experiences of the Buddhist mediation practice: a case-study approach
- Authors: Ravgee, Champavati Lala
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Meditation -- Buddhism -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3156 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007549 , Meditation -- Buddhism -- Case studies
- Description: The concern of this investigation is to explore a range of contemporary experiences of the Buddhist Meditation Practice of three South Africans of Western origin and to understand what factors were involved in their meditation practice. The number of people practising Buddhist Meditation in this country is gradually increasing and retreat centres for the meditation practice are emerging at various places in this country. A wide range of experiences accompany the meditation practice but very little research has been done amongst adults to study this phenomenon. Initially, in this study, the researcher practised Buddhist Meditation by participating in a meditation programme at the Buddhist Retreat in Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal, for twenty-one days, to familiarize herself with the experiential knowledge of Buddhist Meditation. This was done by the researcher compiling a detailed diary of the meditative experiences and various themes were drawn from it. The data collected was compared and validated with contemporary research findings on Buddhist Meditation. This data was then used to formulate some of the questions for the semi-structured interviews that were conducted subsequently. Three adult subjects of Western origin, one male and two females were interviewed. Each subject had been meditating for an average period of ten years and can therefore be regarded as long-term meditators. They had practised Buddhist meditation in groups at various retreat centres around the country and also individually at home. The average age of the subjects was forty-five years, with the youngest subject being forty years old and the oldest being fifty-three years old. All three subjects were professional people employed at a university in South Africa and all were able to articulate their meditative experiences very well. Since the research project involved the study and exploration of the human experience related to Buddhist Meditation, it was more appropriate to use the phenomenological case-study approach rather than a measurement orientated procedure. The descriptive, phenomenological perspective is more appropriate for the elucidation of the data collected. It gives greater and clearer meaning to the human experience of meditation that is being investigated. The results of the study can best be summarised by stating that all three subjects undertook the Buddhist Meditation Practice because of their awareness of an existential conflict in their lives. Another reason for practising meditation was for personal development. The study also shows that a variety of effects of the meditation practice was experienced by the subjects. These included experiencing feelings of calmness, peace and relaxation, transformation of consciousness, heightened or increased awareness of certain external and internal stimuli, conscious of the changing nature of experience and experiences of objective consciousness.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Ravgee, Champavati Lala
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Meditation -- Buddhism -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3156 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007549 , Meditation -- Buddhism -- Case studies
- Description: The concern of this investigation is to explore a range of contemporary experiences of the Buddhist Meditation Practice of three South Africans of Western origin and to understand what factors were involved in their meditation practice. The number of people practising Buddhist Meditation in this country is gradually increasing and retreat centres for the meditation practice are emerging at various places in this country. A wide range of experiences accompany the meditation practice but very little research has been done amongst adults to study this phenomenon. Initially, in this study, the researcher practised Buddhist Meditation by participating in a meditation programme at the Buddhist Retreat in Ixopo in KwaZulu-Natal, for twenty-one days, to familiarize herself with the experiential knowledge of Buddhist Meditation. This was done by the researcher compiling a detailed diary of the meditative experiences and various themes were drawn from it. The data collected was compared and validated with contemporary research findings on Buddhist Meditation. This data was then used to formulate some of the questions for the semi-structured interviews that were conducted subsequently. Three adult subjects of Western origin, one male and two females were interviewed. Each subject had been meditating for an average period of ten years and can therefore be regarded as long-term meditators. They had practised Buddhist meditation in groups at various retreat centres around the country and also individually at home. The average age of the subjects was forty-five years, with the youngest subject being forty years old and the oldest being fifty-three years old. All three subjects were professional people employed at a university in South Africa and all were able to articulate their meditative experiences very well. Since the research project involved the study and exploration of the human experience related to Buddhist Meditation, it was more appropriate to use the phenomenological case-study approach rather than a measurement orientated procedure. The descriptive, phenomenological perspective is more appropriate for the elucidation of the data collected. It gives greater and clearer meaning to the human experience of meditation that is being investigated. The results of the study can best be summarised by stating that all three subjects undertook the Buddhist Meditation Practice because of their awareness of an existential conflict in their lives. Another reason for practising meditation was for personal development. The study also shows that a variety of effects of the meditation practice was experienced by the subjects. These included experiencing feelings of calmness, peace and relaxation, transformation of consciousness, heightened or increased awareness of certain external and internal stimuli, conscious of the changing nature of experience and experiences of objective consciousness.
- Full Text:
Dennett's compatibilism considered
- Authors: Puttergill, Julian Gatenby
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Dennett, Daniel Clement , Intentionality (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2718 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002848 , Dennett, Daniel Clement , Intentionality (Philosophy)
- Description: My basic concern in this thesis is to examine the details behind Dennett's attempt to reconcile the notions of mechanism and responsibility. In the main this involves an examination of how he tries to secure a compatibilism between mechanistic and intentional explanations by developing a systematised conception of intentional explanation. I begin by briefly discussing the various notions needed for understanding what is at stake in the area and where the orthodoxy on the matter lies. As such the first three sections of the work are not focussed on Dennett's work itself and playa stage-setting role for the deeper work to follow. These notions include the likes of the rationale behind attributing moral responsibility, agency and action, mechanism and mechanistic explanation, and intentional explanation. I suggest that the basic intuition regarding mechanism and responsibility is such that the two are seen to be incompatible with each other. The main reason for this lies in an intuition that mechanism undermines intentional explanation and so renders the notion of action largely empty. Action, I show, is at the heart of our attribution of responsibility and is dependent on intentional explanation. Having presented these issues, I turn to the details of Dennett's 'intentional systems theory'. I argue that Dennett attempts to avoid the intuition that mechanism is incompatible with responsibility by developing a specialised account of intentional explanation. Dennett calls it the intentional stance. r highlight the two important features of this intentional stance, namely rationality and intentionality. r show that Dennett's position on rationality and intentionality is such that it does allow him to secure an explanatory compatibilism between mechanism and his sort of intentional explanation. I argue, however, that his sort of intentional explanation does not fulfil our requirements for ascribing agency or moral responsibility. This is accomplished in part by developing alternative conceptions of the two notions. Out of this I develop a different sort of intentional stance, which I call the folk stance. I show finaIly that Dennett's compatibilist move is incapable of being applied to the folkstance from which we do in fact make attributions of responsibility, and so conclude thatDennett fails to make the case for reconciling mechanism and responsibility.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Puttergill, Julian Gatenby
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Dennett, Daniel Clement , Intentionality (Philosophy)
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2718 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002848 , Dennett, Daniel Clement , Intentionality (Philosophy)
- Description: My basic concern in this thesis is to examine the details behind Dennett's attempt to reconcile the notions of mechanism and responsibility. In the main this involves an examination of how he tries to secure a compatibilism between mechanistic and intentional explanations by developing a systematised conception of intentional explanation. I begin by briefly discussing the various notions needed for understanding what is at stake in the area and where the orthodoxy on the matter lies. As such the first three sections of the work are not focussed on Dennett's work itself and playa stage-setting role for the deeper work to follow. These notions include the likes of the rationale behind attributing moral responsibility, agency and action, mechanism and mechanistic explanation, and intentional explanation. I suggest that the basic intuition regarding mechanism and responsibility is such that the two are seen to be incompatible with each other. The main reason for this lies in an intuition that mechanism undermines intentional explanation and so renders the notion of action largely empty. Action, I show, is at the heart of our attribution of responsibility and is dependent on intentional explanation. Having presented these issues, I turn to the details of Dennett's 'intentional systems theory'. I argue that Dennett attempts to avoid the intuition that mechanism is incompatible with responsibility by developing a specialised account of intentional explanation. Dennett calls it the intentional stance. r highlight the two important features of this intentional stance, namely rationality and intentionality. r show that Dennett's position on rationality and intentionality is such that it does allow him to secure an explanatory compatibilism between mechanism and his sort of intentional explanation. I argue, however, that his sort of intentional explanation does not fulfil our requirements for ascribing agency or moral responsibility. This is accomplished in part by developing alternative conceptions of the two notions. Out of this I develop a different sort of intentional stance, which I call the folk stance. I show finaIly that Dennett's compatibilist move is incapable of being applied to the folkstance from which we do in fact make attributions of responsibility, and so conclude thatDennett fails to make the case for reconciling mechanism and responsibility.
