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Young veterans, not always social misfits: a sociological discourse of Liberian transmogrification experiences

  • Authors: Agbedahin, Komlan
  • Date: 2012
  • Subjects: Child soldiers -- Liberia Children and war -- Liberia Liberia. Armed Forces -- Demobilization -- Social aspects Liberia -- History -- Civil War, 1989-1996 Liberia -- History -- Civil War, 1999-2003
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: vital:3316 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003104
  • Description: This thesis examines the phenomenon of child-soldiering from a different perspective. It seeks to challenge, using a novel approach, earlier studies on the roles of former child-soldiers in post-war societies. It focuses on the subjectivity of young veterans, that is war veterans formerly associated with armed forces and groups as children during the 14-year gruesome civil war which bedevilled Liberia between 1989 and 2003. This civil war claimed roughly 250,000 lives, and saw the active participation of approximately 21,000 child-soldiers. This thesis departs from previous works which mostly painted an apocalyptic picture of young veterans, and explores the nexus between their self-agency, Foucauldian technologies of the self and their transformation in the post-war society. The majority of previous scholarly works which have dominated the field of child-soldiering dwelt on the impact of armed conflict on the child-soldiers, the negative consequences, the causes of child-soldiering, and the rehabilitation and reintegration of the young veterans after their disarmament and demobilization. What this thesis seeks to do however, is to establish that, rather than considering the young veterans simply as social misfits, distraught and dispirited human beings, it should be noted that young veterans through their agency, are capable of ensuring their reintegration into their war-ravaged societies. Sadly, these young former fighters’ self-agency and technologies of the self in defining their civilian trajectories have often been overshadowed by vaunted humanitarian aid and multilayered war-profiteering. This study is underpinned by interpretive constructivism, symbolic interactionism, social identity theory, sociometer theory and expectancy theory, and sheds light on how young veterans’ self-agency, instrumental coalitions, and decision-making processes, synergistically shifted the negative identities foisted on them as a result of their participation in the war.
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  • Date Issued: 2012

A sociological study of menstrual hygiene management in schools in the Makana District, Eastern Cape, South Africa

  • Authors: Bloem, Sharon Gretchen
  • Date: 2021-10-29
  • Subjects: Schoolgirls Health and hygiene South Africa Makhanda , Menstruation Social aspects South Africa Makhanda , Health behavior in adolescence South Africa Makhanda , Teenage girls Health and hygiene South Africa Makhanda , Teenage girls Physiology South Africa Makhanda , Life skills South Africa Makhanda
  • Language: English
  • Type: Master's theses , text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/189974 , vital:44952
  • Description: Appropriate menstrual hygiene management is affected by taboos and secrecy surrounding menstruation. Inadequate information and knowledge about menstruation and lack of resources for managing menstruation hygienically have impacted adolescent girls on a psychosocial and physical level. Consequently, the dignity of schoolgirls during the onset of menstruation through puberty and adolescent phases is jeopardised. It is therefore imperative to understand the normal physiological changes that school-going children from Grades 6 to 12 undergo and acknowledge how these changes affect their education within the school environment. In the Makana district, Eastern Cape, South Africa, the topic of menstrual hygiene management is under-researched at schools and, therefore, this research explores school educators’ perceptions of menstrual hygiene management at primary, secondary and private schools in this area. Schools have a responsibility to create a safe environment for learners’ education, which includes the topic of menstruation without discriminating against or labelling menstruating girls. This research found that the topic of menstruation is only discussed in Life Science and Life Orientation subjects and only covers the physiological changes of the body. These subjects, however, exclude the topic of menstrual hygiene management. This study found that several schools in the Makana district are not adequately equipped to provide for the needs of menstruating girls and therefore educators need to be prepared to deal with menstruation in the school context. The educators are also required to go for regular training or workshops to equip them to manage menstruation in a school environment. The infrastructure of a school includes water and sanitation which are components of menstrual hygiene management. The infrastructure at the participating public schools was inadequate and therefore impacted on the menstrual hygiene management for the girls. The unavailability of water, the non-existence of a sick room and lack of a waste disposal system at some public schools presented further challenges for menstrual hygiene management. A qualitative research method was applied in this study and a symbolic interactionism approach was used. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2021
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  • Date Issued: 2021-10-29

A participant-focused sociological analysis of Beedz, a Grahamstown skills training project for women

  • Authors: Bobo, Azola Benita Dorothea
  • Date: 2017
  • Subjects: Beedz (Makhanda, South Africa) , Feminist theory -- Developing countries , Training -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Occupational training -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Women -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Social conditions
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/5686 , vital:20964
  • Description: This research looked at a participant-focused sociological analysis of Beedz, a Grahamstown skills training project for women. Beedz is run by the River of Life Church and aims to equip women with the necessary skills to participate in the economy, either as entrepreneurs or as employees. Using third world feminist theory, this research explored the experiences of women who have participated in the Beedz programme, what they went through, and whether the programme benefited them or not. In particular, this research explored how the participants experienced Beedz as a programme for women without an exclusive focus on traditional feminist issues. This research was qualitative in nature; with in-depth, semi-structured interviews being used as a means of data collection. Data was analysed using key themes emerging from the interviews. The key findings of this research were that it is important to include women in training projects, as by including them you create spaces and enabling environments for women to empower themselves. Secondly, although Beedz does not deliberately work from the third world feminist theory, it could be argued that it fits in this framework as this programme facilitates skills training through looking at women as a whole, taking into account not only their gender, but also their class and race. Recommendations were made on how the Beedz programme may be improved, based on the information gathered from the participants from the interviews conducted during the research, with the key recommendation being that the organisers of the programme need to create a space for the participants’ voice to be heard, so that the programme can be relevant and beneficial to them.
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  • Date Issued: 2017

