Gender and racial stereotyping in rape coverage: an analysis of rape coverage in Grocott's Mail
- Authors: Bonnes, Stephanie Marie
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, South Africa) Rape in mass media Rape -- South Africa Stereotypes (Social psychology) in mass media Sexism in mass media Racism in mass media Women -- Crimes against -- South Africa Violence in mass media Sex discrimination against women -- South Africa Journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2762 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002972
- Description: This thesis analyzes rape coverage in a Grahamstown newspaper, Grocott’s Mail. Critical discourse analysis is used to discuss and analyze articles about rape that appear in Grocott’s Mail between October 14th 2008 and October 29th 2009. Drawing on existing literature on ‘rape myths’ in media coverage of rape, this thesis argues that Grocott’s Mail perpetuates racial and gender stereotypes through the way in which it reports on rape. While not all of the articles included in the analysis use rape myths, most use one or more when discussing rape incidents. Specifically, Grocott’s Mail tends to use rape myths that blame the victim for the rape and de-emphasize the role of the perpetrator in the rape. This is problematic as it sustains existing racial and gender inequalities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Bonnes, Stephanie Marie
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Grocott's Mail (Grahamstown, South Africa) Rape in mass media Rape -- South Africa Stereotypes (Social psychology) in mass media Sexism in mass media Racism in mass media Women -- Crimes against -- South Africa Violence in mass media Sex discrimination against women -- South Africa Journalism -- South Africa -- Grahamstown
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2762 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002972
- Description: This thesis analyzes rape coverage in a Grahamstown newspaper, Grocott’s Mail. Critical discourse analysis is used to discuss and analyze articles about rape that appear in Grocott’s Mail between October 14th 2008 and October 29th 2009. Drawing on existing literature on ‘rape myths’ in media coverage of rape, this thesis argues that Grocott’s Mail perpetuates racial and gender stereotypes through the way in which it reports on rape. While not all of the articles included in the analysis use rape myths, most use one or more when discussing rape incidents. Specifically, Grocott’s Mail tends to use rape myths that blame the victim for the rape and de-emphasize the role of the perpetrator in the rape. This is problematic as it sustains existing racial and gender inequalities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Beyond Afrocentricism and Orientalism contemporary representations of transnational identities in the works of Nontsikelelo "Lolo" Veleko and Tracy Payne
- Authors: Pycroft, Hayley
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Veleko, Nontsikelelo -- Criticism and interpretation Payne, Tracy, 1965- -- Criticism and interpretation Afrocentrism Orientalism Art and race Art and society Gender identity in art Art -- Political aspects Photographers -- South Africa Painters -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2420 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002216
- Description: South African photographer Nontsikelelo “Lolo” Veleko and South African painter Tracy Payne explore different ways of communicating African realities. The visual imagery of these two artists focuses a lot on movement, challenging the rigidity of boundaries set by Western social constructs. In their work, Veleko and Payne critique the limitations of terms such as “authenticity.” It is extremely difficult to portray shifting notions of contemporary African identity in light of the stain of colonial philosophies which have, in times past, exoticised and appropriated the African body and ascribed conventions of “authenticity” to African representations. Undermining the burden of Western boundaries1, Veleko and Payne redefine what it means to operate in Africa today. Veleko seeks additional cultural realities to complicate her identity as a woman living in Africa while Payne uses concepts of movement to question the validity of structures which advocate an either/ or binary such as “East” and “West” and “masculinity” and “femininity”. By subtly merging aspects of these binaries in their representations, Veleko and Payne bring transnational possibilities to light by undermining the restrictions inscribed in the social and political history of (South) Africa with regard to collective and individual identities. Constructs of gender have contributed to a heightened sense of “African” “masculinity,” forming a stereotype of the African body which is difficult to break free from. Considering the notion of transnationalism and the issue of moving beyond boundaries, borrowing aspects of different cultures in attempt to better define a sense of self, Veleko and Payne engage in the sampling of different lifestyles and perspectives to better define their individualities. This thesis seeks to provide an analysis of the visual language used by Veleko and Payne to promote fluid “African” identities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Pycroft, Hayley
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Veleko, Nontsikelelo -- Criticism and interpretation Payne, Tracy, 1965- -- Criticism and interpretation Afrocentrism Orientalism Art and race Art and society Gender identity in art Art -- Political aspects Photographers -- South Africa Painters -- South Africa