- Full Text:
Knowledge of safe sex practices and HIV transmission, propensity for risk taking, and alcohol/drug use in the aetiology of unprotected sex
- Authors: Simpson, Malcolm Robert
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: HIV infections -- Prevention , Safe sex in AIDS prevention
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3146 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007421 , HIV infections -- Prevention , Safe sex in AIDS prevention
- Description: Second year psychology students (N=176) from Rhodes University were surveyed using an anonymous questionnaire to obtain information on sexual behaviour and knowledge of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) among young people. The following information was obtained: Knowledge of safe sex practices and HIV transmission was high although a number of misconceptions were noted. Only fifty six percent of students viewed oral sex with a condom as safe and thirty one percent do not consider mutual masturbation with a condom safe. Thirteen percent and twenty five percent respectively identified insects and saliva as being routes of HIV transmission. Magazines (96%), informal discussions with friends (95%), public pamphlets (86%) and public television (79%) were preferred sources of information. The students' knowledge did not appear to significantly affect sexual behaviour. Eighty percent of respondents were intimately involved with another person during the past twelve months, and only fifteen percent always made use of a latex barrier when being sexually intimate. Despite high rates of alcohol and/or drug consumption (80% of students use such substances), and the belief by the majority of respondents that alcohol and/or drugs facilitate higher risk behaviours, no support for the alcohol/risky sex hypothesis was found. Students were found to score highly on proneness to psychological and behavioural risk taking, and no significant relationship between this and unprotected sex was found. It can be concluded that educational programmes need to focus on what constitutes safe sexual practices in order to equip young adults with the knowledge they need to make informed choices regarding the relative risks of various sexual activities.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Simpson, Malcolm Robert
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: HIV infections -- Prevention , Safe sex in AIDS prevention
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3146 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007421 , HIV infections -- Prevention , Safe sex in AIDS prevention
- Description: Second year psychology students (N=176) from Rhodes University were surveyed using an anonymous questionnaire to obtain information on sexual behaviour and knowledge of the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) among young people. The following information was obtained: Knowledge of safe sex practices and HIV transmission was high although a number of misconceptions were noted. Only fifty six percent of students viewed oral sex with a condom as safe and thirty one percent do not consider mutual masturbation with a condom safe. Thirteen percent and twenty five percent respectively identified insects and saliva as being routes of HIV transmission. Magazines (96%), informal discussions with friends (95%), public pamphlets (86%) and public television (79%) were preferred sources of information. The students' knowledge did not appear to significantly affect sexual behaviour. Eighty percent of respondents were intimately involved with another person during the past twelve months, and only fifteen percent always made use of a latex barrier when being sexually intimate. Despite high rates of alcohol and/or drug consumption (80% of students use such substances), and the belief by the majority of respondents that alcohol and/or drugs facilitate higher risk behaviours, no support for the alcohol/risky sex hypothesis was found. Students were found to score highly on proneness to psychological and behavioural risk taking, and no significant relationship between this and unprotected sex was found. It can be concluded that educational programmes need to focus on what constitutes safe sexual practices in order to equip young adults with the knowledge they need to make informed choices regarding the relative risks of various sexual activities.
- Full Text:
Negotiating a comprehensive long-term relationship between South Africa and the European Union: from free trade to trade and development
- Authors: Cross, Peter John
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa -- 1994- , European Economic Community , European Economic Community countries -- Foreign economic relations -- South Africa , South Africa -- Foreign relations -- European Economic Community countries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2768 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002978 , Economic development -- South Africa -- 1994- , European Economic Community , European Economic Community countries -- Foreign economic relations -- South Africa , South Africa -- Foreign relations -- European Economic Community countries
- Description: On 10 May 1994 the European Union offeredSouth Africa a package of measures to ... send a strong political signal to the incoming govemment and to the South African population, thus proving its firm determination to support the transition towards democracy and its willingness to contribute to the reconstruction and economic development of South Africa after the elections. This package consisted of two parts: 1. A series of short term implementations to take place with immediate effect to help South Africa's development and transition, and 2. An offer to negotiate a comprehensive long-term relationship with South Africa should the new government so request. South Africa accepted the European Union's offer to negotiate a long-term relationship, and in response requested membership of the structure governing the Union's relations with the rest of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in the Caribbean and Pacific, namely the Lomé Convention. Due to various incompatibilities South Africa was not allowed to join this organisation. In its place the European Union offered to negotiate an agreement with South Africa that would lead to a Free Trade Area. This agreement was in keeping with the rules as laid down by the World Trade Organisation. It envisaged the lowering of tariffs and trade barriers between the Union and South Africa over a period not exceeding 12 years, allowing for asymmetry in terms of time constraints in implementation only. South Africa saw this type of agreement as inconsistent with the desire expressed by the European Union to support the countries development and the integration of the Southern African region. In its place South Africa proposed a new concept in trade agreement, this concept, known as the Trade and Development Agreement, embodied both trade liberalisation and support for development. This agreement would introduce a new paradigm of thought to govern trade between developed countries and developing countries within the World Trade Organisation's rules. This paper explores the events that unfolded in these negotiations. It attempts to discover whether, in the current global environment, it is possible, or beneficial, for the developed world to act in an altruistic manner towards another state in order to assist its development.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Cross, Peter John
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Economic development -- South Africa -- 1994- , European Economic Community , European Economic Community countries -- Foreign economic relations -- South Africa , South Africa -- Foreign relations -- European Economic Community countries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2768 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002978 , Economic development -- South Africa -- 1994- , European Economic Community , European Economic Community countries -- Foreign economic relations -- South Africa , South Africa -- Foreign relations -- European Economic Community countries
- Description: On 10 May 1994 the European Union offeredSouth Africa a package of measures to ... send a strong political signal to the incoming govemment and to the South African population, thus proving its firm determination to support the transition towards democracy and its willingness to contribute to the reconstruction and economic development of South Africa after the elections. This package consisted of two parts: 1. A series of short term implementations to take place with immediate effect to help South Africa's development and transition, and 2. An offer to negotiate a comprehensive long-term relationship with South Africa should the new government so request. South Africa accepted the European Union's offer to negotiate a long-term relationship, and in response requested membership of the structure governing the Union's relations with the rest of the countries in Sub-Saharan Africa and some countries in the Caribbean and Pacific, namely the Lomé Convention. Due to various incompatibilities South Africa was not allowed to join this organisation. In its place the European Union offered to negotiate an agreement with South Africa that would lead to a Free Trade Area. This agreement was in keeping with the rules as laid down by the World Trade Organisation. It envisaged the lowering of tariffs and trade barriers between the Union and South Africa over a period not exceeding 12 years, allowing for asymmetry in terms of time constraints in implementation only. South Africa saw this type of agreement as inconsistent with the desire expressed by the European Union to support the countries development and the integration of the Southern African region. In its place South Africa proposed a new concept in trade agreement, this concept, known as the Trade and Development Agreement, embodied both trade liberalisation and support for development. This agreement would introduce a new paradigm of thought to govern trade between developed countries and developing countries within the World Trade Organisation's rules. This paper explores the events that unfolded in these negotiations. It attempts to discover whether, in the current global environment, it is possible, or beneficial, for the developed world to act in an altruistic manner towards another state in order to assist its development.
