Creating a new declaration of rights : a critical reconstruction of earth jurisprudence's global legislative framework
- Authors: Lenferna, Georges Alexandre
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Universal Declaration , Rights , Earth , Environment , Ethics , Environmental law, International -- Research , Environmental law, International -- Philosophy , Environmental ethics -- Research , Nature conservation -- Law and legislation -- Research , Jurisprudence -- Research , Law -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2704 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001979
- Description: This thesis aims to critique the Universal Declaration of the Rights of Mother Earth and its underlying moral justification in order to provide a stronger and improved version of both. In Chapter 1 I explore what sort of moral justification is necessary to establish the Universal Declaration on firm grounds and explore its relation to environmental ethics and rights discourse. I argue that a non-anthropocentric perspective is necessary to justify the Universal Declaration’s rights. In Chapter 2 I explore the underlying justification of the Universal Declaration as discovered in the works of Cormac Cullinan and Father Thomas Berry. I argue that their ethical framework is indeterminate, has many ambiguities and uncertainties, and, among other problems, it does not provide a clear action-guiding framework. In Chapter 3 I develop an alternative justification for the Universal Declaration. I argue against many predominant moral theories, that in light of our best scientific and moral understanding we should expand the realm of moral concern to include all living beings, a moral theory I call Life’s Imperative. In Chapter 4 I illustrate that Life’s Imperative is a much stronger, more coherent justification for the Universal Declaration, one that coheres with both our best understanding of the natural world and our relation to it, and to an environmental ethic reflective of that relationship. Unfortunately many of the weaknesses in the current implicit justification of the Universal Declaration have also led to it enshrining rights that are themselves problematic. In order to address these issues, I revise its rights to accord with the stronger justification that I established in Chapter 3. The end result of doing so is a revised version of the Universal Declaration
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- Date Issued: 2013
Dog wars : a Victorian steampunk adventure
- Authors: Molino, Nicolene Chloe
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Creative writing , Fiction , South Africa , Creative writing (Higher education) , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , English language -- Writing
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5965 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001815
- Description: We're in an alternate universe, circa Dickensian London. Leofric Lieven, a local crime lord, is about to find the past catching up on him. The Romany Carnival has come to town, and a gypsy woman, his former lover and partner in crime, demands from him a favour which will redress his betrayal of years before: he must secure a stolen object and return it to her. But things go horribly wrong when local delivery boy Cards Bennish is kidnapped by Leofric’s competitor before he can deliver the goods that will cover Leofric's debt to the gypsy. In this world, humans can shape shift into animals, entirely or only partially, dog fighting is the favourite pastime for high stakes betting, and power belongs to the highest bidder. The gypsy’s final bet, for the highest stakes yet, will seal the fates of a number of people, for better or worse
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- Date Issued: 2013
Explaining the endurance of poverty and inequality : social policy and the social division of welfare in the South African health system
- Authors: Du Plessis, Ulandi
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Health system , Private health , Public health , Poor , Subsidies , Profit motive , Quality , Efficiency , Public health -- Finance -- Research -- South Africa , Medical care -- Research -- South Africa , Poverty -- Research -- South Africa , Equality -- Research -- South Africa , South Africa -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2755 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002002
- Description: This thesis examines the structure and flow of public funding between the public and private sectors in the South African health system and the consequences thereof for the achievement of equity. The conceptual framework used to undertake the analysis derives from Richard Titmuss’ core theoretical framework, the Social Division of Welfare. The application of the Social Division of Welfare applied to the South African health care context demonstrates how state resources end up benefitting the non-poor and, as a result, reproduce inequality. Those who access public institutions such as public health care are assumed to be ‘dependent’ on the state, whilst those who access private health facilities claim to be ‘independent’ of the state. However, this thesis shows that these assumptions are flawed. Access to the formal labour market, and subsequently the paying of taxes, authorises one to access state subsidies not available to those who do not. The application of the Social Division of Welfare shows that tax-paying private health care patients benefit considerably from state resources. This thesis argues that due to cost escalation in the private health sector, a consequence of the commodification of health care, these private health care ‘consumers’ as well as the private health industry in general are dependent upon state resources. This thesis analyses the role played by the profit motive present in the private health industry and the consequences for equity, quality, access and efficiency in health care provision