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2420 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002216
- Description: South African photographer Nontsikelelo “Lolo” Veleko and South African painter Tracy Payne explore different ways of communicating African realities. The visual imagery of these two artists focuses a lot on movement, challenging the rigidity of boundaries set by Western social constructs. In their work, Veleko and Payne critique the limitations of terms such as “authenticity.” It is extremely difficult to portray shifting notions of contemporary African identity in light of the stain of colonial philosophies which have, in times past, exoticised and appropriated the African body and ascribed conventions of “authenticity” to African representations. Undermining the burden of Western boundaries1, Veleko and Payne redefine what it means to operate in Africa today. Veleko seeks additional cultural realities to complicate her identity as a woman living in Africa while Payne uses concepts of movement to question the validity of structures which advocate an either/ or binary such as “East” and “West” and “masculinity” and “femininity”. By subtly merging aspects of these binaries in their representations, Veleko and Payne bring transnational possibilities to light by undermining the restrictions inscribed in the social and political history of (South) Africa with regard to collective and individual identities. Constructs of gender have contributed to a heightened sense of “African” “masculinity,” forming a stereotype of the African body which is difficult to break free from. Considering the notion of transnationalism and the issue of moving beyond boundaries, borrowing aspects of different cultures in attempt to better define a sense of self, Veleko and Payne engage in the sampling of different lifestyles and perspectives to better define their individualities. This thesis seeks to provide an analysis of the visual language used by Veleko and Payne to promote fluid “African” identities.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
A Foucauldian critique of neo-liberalsim
- Authors: Sachikonye, Tawanda
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Neoliberalism Political science -- Philosophy Philosophy, Marxist Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984 Socialism Capitalism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2828 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003038
- Description: This study attempts to make a contribution to the critique of contemporary capitalism. This has been conceptualised through a Foucauldian critique of neo-liberalism, that is, Foucault’s concepts of power and governmentality have been used to criticise neo-liberalism. The study argues that neo-liberalism is a hegemonic and oppressive politico-economic social system. This has occurred in two ways; firstly, neo-liberalism came to dominate the global economy and, secondly, neo-liberalism has become the dominant politico-economic discourse. An attempt is made to expose the discourses and institutions that buttress the neo-liberal project by undertaking a Foucauldian critique. According to Foucault, knowledge shapes the social space through its ‘mechanisms’, discourses and institutions. In order to critique neo-liberalism, it is necessary to expose its power-knowledge base, which is what gives it legitimacy. By analysing and exposing neo-liberalism’s power-knowledge base, its oppression becomes clear through an observation of the material effects of neo-liberal ideology and policy. This study also evaluates to what extent Marxism is a viable alternative to neo-liberalism, in order to ascertain what Foucault adds to already existing critiques of capitalism, and neo-liberalism, in particular. It concludes by arguing that even though Marxism provides a useful framework in which to understand neo-liberal domination, its labour based social theory is somewhat outdated in our contemporary age of the information society. Therefore, it is Foucault’s concept of power-knowledge that is most pertinent in providing an effective critical theory of neo-liberalism in the age of the information society, as it focuses on the primacy of power-knowledge in matters of domination.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Sachikonye, Tawanda
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Neoliberalism Political science -- Philosophy Philosophy, Marxist Foucault, Michel, 1926-1984 Socialism Capitalism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2828 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003038
- Description: This study attempts to make a contribution to the critique of contemporary capitalism. This has been conceptualised through a Foucauldian critique of neo-liberalism, that is, Foucault’s concepts of power and governmentality have been used to criticise neo-liberalism. The study argues that neo-liberalism is a hegemonic and oppressive politico-economic social system. This has occurred in two ways; firstly, neo-liberalism came to dominate the global economy and, secondly, neo-liberalism has become the dominant politico-economic discourse. An attempt is made to expose the discourses and institutions that buttress the neo-liberal project by undertaking a Foucauldian critique. According to Foucault, knowledge shapes the social space through its ‘mechanisms’, discourses and institutions. In order to critique neo-liberalism, it is necessary to expose its power-knowledge base, which is what gives it