- Full Text:
Newspapers in education programmes and South African youth: a survey of the relationship between South African school-goers and newspapers in Esikhawini, Kwazulu-Natal
- Authors: McComb, Roslin Vanessa
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Newspapers in education -- South Africa , School children -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- esikhawini , Newspapers in education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3465 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002920 , Newspapers in education -- South Africa , School children -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- esikhawini , Newspapers in education
- Description: This study examines the relationship which scholars have with newspapers against the background of a Newspapers in Education (NIE) programme in two black South African primary schools. Considering the presence of newspapers in the class as a medium of instruction, a number of factors are found to influence the -relationship which scholars have with newspapers. These factors are: scholars' access to newspapers; the nature of lessons using the newspaper; the character of the newspaper used in NIE and the context of education at the particular schools, including the attitudes and organisational abilities of both teachers and the principal. A description and analysis of this relationship is conducted in terms of the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour which scholars had -in te1ation to newspapers. This research is qualitative, undertaken from a constructivist-interpretative approach, and is set within international and South African contexts. The findings are relevant to understanding NIE programmes' interface with scholars' educational performance and with newspaper marketing objectives, as well as to the theorisation of NIE practices.
- Full Text:
- Authors: McComb, Roslin Vanessa
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Newspapers in education -- South Africa , School children -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- esikhawini , Newspapers in education
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3465 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002920 , Newspapers in education -- South Africa , School children -- South Africa -- KwaZulu-Natal -- esikhawini , Newspapers in education
- Description: This study examines the relationship which scholars have with newspapers against the background of a Newspapers in Education (NIE) programme in two black South African primary schools. Considering the presence of newspapers in the class as a medium of instruction, a number of factors are found to influence the -relationship which scholars have with newspapers. These factors are: scholars' access to newspapers; the nature of lessons using the newspaper; the character of the newspaper used in NIE and the context of education at the particular schools, including the attitudes and organisational abilities of both teachers and the principal. A description and analysis of this relationship is conducted in terms of the knowledge, attitudes and behaviour which scholars had -in te1ation to newspapers. This research is qualitative, undertaken from a constructivist-interpretative approach, and is set within international and South African contexts. The findings are relevant to understanding NIE programmes' interface with scholars' educational performance and with newspaper marketing objectives, as well as to the theorisation of NIE practices.
- Full Text:
Punishment in schools: perspectives of parents, teachers and pupils
- Authors: Sedumedi, Susan Dimakatso
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Punishment -- South Africa , Discipline of children -- Psychological aspects , Discipline of children -- South Africa , High school teachers -- South Africa -- Attitudes , High school students -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Parents -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Corporal punishment , Corporal punishment -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3051 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002560 , Punishment -- South Africa , Discipline of children -- Psychological aspects , Discipline of children -- South Africa , High school teachers -- South Africa -- Attitudes , High school students -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Parents -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Corporal punishment , Corporal punishment -- South Africa
- Description: While some research has been done on the use of corporal punishment in South African schools, there is a dearth of research on other forms of punishment and little has been done to research the meaning of punishment. This study explores the meaning of punishment in a high school context and focuses on the different attitudes of parents, teachers and pupils, with a view to identifying, in particular, how they justify the use of punishment. A sample of 50 pupils, 30 teachers and 30 parents were selected for the study. Focus groups and a questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions were used to collect the data. The questionnaire was constructed to explore themes which emerged in the focus group discussions . Results were grouped into themes and arranged by tables , and the Chi-square test of statistical significance was used to analyze some of the data. The results show that the meaning and the approach to punishment is differently construed by participants. Parents construe punishment as an educative instrument and a disciplinary measure used for the good of pupils and the society. Teachers see it as a discip1inary measure, a strategy used for effective learning, and a negative stimulus used to inflict pain towards the goal of an orderly school environment. To pupils the punishment scene provides an opportunity for what they perceive as sadistic enjoyment and as something negative which is used by teachers to vent their own frustrations. Participants agree that clear, consensually agreed upon rules should be set to regulate school behaviour and that there should be clear and consensually agreed upon ways of ensuring that these rules are adhered to; and constructive ways of dealing with violation of these rules. The central concern seems to be to move away from a retributive, punitive mode of thinking about punishment, towards a purposeful one. The implications of the research findings are discussed in the context of existing literature in the area and in relation to policy development.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Sedumedi, Susan Dimakatso
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Punishment -- South Africa , Discipline of children -- Psychological aspects , Discipline of children -- South Africa , High school teachers -- South Africa -- Attitudes , High school students -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Parents -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Corporal punishment , Corporal punishment -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3051 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002560 , Punishment -- South Africa , Discipline of children -- Psychological aspects , Discipline of children -- South Africa , High school teachers -- South Africa -- Attitudes , High school students -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Parents -- South Africa -- Attitudes , Corporal punishment , Corporal punishment -- South Africa
- Description: While some research has been done on the use of corporal punishment in South African schools, there is a dearth of research on other forms of punishment and little has been done to research the meaning of punishment. This study explores the meaning of punishment in a high school context and focuses on the different attitudes of parents, teachers and pupils, with a view to identifying, in particular, how they justify the use of punishment. A sample of 50 pupils, 30 teachers and 30 parents were selected for the study. Focus groups and a questionnaire with closed and open-ended questions were used to collect the data. The questionnaire was constructed to explore themes which emerged in the focus group discussions . Results were grouped into themes and arranged by tables , and the Chi-square test of statistical significance was used to analyze some of the data. The results show that the meaning and the approach to punishment is differently construed by participants. Parents construe punishment as an educative instrument and a disciplinary measure used for the good of pupils and the society. Teachers see it as a discip1inary measure, a strategy used for effective learning, and a negative stimulus used to inflict pain towards the goal of an orderly school environment. To pupils the punishment scene provides an opportunity for what they perceive as sadistic enjoyment and as something negative which is used by teachers to vent their own frustrations. Participants agree that clear, consensually agreed upon rules should be set to regulate school behaviour and that there should be clear and consensually agreed upon ways of ensuring that these rules are adhered to; and constructive ways of dealing with violation of these rules. The central concern seems to be to move away from a retributive, punitive mode of thinking about punishment, towards a purposeful one. The implications of the research findings are discussed in the context of existing literature in the area and in relation to policy development.