A sociological analysis of Rhodes University Students previously diagnosed with Attention Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) and prescribed psychostimulant medications

  • Authors: Brasher, Chelsea Marilyn
  • Date: 2017
  • Subjects: Stereotypes (Social psychology) , Mental illness -- Public opinion , Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder , Attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder -- Treatment , Symbolic interactionism
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/7610 , vital:21278
  • Description: Using the theoretical framework of symbolic interactionism, bringing into account the labelling theory, the stigmas attached upon mental health issues and the medicalization approach, this study sought to document and analyze the viewpoints that previously diagnosed Rhodes University students hold towards the ADHD label and the subsequent usage of psychostimulant medications. Seven respondents were involved in an in-depth interviewing process. Out of the seven respondents chosen, five of the respondents were diagnosed in their primary school years, whereas the other two respondents were diagnosed in their late teenage years or early adult years. These respondents were included to enlighten and support the narrative of the five respondents diagnosed in their youth. The findings varied, with some of the respondents feeling negatively affected by having the ADHD label attached to them, and others, positively affected by it. The findings were also diverse in terms of how the respondents experienced stimulant usage, with some believing that the benefits of usage outweigh the costs, and others, the opposite. At a general level, it was discovered that the respondents were not affected by the ADHD label in terms of their interactions with others in primary school. It was only as they got older did some become fearful of the stigma attached to the ADHD label, and that of medication.
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  • Date Issued: 2017

Music in everyday life: an exploration into the various uses of music among restaurant servers in Makhanda

  • Authors: Dlamini, Andile Sakhile
  • Date: 2024-10-11
  • Subjects: Symbolic interactionism , Everyday life , Music Social aspects , Music and youth , Music Psychological aspects
  • Language: English
  • Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/466161 , vital:76702
  • Description: Inspired by the theory of practice in everyday life and symbolic interactionist perspectives, this thesis offers an account and analysis of findings from a qualitative study. It aimed to investigate the everyday uses of music among restaurant servers (individuals) in Makhanda, on an intra-level of analysis. It explored music’s role in individuals’ lives, and how music as an art is influential in constructing their individuality or self in society. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted through face-to-face collaboration and an audio recording device. It was evident that music plays various roles in people’s lives. Music, seemingly intertwined with everyday life permits individuals to diversly use music, for instance with tackling their emotions and mood, as an accompaniment to tasks or even a symbol that serves subjective meaning to self, essentially transforming the routinized mundanity of every day. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2024
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  • Date Issued: 2024-10-11

“Around Hip Hop” : rethinking and reconstructing urban youth identities in South Africa - a case study of Fingo Village, Makhanda

  • Authors: Futshane, Luniko
  • Date: 2022-10-14
  • Subjects: Hip-hop South Africa Makhanda , Urban youth South Africa Makhanda , Youth development South Africa Makhanda , Social change , Multiculturalism , Black Consciousness Movement of South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/406760 , vital:70305
  • Description: The main objective of this thesis is to investigate how conscious hip hop culture is used to reconstruct and influence urban youth identities in South Africa, in the case of Fingo Village, Makhanda. In addition, it aims to understand how the South African conscious hip hop scene, appropriated from the West, can be used to shape the identities of the urban youth, instead of the materialistic commercial/mainstream gangsta rap that is currently dominating popular culture and media today. Kellner’s (1995: 10) multicultural critical approach is appropriate for this thesis, as it “provides a critical multiculturalist politics and media pedagogy that aims to make people sensitive to the relations of power and domination which are encoded in cultural texts, such as those of television and film, or new technologies and media such as Internet, and social networking”. Moreover, in the words of Cvetkovich and Kellner (cited in Dolby, 2010:11), this dissertation “investigates the increasing influence of global popular culture and its possibility to equip the urban youth with new sources of identification”, as well as opportunities for social change. In Makhanda, rappers, community activists, B-Boy crews, graffiti artists, spoken-word poets, photographers, and journalists all assembled in Fingo Village for the social event Around Hip Hop, at the multipurpose Fingo square, between 2011 and 2019. Today, Around Hip Hop is an arts based organization that produces hip hop mixtapes, short documentaries, and educational events aimed at creating a cross-cultural exchange and increasing awareness of South African politics. Around Hip Hop has hosted various events, dialogues, and performances where hip hop is used as a cultural expression, which continuously creates spaces for the urban youth to rethink and reconstruct their identities; not only as artists, but as audience members as well. Events, such as The Return of the Cypher, Intyatyamo Elityeni, and Business beyond Fingo Festival all form part of Around Hip Hop. The Return of the Cypher is an open music event, where rappers, usually gathered in a circular formation with one or more artists performing in the middle, showcase their skills. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with eight local hip hop artists in Makhanda, in order to investigate how conscious hip hop is used to rethink and reconstruct urban youth identities. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2022
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  • Date Issued: 2022-10-14

