scholarly journals The coloniality of Holocaust memorialization in post-apartheid South Africa

2022 ◽  
Vol 98 (1) ◽  
pp. 263-280
Author(s):  
Katrin Antweiler
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Curriculum Reform ◽  
Global Memory ◽  
Power Dynamics ◽  
Moral Norms ◽  
Holocaust Memory ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
Utopian Thought

Abstract This article investigates local endeavours for Holocaust memory in post-apartheid South Africa in their relation to global memory imperatives that are, among others, produced by supranational organizations such as UNESCO and the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. Drawing on a larger case-study on globalized memory, I analyse to what extent a generalized mnemonic framework is reflected in South Africa's 2007 curriculum reform, namely its inclusion of the Holocaust and subsequent memory politics. In order to illuminate the coloniality of memorialization, I trace the epistemic location of the narrative that suggests that Holocaust memory nourishes democratic values and human rights—maybe even more so than local memories of violence and oppression such as colonization and apartheid. In this regard, I found that while many activists for Holocaust memory continuously and sometimes uncritically advocate for its global implementation, a decolonial perspective enables us to understand the power dynamics constitutive of universal moral norms around Holocaust memory that tacitly transmit global demands to local contexts. I therefore suggest that, within the global colonial matrix of power, a universally advised practice of memorializing the Holocaust to specific ends can be regarded as a technique of governmentality, because it risks limiting utopian thought beyond the Euro-modern paradigm.

Reimagining Intersectionality and Social Exclusion in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khosi Kubeka ◽  
Sharmla Rama
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Exclusion ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Social Division ◽  
Common Reference ◽  
Local Contexts ◽  
African Context

Combining the theories of intersectionality and social exclusion holds the potential for structural and nuanced interpretations of the workings of power, taking systemic issues seriously but interpreting them though social relations that appear in local contexts. An intersectional analysis of social exclusion demonstrates to what extent multiple axes of social division—be they race, age, gender, class, disability or citizenship—intersect to result in unequal and disparate experiences for groups of youth spatially located in particular communities and neighborhoods. A common reference point is therefore power and how it manifests at the intersection of the local and global. A South African case study is used to explore the subjective measures and qualitative experiences of intersectionality and social exclusion further. The unique ways that language intersects with space, neighborhood, and race in the South African context, enables opportunities in education and the labor market, with profound implications for forms of social exclusion.

scholarly journals Visiting history, witnessing memory: A study of a Holocaust Exhibition in Paris in 2012

2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (6) ◽  
pp. 630-645
Author(s):  
Sarah Gensburger
Keyword(s):  
Museum Studies ◽  
Memory Studies ◽  
Scholarly Work ◽  
Memory Mechanism ◽  
The Past ◽  
Memorial Museums ◽  
Holocaust Memory ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Empirical Material

Over the past 20 years, the number of memorial museums and memory exhibitions has increased exponentially and the commemoration of the Holocaust paved the way for this increase. This evolution has given rise to a significant amount of research. However, two questions remain largely unanswered: how are the protocols of memorial exhibitions planned and constructed in concrete terms? And then how do the visitors to these exhibitions use and appropriate this material? The search for the ‘visitor’s gaze’ which is at the heart of contemporary museum studies has only rarely been extended to memorial museums and exhibitions, even those dealing with Holocaust-related topics. This article aims to address this goal. It is thus situated at the crossroads of memory studies and museum studies. Based on extensive empirical material but within the limits of a case study, it focuses on the exhibition C’étaient des enfants. Déportation et sauvetage des enfants juifs à Paris, which was held at the Hotel de Ville in Paris, in 2012. In so doing, it aims to consider some of the underlying assumptions that often go unexamined in the scholarly work on Holocaust memory exhibitions and highlights the centrality of the witnessing memory mechanism as the main way of appropriating the exhibition.

scholarly journals The Collective Memory of the Holocaust Among Mountain Jews in Modern Israel: Sderot (Case Study)

2020 ◽  
pp. 151-183
Author(s):  
Mateusz Majman
Keyword(s):  
Collective Memory ◽  
Jewish Community ◽  
Intergenerational Transmission ◽  
Doctoral Dissertation ◽  
German Occupation ◽  
Holocaust Memory ◽  
Anthropological Study ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
Access To Knowledge

This paper discusses the preliminary findings of a historical, sociological, and anthropological study of the Mountain Jewish community currently living in the Israeli city of Sderot. It is part of a broader study being conducted in Israel for the purpose of my doctoral dissertation. Its aim is to explore what Marianne Hirsch refers to as "the generation of post-memory" among members of the target group by examining their access to knowledge, the memory of trauma, and its intergenerational transmission among the Post-Soviet aliyah generation. The study focuses on the evolution of attitudes among this group, as well as the growth and consolidation of awareness about the Shoah in contemporary Israel. The work examines the transmission of Holocaust memory from generation to generation and the influence of both independent and dependent factors on its course. A distinction is made between people whose ancestors were direct victims and survivors and those whose families managed to escape the sphere of the German occupation.

