Economic impact of international labour migration on Lesotho's development, 1986-1998: towards an international labour migration policy for the Southern African region
- Authors: Maro, Mkasafari Grace
- Date: 2002
- Subjects: Migrant labor -- South Africa , Migrant labor -- Lesotho , Foreign workers -- South Africa , Miners -- South Africa , Miners -- Labor unions -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:1058 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007496 , Migrant labor -- South Africa , Migrant labor -- Lesotho , Foreign workers -- South Africa , Miners -- South Africa , Miners -- Labor unions -- South Africa
- Description: The aim of the thesis is to identify the pressures that contributed to the rise in international labour migration in Lesotho, and to investigate how these pressures are impacting upon the modernization process in the country, particularly at a time when employment opportunities are scarce in the southern African region. International labour migration has been used as a development tool throughout history, but especially in the 20th century by developing countries with dual labour markets. Newly independent developing countries with dual labour markets adapted the strategy of import substitution industrialization (lSI), with an emphasis on protecting infant industries and promoting pro-labour policies. In the post-colonial period the international demand for lowskilled workers rose, particularly in the North (developed countries), and in mineral rich countries including the oil exporters and South Africa, and the newly industrialising countries in East Asia. International labour migration to these countries was adapted as an integral development tool by the governments of the lSI countries. Most migrants were low-skilled and temporary workers in the destination countries. Although no multilateral institutional framework existed, usually both the sending and receiving countries adapted unilateral and bilateral migration policies to guarantee the gains from migration. Workers were thus "protected" to varying degrees under such agreements. From the 1970s, the North experienced a slowdown in the growth in demand for unskilled workers. In the 1980s, many lSI countries experienced devastating economic crises that forced them to abandon the lSI policy and adapt the export-led industrialisation (EOI) policy with an emphasis on trade liberalization. The switch from lSI to EOI in developing countries with dual labour markets led to the downsizing of public sector employment, the removal of marketing boards formally used by small-scale agricultural farmers, and the expansion of export processing zones (EPZs). These outcomes resulted in a rise in push internal migration, and international migration from these countries especially to other developing countries. At the same time, since the late 1980s, capital has acquired greatly enhanced mobility at the global level. The adaptation of EOI and the full mobility of capital at the global level altered the institutional structure within which labour migration was governed both nationally, and internationally. At the national level stricter unilateral policies were reinforced by receiving countries for low-skilled labour, while less strict policies applied for skilled labour. These remain in operation in conjunction with the earlier bilateral agreements. At the international level, there remains a lack of policy to regulate international labour migration. Under the current enhanced mobility of capital, international migrants are thus left vulnerable. Lesotho fits this pattern. Faced with a dual economy and an abundance of semi-skilled labour, Lesotho has been a principal supplier of labour to the South Africa's mining industry since its independence. Lesotho's industrial diversification thus mirrors South Africa's industrial diversification. In the lSI phase (1968 - 1987), international labour migration became the most important tool of economic welfare generation in Lesotho. Bilateral agreements were signed in the early 1970s between Lesotho and South Africa to guarantee the gains from migration. Since the late I980s, the mining industry in South Africa began to downsize production and employment. Fewer novice miners from Lesotho were recruited to work in South Africa. The adaptation of the EOI policy in Lesotho in 1987 introduced EPZ industrialization and trade liberalization. Nevertheless, the retrenchment of mine workers from South Africa is occurring at a time when Lesotho is experiencing an employment crisis. The political independence of South Africa in 1994 was accompanied by stricter international migration policies by the new democratic government of South Africa. Most migrant workers in South Africa are thus now faced with a two-door policy (of the earlier bilateral agreements and the amendments to the Aliens Control Act). This system has left migrant workers vulnerable to exploitation by both employers and the law (police) in South Africa. Nevertheless, international migration from Lesotho to South Africa continues to expand, particularly of the new type of migration - semiskilled female workers in the services sector. At the same time, South Africa is also experiencing an employment crisis. The most important policy implications are, firstly, that migration is subject to the same "casualisation" as other work, with the effects made worse by the "statelessness" of migrants, who are most vulnerable to exploitation. Secondly, multilateralism is needed (e.g., SADC) and holistic, multilateral policies are required. It is clear that under the new global division of labour ad hoc policy towards international labour migration is ineffective.