A sociological analysis of the sex education of young adult white womxn and their understandings and practices of ‘Safe Sex’

  • Authors: Guerra, Cassandra Gadelha
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Sex instruction , Sex instruction for girls , Women, White -- Psychology , Women, White -- Sexual behavior
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSci
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/147267 , vital:38610
  • Description: This research sets out to examine the experiences and perspectives of young adult white womxn regarding their respective sex education. This is in terms of how sex education may shape and influence sexual practices. The relevance of exploring the sex education of this group is to gain an understanding of how constructions of sex education may facilitate the negotiation of sexual practices, particularly as these practices relate to the negotiation of ‘safe sex’. This involves an exploration of definitions of ‘safe sex’ as well as an examination of the various sources of sex education. This research argues that sex education has been socially constructed within a ‘heterosexual matrix’ where both gender identities and sexuality are constructed in heterosexual terms in accordance with compulsory heterosexuality. Furthermore, that sex education as well as understandings and practices of ‘safe sex’ intersect with other social categories such as race, gender and sexuality. Much of the sex-related research conducted in South Africa focuses on people of colour, as a result very little is known about the sexual behaviours and practices of the white demographic. This research accounts for the absence of analysis of sexual practices and behaviour among white people by examining the sex education and sexual practices of young adult white womxn between the ages of 19 and 24. The research observed key sources of sex education which included parents, schools, religious institutions and the internet. Findings indicate that the sex education of participants reflected ideals of heteronormativity and misogyny which were found to directly influence their understandings and practices of both sex and ‘safe sex’. Furthermore, that the sex education participants received has ultimately failed to promote ‘safe’ sexual practices.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

An analysis of the impact of an official diagnosis and label of ʹdyslexiaʹ on pupils’ self-concept and self-esteem : a sociological case study involving pupils in Grahamstown

  • Authors: Johnson, Gwendolyn Gay
  • Date: 2014
  • Subjects: Dyslexic children -- Education -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- Case studies , Dyslexic children -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- Psychological aspects -- Case studies , Dyslexic children -- Social aspects -- South Africa -- Grahamstown -- Case studies , Self-perception in adolescence , Emotions in adolescence , Dyslexia , Education, Secondary -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:3375 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013124
  • Description: The aim of this study is to develop an understanding of how Grahamstown teenagers are affected by the label ʹdyslexiaʹ; by providing a space in which their feelings about being labelled dyslexic and their experiences can be voiced. Historically much international and local research has focussed on causation and remediation of dyslexia and has neglected the social aspects of the diagnosis. Causation and remediation are categories which form part of the medical or educational models. A social model of dyslexia needs to be applied. Due to the paucity of South African literature on the social experiences of dyslexic teenagers, this research thesis aims to add to the body of knowledge and hopefully provide an avenue for more research within the context of Sociology. This is a micro study, situated in Grahamstown Eastern Cape, South Africa, and the author recognizes that responses cannot be generalized to the greater dyslexic population. All human environments consist of objects which are given meaning through social interaction. Meaning is central to human behaviour and therefor explains the ways in which humans conduct their lives based on these meanings. For this reason George Herbert Mead’s (1934) and Herbert Blumers (1969) symbolic interactionist positions have framed the theoretical approach to this research. Qualitative methods of interviewing provide an opportunity for dyslexic individuals to discuss the meaning dyslexia gives to them, from their perspective and in their own words. The following conclusions have been arrived at: Educational psychologists in Grahamstown are reticent to diagnose individuals as dyslexic. This lack of identification hinders early intervention which can be very detrimental to individuals struggling with reading, writing and spelling as well as the associated co-morbid conditions of dyslexia. Teenagers who have had early diagnosis and intervention with support structures in place identify with their dyslexic identity more positively as they are able to make sense of their struggles of a dyslexic nature.
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  • Date Issued: 2014

A platform for women’s experiences? a case of the hip hop scene in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape

  • Authors: Kabwato, Sasha Nyasha
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Hip-hop -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Popular culture -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rap musicians -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Musicians, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Women musicians, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Women, Black -- South Africa -- Makhanda -- Psychology
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/96503 , vital:31287
  • Description: The main aim of this research is to examine the hip hop scene in Grahamstown, Eastern Cape and whether hip hop can serve as a significant platform to discuss women’s lived experiences. This study also places focus on how female rappers construct their rap personas, as well as how they are perceived by their male counterparts. In order to understand the multifaceted viewpoints, it was necessary to interview both male and female hip hop artists. Eight interviews were conducted with eight young black rappers who are actively involved in the Grahamstown hip hop scene. It was found that hip hop, like any other art form, is a significant platform for women to express themselves, however gender constraints limit who is willing to listen to and promote their music. Male rappers advocate for women to talk about their stories, yet are more unlikely to listen because it does not relate to their struggles. In addition, there seem to be four specific tropes that female rappers choose to construct their identities from. Female rappers tend to create their personas around: Queen Mother, Fly Sista, Bitch with Attitude, and Lesbian. However, these categories are fluid and it was found that women navigate these categories depending on their audience and message they want to convey at a particular moment. Lastly, there is a split between Grahamstown West (Rhodes University) and Grahamstown East (township). University students are unlikely to perform in the township, and township residents rarely perform at organised events in Grahamstown West. In addition, Rhodes University students are more likely to feature on the university run radio station, rather than Radio Grahamstown, the local community radio.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