legitimacy. By analysing and exposing neo-liberalism’s power-knowledge base, its oppression becomes clear through an observation of the material effects of neo-liberal ideology and policy. This study also evaluates to what extent Marxism is a viable alternative to neo-liberalism, in order to ascertain what Foucault adds to already existing critiques of capitalism, and neo-liberalism, in particular. It concludes by arguing that even though Marxism provides a useful framework in which to understand neo-liberal domination, its labour based social theory is somewhat outdated in our contemporary age of the information society. Therefore, it is Foucault’s concept of power-knowledge that is most pertinent in providing an effective critical theory of neo-liberalism in the age of the information society, as it focuses on the primacy of power-knowledge in matters of domination.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Impact of new media technologies on the production of economics news in South Africa : a case study of Fin24.com (www.fin24.com)
- Authors: Phakathi, Bekezela
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Mass media -- Technological innovations -- South Africa -- Case studies Mass media and technology -- South Africa -- Case studies Journalism, Commercial -- South Africa -- Case studies Online journalism -- South Africa -- Case studies Digital media -- South Africa -- Case studies Communication and technology -- South Africa -- Case studies Social networks -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3510 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007631
- Description: New media technology continues to provide journalists with sophisticated tools that are changing news processing and gathering. Economics journalists in particular have grasped the possibilities offered by new media technologies. Thus, this paper offers a theoretical and practical look at how new media technologies have impacted the production and processing of economics news in South Africa, with a particular focus on Fin24.com which is South Africa's biggest online economics news publication. Using qualitative research methods and the case-study approach, this thesis documents the impact of new media technologies on the production of economics news. It draws on Witschge and Nygren's (2009) framework which describes how new media technologies change the nature in which news is produced and processed. New media technologies in this study will refer to the Internet, particularly search engines like Google, social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, Blogs as well as mobile telephony. Economics journalism will here refer to all coverage of economics and business-related news. This is because the case study (Fin24.com) covers both business and economics journalism by strict definition. Findings reveal that these new media technologies have not only changed economics newsgathering and processing but also journalistic routines. The findings generally show that new media technologies make it easier for economics journalists to produce the news quickly and efficiently. Indeed, the most distinguishing characteristic of new media is its overall speed, which is both challenging and attractive. The findings also reveal that new media technologies within a newsroom can be problematic in a number of ways, mainly raising issues of accuracy and credibility thus challenging the profession of economics journalism more than ever.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Phakathi, Bekezela
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Mass media -- Technological innovations -- South Africa -- Case studies Mass media and technology -- South Africa -- Case studies Journalism, Commercial -- South Africa -- Case studies Online journalism -- South Africa -- Case studies Digital media -- South Africa -- Case studies Communication and technology -- South Africa -- Case studies Social networks -- South Africa -- Case studies
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3510 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1007631
- Description: New media technology continues to provide journalists with sophisticated tools that are changing news processing and gathering. Economics journalists in particular have grasped the possibilities offered by new media technologies. Thus, this paper offers a theoretical and practical look at how new media technologies have impacted the production and processing of economics news in South Africa, with a particular focus on Fin24.com which is South Africa's biggest online economics news publication. Using qualitative research methods and the case-study approach, this thesis documents the impact of new media technologies on the production of economics news. It draws on Witschge and Nygren's (2009) framework which describes how new media technologies change the nature in which news is produced and processed. New media technologies in this study will refer to the Internet, particularly search engines like Google, social networking sites such as Twitter and Facebook, Blogs as well as mobile telephony. Economics journalism will here refer to all coverage of economics and business-related news. This is because the case study (Fin24.com) covers both business and economics journalism by strict definition. Findings reveal that these new media technologies have not only changed economics newsgathering and processing but also journalistic routines. The findings generally show that new media technologies make it easier for economics journalists to produce the news quickly and efficiently. Indeed, the most distinguishing characteristic of new media is its overall speed, which is both challenging and attractive. The findings also reveal that new media technologies within a newsroom can be problematic in a number of ways, mainly raising issues of accuracy and credibility thus challenging the profession of economics journalism more than ever.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Achieving a realistic utopia: Rawls, realization, and the task of political philosophy