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- Date Issued: 2013
Exploring the correlation between language medium and academic achievement: a comparative study of the language of learning and teaching (LoLT) and mathematics results in the 2010 Grade 12 National Senior Certificate examinations in the Eastern Cape
- Authors: Mbude-Shale, Beryl Ntombizanele
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Academic achievement -- Research -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Language and education -- Research -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Language policy -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Mathematics -- Study and teaching (Elementary) -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Education, Secondary -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Matric Learners Language planning Mathematics Policies Academic performance Mother-tongue
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3559 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001863
- Description: In 2009, of the 68,129 learners who wrote Matric, only 34,731 learners passed. In 2010, there was an increase in the provincial pass rate causing much excitement across the board. The reality was that of the 64,090 learners who wrote, only 37,345 learners passed. In 2010, a result below 50% was recorded for Mathematics and Physical Science nationally (DBE; 2011). Despite efforts by the Education Department to support MSTE; establishing Mathematics and Science schools, NGOs and HEIs giving extra Mathematics and Science support to students and teachers, the offering of Saturday classes and incubation camps, we still get minimal return on investment. This thesis analyses these results against the backdrop of language planning theory, particularly language-in-education policies, pre and post-apartheid. The correlation between language medium and academic performance in language (LoLT) and Mathematics of Grade 12 learners is explored. Worldwide the issue of low achievement in Mathematics by ESL students is of great concern (Cuevas, 1984). The 2004 Systemic Evaluation sample of learners was in Grade 6 then; in 2010 they wrote Grade 12. The purpose of the systemic evaluation was to provide an insight into the levels of learner performance in Maths, Natural Science and LoLT in Grade 6 (IPSER, 2006). A major finding of the IPSER was that language was an important factor related to learner achievement. A major disparity was observed in this research, that although the Eastern Cape performed below the national average in the three subjects evaluated, the learners for whom LoLT was the same as their home language obtained scores that were significantly higher than those whose home language was different from the LoLT. The provincial average for Mathematics was 23.40% compared to the national average of 27.80%. For LoLT the province scored 30.16 against the national score of 38.03%. Of interest in this study is a juxtaposition of the Matric results of this same group of learners in 2010 and see whether issues that came up then are still significant in mitigating achievement in Mathematics and Language (LoLT). Some research studies have been conducted in South Africa (Adler, 1998; Setati, 1996-2002; Moloi, 2006) identifying the vital role language plays in learning Mathematics, especially for English L2 learners. Building on research and findings of academics such as the late Alexander, Ramani, Joseph, Hendricks, Heugh, Dalvit, Webb and Murray, this thesis suggests that a mother-tongue-based-bilingual approach to education should be adopted as a matter of urgency
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- Date Issued: 2013
Exploring the influence of spirituality on students' well-being
- Authors: Magula, Nokuzola Princess
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Sprituality , Well-being , Students , Christians , Rhodes University , College students -- Religious life -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Christian college students -- Religious life -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape , Universities and colleges -- Religion -- Research , Well-being -- Religious aspects , Spirituality -- Research
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2918 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002083
- Description: This study was aimed at exploring the impact of spirituality on the well-being of students at Rhodes University in South Africa. The study was conducted within a qualitative research paradigm deploying an interpretive phenomenological analysis strategy for data analysis. The study involved a sample of four female Honours students who were all active Christians. The selected students were interviewed to elicit their experiences of spirituality and how this related to their everyday lives. The study used semi-structured interviews in order to get as much information as possible from the small sample of research participants. Data generated in this study was processed, presented and interpreted inductively and hermeneutically in order to identify emerging superordinate themes. This study found that spirituality was experienced as having a positive impact on well-being by all the four students. The study revealed that belief and faith in God amongst the students resulted in enhanced and positive experiences of hope, optimism and compassion which provided the students with a deeper sense of meaning of life and a source of direction in difficult times. The study further showed that participants experienced spirituality as a regulatory mechanism shaping their lifestyles and behaviours. Participants viewed their spirituality and religiosity as a source of social support helping them to cope with distressful situations. The findings of this study are consistent with the findings of previous studies done in the field of psychology and spirituality. The fact that this study has shown that spirituality and religion has a positive impact on student’s well-being may mean that University administrators and psychologists may find the study interesting and valuable