The effects of economic and political instability on decentralised secondary schools in Mashonaland Central Province, Zimbabwe: a case study

  • Authors: Katsinde, Tapfuiwa James
  • Date: 2020
  • Subjects: Education, Secondary -- Political aspects -- Zimbabwe , Political violence -- Zimbabwe , Zimbabwe -- Economic conitions -- 1980- , Zimbabwe -- Politics and government -- 1980-
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/165610 , vital:41263
  • Description: The purpose of the study was to analyse the effects of economic and political instability on decentralised secondary schools in Mashonaland Central Province, Zimbabwe between 2000 and 2017. Previous studies in Zimbabwe and elsewhere have shown that schools were negatively affected by economic and political instability. This study adds to this literature by using habitus as a conceptual framework. This was a qualitative study which made use of a multi-case research design. Data was collected using focus group discussions, interviews and document analysis. Eight research sites in the form of secondary schools in four districts were used. Data analysis was done using theoretical prepositions guided by research objectives and research questions. Data presentations was characterised by quotes of participants. Trustworthiness based on dependability, credibility, transferability and conformability formed the basis of quality assurance measures. The study revealed that economic and political instability had similar negative results in the field of secondary schools in the province. Economic instability negatively affected school activities which included teaching and learning, administration and development work. In addition economic instability affected individual secondary school actors psychologically. Economic instability affected relations among the secondary school actors by aggravating already existing contestations amongst actors. Similarly, political instability affected secondary school activities such as teaching and learning, school administration, development, donations and social benefits. Secondary school actors were individually affected psychologically and through physical abuse and the way they responded to political instability. The study has shown that decentralised secondary schools found it difficult to solve the problems introduced by economic and political instability especially when the instabilities occurred within the difficulties of the broader Zimbabwean context. It is therefore recommended that decentralised secondary schools should be assisted financially and with resources to withstand economic challenges. There is a need to protect secondary schools from political activities and activists as these have devastating effects on education if allowed to have a free reign. Further similar research is recommended for other provinces in the country.
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  • Date Issued: 2020

A sociological analysis of the production, marketing and distribution of contemporary popular music by Zambian musicians

  • Authors: Kazadi, Kanyabu Solomon
  • Date: 2015
  • Subjects: Popular music -- Zambia , Musicians -- Zambia , Sound recording industry -- Zambia , Popular music -- Production and direction -- Zambia , Popular music -- Marketing , Intellectual property -- Zambia , Copyright -- Royalties -- Zambia
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
  • Identifier: vital:3404 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1018933
  • Description: The purpose of this research was to gather information about the production, marketing and distribution of Zambian contemporary music by Zambian musicians. Very little information has been documented about the development of the Zambian music industry, particularly from the perspective of those within the industry. As a result this study attempted to add to this knowledge. To achieve this Pierre Bourdieu’s theoretical concepts of ‘fields’ and ‘habitus’ were used to gain an understanding of what affects the creation of art forms such as music as well as the structures and underlying processes within the music industry. The concept of ‘fields’ usefully framed an explanation of the struggles and connections within the various fields in the industry and a view of the Zambian music industry in relation to the international industry. To gather the data necessary for this research a qualitative approach was utilised involving semistructured in-depth questionnaires from twenty-three interviewees. These interviewees were selected from various sectors of the music industry in an attempt to gain a holistic perspective of the industry in the 21st century. There were four subgroups: the artists (singers, rappers and instrumentalists), managers, radio DJs, and a miscellaneous group made up of the remaining participants, a Sounds Arcade manager, a music journalist, the National Arts Council Chairperson, a Zambia Music Copyright Protection Society (ZAMCOPS) administrator, and the then President of the Zambia Association of Musicians (ZAM). With the limited exposure to formal musical, instrumental and production training, musicians, instrumentalists, managers and studio production personnel interviewed had had to learn their craft on-the-job. This limited knowledge appears to add to the hindrance of the development of careers and the industry, particularly in terms of how to register and distribute music correctly to earn royalties and protect their intellectual property against piracy. From an institutional level piracy is being addressed more forcefully with the introduction of holograms and the tightening of policies and structures to do with the music industry.
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  • Date Issued: 2015

Digital colonialism: South Africa’s education transformation in the shadow of Silicon Valley