- Authors: Terlazzo, Rosa Elizabeth
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Rawls, John, 1921-2002 Political science -- Philosophy Justice -- Philosophy Utopias -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2721 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002851
- Description: In this thesis I argue that the tradition of political philosophy which follows in John Rawls's footsteps is obligated to concern itself not only with the realizability, but also with the realization, of justice. Although Rawls himself expresses a commitment only to the former of these, I argue that the roles which he assigns to political philosophy require him to take on the further commitment to realization. This is because these roles are meant to influence not only political philosophers, but the citizens of the wider community as well. The realistically utopian role, which I take to be the central one, requires political philosophy to inspire in that population a hope which I argue that realizability alone cannot provide. Given the deep revisions regarding the political nature of justice as fairness which Rawls made on the basis of realizability concerns, I argue that his theory must in this case be committed to a similar revision. The hope which political philosophy is meant to provide is simply not realizable until the discipline concerns itself centrally with the task of realization.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Terlazzo, Rosa Elizabeth
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Rawls, John, 1921-2002 Political science -- Philosophy Justice -- Philosophy Utopias -- Philosophy
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2721 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002851
- Description: In this thesis I argue that the tradition of political philosophy which follows in John Rawls's footsteps is obligated to concern itself not only with the realizability, but also with the realization, of justice. Although Rawls himself expresses a commitment only to the former of these, I argue that the roles which he assigns to political philosophy require him to take on the further commitment to realization. This is because these roles are meant to influence not only political philosophers, but the citizens of the wider community as well. The realistically utopian role, which I take to be the central one, requires political philosophy to inspire in that population a hope which I argue that realizability alone cannot provide. Given the deep revisions regarding the political nature of justice as fairness which Rawls made on the basis of realizability concerns, I argue that his theory must in this case be committed to a similar revision. The hope which political philosophy is meant to provide is simply not realizable until the discipline concerns itself centrally with the task of realization.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Unfallen women : negotiations of alternative feminine identities in selected writings by Olive Schreiner
- Authors: Snyman, Vicki
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Schreiner, Olive, 1855-1920 Criticism and interpretation Schreiner, Olive, 1855-1920 Story of an African farm Schreiner, Olive, 1855-1920 From man to man Schreiner, Olive, 1855-1920 Undine Feminism in literature Women and literature -- South Africa -- History South African literature (English) -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2214 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002257
- Description: This study constitutes an inquiry into how Olive Schreiner‟s peripheral position as a colonial woman writer enabled her rewriting of feminine identity, specifically her subversion of Victorian feminine stereotypes. I focus particular attention on three novels: The Story of an African Farm (1890), and the posthumously published From Man to Man (1926) and Undine (1929). I employ a feminist literary approach to examine how Schreiner‟s hybrid identity as a British South African enabled her revisioning of femininity. If Schreiner is situated within the context of her time, it can be demonstrated that her negotiations of feminine identity are influenced by her dual intellectual and cultural heritage. On the one hand, she can be situated within a British tradition of women‟s writing – in particular, the New Woman fiction which emerged in the late nineteenth century. On the other hand, she can be situated within a nascent South African literary tradition – and demonstrates prototypically post-colonial concerns. Schreiner‟s writing style develops out of her colonial heritage and her experiences as a woman living in a patriarchal society. The resultant voice subverts the narrative traditions of the metropolitan novel in an attempt to articulate an alternative view of femininity. I examine in detail how Schreiner undermines and subverts Victorian stereotypes, and focus particular attention on the „fallen woman‟ and the „mother-figure‟. She attempts to challenge conventional Victorian conceptions of femininity by erasing the binary between the „angel‟ and the „whore‟ in order to create a New Woman. In Undine and The Story of an African Farm the full realisation of this New Woman is deferred, since both protagonists die, but From Man to Man is more nuanced, particularly in its emphasis on economic empowerment for women. Schreiner also destabilises traditional notions of motherhood, in order to offer glimpses of an alternative maternal role. It is my contention that, in her depiction of mother-figures and (un)fallen women, Schreiner challenges stock Victorian notions of femininity and, in the process, creates a space in which new possibilities for women can be imagined and negotiated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Snyman, Vicki
