scholarly journals ‘Blaming-the-poor’: Strengths and development discourses which obfuscate neo-liberal and individualist ideologies

2016 ◽  
Vol 60 (2) ◽  
pp. 336-350 ◽  
Author(s):  
Linda Harms Smith
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
South African ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Modes Of Operation ◽  
The Poor ◽  
African Context ◽  
Knowledge And Practice ◽  
Development Discourses ◽  
Work Knowledge ◽  
Selection Of

Critical interrogation of social work texts reveals ideologies contributing to hegemonic ‘taken-for-granted’ knowledge that maintains oppressive power relations. In the South African context of ongoing inequality after the 1994 democratic transition, neo-liberal ideologies have structured and constrained social work knowledge and practice constitutive of social change. Similarly, conservative neo-liberal ideologies underpinning social work knowledge and discourse act performatively to shape practice and social realities. This article, based on a section of the author’s PhD study, examines one of the thematic ideological trends found in post-1994 social work texts on poverty and social development, which reflect neo-liberal, individualist ideologies of ‘blaming-the-poor’ and personal culpability for poverty. A selection of three texts is discussed, illustrating processes and modes of operation of these ideologies in the various approaches proposed.

scholarly journals Exclusive language: The tool to empower and create identity

2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ananda Geyser-Fouche
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Michel Foucault ◽  
Jacques Derrida ◽  
Julia Kristeva ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Literary Theories ◽  
African Context ◽  
Qumran Community ◽  
Selection Of ◽  
The Way

This article used some postmodern literary theories of philosophers such as Jean-Fran�ois Lyotard, Michel Foucault, Jacques Derrida and Julia Kristeva to scrutinise a selection of texts from the post-exilic period with regard to the exclusive language employed in these texts. Lyotard�s insights relate to and complement Foucault�s concept of �counter-memory�. Foucault also focuses on the network of discursive powers that operate behind texts and reproduce them, arguing that it is important to have a look from behind so as to see which voices were silenced by the specific powers behind texts. The author briefly looked at different post-exilic texts within identity-finding contexts, focusing especially on Chronicles and a few Qumran texts, to examine the way in which they used language to create identity and to empower the community in their different contexts. It is generally accepted that both the author(s) of 1 & 2 Chronicles and the Qumran community used texts selectively, with their own nuances, omissions and additions. This study scrutinised the way the author(s) of Chronicles and the Qumran community used documents selectively, focusing on the way in which they used exclusive language. It is clear that all communities used such language in certain circumstances to strengthen a certain group�s identity, to empower them and to legitimise this group�s conduct, behaviour and claims � and thereby exclude other groups.Intradisciplinary and/or interdisciplinary implications: Based on postmodern literary theories, this article compares the exclusive language used in Chronicles and in the texts of the Qumran community, pointing to the practice of creating identity and empowering through discourse. In conclusion, the article reflects on what is necessary in a South African context, post-1994, to be a truly democratic country.Keywords: Exclusive language; inclusive; Jean-Fran�ois Lyotard, Michel Foucault, Pierre Bourdieu; Derrida; Qumran Chronicles

E. P. THOMPSON, ‘SOCIAL HISTORY’, AND SOUTH AFRICAN HISTORIOGRAPHY, 1970–90

2017 ◽  
Vol 58 (1) ◽  
pp. 3-17 ◽  
Author(s):  
PETER DELIUS
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Social History ◽  
Pivotal Role ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Historical Writing ◽  
The South ◽  
New School ◽  
African Context ◽  
Selection Of

AbstractIt is often suggested that the work of E. P. Thomson played a pivotal role in shaping South African historical writing and provided the foundations for a new school of social history. Thompson's writings – often refracted through many other texts – were one influence amongst many. This article, drawing on my own experiences of key moments of individuals and institutions, argues that the decisive and central role that is ascribed to his work does not accord with much more complex and localised realities. The article touches on numerous other influences that shaped the research and writing of succeeding cohorts of historians. It also suggests that while The Poverty of Theory was an influential publication, it did not initiate new forms of research and writing, but rather contributed to debates that were already well underway. In conclusion, the usefulness of the category of social history is disputed, as in the South African context it lends to a lazy lumping together of a very diverse selection of historians and needs to be rethought or replaced.

scholarly journals Animals and nature: mapping storylines and metaphors in David Kramer’s narratives

Literator ◽  
2011 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 99-120
Author(s):  
M. Slabbert
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Animal Studies ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Ecological Awareness ◽  
Political Commentary ◽  
The Social ◽  
Teaching Animal ◽  
African Context ◽  
Representations Of Nature ◽  
Selection Of