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- Date Issued: 2013
Exploring the possibility of an Ubuntu-based political philosophy
- Authors: Furman, Katherine Elizabeth
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Ubuntu , Political philosophy , Ethical theories , Law , South Africa , Ubuntu (Philosophy) -- Research -- South Africa , Political science -- Philosophy -- Research , Philosophy, African -- Research , Social values -- Research South Africa , Ethics -- Research -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2756 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002003
- Description: It is typically said that there are two questions that political philosophy seeks to address: ‘who gets what?’ and ‘who decides on who gets what?’ South Africa, along with much of the rest of the world, has answered the second question badly and currently ranks as one of the world’s most unequal societies. Counter-intuitively, South Africa maintains a social-political order that (re)produces this inequality along with great enthusiasm for ubuntu, an African ethic that at a minimum requires that we treat each other humanely. However, due to the view that ubuntu has been co-opted in support of South Africa’s unjust system, ubuntu has largely been ignored by radical thinkers. The aim of this thesis is therefore to explore the possibility of an ubuntu-based political philosophy, with the core assumption that political philosophy is rooted in ethical theory. Three tasks are therefore undertaken in this thesis. Firstly, ubuntu is articulated as an ethic. Secondly, it is compared to similar Western ethical theories in order to determine if there are distinguishing characteristics that make ubuntu a more appropriate founding ethic for South African political philosophy. Finally, whether ubuntu can find real-world applicability will be assessed by looking at the way ubuntu has been used in the law
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- Date Issued: 2013
Like Katherine
- Authors: Morgan, Jane Mary Kathleen
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Creative writing , Fiction , South Africa , Creative writing (Higher education) , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , English language -- Writing
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5964 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001814
- Description: Vicky, a thirty something English radio journalist, has moved to Cape Town to try and work out what it is that's missing from her life and to fill the gap. At first she thinks she's found what she's looking for, but a series of unsettling events makes her realise she has simply brought her problems with her. She goes back to England, ostensibly for work, where she is contacted by her stepbrother, Mark. They hardly know each other but he has a reason for wanting to find her. They meet and, for both of them, their encounters change the way they see themselves and their relationships. Vicky comes to understand more about her past and her family and, for the first time, to find a connection with her emotional life
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- Date Issued: 2013
Linguistic minorities in the South African context : the case of Tshivenda
- Authors: Luvhengo, Nkhangweleni
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Indigenous African languages , Apartheid , Tshivenda , Minority languages , Development , Status , Multilingualism , Sesotho , isiZulu , Perceptions , Linguistic minorities -- Research -- South Africa , Venda language -- Research -- South Africa , Language policy -- Research -- South Africa , Multilingualism -- Research -- South Africa , Linguistic rights -- Research -- South Africa , Language and languages -- Political aspects
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3558 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001862
- Description: After many years of the oppressive apartheid government, the new democratic era came into being in 1994. Lot of policy changes came into being, including language policy. This new language policy of the post-apartheid era recognises eleven official languages which include the nine indigenous African languages which were previously recognised as regional languages in the different homelands. The present study investigates the progress of Tshivenda in terms of status and development since it was accorded the official status in South Africa. Literature investigating the status of Tshivenda is generally sparse. This study investigates the status of Tshivenda in South Africa to explore how minority languages which are also recognised as official languages are treated. In most multilingual countries, there are issues which affect the development of minority languages, but the South African situation is interesting in that some of the minority languages are recognised as official languages. This study is a comparative in nature. Firstly, the study compares the level of corpus planning and development in Tshivenda and other indigenous South African languages. Secondly, it compares how people use Tshivenda in a rural area of Lukalo Village where the language is not under pressure from other languages and in Cosmo City, an urban area in Gauteng where