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Schreiner, Olive, 1855-1920 Criticism and interpretation Schreiner, Olive, 1855-1920 Story of an African farm Schreiner, Olive, 1855-1920 From man to man Schreiner, Olive, 1855-1920 Undine Feminism in literature Women and literature -- South Africa -- History South African literature (English) -- History and criticism
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2214 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002257
- Description: This study constitutes an inquiry into how Olive Schreiner‟s peripheral position as a colonial woman writer enabled her rewriting of feminine identity, specifically her subversion of Victorian feminine stereotypes. I focus particular attention on three novels: The Story of an African Farm (1890), and the posthumously published From Man to Man (1926) and Undine (1929). I employ a feminist literary approach to examine how Schreiner‟s hybrid identity as a British South African enabled her revisioning of femininity. If Schreiner is situated within the context of her time, it can be demonstrated that her negotiations of feminine identity are influenced by her dual intellectual and cultural heritage. On the one hand, she can be situated within a British tradition of women‟s writing – in particular, the New Woman fiction which emerged in the late nineteenth century. On the other hand, she can be situated within a nascent South African literary tradition – and demonstrates prototypically post-colonial concerns. Schreiner‟s writing style develops out of her colonial heritage and her experiences as a woman living in a patriarchal society. The resultant voice subverts the narrative traditions of the metropolitan novel in an attempt to articulate an alternative view of femininity. I examine in detail how Schreiner undermines and subverts Victorian stereotypes, and focus particular attention on the „fallen woman‟ and the „mother-figure‟. She attempts to challenge conventional Victorian conceptions of femininity by erasing the binary between the „angel‟ and the „whore‟ in order to create a New Woman. In Undine and The Story of an African Farm the full realisation of this New Woman is deferred, since both protagonists die, but From Man to Man is more nuanced, particularly in its emphasis on economic empowerment for women. Schreiner also destabilises traditional notions of motherhood, in order to offer glimpses of an alternative maternal role. It is my contention that, in her depiction of mother-figures and (un)fallen women, Schreiner challenges stock Victorian notions of femininity and, in the process, creates a space in which new possibilities for women can be imagined and negotiated.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Writing the aerial dancing body a preliminary choreological investigation of the aesthetics and kinetics of the aerial dancing body
- Authors: Acker, Shaun Albert
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Dance -- 19th century Dance -- 20th century Dance -- 21st century Aerialists Movement, Aesthetics of Feminine beauty (Aesthetics) Movement notation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2129 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002361
- Description: This mini-thesis investigates some of the nineteenth century socio-cultural ideals that have structured a connection between virtuosic aerial skill and bodily aesthetics. It views the emergence of a style of aerial kineticism that is structured from the gender ideologies of the period. It investigates the continual recurrence of this nineteenth century style amongst contemporary aerial dance works and outlines the possible frictions between this Victorian style of kineticism and contemporary aerial explorations. From this observation, a possible catalyst may be observed with which to relocate and inspire a study of aerial kinetics sans the nineteenth century aesthetic component. This kinesiological catalyst may be viewed in conjunction with the theories of ground-based kinetic theorist, Rudolph Laban’s choreutic study of the body in space. Thus, it may be possible to suggest and introduce a possible practical dance scholarship for aerial dance. This mini-thesis includes an introductory choreological investigation that draws on and integrates the disciplines of kinesiology; choreutic theory; existing aerial kinetic technique; musicology; and the physical sciences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Acker, Shaun Albert
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Dance -- 19th century Dance -- 20th century Dance -- 21st century Aerialists Movement, Aesthetics of Feminine beauty (Aesthetics) Movement notation
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:2129 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002361