This article discusses the representation of animals and nature in selected lyrics from the oeuvre of singer, songwriter and producer David Kramer and considers his engagement with historical and contemporary discourses about human-animal and human-nature interaction in relation to ecological awareness within a South African context. I trace the socio-political commentary voiced through his depiction of animals in the folksongs he wrote during apartheid, especially in lyrics from the album “Baboondogs” (Kramer, 1986). Kramer also employs intertextual references to traditional South African folksongs and tales in his music. Furthermore, the social and environmental significance of Kramer’s representations of nature in a selection of his postapartheid lyrics is investigated. I argue that the pedagogical value of Kramer’s cultural commentary can contribute significantly to the challenge of teaching animal studies and ecocriticism in South African context.

scholarly journals ʼn Plantekologiese verkenning van die waterberggebied in die Noord-Transvaalse bosveld

Koedoe ◽  
1981 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
B. J Coetzee ◽  
P Van Wyk ◽  
W. P. D Gertenbach ◽  
A Hall-Martin ◽  
S. C. J Joubert
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Plant Communities ◽  
South African Context ◽  
African Context ◽  
Community Types ◽  
Selection Of

Die natuurlike Waterbergplantegroei word kortliks in bree Suid-Afrikaanse verband bespreek. Verskillende plantgemeenskappe is oneweredig oor die Waterberge versprei en bewerkte vlaktes verdeel die gebied in blokke. Die Kransbergblok, wat die grootste verskeidenheid van die betrokke plantgemeenskappe bevat, word vir verdere bespreking uitgesonder. Dit blyk dat die noordelike, sentrale, suidelike en westelike dele van die Kransbergblok onderskeidelik uit uiteenlopende groepe gemeenskappe bestaan. Saam verteenwoordig hulle hulle die gematigde, bergagtige Suurbosveld en sy oorgang na Hoeveldse grasveld goed. Gematigde vlaktebosveld word minder goed verteenwoordig. The natural Waterberg vegetation is described briefly within the broad South African context. Different plant communities are unevenly distributed over the Waterberg Mountains and cultivated plains divide the area into discrete blocks. The Kransberg Block, which contains the widest selection of relevant plant communities, is singled out for further discussion. It appears that the northern, central, southern and western sections of the Kransberg Block, respectively contain different sets of major community types. Together they adequately represent the temperate, mountainous Sour Bushveld and its transition to Highveld grassveld. Temperate plains bushveld is less well represented.

scholarly journals The poor in the Psalms and in Tsepo Tshola’s song Indlala: African liberationist remarks

2016 ◽  
Vol 72 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
V. Ndikhokele N. Mtshiselwa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Theoretical Framework ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Black South Africans ◽  
African Context

This article sets out to investigate how an African liberationist paradigm could be used in South Africa as a theoretical framework that shapes an inquiry into the issue of poverty in the Book of Psalms. The poor in the Davidic collections of psalms (cf. Ps 10; 23, 72; 109) will therefore be examined within the South African context in order to probe the liberating possibilities that the psalms could offer to poor black South Africans, and most importantly when the text is read in dialogue with Tsepo Tshola’s liberationist song Indlala [Starvation]. Firstly, this article discusses an African liberationist paradigm with the view to anchor the reading of psalms within a theoretical framework. Secondly, within that framework, this article uses the song Indlala as a hermeneutical tool to unlock the reality of poverty in South Africa. Thirdly, guided by an African liberationist framework the article teases out th ecategories and voices of the poor in the psalms. In the end, this article argues that the reading of poor in the Psalms, particularly with an African liberationist lens could have liberating implications for poor black South Africans.

scholarly journals When tomorrow is yesterday

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (2) ◽  
pp. 35-66
Author(s):  
Allan Boesak
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Social Scientist ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Intellectual Work ◽  
Kwame Nkrumah ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Poor Women ◽  
African Context ◽  
Point Of Departure ◽  
Reconciliation Process

In an early 1977 interview, Steve Biko offered not only insights into the events of June 16 the year before, but also a prophetic analysis of a post-apartheid situation if black people’s political liberation did not include economic liberation as an essential and indispensable reality. Taking those insights as point of departure, and engaging the intellectual work of Kwame Nkrumah, this article argues that Biko’s words were not only prophetic and correct, but absolutely relevant for South Africa’s neo-colonial situation today. Embracing the thinking of Iranian social scientist Hamid Dabashi, I further contend that the events on June 16, 1976 were the start of a revolution, in the sense of “delayed defiance,” still ongoing and manifesting itself in different forms in South Africa today. An analysis of our present South African context, especially as regards the plight of the poor, women, the LGBTQI community, and the still-contested state of our reconciliation process as illustrated by the controversies stirred by former president De Klerk’s denialism regarding apartheid, leads me to conclude that this revolution is “incomplete.”

Exploring recidivism in the South African context.

1998 ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda Bedell ◽  
Nicholas Challis ◽  
Charl Cilliers ◽  
Joy Cole ◽  
Wendy Corry ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
African Context
Sign in / Sign up

Export Citation Format

Share Document