Tshivenda speakers come into contact with speakers of more dominant languages such as isiZulu and Sesotho. Language use in different domains like, media, education, government and the home is considered in order to establish how people use languages and the factors which influence their linguistic behaviours. The study also establishes the perceptions and attitudes of the speakers of Tshivenda as a minority and those of the speakers of other languages towards Tshivenda’s role in the different domains such as education and the media. This study was influenced by previous research (Alexander 1989, Webb 2002) which found out that during the apartheid period Tshivenda speakers used to disguise their identity by adopting dominant languages like isiZulu and Sesotho in Johannesburg. Accordingly, the present research wanted to establish how the language policy change in the democratic era has impacted on the confidence of Tshivenda speakers regarding themselves and their language. This study establishes that although Tshivenda is now an official language in post-apartheid South Africa, it still has features of underdevelopment and marginalization that are typically of unofficial minority languages. Translation, lexicographic and terminological work in this language still lags behind that of other indigenous South African languages and there is still a shortage of school textbooks and adult literature in this language. As a result, using the language in education, the media and other controlling domains is still quite challenging, although positive developments such as the teaching of the language at university level can be noted. The Tshivenda speakers generally have a positive attitude towards their language and seem prepared to learn and use it confidently as long its functional value is enhanced, which is currently not happening. As a result, some Tshivenda speakers still regard English as a more worthwhile language to learn at the expense of their language
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- Date Issued: 2013
New ways of understanding: a governmentality analysis of basic education policy in post-apartheid South Africa
- Authors: Prinsloo, Estelle Helena
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: South Africa -- Department of Basic Education , Basic education -- Government policy -- Research -- South Africa , Post-apartheid era -- Education -- South Africa , Educational change -- Research -- South Africa , South Africa -- Social conditions
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2751 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001384
- Description: Social problems that are identified by government policy are articulated in ways that confer the responsibility of their management onto the state. In this way, policy reform serves as a means to justify political rule, as the ‘answers’ to policy failures are located within the realm of state intervention. This role of policy is maintained by the traditional definition of policy as it enables policies to be presented as the outcome of ‘necessary’ actions taken by state institutions to better the wellbeing of citizens. Since 1994, mainstream research on basic education policy in South Africa has employed traditional understandings of policy and its function. In doing so, these inquiries have failed to question the very idea of policy itself. They have also neglected to identify the productive role played by policy in the practice of power. To illuminate the necessary limits of policy reform, an alternative approach to analyse basic education policy is necessary. This thesis premises policy as discourse and advances a governmentality analysis of basic education policy during the first fifteen years of democracy (1994-2009) in South Africa. By drawing on the work of Michel Foucault, the study argues that government – ‘those actions upon the actions of others’ – during this period in South Africa was informed by both a liberal and a neo-liberal mentality of rule. The tensions between these two rationalities contributed to the continuation of apartheid’s socio-economic inequalities in the postapartheid era; an outcome buttressed by the contradictory impulses within basic education policy. By considering policy as a productive translation of governmental reasoning, the boundaries of intervention for future policy reforms are highlighted. These show that the inequalities that were perpetuated during the first fifteen years of democracy justify policy responses similar to those responsible for their production
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- Date Issued: 2013
Portfolio
- Authors: Hogge, Quentin Edward Somerville
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Poetry , Post-apartheid , Environment , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Creative writing (Higher education) , English language -- Writing
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5963 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001813
- Description: My initial intention is to try to show how, as a poet in South Africa, I suffer from a creative identity crisis. I am a white English-speaking male. I live surrounded by isiXhosa-speaking people. Is my poetry, or will my poetry be, relevant in the ‘New’ South Africa? Is English, the language of the colonial oppressors, the appropriate medium in the post-apartheid milieu? Will my subject matter be relevant? These questions and my attempts at answering them, form the basis of the poetry and the portfolio that accompanies the poems. My absorption with finding a creative ‘voice’, my concerns with the environment and a questioning of what post-apartheid poetry should write about all seem a bit Quixotic, especially to me! But at another level, they are deeply serious. (p. 5.)