- Full Text:
Struggle in discourse the International's discourse against racism in the labour-movement in South Africa (1915-1919)
- Authors: Caldwell, Marc Anthony
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: International (Johannesburg, South Africa) -- History , International Socialist League (S.A.) -- History , South African newspapers -- Language , Mass media and race relations -- South Africa , Mass media and language -- South Africa , Labor unions and mass media -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3419 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002872 , International (Johannesburg, South Africa) -- History , International Socialist League (S.A.) -- History , South African newspapers -- Language , Mass media and race relations -- South Africa , Mass media and language -- South Africa , Labor unions and mass media -- South Africa
- Description: The International, as the weekly newspaper of the International Socialist League, articulated from 1915 to 1919 an ideology which stood opposed both to organised labour and nationalist movements in South Africa. This situation reflected significant historical struggles during this period, which constitutes essential background to the discourse of the International. The International's writers opposed the institution of trade unionism in the labour movement because it was fragmented on the lines of skill and race. They opposed both the National Party and the South African Native National Congress because they advocated racial (and national) rather than working class interests. Instead, these writers, according to their international socialist paradigm, advocated a working class united irrespective of race and skill at the level of industry. To analyse these ideological positions, discourse analysis provides a fruitful method for locating its dynamics in relation to other positions and extra-ideological (contextual) practices: The International's writers g~nerated a socialist position against racism by engaging in an ideological struggle in discourse. They articulated their anti-racist position from international socialism's critique of the 'languages' of both militarism and trade unionism in the discourse of labour. Within the discourse of militarism, the working class was signified as divided between hostile nations. These writers applied this as a metaphor to the division of the local labour movement and criticised the latter accordingly. In their view, just as workers were divided between the nations (nationalism), so they were divided within the nation (racism) in South Africa. One context cohered with the other, and both agreed with imperatives of international capitalism. This was fundamentally opposed to the principles of international socialism which characterised the International's discourse. Within the dominant discourse oflabour, workers were signified as divided between different trade unions on the basis of skills. Furthermore, in the South African context, trade unions organised only white workers, and ignored the far larger proportion of black labour. In this context, the International advocated industrial unionism, and criticised the narrow base of the white trade unions for fragmenting and weakening the working class in South African. The International's writers were thus led by the discourse of international socialism to a new discourse, whereby not white workers alone, but a racially-united working class movement would be the key to a socialist future in South Africa. Their struggle entailed a bid in and over discourse to rearticulate the sign of the 'native worker' within their own discourse as the dominant discourse type. Underpinning their struggle was a fundamental opposition to capitalist class relations.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Caldwell, Marc Anthony
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: International (Johannesburg, South Africa) -- History , International Socialist League (S.A.) -- History , South African newspapers -- Language , Mass media and race relations -- South Africa , Mass media and language -- South Africa , Labor unions and mass media -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3419 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002872 , International (Johannesburg, South Africa) -- History , International Socialist League (S.A.) -- History , South African newspapers -- Language , Mass media and race relations -- South Africa , Mass media and language -- South Africa , Labor unions and mass media -- South Africa
- Description: The International, as the weekly newspaper of the International Socialist League, articulated from 1915 to 1919 an ideology which stood opposed both to organised labour and nationalist movements in South Africa. This situation reflected significant historical struggles during this period, which constitutes essential background to the discourse of the International. The International's writers opposed the institution of trade unionism in the labour movement because it was fragmented on the lines of skill and race. They opposed both the National Party and the South African Native National Congress because they advocated racial (and national) rather than working class interests. Instead, these writers, according to their international socialist paradigm, advocated a working class united irrespective of race and skill at the level of industry. To analyse these ideological positions, discourse analysis provides a fruitful method for locating its dynamics in relation to other positions and extra-ideological (contextual) practices: The International's writers g~nerated a socialist position against racism by engaging in an ideological struggle in discourse. They articulated their anti-racist position from international socialism's critique of the 'languages' of both militarism and trade unionism in the discourse of labour. Within the discourse of militarism, the working class was signified as divided between hostile nations. These writers applied this as a metaphor to the division of the local labour movement and criticised the latter accordingly. In their view, just as workers were divided between the nations (nationalism), so they were divided within the nation (racism) in South Africa. One context cohered with the other, and both agreed with imperatives of international capitalism. This was fundamentally opposed to the principles of international socialism which characterised the International's discourse. Within the dominant discourse oflabour, workers were signified as divided between different trade unions on the basis of skills. Furthermore, in the South African context, trade unions organised only white workers, and ignored the far larger proportion of black labour. In this context, the International advocated industrial unionism, and criticised the narrow base of the white trade unions for fragmenting and weakening the working class in South African. The International's writers were thus led by the discourse of international socialism to a new discourse, whereby not white workers alone, but a racially-united working class movement would be the key to a socialist future in South Africa. Their struggle entailed a bid in and over discourse to rearticulate the sign of the 'native worker' within their own discourse as the dominant discourse type. Underpinning their struggle was a fundamental opposition to capitalist class relations.
- Full Text:
Teaching disciplinary discourse and implementing language-across-the-curriculum at tertiary level problems and prospects
- Authors: Caldwell, Candice Anne
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Rhodes University. Dept. of Psychology , Compensatory education -- South Africa , College students -- Study and teaching , College teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Curriculum evaluation -- South Africa , Discourse analysis , Language arts -- Correlation with content subjects , Learning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2340 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002622
- Description: The premise of this thesis is that "learning", particularly in terms of students and universities, is capable of being seen as a specific and developed culture. This study is a contribution to the ethnography of that learning, the ultimate aim being to produce a descriptive theory of learning as a cultural system. This research was conducted within the context of the recent proposals made by the South African Commission on Higher Education. The proposals relevant to this study were, broadly, increased access to higher education and national funding for academic staff development programmes. There are, however, serious obstacles in the way of realising the aims of the higher education system outlined by the NCHE. Given the limited time and resources available for higher education development, it is imperative that the major flaws and obstacles in the system be identified and addressed as soon as possible. In view of this need, it was the concern of this study to conduct research which would assist in the designing of staff development programmes for academics teaching in English-medium tertiary institutions, like Rhodes University, where more than half the intake of first-year students already speaks English as a second, or other, language. Founded on the social constructionist view of knowledge, the aim of the study was to identify the needs of academic staff as well as the possible obstacles to the implementation of a "Language Across the Curriculum" policy. A genre-centred, ethnographic approach was used to access a disciplinary discourse community (the Psychology Department) in order to describe the practices of the community as well as to analyse the community's orders of discourse, particularly those which occurred at points of contact between lecturers and first-year students. It is argued that staff development programmes should promote the use of collaborative learning, which implies a reframing of the roles of both academic staff and students.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Caldwell, Candice Anne
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Rhodes University. Dept. of Psychology , Compensatory education -- South Africa , College students -- Study and teaching , College teachers -- Training of -- South Africa , Curriculum evaluation -- South Africa , Discourse analysis , Language arts -- Correlation with content subjects , Learning
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2340 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002622
- Description: The premise of this thesis is that "learning", particularly in terms of students and universities, is capable of being seen as a specific and developed culture. This study is a contribution to the ethnography of that learning, the ultimate aim being to produce a descriptive theory of learning as a cultural system. This research was conducted within the context of the recent proposals made by the South African Commission on Higher Education. The proposals relevant to this study were, broadly, increased access to higher education and national funding for academic staff development programmes. There are, however, serious obstacles in the way of realising the aims of the higher education system outlined by the NCHE. Given the limited time and resources available for higher education development, it is imperative that the major flaws and obstacles in the system be identified and addressed as soon as possible. In view of this need, it was the concern of this study to conduct research which would assist in the designing of staff development programmes for academics teaching in English-medium tertiary institutions, like Rhodes University, where more than half the intake of first-year students already speaks English as a second, or other, language. Founded on the social constructionist view of knowledge, the aim of the study was to identify the needs of academic staff as well as the possible obstacles to the implementation of a "Language Across the Curriculum" policy. A genre-centred, ethnographic approach was used to access a disciplinary discourse community (the Psychology Department) in order to describe the practices of the community as well as to analyse the community's orders of discourse, particularly those which occurred at points of contact between lecturers and first-year students. It is argued that staff development programmes should promote the use of collaborative learning, which implies a reframing of the roles of both academic staff and students.