  • Authors: Kwet, Michael
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Operation Phakisa Education (South Africa) , Educational technology -- South Africa , Internet in education -- South Africa , Educational sociology -- South Africa , Technological innovations -- South Africa , Technological literacy -- South Africa , Education and state -- South Africa , Open source software -- South Africa , Electronic surveillance -- Social aspects -- South Africa , Privacy, Right of -- South Africa , Business and education -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/93767 , vital:30936
  • Description: This dissertation investigates the social implications of technology choices for the emerging education transformation of the South African basic education sector. In October 2015, then President Jacob Zuma launched Operation Phakisa Education (OPE), an initiative designed behind closed doors to fast-track digital education into all South African public schools. This study identifies and analyses policy choices and perspectives regarding the technology considered and deployed for the national education rollout. It documents the OPE proposal, and examines how e-education policy choices relate to humanitarian objectives. Theoretically, this study draws upon libertarian socialist theory (anarchism) to examine the sociology of education technology policy. Using anarchist theory, it assesses the perspective, aims, and choices of e-education policy at the national level. It also draws on the Free Software philosophy for society as articulated by Richard Stallman and Eben Moglen. Finally, it compares classic colonialism with global power in the digital era, and posits a theory of digital colonialism. Synthesizing anarchism and the Free Software philosophy into a single theoretical framework – placed into the context of colonial relations – it is the first work to apply anarchist sociological theory to education technology policy, and the first doctoral study on digital colonialism. For its methodology, this dissertation utilizes two qualitative methods: document analysis and semi-structured interviews. Interview subjects include high-level e-education policymakers and administrators in government, key stakeholders, and experts at the intersection of technology innovation and human rights. These methods were used to both identify and interrogate e-education policy as it relates to the humanitarian objectives of education policy at the national level. The findings demonstrate that South African education policy is beholden to largely United States-based corporations and models for e-education. The study found that the types of technologies for consideration in education are rooted in surveillance capitalism, which is spreading across the world. It contends that current e-education policy choices will entrench the power and exploitation of US state-corporate power in South African education, economy, and society. It argues that an alternative set of choices, People’s Technology for People’s Power, is consistent with the spirit of South African technology policy, and should be chosen for South African schools in order to counter the power of foreign power and resist surveillance capitalism. This dissertation is the first publication to document and analyze what the new government education policy is about and how it relates to equality and human rights. It argues that present South African e-education policy constitutes a new form of digitally-driven technocratic neoliberalism which ultimately favors ruling class interests in the United States and South Africa. It also argues that OPE violates South Africa’s Free and Open Source policy and the spirit of democracy outlined in the Phakisa methodology and the Batho Pele principles. This study found that OPE replicates the latest trends in e-education implementation popular in Silicon Valley. Tech multinationals are providing both the products and models for use in South Africa. The dissertation concludes that US technological and conceptual dominance in South African education constitutes digital colonialism. It emphasizes the need for public inclusion in the policy process, and proposes alternative policies and technologies for e-education based on the idea of People’s Technology for People’s Power. It also argues that current scholarship on education technology neglects the political and sociological importance of People’s Technology to education, economy, and society, as well as the global significance of Big Tech dominance vis-a-vis digital colonialism, and that subsequent literature would be enriched by addressing these issues.
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Disjunctures within conventional knowledge of black male homosexual identity in contemporary South Africa

  • Authors: Li, Xinling
  • Date: 2010
  • Subjects: Mead, George Herbert 1863-1931 , Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984 , Butler, Judith, 1956- , Gay men, Black -- South Africa , Lesbians -- South Africa , Gender identity -- South Africa , Homosexuality -- South Africa , Identity (Psychology) -- South Africa , Gender identity -- Social aspects
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
  • Identifier: vital:3297 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003085 , Mead, George Herbert 1863-1931 , Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984 , Butler, Judith, 1956- , Gay men, Black -- South Africa , Lesbians -- South Africa , Gender identity -- South Africa , Homosexuality -- South Africa , Identity (Psychology) -- South Africa , Gender identity -- Social aspects
  • Description: This thesis provides a sociological understanding of how conventional knowledge of sexuality negates the identity formation of black gay men in contemporary South Africa. It investigates the coming out experiences of six black gay men in order to reveal the disjunctures between being black and being gay. The theoretical formation of disjuncture is pursued through examining a number of sociological, historical, psychoanalytical, and feminist approaches to identity, sexuality, and society; featuring specifically the theories of George Herbert Mead, Michel Foucault, and Judith Butler. The chosen research paradigm is symbolic interactionism, postulating both „pragmatist‟ and „empiricist‟ trends that lead to both interactionist and structuralist forms of argumentation. The interactionist approach to sexuality is central to the deconstruction of sexual conventions. It involves conceptualising modern sexuality in the landscapes of African colonial history and the global gay and lesbian movement. The prescribed literature on homosexuality is thus reviewed in conjunction with the South African gay and lesbian struggle, so as to spawn themes and perspectives for conducting life story interviews. The use of the life story interview favours the participants‟ own view of the studied phenomenon, yet aims to depict the structural influence on homosexual identification. Following the qualitative research tradition, the data analysis is based on the interpretation of narratives. It illustrates interpersonal relationships and microscopic experiences that lead to the self-acceptance and self-actualisation of homosexuality. Within these processes, various disjunctures that exist between the cultural sanction of lifestyle and individual choice, between parents and children, between religious belief and personal desires, and between gender identity and sexual orientation are disclosed. The findings are associated with the historical transformation of masculinity in South Africa, sex role performance, and the heterosexualisation of desire. The solution to the proposed research problem is discussed through concepts of socialisation and gender conformity.
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  • Date Issued: 2010