- Description: This mini-thesis investigates some of the nineteenth century socio-cultural ideals that have structured a connection between virtuosic aerial skill and bodily aesthetics. It views the emergence of a style of aerial kineticism that is structured from the gender ideologies of the period. It investigates the continual recurrence of this nineteenth century style amongst contemporary aerial dance works and outlines the possible frictions between this Victorian style of kineticism and contemporary aerial explorations. From this observation, a possible catalyst may be observed with which to relocate and inspire a study of aerial kinetics sans the nineteenth century aesthetic component. This kinesiological catalyst may be viewed in conjunction with the theories of ground-based kinetic theorist, Rudolph Laban’s choreutic study of the body in space. Thus, it may be possible to suggest and introduce a possible practical dance scholarship for aerial dance. This mini-thesis includes an introductory choreological investigation that draws on and integrates the disciplines of kinesiology; choreutic theory; existing aerial kinetic technique; musicology; and the physical sciences.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Rural livelihoods and food security in the aftermath of the fast track land reform in Zimbabwe
- Authors: Jowah, Eddah Vimbai
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Land reform -- Zimbabwe Food security -- Zimbabwe Sustainable development -- Zimbabwe Right of property -- Zimbabwe Zimbabwe -- Economic conditions Rural development -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3302 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003090
- Description: Land reforms are back on the development agenda. Different types of land reforms have been adopted globally in recent years, but by far the most controversial and most radical has been the fast track land reform pursued by the Government of Zimbabwe from 2000. There is general scholarly agreement that the fast track process has been accompanied by various socio-economic and political challenges, including an increase in levels of food insecurity. This thesis examines fast track reform in specific relation to the livelihoods of smallholder households and household food security amongst land beneficiaries. It argues that the problem of food insecurity in Zimbabwe is a complex social, political and economic issue, which cannot be simplistically reduced to the failures of fast track. Understanding household food insecurity post-2000 needs to go beyond the notion that the nation‟s food security hinges on overall levels of production alone. In particular, livelihoods and food security need to be conceptualised at community and household levels. Therefore, while addressing the broad macro-level analysis and discourse around the process of fast track, the study also adopts a micro-level analysis to look at the varied impact of fast track on the actual beneficiaries. The research focuses on small-scale beneficiaries in the Goromonzi District of Zimbabwe and, through the use of the sustainable livelihoods framework, looks at how their local contexts have been influenced by the wider socio-economic and political processes, and how beneficiaries have sought ways of coping with the challenges they face.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Jowah, Eddah Vimbai
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Land reform -- Zimbabwe Food security -- Zimbabwe Sustainable development -- Zimbabwe Right of property -- Zimbabwe Zimbabwe -- Economic conditions Rural development -- Zimbabwe
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3302 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1003090
- Description: Land reforms are back on the development agenda. Different types of land reforms have been adopted globally in recent years, but by far the most controversial and most radical has been the fast track land reform pursued by the Government of Zimbabwe from 2000. There is general scholarly agreement that the fast track process has been accompanied by various socio-economic and political challenges, including an increase in levels of food insecurity. This thesis examines fast track reform in specific relation to the livelihoods of smallholder households and household food security amongst land beneficiaries. It argues that the problem of food insecurity in Zimbabwe is a complex social, political and economic issue, which cannot be simplistically reduced to the failures of fast track. Understanding household food insecurity post-2000 needs to go beyond the notion that the nation‟s food security hinges on overall levels of production alone. In particular, livelihoods and food security need to be conceptualised at community and household levels. Therefore, while addressing the broad macro-level analysis and discourse around the process of fast track, the study also adopts a micro-level analysis to look at the varied impact of fast track on the actual beneficiaries. The research focuses on small-scale beneficiaries in the Goromonzi District of Zimbabwe and, through the use of the sustainable livelihoods framework, looks at how their local contexts have been influenced by the wider socio-economic and political processes, and how beneficiaries have sought ways of coping with the challenges they face.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
Sexy sports: a reception study of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) Olympics website coverage of women's beach volleyball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics
- Authors: Tajdin, Wafa Mohamed