- Full Text:
The African National Congress' foreign policy in transition: change or continuity, 1989-1994
- Machesa, Aubrey Mpho John Refiloe
- Authors: Machesa, Aubrey Mpho John Refiloe
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: African National Congress -- Foreign relations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2797 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003007 , African National Congress -- Foreign relations
- Description: But the central focus will be to explore the foreign policy transition by reflecting the theory that even though international and regional political developments had an impact on the foreign policy transition of the ANC, the internal and domestic political struggles that had evolved during the same time-frame as both the international and regional political developments also had major contributions to the foreign policy transition of the movement. Within this context, the study will also explore the preliminary contours of a post-apartheid foreign policy as perceived by the ANC as to how the country will be reintegrated into the political and economic world order.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Machesa, Aubrey Mpho John Refiloe
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: African National Congress -- Foreign relations
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2797 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003007 , African National Congress -- Foreign relations
- Description: But the central focus will be to explore the foreign policy transition by reflecting the theory that even though international and regional political developments had an impact on the foreign policy transition of the ANC, the internal and domestic political struggles that had evolved during the same time-frame as both the international and regional political developments also had major contributions to the foreign policy transition of the movement. Within this context, the study will also explore the preliminary contours of a post-apartheid foreign policy as perceived by the ANC as to how the country will be reintegrated into the political and economic world order.
- Full Text:
The effect of work-hardening on the physical work capacity of manual labourers within South African industry
- Authors: Jacka, Karen-Louise
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Human engineering , Industrial accidents -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- South Africa , Musculoskeletal system -- Wounds and injuries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5165 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016237
- Description: South Africa is a labour-intensive industrially developing country. As a result, in excess of 200 000 workers suffer from musculoskeletal injuries in a year. Research is thus essential to develop more effective strategies in the reduction and rehabilitation of occupational musculoskeletal disorders within industry. It was the hypothesis of this study that by improving the physical work capacity of manual labourers, through participation in an occupation specific work-hardening programme, that the ergonomic stress index and therefore the occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries within industry, may be reduced. Twenty-five male Black and Coloured manual labourers volunteered to participate in this study. In addition to in situ task analyses, the subjects participated in cardiovascular and strength assessments in the laboratory, both pre- and post-participation in the ten-week work-hardening programme. The data were statistically analyzed in order to identify any significant • improvements in the workers' physical work capacity, as measured by cardiovascular, strength and perceptual responses, following the period of work-hardening. Two significant reductions were noted in measures of working heart rate together with significant improvements in grip strength and trunk strength tested at a velocity of 60°.sec·1 at the post-conditioning assessments. In conclusion, the ten-week work-hardening programme resulted in nominal improvements in all the cardiovascular measures and significant improvements in the subjects' strength performance. However, industrialists must recognise that this study dealt with only one aspect of reducing the ergonomic stress index at the workplace and realise that, in addition to this focus, it remains essential to design the task to fit the human operator.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Jacka, Karen-Louise
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Human engineering , Industrial accidents -- South Africa , Industrial safety -- South Africa , Musculoskeletal system -- Wounds and injuries
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5165 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1016237
- Description: South Africa is a labour-intensive industrially developing country. As a result, in excess of 200 000 workers suffer from musculoskeletal injuries in a year. Research is thus essential to develop more effective strategies in the reduction and rehabilitation of occupational musculoskeletal disorders within industry. It was the hypothesis of this study that by improving the physical work capacity of manual labourers, through participation in an occupation specific work-hardening programme, that the ergonomic stress index and therefore the occurrence of musculoskeletal injuries within industry, may be reduced. Twenty-five male Black and Coloured manual labourers volunteered to participate in this study. In addition to in situ task analyses, the subjects participated in cardiovascular and strength assessments in the laboratory, both pre- and post-participation in the ten-week work-hardening programme. The data were statistically analyzed in order to identify any significant • improvements in the workers' physical work capacity, as measured by cardiovascular, strength and perceptual responses, following the period of work-hardening. Two significant reductions were noted in measures of working heart rate together with significant improvements in grip strength and trunk strength tested at a velocity of 60°.sec·1 at the post-conditioning assessments. In conclusion, the ten-week work-hardening programme resulted in nominal improvements in all the cardiovascular measures and significant improvements in the subjects' strength performance. However, industrialists must recognise that this study dealt with only one aspect of reducing the ergonomic stress index at the workplace and realise that, in addition to this focus, it remains essential to design the task to fit the human operator.
- Full Text:
The role of interpreters in medical communication in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Hobson, Carol Bonnin
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Translating and interpreting -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2349 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002631 , Translating and interpreting -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This study aimed to investigate the role of the interpreter in medical communication in the Eastern Cape. This role was found to be a complex and varied one. Interpreters do not only change the words of one language into equivalent words in the other language, but act as advisers, explainers, cultural mediators, supervisors and advocates of the patient. In order to fulfil these functions, they communicate independently within the medical consultation and do not merely interpret what has been said by each participant. Rather, they tailor the message to the participants and the situation by adding to the message, omitting parts of it and changing it where necessary. This does not happen in an arbitrary fashion, but is subject to influence from a number of non-linguistic and linguistic contextual factors. These factors are discussed in this study and included in a suggested model of the interpreted medical consultation, which differs from other models of interpreting which were found to be more adequate for the-situation of conference interpreting than for community interpreting, of which medical interpreting is an example. Data was collected from interviews with interpreters and patients apd from interviews and questionnaires given to medical professionals. The results suggest that using trained medical interpreters in the interpreted medical consultation may solve some of the problems that arise and medical professienals should be encouraged to, learn the languages of their patients to alleviate some of the misunderstanding which occurs. The study also raises questions about the way in which we view interpreting and shows that community interpreting does not always observe the ideals envisaged by theories of interpreting.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Hobson, Carol Bonnin
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Translating and interpreting -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2349 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002631 , Translating and interpreting -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Communication in medicine -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Description: This study aimed to investigate the role of the interpreter in medical communication in the Eastern Cape. This role was found to be a complex and varied one. Interpreters do not only change the words of one language into equivalent words in the other language, but act as advisers, explainers, cultural mediators, supervisors and advocates of the patient. In order to fulfil these functions, they communicate independently within the medical consultation and do not merely interpret what has been said by each participant. Rather, they tailor the message to the participants and the situation by adding to the message, omitting parts of it and changing it where necessary. This does not happen in an arbitrary fashion, but is subject to influence from a number of non-linguistic and linguistic contextual factors. These factors are discussed in this study and included in a suggested model of the interpreted medical consultation, which differs from other models of interpreting which were found to be more adequate for the-situation of conference interpreting than for community interpreting, of which medical interpreting is an example. Data was collected from interviews with interpreters and patients apd from interviews and questionnaires given to medical professionals. The results suggest that using trained medical interpreters in the interpreted medical consultation may solve some of the problems that arise and medical professienals should be encouraged to, learn the languages of their patients to alleviate some of the misunderstanding which occurs. The study also raises questions about the way in which we view interpreting and shows that community interpreting does not always observe the ideals envisaged by theories of interpreting.