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- Date Issued: 2013
The development of an arousal and anxiety control mental skills training programme for the Rhodes University archery club
- Authors: Chiweshe, Malvern Tatenda
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Anxiety , Arousal , Mental skills , Training , Sports -- Psychological aspects -- Research -- South Africa , Archers -- Training of -- Research -- South Africa , Archers -- Psychological aspects -- Research -- South Africa , Psychology, Applied
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2917 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002082
- Description: Research on the development of Mental Skills Training (MST) programmes in sport psychology has largely increased as sport has become more competitive. MST programmes have been seen to improve the performance of athletes. This particular research study focuses on the development of an anxiety and arousal control MST programme designed specifically for, and tailored exclusively to, the needs of four archers from the Rhodes Archery Club in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape, South Africa. The development of the programme was guided by the Organisational Development Process model as the research methodology design. Data from two quantitative measures (CSAI-2 and Sport Grid-R), a focus group, and an individual interview were integrated with currently existing mental skills literature and theory to devise this particular MST programme. The results of the assessment phase showed that individual archers have different experiences in how anxiety and arousal affect their performances. The results also showed that archers have different zones in which they feel their performance is good. These zones depend on their subjective interpretations of anxiety and arousal. The results also showed that other factors that include personality differences, level of experience and level of expertise also influence how anxiety and arousal affect performance. The archers had previous exposure to MST programmes although they had not received systematic training in mental skills training. The programme was developed in the form of MST workshops that would run over a three week period. As part of the programme the archers would be given a mental skills manual to aid in the mental skills training. It is recommended in future that more research in MST programmes be done as a way of improving the performance of athletes in South Africa
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- Date Issued: 2013
The family in Shakespeare's plays: a study of South African revisions
- Authors: Hjul, Lauren Martha
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Parents , Parental bonds , Family , Shakespeare, William, 1564-1616 -- In literature -- Research , Coetzee, J M, 1940-. Disgrace , Gordimer, Nadine. My son's story , Peteni, R L, 1915-. Hill of fools , English drama -- 17th century -- History and criticism , Families in literature , English literature -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2181 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001832
- Description: This thesis provides a detailed consideration of the family in Shakespeare’s canon and the engagement therewith in three South African novels: Hill of Fools (1976) by R. L. Peteni, My Son’s Story (1990) by Nadine Gordimer, and Disgrace (1999) by J. M. Coetzee. The study is divided into an introduction, three chapters each addressing one of the South African novels and its relationship with a Shakespeare text or texts, and a conclusion. The introductory chapter provides an analysis of the two strands of criticism in which the thesis is situated – studies of the family in Shakespeare and studies of appropriations of Shakespeare – and discusses the ways in which these two strands may be combined through a detailed discussion of the presence of power dynamics in the relationship between parent and child in all of the texts considered. The three chapters each contextualise the South African text and provide detailed discussions of the family dynamics within the relevant texts, with particular reference to questions of authority and autonomy. The focus in each chapter is determined by the nature of the intertextual relationship between the South African novel and the Shakespearean text being discussed. Thus, the first chapter, “The Dissolution of Familial Structures in Hill of Fools” considers power dynamics in the family as an inherent part of the Romeo and Juliet genre, of which William Shakespeare’s Romeo and Juliet is but a part. Similarly, the impact of a socio-political identity, and the secrecy it necessitates, is the focus of the second chapter, “Fathers, Sons and Legacy in My Son’s Story” as is the role of Shakespeare and literature within South Africa. These concerns are connected to the novel’s use of Shakespeare’s Sonnets, King Lear, and Hamlet. In the third chapter, “Reclaiming Agency through the Daughter in Disgrace and The Tempest”, I expand on Laurence Wright’s argument that Disgrace is an engagement with The Tempest and consider ways in which the altered power dynamic between father and daughter results in the reconciliation of the father figure with society. The thesis thus addresses the tension between parental bonds and parental bondage
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- Date Issued: 2013
The new Africans: a textual analysis of the construction of 'African-ness' in Chaz Maviyane-Davies' 1996 poster depictions of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights
- Authors: Garman, Brian Donald
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Human rights , Posters , African perspective , Stereotypes , Black men , Maviyane-Davies, Chaz -- Criticism and interpretation , Universal Declaration of Human Rights -- Posters -- Research , Ethnicity -- Research -- Africa , Human rights -- Africa , Pan-Africanism
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3413 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001844