Social Design for Services Framework

2018 ◽  
Vol 1 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Melanie SARANTOU ◽  
Satu MIETTINEN
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Research Group ◽  
Design Research ◽  
Service Design ◽  
Social Design ◽  
Practical Action ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

This paper addresses the fields of social and service design in development contexts, practice-based and constructive design research. A framework for social design for services will be explored through the survey of existing literature, specifically by drawing on eight doctoral theses that were produced by the World Design research group. The work of World Design researcher-designers was guided by a strong ethos of social and service design for development in marginalised communities. The paper also draws on a case study in Namibia and South Africa titled ‘My Dream World’. This case study presents a good example of how the social design for services framework functions in practice during experimentation and research in the field. The social design for services framework transfers the World Design group’s research results into practical action, providing a tool for the facilitation of design and research processes for sustainable development in marginal contexts.

Grandparents Reveal Their Secrets: A New Holocaust Narrative for the Young ‘Third Generation’ in Israel

2012 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 97-110 ◽  
Author(s):  
Yael Darr
Keyword(s):  
Young Children ◽  
First Generation ◽  
Third Generation ◽  
Master Narrative ◽  
Safe Distance ◽  
Domestic Sphere ◽  
Holocaust Memory ◽  
Very Young Children ◽  
The Holocaust ◽  
New Type

Since the 1990s, a new type of Holocaust story has been emerging in Israeli children's literature. This new narrative is directed towards very young children, from preschool to the first years of elementary school, and its official goal is to instil in them an authentic ‘first Holocaust memory’. This essay presents the literary characteristics of this new Holocaust narrative for children and its master narrative. It brings into light a new profile of both writers and readers. The writers were young children during the Holocaust, and first chose to tell their stories from the safe distance of three generations. The readers are their grand-children and their grand-children's peers, who are assigned an essential role as listeners. These generational roles – the roles of a First Generation of writers and of a Third Generation of readers – are intrinsically familial ones. As such, they mark a significant change in the profile of yet another important figure in the Israeli intergenerational Holocaust discourse, the agent of the Holocaust story for children. Due to the new literary initiatives, the task of providing young children with a ‘first Holocaust memory’ is transferred from the educational authority, where it used to reside, to the domestic sphere.

The Socio-Economic Challenges of South African Indigenous Musicians: A Case Study of Venda-Based Vho-Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo

2019 ◽  
Vol 29 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
N G Mugovhani ◽  
Lebogang Lance Nawa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Empirical Data ◽  
Cultural Policy ◽  
Qualitative Case Study ◽  
Arts Management ◽  
Black South African ◽  
Indigenous Music ◽  
Entire Country

This article discusses and raises awareness about the socio-economic plight of indigenous musicians in South Africa. Through a qualitative case study of the Venda musician, Vho-Talelani Andries Ntshengedzeni Mamphodo, dubbed the “Father of mbila music,” the article highlights the fact that the welfare of Black South African artists, particularly indigenous musicians in South Africa, is generally a precarious affair. Their popularity, at the height of their careers, sometimes masks shocking details of exploitation, neglect, and the poverty they are subjected to, which are exposed only after they have died. Empirical data identifies this as a symptom of, among other things, cultural policy and arts management deficiencies in the promotion of indigenous music. The article aims to find ways to redress this unfortunate situation, which is partially a product of general apathy and scant regard that these artists have perennially been subjected to, even by their own governments, as well as some members of their societies. All these factors mentioned are compounded by ignorance on the part of South African artists. Part of the objective of this study was to establish whether the exposition of the Vhavenda musicians is a typical example of all Black South African indigenous musicians and, if this is the case, whether the suggested ways to redress this unfortunate situation could contribute to or play a role in alleviating the plight of such artists in the entire country.

Breaking the Shackles of Gender Stereotyping to Create New Norms: The Case of Zimbabwean Migrant Women in Mthatha Town

2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Sanction Madambi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Gender Stereotyping ◽  
Personal Agency ◽  
Migrant Women ◽  
Host Countries ◽  
Qualitative Research Design ◽  
Norms And Values ◽  
Recent Case Study ◽  
Traditional Approaches

The migration of Zimbabweans into South Africa is shaped by several factors and processes. Traditionally, the decision to migrate was mostly based on family considerations (where gender stereotypic roles were a priority), although in some cases the migrants exercised individualism and personal agency. This led to migration trends that were male dominated. Current Zimbabwean migration trends reflect large volumes of women as the socio-economic crisis forces them to leave their country. These migrant women encounter a myriad of challenges in their host countries. This paper explores Zimbabwean women’s migration to the town of Mthatha in South Africa, highlighting their challenges and the strategies they employ to overcome these, as found in a recent case study. Applying a qualitative research design and using questionnaires and interviews to gather data from the 100 purposively sampled women, the study found that many Zimbabwean migrant women in Mthatha encountered numerous challenges. They lacked the required documents to live and work in South Africa, experienced exploitation and marriage constraints, and had broken ties with their families back in Zimbabwe. According to the study, these women managed to navigate these challenges, rising above the stereotypic norms and values that used to label them as non-productive citizens to superheroes who were supporting their families and the country’s economy—thus breaking the shackles of gender stereotyping to create new norms. These findings underline the importance of shifting from the traditional approaches to women migration and pursuing perspectives that present migration as a critical component of the process of social change and development to all migrants.

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