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The spatial planning of racial residential segregation in King William's Town : 1826-1991
- Authors: Zituta, Heyman Mandlakayise
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Apartheid -- South Africa -- King William's Town , City planning -- South Africa -- King William's Town , King William's Town (South Africa) -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:4855 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005531 , Apartheid -- South Africa -- King William's Town , City planning -- South Africa -- King William's Town , King William's Town (South Africa) -- History
- Description: This study investigates the spatial planning of racial residential segregation in King William's Town, induding its former homeland township of Zwelitsha, from 1826 to 1991. The first settlement in the 'white' King William's Town, Brownlee Mission Station, was established in 1826.The town of King William's Town was developed from this settlement. The racial laws which were applied to segregate blacks nationally and locally came to an end in 1991. Primary sources of information were used to determine whether King William's Town was planned along racial lines and to determine the major role players who formulated and implemented the policy. Key sources were archival material, newspapers, maps, interviews, Deeds Office files and the work of other scholars. The establishment of the towm from its genesis as a mission station and a military base is traced and the effects of this legacy on racial separation is detailed. It was found that racial planning of residential areas in King William's Town had been practised in this small town for a long time (prior to the Group Areas Act). The implementation of this policy was marked by forced removal of blacks from areas which were regarded as being for whites. These predominently African concentrations on the east bank of the Buffalo River were relocated to the west bank which was regarded as a black area.An anomalous incident was discovered in this study namely that these racial removals took place before the central state introduced national policy which compelled all local states to plan their residential areas along ethnic considerations. In parallel with the practice of segregation in King William's Town, the township of Zwelitsha was developed adjacent to the town by the government. As this thesis reveals, the development of Zwelitsha was intimately related to that of King William's Town. The major role players in planning residential areas on racial basis were identified as the municipal Council of King William's Town. They were involved in planning racially segregated areas before and after the Group Areas Act. They (the Council) succeeded in closing all freehold locations in the town (1940) and forced the residents to become their tenants who rented dwellings in the west bank municipal location. There were attempts to incorporate this municipal location into the neighbouring homeland township of Zwelitsha. This move was eventually accomplished when all townships in the vicinity of King William's Town were amalgamated to form King William's Town Transitional Local Council in terms of the Local Government Transition Act of 1994 (Government Gazette No. 15468 of 2nd February 1994).
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- Authors: Zituta, Heyman Mandlakayise
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Apartheid -- South Africa -- King William's Town , City planning -- South Africa -- King William's Town , King William's Town (South Africa) -- History
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:4855 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1005531 , Apartheid -- South Africa -- King William's Town , City planning -- South Africa -- King William's Town , King William's Town (South Africa) -- History
- Description: This study investigates the spatial planning of racial residential segregation in King William's Town, induding its former homeland township of Zwelitsha, from 1826 to 1991. The first settlement in the 'white' King William's Town, Brownlee Mission Station, was established in 1826.The town of King William's Town was developed from this settlement. The racial laws which were applied to segregate blacks nationally and locally came to an end in 1991. Primary sources of information were used to determine whether King William's Town was planned along racial lines and to determine the major role players who formulated and implemented the policy. Key sources were archival material, newspapers, maps, interviews, Deeds Office files and the work of other scholars. The establishment of the towm from its genesis as a mission station and a military base is traced and the effects of this legacy on racial separation is detailed. It was found that racial planning of residential areas in King William's Town had been practised in this small town for a long time (prior to the Group Areas Act). The implementation of this policy was marked by forced removal of blacks from areas which were regarded as being for whites. These predominently African concentrations on the east bank of the Buffalo River were relocated to the west bank which was regarded as a black area.An anomalous incident was discovered in this study namely that these racial removals took place before the central state introduced national policy which compelled all local states to plan their residential areas along ethnic considerations. In parallel with the practice of segregation in King William's Town, the township of Zwelitsha was developed adjacent to the town by the government. As this thesis reveals, the development of Zwelitsha was intimately related to that of King William's Town. The major role players in planning residential areas on racial basis were identified as the municipal Council of King William's Town. They were involved in planning racially segregated areas before and after the Group Areas Act. They (the Council) succeeded in closing all freehold locations in the town (1940) and forced the residents to become their tenants who rented dwellings in the west bank municipal location. There were attempts to incorporate this municipal location into the neighbouring homeland township of Zwelitsha. This move was eventually accomplished when all townships in the vicinity of King William's Town were amalgamated to form King William's Town Transitional Local Council in terms of the Local Government Transition Act of 1994 (Government Gazette No. 15468 of 2nd February 1994).