An analysis of understandings of and attitudes towards transgender people on a South African university campus

  • Authors: Mantungo, Xolelwa Thandokazi
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Transgender people -- South Africa -- Public opinion , Gender identity -- South Africa -- Public opinion , Transgender college students -- South Africa , Rhodes University -- Students -- Attitudes
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76309 , vital:30546
  • Description: There are issues that always arise when it comes to gender identities and gender expressions. These issues are a result of the gender binary that corners people into being either feminine or masculine. Our societies are shaped in ways that supports this gender binary. If you are born a female, you are expected to be feminine and if you are born a male you are expected to act in a masculine way. When a person whose gender identity does not correspond with his or her assigned sex at birth, their behaviour is problematized and sometimes even criminalized and they are considered as deviant individuals by many societies. Consequently, most people who do not conform to gender societal norms are more exposed to violence, stigmatization, discrimination, marginalization, and victimization. People have difficulty understanding that there is ‘gender variance’, in other words, that there are more than just two genders. It is apparent that, even though societies enforce the gender binary, there are individuals who wish to express their genders in different ways, thus there are people who identify as transgender. The main focus of this dissertation is on the gender identities of transgendered people. Transgender people are people whose gender identity and or gender expression is distinct from the sex to which they were assigned at birth. The transgender group is a minority group (including in African countries) and one can argue that it is either misrepresented, misunderstood, hardly visible and ignored. This is evident when one looks at the lack of research on transgender populations in Africa. The main purpose of this research is to investigate the understandings that people have about transgender people on a South African university campus. In this dissertation the intent is to explore what it means to be transgender, the Rhodes University students’ understandings of transgendered people, the issues of gender identities and gender expressions and the challenges that transgender people face. The research question that this dissertation seeks to find an answer to is “Do Rhodes University students understand the notion of transgender and how do they react towards transgendered people on campus?”
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  • Date Issued: 2019

Critical evaluation of medical waste management policies, processes and practices in selected rural hospitals in the Eastern Cape

  • Authors: Maseko, Qondile
  • Date: 2014
  • Subjects: Hazardous wastes -- Management -- South Africa , Radioactive waste disposal -- South Africa , Medical wastes -- Management -- South Africa
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
  • Identifier: vital:3373 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1013107
  • Description: This thesis critically evaluates the policies, processes and practices of medical waste management in selected rural hospitals in the Eastern Cape. Medical Waste Management is a growing public health and environmental issue worldwide. Research shows large scale incapacity in dealing with medical waste in an efficient and sustainable fashion globally, which demonstrates that it is not merely a developing world problem alone. This study is conducted against the backdrop of an increasing medical waste crisis in South Africa. Although there are an abundance of studies on solid waste management, there is a lack of data and research particularly on medical waste management in rural hospitals. The crisis of medical waste management in South Africa is closely intertwined with the collapsing health care system and an overburdened natural environment. It is an undisputable fact that South Africa’s generation of medical waste far exceeds its capacity to handle it effectively. This thesis argues that the neglect of medical waste as an environmental-health issue and the absence of an integrated national medical waste management plan aggravate the medical waste problem in the country. In explaining the medical waste crisis, this thesis adopts a Marxist perspective which is based on the premise that industrial capitalist societies place economic growth and production at high priority at the expense of the natural environment; creating a society that is engulfed by high health risk due to the generation of hazardous and toxic waste. Industrial societies view themselves as superior and separate from the natural environment, whereas one cannot separate nature from society as they are interlinked. As society attempts to adopt a sustainable environmental approach towards environmental management, science and technology are enforced as a solution to environmental problems in order to continue developing countries’ economies whilst sustainably managing and protecting the environment, which is contradictory. This thesis emphasises that medical waste management is a socio-political problem as much as it is an environmental problem, hence the need to focus on power relations and issues of environmental and social justice. The results of the study identified gaps in policy framework nationally and institutionally on medical waste management. In addition, there were poor waste management practices due to poor training, inadequate infrastructure and resources as well as poor budget support.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2014

Exploring the need for Academic Support Programmes (ASPs) for returning undergraduates at Rhodes University

  • Authors: Matabane, Ramathetse Belinda
  • Date: 2017
  • Subjects: Compensatory education -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rhodes University. Department of Sociology
  • Language: English
  • Type: Thesis , Masters , MSocSc
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/35094 , vital:24326
  • Description: The overarching purpose of this thesis is to explore the need for Academic Support Programmes (ASPs) in higher education with specific reference to returning undergraduates in the Sociology Department at Rhodes University. The transformational agenda in higher education in post-apartheid South Africa in terms of expanding access to education, the promotion of accountability and efficiency in higher education, massification, the articulation gap between school and university, institutional culture, unpreparedness of universities and underpreparedness of students comprise the conceptual core of this study. I undertake to investigate the necessity and relevance of academic support offered to returning undergraduates at Rhodes University. I do this by exploring two main issues theoretically and in my fieldwork. The two main issues that form the basis of this research are students’ perceptions regarding availability and accessibility of academic support programmes in the Sociology Department and students’ perceived academic needs. Students’ perceptions and attitudes towards Academic Support Programmes have been uncovered through both quantitative and qualitative fieldwork to gauge the extent to which literature is applicable when it comes to the above-mentioned conceptual frameworks. The study illustrated that academic support is not exclusive to first year students. It is also clear that improved, systematic academic support gives rise to improved student academic performance. Throughout the study, students perceive availability and accessibility of ASPs as a challenge.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2017