- Description: In 1996, Zimbabwean graphic designer Chaz Maviyane-Davies created a set of human rights posters which represent several articles of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, from what he calls an “African perspective”. In this study I investigate how Maviyane-Davies has constructed ‘African-ness’ and probe what he refers to as the “alternative aesthetic” that he is trying to create. I use a visual social semiotic approach to examine the discourses he draws on to re-image and re-imagine Africa and Africans in a manner that contests the stereotypical representations found in political, news and economic discourses about Africa, paying particular attention to the ways he uses images of the body. My analysis of the posters shows how complex and difficult it can be to contest regimes of representation that work to fix racialised and derogatory meanings. In response to the pejorative stereotypes of the black body, Maviyane-Davies uses images of strong, healthy, and magnificent people (mostly men) to construct a more affirmative representation of Africa and Africans. Significantly, he draws on sports, touristic, traditional and hegemonic discourses of masculinity in an attempt to expand the complexity and range of possible representations of African-ness. In so doing he runs the risk of reproducing many of the stereotypes that sustain not only the racialised and gendered (masculinist) representations of Africa, but also a sentimentalisation and romanticisation of a place, a people and their traditions. Apart from women in prominent positions, other conspicuous absences from these images include white people and hegemonic references to Western modernity. I do not believe he is discarding whites and modernity as un-African, but is rejecting the naturalisation of whiteness as standing in for humanity, and particular icons of Western modernity as significations of ‘modernity’ itself
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- Date Issued: 2013
The talisman
- Authors: Reed, Graham Conan
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Fiction , Short stories , English , South Africa , Creative writing (Higher education) , Short stories, South African (English) -- 21st century , South African fiction (English) -- 21st century , English language -- Writing
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5967 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001817
- Description: The Talisman is an adventure story set in a future where much of today's cultural memory and technology has been lost. Following a hunting accident, a young man named Forest survives a life-threatening wound and embarks on a quest for knowledge. Rising sea levels, bands of marauders, wild animals and the perils of survival in the broken world are not the only problems facing the survivors. The nature of the collapse of the society, what triggered it and its subsequent unfolding, bequeaths an existential quandary upon them that only Forest, and a rare text as old as the earth itself, can unravel
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- Date Issued: 2013
Vital threats to human security in Southern Africa : the regional ramifications of the public health crisis in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Mtero, Shingirai
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Human security -- Africa, Southern , Communicable diseases -- Africa, Southern , Public health -- Zimbabwe , Poverty -- Africa, Southern
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2891 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018251
- Description: The southern African region is beset with numerous security concerns: pervasive poverty, deepening inequality, starvation, contamination of essential natural resources, violent crime and state oppression. However, the most vital of the region’s security concerns in the 21st century is the spread of infectious disease. The region shoulders a disproportionate amount of the continent’s infectious disease burden, with diseases such as HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria claiming more lives every year than any other factor. The nature of these diseases and their propensity to spread, coupled with inadequate regional public health structures pose a significant threat to regional security and stability. The study asserts that southern Africa’s security concerns are most appropriately characterised under the paradigm of Human Security. It further asserts that if such vital threats to human security are not adequately managed they have the ability to permeate across state borders, spelling numerous negative ramifications for the region. To this end, the study details the public health crisis in Zimbabwe and its effects on regional security and stability in southern Africa. An enduring political and economic collapse in Zimbabwe led to the dramatic deterioration of its public health sector, the concomitant mass migration of Zimbabwean nationals across the region presented a unique and complex challenge to the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and its member states. As the premier regional governance institution, SADC has failed to adequately mobilise its structures and member states to respond to the challenges resulting from the public health crisis in Zimbabwe. The study explores the factors accounting for this regional inertia, and asserts that while infectious diseases are at present the most vital of the human security threats, similar threats to human security have the potential to affect the region if SADC fails to recognise and prioritise threats to human security as legitimate regional security concerns.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Who knew
- Authors: Gaunt, Hailey Kathryn
- Date: 2013
- Subjects: Poetry , Memory , Nature , Marriage , Faith , Death , Meaning , English language -- Writing , South African poetry (English) -- 21st century , Creative writing (Higher education)
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:5962 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1001812
- Description: This book of poems ranges in style from narrative to condensed lyric moment, and shifts in perspective from observation to introspection. Thematically, these poems explore everyday life through its many manifestations – memory, nature, marriage, faith and death – with an emphasis on finding meaning in absolutely ordinary things. Though their tone is often vulnerable and tender, even when it is more distant the poems are always searching.