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Olympics National Broadcasting Company Sports journalism Mass media and sports Volleyball for women Beach volleyball Feminism and mass media Cyberfeminism Sexism in mass media Women athletes Sports for women Sex role in mass media Women in mass media
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3486 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002941
- Description: Sexy Sports: A reception study of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) Olympics website coverage of women’s beach volleyball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics involves an examination of the sporting media and its reportage of the female athlete. The thesis will focus on the reception of the NBC Olympics website coverage of women’s beach volleyball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by viewing groups constituted by the researcher. The reason for this is that it would be difficult to find naturally constituted audiences for this website, but its reception is never-the-less of research interest. My hypothesis is that the nature of the images and text on the website is overdetermined by the construction of women on other popular texts such as men’s magazines etc. In focusing on the meanings obtained from the content of the website (texts and images), the study will investigate how these meanings are naturalised in specific moments of production as well as through their intertextual relationships with similar texts involved in the glamorisation of female athletes. Specifically the study explores the meanings obtained from the content of the website (texts and images) and how in turn these meanings are naturalised by the consumers of the website. The study will utilise a qualitative research design to unpack the content of the website through the use of qualitative content analysis, focus group interviews and individual in-depth interviews. The research will be informed via a theoretical framework that draws from feminist theory, sport feminism, the concept of intertextuality between media texts, ideology and Stuart Hall’s model of preferred reading. Increasingly mainstream media uses the image of a woman’s body to sell almost anything from men’s razors to margarine and in so far as the reporting of women’s sports is concerned this holds true. Through the research I intend to account for the connotative power of other texts i.e. the men’s magazines and pornography, and how this is likely to be carried through into shaping the meanings that are read off the website. Arguably the production of the NBC texts and images are overdetermined by the existence of similar texts already in transmission in the circuit of culture.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2010
- Authors: Tajdin, Wafa Mohamed
- Date: 2010
- Subjects: Olympics National Broadcasting Company Sports journalism Mass media and sports Volleyball for women Beach volleyball Feminism and mass media Cyberfeminism Sexism in mass media Women athletes Sports for women Sex role in mass media Women in mass media
- Language: English
- Type: Thesis , Masters , MA
- Identifier: vital:3486 , http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1002941
- Description: Sexy Sports: A reception study of the National Broadcasting Corporation (NBC) Olympics website coverage of women’s beach volleyball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics involves an examination of the sporting media and its reportage of the female athlete. The thesis will focus on the reception of the NBC Olympics website coverage of women’s beach volleyball at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by viewing groups constituted by the researcher. The reason for this is that it would be difficult to find naturally constituted audiences for this website, but its reception is never-the-less of research interest. My hypothesis is that the nature of the images and text on the website is overdetermined by the construction of women on other popular texts such as men’s magazines etc. In focusing on the meanings obtained from the content of the website (texts and images), the study will investigate how these meanings are naturalised in specific moments of production as well as through their intertextual relationships with similar texts involved in the glamorisation of female athletes. Specifically the study explores the meanings obtained from the content of the website (texts and images) and how in turn these meanings are naturalised by the consumers of the website. The study will utilise a qualitative research design to unpack the content of the website through the use of qualitative content analysis, focus group interviews and individual in-depth interviews. The research will be informed via a theoretical framework that draws from feminist theory, sport feminism, the concept of intertextuality between media texts, ideology and Stuart Hall’s model of preferred reading. Increasingly mainstream media uses the image of a woman’s body to sell almost anything from men’s razors to margarine and in so far as the reporting of women’s sports is concerned this holds true. Through the research I intend to account for the connotative power of other texts i.e. the men’s magazines and pornography, and how this is likely to be carried through into shaping the meanings that are read off the website. Arguably the production of the NBC texts and images are overdetermined by the existence of similar texts already in transmission in the circuit of culture.
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- Date Issued: 2010