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The use of the female voice in three novels by J.M. Coetzee
- Authors: Graham, Lucy Valerie
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Coetzee, J. M., 1940- -- Criticism and interpretation , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- Foe , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- In the heart of the country , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- Age Of Iron , Women in literature , Voice in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2224 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002267 , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- -- Criticism and interpretation , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- Foe , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- In the heart of the country , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- Age Of Iron , Women in literature , Voice in literature
- Description: This study investigates J.M. Coetzee's use of the female voice in In the Heart of the Country, Foe and Age of Iron, and is based on the premise that Coetzee's position as a male author using a female voice is important for readings of these novels. Although the implications of Coetzee's strategy are examined against the theoretical background of feminist or gender-related discourses, this study does not attempt to claim Coetzee for feminism, nor to prove him a misogynist. Instead, it focuses on the specific positional and narrative possibilities afforded by Coetzee's use of a female voice. Chapter One comments on the fact that Coetzee's strategy of "textual cross-dressing" has not been given much critical attention in the past, observing that research on South African literature has largely been limited to studies of racial and colonial problematics. This introductory chapter mentions that the different female narrators in Coetzee's novels articulate aspects of a discourse in crisis, resulting in profound ambivalence in their representation. Chapter Two observes that the female voices in Coetzee's novels invoke the textual illusion of a speaking/writing female body, and explains that this is useful in expressing aspects of what Coetzee refers to as the suffering body. Although Coetzee appropriates a female narrative position and employs certain subversive textual elements associated with "the feminine", attempts made by certain critics to label Coetzee's writing as ecriture feminine are rejected as highly problematic. Instead, the study contends that the femaleness of the narrators relative to "masculine" discursive power enables Coetzee to perform a critique of power "from a position of weakness". Furthermore, the presence of certain "feminine" elements within these narrators suggests Coetzee's affiliation with characteristics derided within phallocratic discourses, and becomes a strategic means of fictive self-positioning, of figuring his own position as a dissident. Chapter Three is a study of In the Heart of the Country, and proposes that Magda is represented as a typical nineteenth century hysteric. Her hystericized narrative is linked to certain avant-garde narratives, such as the nouveau roman and "New Wave" cinematography, both cited by Coetzee as influences on the novel. Furthermore, the novel provides insight into the ambiguous role of the hysteric and dramatises the position of the dissident: on a discursive level Magda's narrative is subversive, and yet in terms of social "reality" her revolt is ineffectual. Chapter Four addresses the issue of author-ity in Foe, and draws on Coetzee's affiliation with Susan Barton, the struggling authoress, whose narrative reveals the levels of power and authority operating within, novelistic discourse when she asks "Who ,is speaking me?". The study observes that Foe also performs a critique of the power-seeking project of liberal feminism, as the novel sets Susan's quest for authorship against the background of a more radical "otherness", that of Friday. Chapter Five asserts that Age of Iron exploits the ethical possibilities of a maternal discourse. Tracing parallels between images of motherhood in psychoanalytic feminism and in Age of Iron, this chapter argues that Kristeva's theory of abjection is relevant for a reading of Elizabeth Curren's position as a mother who has cancer. The childbirth metaphor as it appears in Age- of Iron becomes an alternative and profoundly ethical way of figuring the process of novel writing.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Graham, Lucy Valerie
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Coetzee, J. M., 1940- -- Criticism and interpretation , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- Foe , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- In the heart of the country , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- Age Of Iron , Women in literature , Voice in literature
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2224 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002267 , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- -- Criticism and interpretation , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- Foe , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- In the heart of the country , Coetzee, J. M., 1940- Age Of Iron , Women in literature , Voice in literature
- Description: This study investigates J.M. Coetzee's use of the female voice in In the Heart of the Country, Foe and Age of Iron, and is based on the premise that Coetzee's position as a male author using a female voice is important for readings of these novels. Although the implications of Coetzee's strategy are examined against the theoretical background of feminist or gender-related discourses, this study does not attempt to claim Coetzee for feminism, nor to prove him a misogynist. Instead, it focuses on the specific positional and narrative possibilities afforded by Coetzee's use of a female voice. Chapter One comments on the fact that Coetzee's strategy of "textual cross-dressing" has not been given much critical attention in the past, observing that research on South African literature has largely been limited to studies of racial and colonial problematics. This introductory chapter mentions that the different female narrators in Coetzee's novels articulate aspects of a discourse in crisis, resulting in profound ambivalence in their representation. Chapter Two observes that the female voices in Coetzee's novels invoke the textual illusion of a speaking/writing female body, and explains that this is useful in expressing aspects of what Coetzee refers to as the suffering body. Although Coetzee appropriates a female narrative position and employs certain subversive textual elements associated with "the feminine", attempts made by certain critics to label Coetzee's writing as ecriture feminine are rejected as highly problematic. Instead, the study contends that the femaleness of the narrators relative to "masculine" discursive power enables Coetzee to perform a critique of power "from a position of weakness". Furthermore, the presence of certain "feminine" elements within these narrators suggests Coetzee's affiliation with characteristics derided within phallocratic discourses, and becomes a strategic means of fictive self-positioning, of figuring his own position as a dissident. Chapter Three is a study of In the Heart of the Country, and proposes that Magda is represented as a typical nineteenth century hysteric. Her hystericized narrative is linked to certain avant-garde narratives, such as the nouveau roman and "New Wave" cinematography, both cited by Coetzee as influences on the novel. Furthermore, the novel provides insight into the ambiguous role of the hysteric and dramatises the position of the dissident: on a discursive level Magda's narrative is subversive, and yet in terms of social "reality" her revolt is ineffectual. Chapter Four addresses the issue of author-ity in Foe, and draws on Coetzee's affiliation with Susan Barton, the struggling authoress, whose narrative reveals the levels of power and authority operating within, novelistic discourse when she asks "Who ,is speaking me?". The study observes that Foe also performs a critique of the power-seeking project of liberal feminism, as the novel sets Susan's quest for authorship against the background of a more radical "otherness", that of Friday. Chapter Five asserts that Age of Iron exploits the ethical possibilities of a maternal discourse. Tracing parallels between images of motherhood in psychoanalytic feminism and in Age of Iron, this chapter argues that Kristeva's theory of abjection is relevant for a reading of Elizabeth Curren's position as a mother who has cancer. The childbirth metaphor as it appears in Age- of Iron becomes an alternative and profoundly ethical way of figuring the process of novel writing.
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Theories of international cooperation and the GATT/WTO regime: beyond the dichotomy of rational and cognitive approaches
- Authors: Nischalke, Tobias Ingo
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Organization) , World Trade Organization , International trade
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2817 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003027 , General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Organization) , World Trade Organization , International trade
- Description: This thesis aspires to assess the explanatory value of different theories of international cooperation for the case of the world trade regime of GATT/WTO and subsequently strives to reach a satisfactory interpretation of the instance of cooperation. The world trade regime embarked on a process of transformation with the signing of the Marrakech Agreements of 15th April 1994. The event marked the conclusion of the Uruguay Round and, with the establishment of the WTO, the beginning of a new era for the world trade regime. The thesis endeavours to establish the substance of the regime change from GATT to the WTO. It outlines the most significant provisions of the agreement of the Uruguay Round and, subsequently, analyses the change on the level of regime norms underlying the world trade regime. The analysis of regime norms yields insights about the essence of the regime transformation and as to what factors proved to be conducive to cooperation in the sphere of the world trade. The GATT/WTO regime with its extended scope and more sophisticated institutional structures can be regarded as a prime example of successful cooperation. However, the prospects for cooperation between states in an anarchic environment without central authority for enforcement are the subject of a remarkably intense scholarly debate. Therefore it is worthwhile to examine which theoretical framework proves to be most adept at elucidating the circumstances of this instance of cooperation. This thesis applies different theories of international cooperation to the case of the GATT/WTO regime. While a large array of rational theories attempts to explain cooperation from a perspective which focuses on interests and capabilities, a different strand of theories, that of cognitive approaches, emphasizes the paramountcy of ideas and beliefs as variables which explain cooperation. They endogenize the process of interest formation. This thesis seeks to synthesise the strong points of rational and cognitive approaches and thus to reconcile the divergent schools of thought. Its further purpose is to set out factors which are conducive to cooperation.