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- Date Issued: 2013
Negotiating family planning radio messages among Malawian rural men of traditional authority Kadewere, Chiradzulo district
- Authors: Ntaba, Jolly Maxwell
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Family planning -- Malawi , Birth control -- Malawi , Radio advertising -- Campaigns -- Malawi , Men -- Attitudes
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3548 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018258
- Description: Family planning campaigns, using the media among other advocacy interventions, are produced and disseminated by both government and nongovernment organizations in Malawi, with an aim of reducing fertility and promotion of reproductive health. This qualitative audience study looks specifically at the reception by rural men of radio broadcast Public Service Announcements produced by the NGO, Banja La Mtsogolo, a leading provider of family planning services and products based in Blantyre. The aim of the study is to understand how the appropriation of these messages relates to traditional concepts of gender, masculinity and kinship within an area that has not been spared the influences, values and accoutrements of modernity. Underpinned by Hall’s encoding and decoding model, the study reveals that at most men make an oppositional reading of the texts based on their lived and shared cultural experiences. The results show that while people understand and appreciate the importance of family planning, cultural and traditional influences play a major role in how these messages are appropriated by and incorporated into the everyday lives of their listeners. Given the above understandings, the research asks what are the implications for the success of family-planning media campaigns by government and other non-governmental organisations such as Banja La Mtsogolo
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- Date Issued: 2012
Ritualised discourse practices of feedback in a university foundation programme: a critical investigation
- Authors: Richardson, Amy
- Date: 2012
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: thesis , text , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/164955 , vital:41187
- Description: In order for students to become true members of academic communities of practice they need epistemological access, including guidance on central institutional knowledge-producing processes and mastery of key academic literacy practices. A powerful source of guidance is marker feedback. Drawing on key insights from the New Literacy Studies and taking up the mandate of Critical Ethnography to improve the status quo, this thesis reports on the feedback practices in a university foundation programme. The findings are based on three micro-case studies compiled and analysed by means of methods drawn from Ethnography, Sociolinguistics and Critical Analysis in conjunction with an expanded, multimodal, APPRAISAL analysis, including adjusted categories and the author’s own feedback typologies. Two major arguments emerge: the feedback provided amounts to a set of ritualised discourse practices and its effects can be likened to the product of the children’s game of Head-body-tail. Consequently, feedback conventions are opaque and, potentially, impede epistemological access. They further entrench five sets of ideologies: (1) Students must master basic English literacy before they are coached in more complex issues such as argumentation; an assumption which leads to differential socialisation. (2) There is a single set of literacy practices that is rewarded. (3) Students have different levels of authorial authority depending on their language abilities. (4) ‘Middle students’ may benefit the most from feedback. (5) Specific comments are preferred over general ones. Analysis of feedback, furthermore, shows that markers’ frames of reference shape their pedagogy and that draft and final versions of work may be framed differently by markers. These findings require a response and, in order to facilitate epistemological access, suggestions are made for improved marker training based on the problematisation of the ritual involved in marking students’ work in this university foundation programme. , Thesis (MA)--Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Linguistics, 2012
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- Date Issued: 2012
Seductive Manoeuvres: an analysis of the use of feminist performance strategies as a means of staging alternative sexualities in two dance theatre works
- Authors: Barnard, Joni
- Date: 2011
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76823 , vital:30627