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- Date Issued: 2002
Physiological and psychophysical factors in the rating of perceived exertion during uphill overground and treadmill running
- Authors: Olivier, Stephen Chris
- Date: 1989
- Subjects: Physical fitness -- Measurement , Physical fitness -- Physiological aspects , Physical fitness -- Psychological aspects , Running -- Testing
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5161 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1015769
- Description: The purpose of this study was to examine possible differences between the field and laboratory ratings of perceived exertion (RPE) when the performance and physiological measures for the two conditions were equated. Furthermore, the interactive effects of local, central and overall RPE were examined. Finally, the question of the potential effects of attitudes on RPE was addressed. Eleven well-conditioned adult male marathon runners voluntarily participated in the study. After a period of treadmill habituation, biographical and anthropometric data were collected. This was followed by a VO₂ max test and a speed-matching session at 70% of VO₂ max to determine overground running speed at 3.8% and 7. 5% grade. Subjects then completed an attitudinal questionnaire and ran 4km overground. Finally, the above test was repeated on the treadmill, with the gradient and running speed of the overground condition being replicated. Physiological measures and differentiated RPE were obtained during the final two sessions. There were no physical environmental, task characteristic or performance differences between the overground and treadmill conditions. No heart rate or VO₂ differences were observed between the two conditions, but VE was significantly elevated in the laboratory. Local and overall RPE were significantly higher in the laboratory than in the field, but there was no difference for central RPE. Attitudes were more favourable towards the field than towards the laboratory work task. The results suggest that neither heart rate nor VO₂ are major factors directly influencing the perception of exertion. VE however appears to be a potent central signal mediating RPE. The results also indicate that local factors play a more important role in the perception of exertion than was previously thought. Attitudes towards a work task could possibly mediate the self-reports of exertion. The findings of this study also suggest that RPE are influenced by cognition to a large degree. Finally, environmental cues, or the ambience of a particular working environment, can exert a substantial influence on RPE. Direct perceptual translations from laboratory to field situations may therefore be invalid.
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- Date Issued: 1989
The psychological experience of being in hiding against the background of political repression in South Africa during the 1986 general State of Emergency: a phenomenological explication
- Authors: Scheepers, Esca
- Date: 1988
- Subjects: Violence -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1989-1994
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3111 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004586 , Violence -- South Africa -- Psychological aspects , South Africa -- Politics and government -- 1989-1994
- Description: This is a study in Critical Psychology which examines the psychological costs of one of the direct outcomes of political repression - the experience of being in hiding. The aims of the study can be depicted on two levels: it is first and foremost an attempt to provide a true account of the phenomenon of being in hiding. On a second level of equal importance it is an implicit and overt critique of the social order in which this phenomenon takes place. The psychological experience of being in hiding is examined and discussed in its proper socio-political context. Therefore, the theoretical part of the mini-thesis has a strong political bearing, focusing on the State, and extra-parliamentary opposition in South Africa. repression The empirical part of the mini-thesis explicates the psychological experience of being in hiding with the aid of the phenomenological method of investigation. Due to the lack of research on this or similar topics, it is discussed within the framework of the experience of a stressful life event. For the five subjects being in hiding was an extreme intervention which was imposed upon their existences and which brought about a qualitative transformation in the individual subjects mode of being-in-the-world - not only in terms of practicalities, but also on a deep experiential level. It was a phenomenon which touched on fundamental parts of their experience of themselves and their individual worlds and the way in which they actualized themselves. For them it essentially entailed a loss of relationships and roles which resulted in an experience of a measure of encapsulation or separation from the world of others . It was a profound, multi - dimensional disruption of the structure of the subject ' s existence which infused a rich emotional experience .
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- Date Issued: 1988