Rhodes University students’ experiences of living as students on National'Student Financial Aid Scheme (NSFAS) funding

Maternal health care services in waiting mothers’ shelters: the case of Mawadza village in Bonda, Manicaland, Zimbabwe

  • Authors: Muchabveyo, Brenda Hamufari
  • Date: 2021
  • Subjects: Pregnant women Zimbabwe Manicaland Province , Women's shelters Zimbabwe Manicaland Province , Maternal health services Zimbabwe Manicaland Province , Integrative medicine , Childbirth Social aspects Zimbabwe Manicaland Province
  • Language: English
  • Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/476912 , vital:78017 , DOI 10.21504/10962/476912
  • Description: This study explores the experiences and perceptions of expectant mothers during prenatal, intra-, and postpartum care. It focuses on expectant mother‘s use or non-use of a waiting mothers' shelter within a medical pluralistic village within a context where hospitals and maternal health care facilities are not proximate. Special focus was on Mawadza village in the Mutasa district in Manicaland Province of Zimbabwe. A sample of 48 participants was used for collecting data in this study. The sample consisted of 15 women some of whom were expectant mothers in the waiting mothers‘ shelter (11) and others had used (4) the shelter once or twice since 2015. Participants were drawn mainly from Mawadza village and Bonda Mission Hospital while others were from the district and provincial offices of the Ministry of Health and Child Care of Zimbabwe. The study adopted a qualitative research methodology, which employed in-depth interviews; key informant interviews (KIIs) and focus group discussions (FGDs) as the main data gathering strategies. In-depth interviews were conducted with the expectant mothers and those who had formerly used the shelter since 2015, while, key informant interviews were conducted with the hospital staff members, traditional healers and the midwives from Mawadza village. Focus group discussions were also conducted with both male and female community members from Mawadza village. The study carried out face to face interviews and notes were handwritten and transcribed at the end of each day. Data coding was used to analyse data. The paradigms and theoretical underpinnings of the study were influenced by the symbolic interactionist theory. The theory made it possible to understand the social processes of pregnancy and childbirth in the waiting mothers' shelter due to its interpretive approach to social research and the legitimacy it places on the social interaction and meanings that social actors place on interactions in their environments. The study documented the ways pregnancy and childbirth are perceived, understood, and experienced in Mawadza village within the context of medical pluralism. In Mawadza village, pregnancy and childbirth are highly embedded in the cultural beliefs of the local people, hence, treated with importance and assumed important symbolic meanings. On the contrary, the waiting mothers‘ shelter as a biomedical facility handles pregnancy and childbirth from a biomedical approach, basing its practices and operations on pure science. Expectant mothers who await labour in this facility are therefore involved in several biomedical activities during prenatal, intra- and post-partum care in the waiting mothers‘ shelter. The need to access skilled birth attendants and the criminalisation of home births in Mawadza village have been the major reasons that influence the expectant mothers to use the waiting mothers‘ shelter. Nevertheless, factors such as medical pluralism, child care, and family commitments, lack of understanding of the importance of the waiting mothers‘ shelter, lack of privacy in the shelter, and cost of food and utilities during the expectant mothers' stay in this facility among others are factors that deter expectant mothers from using the waiting mothers' shelter. Lack of practice of bodily agency where practices common in preparation for childbirth such as opening the birth canal which is not accepted was also reported among common problems that discourage expectant mothers from preferring use of the shelters. The study also revealed that the community is involved in the operations of the waiting mothers‘ shelter, although, the involvement is gendered since there are more women involved as compared to men. The study concluded that even biological processes such as pregnancy and childbirth can only be fully understood within a social context given the different meanings which are attached to the various aspects of the childbirth process by the various actors such as expectant mothers, mothers, biomedical practitioners, traditional healers and communities in Mawadza village. Also, in a medical pluralistic village, the different health care providers who deal with pregnant women do not necessarily conflict as evidenced by the complementary role of these two (complementary insofar as they achieve collectively desired outcomes, albeit in parallel and (mutually) exclusive means) in caring for women during pregnancy and childbirth. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2021
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  • Date Issued: 2021

Understanding defiant identities: an ethnography of gays and lesbians in Harare, Zimbabwe