- Description: Located within the discipline of Performance Studies, this thesis seeks to validate performance and theatre, specifically dance theatre, as legitimate fields of research and enquiry that can enrich the polemics surrounding discourse, representation, the body and identity. Within this thesis I explore and analyse the creative processes and performance strategies used in two dance theatres works: Acty Tang’s Chaste (2007) and my own work entitled Displayed and Framed (2008) and how these strategies support the staging of alternative sexualities. I argue that the staging of alternative sexualities calls for an alternative approach to the performance strategies utilised in the production of space, the representations of the body and the use of text in both works. Each work offers a particular exploration of gender and sexuality in the attempt to represent alternative identities, alternative bodies and alternative sexualities. In this thesis I identify the endeavour to stage ‘otherness’ as a feminist endeavour and thus identify the performance strategies utilised in each work as feminist performance strategies. Through my analysis I wish to highlight the ways in which a feminist approach can contribute to and enrich both the staging of and understanding of alternative sexualities. In both Chaste (2007) and Displayed and Framed (2008), the choreographers of each work are also performers in their own work in an endeavour to explore and represent their own identity. The analysis of my own work requires that I play the multiple roles of choreographer, performer and researcher. In this analysis I provide accounts of my own experiences, processes and struggles of creating Displayed and Framed (2008) which are analysed in conjunction with my readings of Chaste (2007) and Tang’s personal experiences in creating the work. Thus this thesis explores the value of reflection and self reflectivity in the processes of creating performance.
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- Date Issued: 2011
The disempowering faces of the flexible firm: a case study of Gaborone Private Hospital
- Authors: Makorie, Theona Tariro
- Date: 2011
- Subjects: Gaberone Private Hospital -- Employees , Gaberone Private Hospital -- Personnel management , Gaberone Private Hospital -- Management , Nursing services -- Administration , Nurses -- Employment -- Botswana , Nursing -- Law and legislation -- Botswana , Hospitals -- Medical staff -- Botswana , Hospitals -- Administration -- Botswana
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3352
- Description: The purpose of the study was to investigate the ways in which the practice of t the Flexible Firm Model (FFM) disempowered the non-citizen professional nurses at Gaborone Private Hospital (GPH) in Gaborone, Botswana. GPH is a member of the Life Health care group of private hospitals based in South Africa. This study sought to probe the manner in which the practice of FFM influenced the employment relationship for non-citizen professional nurses. It also sought to examine the impact of the nature of the employment relationship on career development and representation and participation. Both qualitative and quantitative research methodologies were applied. Questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data. Thirty-five questionnaires were issued out to professional nursing staff and thirty-three responses were received. The response rate was ninety-four percent. The qualitative research data consisted of twelve in-depth interviews with professional nurses, the human resources manager , a professional nurse agency owner and a private clinic co-owner. Document analysis in the form of labour legislation, employee guides and employment contracts was used to validate data collected from the in-depth interviews. The results from the questionnaire revealed that an overwhelming majority of the professional nurses were Non-Citizens' dependent contractors. Although just under half of the participants held two or more previous contracts with GPH, an overwhelming majority had never been promoted. In addition, none of the participants were affiliated to the Botswana Nurses Association (BNA), the local equivalency of a professional nursing trade union. The in-depth interviews disclosed a sense of helplessness at their perceived disempowerment within the employment relationship, a poor career development and weak representation and participation. This study concluded that disempowerment at GPH was manifested through worker representation and participation and in effective skill upgrade. These forms of disempowerment were made worse by the global professional nurse shortage and maladministration of avail able human resources. Effective use of human resources and continued education could be employed to circumvent the adverse results of disempowerment.
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- Date Issued: 2011