- Full Text:
- Authors: Nischalke, Tobias Ingo
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Organization) , World Trade Organization , International trade
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2817 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003027 , General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (Organization) , World Trade Organization , International trade
- Description: This thesis aspires to assess the explanatory value of different theories of international cooperation for the case of the world trade regime of GATT/WTO and subsequently strives to reach a satisfactory interpretation of the instance of cooperation. The world trade regime embarked on a process of transformation with the signing of the Marrakech Agreements of 15th April 1994. The event marked the conclusion of the Uruguay Round and, with the establishment of the WTO, the beginning of a new era for the world trade regime. The thesis endeavours to establish the substance of the regime change from GATT to the WTO. It outlines the most significant provisions of the agreement of the Uruguay Round and, subsequently, analyses the change on the level of regime norms underlying the world trade regime. The analysis of regime norms yields insights about the essence of the regime transformation and as to what factors proved to be conducive to cooperation in the sphere of the world trade. The GATT/WTO regime with its extended scope and more sophisticated institutional structures can be regarded as a prime example of successful cooperation. However, the prospects for cooperation between states in an anarchic environment without central authority for enforcement are the subject of a remarkably intense scholarly debate. Therefore it is worthwhile to examine which theoretical framework proves to be most adept at elucidating the circumstances of this instance of cooperation. This thesis applies different theories of international cooperation to the case of the GATT/WTO regime. While a large array of rational theories attempts to explain cooperation from a perspective which focuses on interests and capabilities, a different strand of theories, that of cognitive approaches, emphasizes the paramountcy of ideas and beliefs as variables which explain cooperation. They endogenize the process of interest formation. This thesis seeks to synthesise the strong points of rational and cognitive approaches and thus to reconcile the divergent schools of thought. Its further purpose is to set out factors which are conducive to cooperation.
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Towards a developed regional order: which way forward southern Africa?
- Authors: Blaauw, Abraham Lesley
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa , Regional planning -- Africa, Southern , Regional planning -- South Africa , Southern African Customs Union , Southern African Development Community , Africa, Southern -- Economic conditions , Africa, Southern -- Politics and government -- 1975-1994
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2760 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002970 , Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa , Regional planning -- Africa, Southern , Regional planning -- South Africa , Southern African Customs Union , Southern African Development Community , Africa, Southern -- Economic conditions , Africa, Southern -- Politics and government -- 1975-1994
- Description: The regionalisation of politics on a global scale, Call be seen as one of the defining features of contemporary international relations. Given this phenomenon, the tasks which confronted this thesis, was to consider the conditions and requirements necessary within the Southern African region to build an all-embracing developed regional order. The urgency with which the latter task should be undertaken, is premised on an increased realisation that the region, and indeed the continent as a whole, are becoming of lesser significance in international affairs. However, a number of impediments will have to be overcome, before the goal of a developed regional order can be achieved, which will contribute to lasting security in the region. Foremost amongst many issues, is how to employ the approaches to integration, in attempting to explain how the goal of a developed order should be achieved. A second problem which this thesis was confronted with, relates to which organisation shoulO be' considered the best vehicle, to drive the integration process forward- COMESA, SACU or SADC. The decision take SADC as the organisation to drive the integration process forward, is premised on a number of factors. Amongst many, it qualifies in geographical terms as a region, the historical linkages of the countries of the region (based on their fight against apartheid, division of labour, etc.), serves as a basis for building a sense of community. Thirdly its institutions can be developed to achieve the goal of an all-embracing regional order. Lastly and most importantly, SADC realises that regional integration will remain unattainable without the involvement of the peoples of Southern Africa. The identification of the organisation to drive the integration process forward, serves to bolster moves towards a maximalist order. However, significant changes in the structure and institutions of SADC is necessary, before it can be considered an all-embracing and developed regional order. Not suprisingly, therefore, we have witness a number of institutional changes to the SADC structures. Amongst many, the establishment of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security , the signing of the SADC Trade Facilitation Protocol, and the commitment to democracy and a human rights culture, are most significant and will, it is hoped, provide the building-blocks for deeper integration in Southern Africa. Apart from the above, which occur between and among the states of the region, steps are underway between and among the agents of civil society to work closely with each other, to establish a regional civil society. Most notably, the establishment of a media society for Southern Africa, the calls by COSATU for a Social Charter with a regional flavour, the establishment of environmental and human rights networks, and the support for the Gay and Lesbian Movement of Zimbabwe (GALZ), represent landmarks, in the search for a developed regional order. However, the reluctance of the governments of the Southern African countries, to consult with the NGOs, before the adoption of the Organ Politics, clearly bears testimony to their present inability to take the necessary steps needed to move from a minimalist to a maximalist conception of regional organisation. The suggestion of this thesis is that the move-away from minimalism to maximalism can be facilitated by the development of a political centre-around which both governments and NGO activities can be articulated, since both are primarily concerned with the security and welfare of the Southern African region.
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- Authors: Blaauw, Abraham Lesley
- Date: 1997
- Subjects: Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa , Regional planning -- Africa, Southern , Regional planning -- South Africa , Southern African Customs Union , Southern African Development Community , Africa, Southern -- Economic conditions , Africa, Southern -- Politics and government -- 1975-1994
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2760 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002970 , Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa , Regional planning -- Africa, Southern , Regional planning -- South Africa , Southern African Customs Union , Southern African Development Community , Africa, Southern -- Economic conditions , Africa, Southern -- Politics and government -- 1975-1994
- Description: The regionalisation of politics on a global scale, Call be seen as one of the defining features of contemporary international relations. Given this phenomenon, the tasks which confronted this thesis, was to consider the conditions and requirements necessary within the Southern African region to build an all-embracing developed regional order. The urgency with which the latter task should be undertaken, is premised on an increased realisation that the region, and indeed the continent as a whole, are becoming of lesser significance in international affairs. However, a number of impediments will have to be overcome, before the goal of a developed regional order can be achieved, which will contribute to lasting security in the region. Foremost amongst many issues, is how to employ the approaches to integration, in attempting to explain how the goal of a developed order should be achieved. A second problem which this thesis was confronted with, relates to which organisation shoulO be' considered the best vehicle, to drive the integration process forward- COMESA, SACU or SADC. The decision take SADC as the organisation to drive the integration process forward, is premised on a number of factors. Amongst many, it qualifies in geographical terms as a region, the historical linkages of the countries of the region (based on their fight against apartheid, division of labour, etc.), serves as a basis for building a sense of community. Thirdly its institutions can be developed to achieve the goal of an all-embracing regional order. Lastly and most importantly, SADC realises that regional integration will remain unattainable without the involvement of the peoples of Southern Africa. The identification of the organisation to drive the integration process forward, serves to bolster moves towards a maximalist order. However, significant changes in the structure and institutions of SADC is necessary, before it can be considered an all-embracing and developed regional order. Not suprisingly, therefore, we have witness a number of institutional changes to the SADC structures. Amongst many, the establishment of the Organ on Politics, Defence and Security , the signing of the SADC Trade Facilitation Protocol, and the commitment to democracy and a human rights culture, are most significant and will, it is hoped, provide the building-blocks for deeper integration in Southern Africa. Apart from the above, which occur between and among the states of the region, steps are underway between and among the agents of civil society to work closely with each other, to establish a regional civil society. Most notably, the establishment of a media society for Southern Africa, the calls by COSATU for a Social Charter with a regional flavour, the establishment of environmental and human rights networks, and the support for the Gay and Lesbian Movement of Zimbabwe (GALZ), represent landmarks, in the search for a developed regional order. However, the reluctance of the governments of the Southern African countries, to consult with the NGOs, before the adoption of the Organ Politics, clearly bears testimony to their present inability to take the necessary steps needed to move from a minimalist to a maximalist conception of regional organisation. The suggestion of this thesis is that the move-away from minimalism to maximalism can be facilitated by the development of a political centre-around which both governments and NGO activities can be articulated, since both are primarily concerned with the security and welfare of the Southern African region.
- Full Text:
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