  • Authors: Muparamoto, Nelson
  • Date: 2019
  • Subjects: Gays -- Zimbabwe , Gays -- Abuse of -- Zimbabwe , Homosexuality -- Zimbabwe , Homosexuality -- Political aspects -- Zimbabwe , Homosexuality -- Social aspects -- Zimbabwe , Homosexuality -- Religious aspects -- Zimbabwe , Homophobia -- Zimbabwe
  • Language: English
  • Type: text , Thesis , Doctoral , PhD
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/67720 , vital:29133
  • Description: Over the years, western and local media have mediated a narrative of a thoroughly homophobic Zimbabwe, not the least emanating from the former president Robert Mugabe’s ongoing homocritical utterances which recurrently generated global news stories. The country does indeed have a protracted history characterised by various forms of attacks on Gays and Lesbians of Zimbabwe, its membership, and the general lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community. A dominant discourse has framed homosexual identities as on or beyond the border of what is acceptable, giving the clear message that they should not be tolerated. However, the narrative needs a more nuanced analysis than what has been popularised. That homophobia has played a significant role in Zimbabwe is of great import, but it is not and cannot be all there is to say about LGBT lives in the country. And, while scholarship on Zimbabwean homosexualities has engaged with debates about its indigeneity, morality and acceptability, it has as of yet not significantly explored the lived realities of non-heterosexual individuals from their own point of view. This thesis aims to begin doing exactly that, addressing the experiences of same-sex loving and attracted individuals in Harare. Drawing on ethnographic sociology, the thesis focuses on understanding how gay and lesbian identities are constructed, negotiated and experienced within an environment that is in many ways overtly homophobic, where, for example, the risk for social exclusion is considerable. It explores what characterises and shapes gay and lesbian identities in Harare in an attempt to interrogate how they reinforce, modify and challenge dominant social categories and relate to globally circulating queer identity categories. The thesis demonstrates that the construction of identities among same sex loving people in Harare variously draws on both locally and globally circulating ideas and insights. The thesis reveals that beyond the considerable attacks on homosexual identities in Zimbabwe, the intersection of local and international discourses on gay and lesbian identities produces identities that are to varying degrees emergent, fluid and perhaps fragmented. Despite attempts to expunge non-heterosexuals from Zimbabwean citizenry by drawing borders on the basis of sexual orientation, same sex loving individuals in Harare have defiantly expressed, negotiated and managed their sexual identities. The thesis describes and analyses things like dating patterns, decision making in same sex relations as well as family and religious experiences. Invoking Goffman’s concept of self-presentation enables one to understand how participants expressed themselves in the midst of like-minded or homo-tolerant individuals and how they deployed themselves in ‘spaces’ considered homocritical or where resentment was likely to be provoked by them openly expressing their sexual orientation. Crucially, same-sex loving and attracted individuals are agentic individuals who have variously stretched the traditional meanings associated with gender and sexuality in a context characterised by heteronormativity. This thesis usefully deploys Giddens’ (1991, 1992) theorisation of late modernity as characterised by conditions allowing a profusion of competing and sometimes contradictory identity discourses which offers the opportunity for self-reflexivity and identity negotiation. This helps us to understand the defiant identities. Whereas western circulating identity politics tout ‘coming out of the closet’, for most of the participants overt indiscriminate disclosure was to be avoided with participants therein deploying strategies that would help them to remain closeted to some family members as well as in religious circles. The consequences of ‘outing’ or disclosure are ostensibly not straightforward but complex, thus requiring a nuanced analysis that goes beyond the binary categories framed as either negative or positive. The thesis shows that experiences of same sex loving people in their families are complex rather than simply situated on the polar ends of either rejection or acceptance. Whilst dominant discourse has depicted religion as fuelling homophobia as it depicts a Christian identity and queer identities as incompatible, the thesis also explores how some participants challenge the borders drawn in religious circles and maintain a relatively active religious life but not always without conflict.
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2019

Instagram and male body image: an in-depth study of perceptions surrounding Instagram-related body ideals amongst gym-going, male students at Rhodes University.

  • Authors: Nikiforos, Declyn Michael Costa
  • Date: 2024-04-03
  • Subjects: Instagram (Electronic resource) , Body image in men South Africa Makhanda , College students Attitudes , Rhodes University , Disciplinary power , Social comparison theory
  • Language: English
  • Type: Academic theses , Master's theses , text
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/434584 , vital:73087
  • Description: Guided by the disciplinary power and social comparison theories, this study sought to explore the perceptions of Instagram-related male body ideals amongst young, gym-going men enrolled at Rhodes University. Seven in-depth interviews were conducted, and the responses suggested that Instagram use shaped young men’s body-related perceptions in a variety of complex ways. The findings suggested that Instagram exposed users to a lean and muscular body ideal and that perceptions of this ideal were shaped by factors such as Instagram’s positivity bias, the age of users, and the exposure to the idealised bodies of fitness influencers. Furthermore, perceptions of Instagram’s male body ideal were influenced by context. Black South Africans that attended majority white high schools were more likely to conform to the male body ideals associated with their school environment. In such instances, individuals rejected the body norms associated with their ethnic backgrounds in lieu of striving for a lean and muscular body. Additionally, perceptions of body dissatisfaction were evident in cases where upward social comparisons were made with unrealistic male body ideals. Conformity to Instagram’s male body ideal also suggested that male users were subjected to a coercive form of power that resulted in their active participation in the reproduction of male body ideals. , Thesis (MSocSci) -- Faculty of Humanities, Sociology, 2024
  • Full Text:
  • Date Issued: 2024-04-03
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