Introduction

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 34-36 ◽  
Author(s):  
Derek Hook
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
The South ◽  
The Social ◽  
Prejudice And Discrimination ◽  
Social Prejudice ◽  
Social Logics

The theoretical objectives of this special focus on critical contexts of pathology are briefly examined under four general themes: ‘over-determining psychopathology’, ‘opposing universalizing and/or apolitical trends’, ‘the social logics of discrimination’, and ‘de-essentializing psychopathology’. This discussion links the different papers gathered together here and pin-points an overall critical imperative, that of destabilizing notions of psychopathology as exclusively individualistic, decontexualized, essentialist or organic forms of ‘sickness’. The paper also reflects on the South Africa context and queries how examinations of psychopathology may inflect broader questions of social prejudice and discrimination.

Sachs, Chavafambira, Maggie: Prurience or the Pathology of Social Relations?

2002 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 43-48 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grahame Hayes
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Relations ◽  
Traditional Healer ◽  
The Other ◽  
Research Subject ◽  
The South ◽  
The Social ◽  
Southern Rhodesia ◽  
And Gender ◽  
The Mind

Black Hamlet (1937; reprinted 1996) tells the story of Sachs's association with John Chavafambira, a Manyika nganga (traditional healer and diviner), who had come to Johannesburg from his home in Southern Rhodesia (Zimbabwe). Sachs's fascination with Chavafambira was initially as a “research subject” of a psychoanalytic investigation into the mind of a sane “native”. Over a period of years Sachs became inextricably drawn into the suffering and de-humanization experienced by Chavafambira as a poor, black man in the urban ghettoes that were the South Africa of the 1930s and 1940s. It is easy these days to want to dismiss Sachs's “project” as the prurient gaze of a white, liberal psychiatrist. This would not only be an ahistorical reading of Black Hamlet, but it would also diminish the possibilities offered by what Said (1994) calls, a contrapuntal reading. I shall present a reading of Black Hamlet, focusing on the three main characters - Sachs, Chavafambira, and Maggie (Chavafambira's wife) - as emblematic of the social relations of the other, racial(ised) bodies, and gender.

A Work of Combat: Mulatto Historians and the Haitian Past, 1847-1867

1974 ◽  
Vol 16 (1) ◽  
pp. 15-38 ◽  
Author(s):  
David Nicholls
Keyword(s):  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
The Other ◽  
National Party ◽  
The South ◽  
Liberal Party ◽  
Predominantly Black ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Prejudice And Discrimination ◽  
The One

One of the striking facts about the social and political history of Haiti from independence in 1804 to the present is the deep gulf separating the largely mulatto elite groups from the predominantly black masses. The war of the South in 1799 between Toussaint and Rigaud, and the conflicts between Christophe and Pétion, while not primarily caused by color factors, were reinforced by suspicions and hostilities between black and mulatto, with each group accusing the other of prejudice and discrimination. Politics in the rest of the nineteenth century can generally be seen as a tussle between a mulatto elite centered in the capital and in the cities of the South, on the one hand, and a small black elite often in alliance with army leaders and peasant irregulars, on the other. In the years following 1867 these groups formalized themselves into a largely mulatto Liberal Party, and a preponderantly black National Party.

Social Security and Social Development in South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 868-888
Author(s):  
Leila Patel
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Security ◽  
Social Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Protection ◽  
Inclusive Development ◽  
Welfare Regime ◽  
The South ◽  
Poverty And Inequality ◽  
The Social

Abstract: South Africa has made significant strides in growing its social security and social development system to reduce poverty and inequality since the advent of democracy in 1994. The country’s rights-based and redistributive social protection system builds on earlier social policies and was substantively refashioned to address the country’s colonial and apartheid legacy. This chapter documents the South African case with reference to the following themes: first, it sets out the social and economic challenges facing the country in relation to poverty and inequality. Second, it demonstrates the conceptual and policy significance of the South African case in relation to the rise of social protection policies to promote inclusive development in countries in the Global South. The South African welfare regime is the third theme. It focuses on the evolution of social security and social development, discusses the features of the approach, the nature and scope of social protection policies and their impacts. Finally, the chapter concludes by considering the policy issues and future trajectory of social protection in South Africa.

‘Bending the rules’: South African Refugees in the UK, 1960–1980

2011 ◽  
Author(s):  
Shula Marks
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Educational Environment ◽  
Highly Qualified ◽  
The South ◽  
African Refugees ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Social ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Uk

In this chapter, the author reflects on her long personal association with the Society for the Protection of Science and Learning (SPSL)/Council for Assisting Refugee Academics and many of its South African grantees. The academic refugees who came to the SPSL's notice in the 1960s, specially the South Africans, bent the ‘rules’ and signalled the new ways in which the SPSL was going to have to work in a very changed social and educational environment in Britain, and equally great changes in the nature of the academic refugees. Before the rise of Hitler, German scholars had advanced the frontiers of knowledge in the sciences, the social sciences, and the humanities. And in many of these fields the Jews of Central Europe had played a crucial role. Increasingly from the 1960s, however, many of the refugee academics to the UK were from the so-called ‘third world’, especially Latin America and countries just emerging from colonialism in Africa. Academic refugees from South Africa formed something of a bridge between the old and the new. While most of the South African grantees were white and from institutions modelled on British universities, they were on the whole younger and less highly qualified than the earlier generation of grantees. The very small number of Africans assisted at this time were in fact far more eminent; significantly, however, they were the very first Africans to be assisted by the Society.

Power to the People? Right of Access to Electricity in South Africa

Politeia ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Khaled Qasaymeh ◽  
Jo-Ansie Karina Van Wyk
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Policy ◽  
Economic Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Special Focus ◽  
The South ◽  
Human Right ◽  
Socio Economic Development ◽  
The Right ◽  
Right Of Access

The provision and distribution of and access to electricity are not only technical and economic matters. Access to electricity is a highly political and ideological issue and has consequences for public policy and human development. Since 2000, South Africa has experienced power outages (euphemistically called load-shedding) and the country has not kept up with increased electricity and socio-economic demands. Globally, access to electricity is increasingly regarded as a basic human right and an important contributor to socio-economic development. However, the position towards and the practice regarding access to electricity by the post-apartheid South African government are contradictory. Although both the South African Bill of Rights and the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 refer to fundamental human rights, the matter of access to electricity as a human right is not clearly spelled out in these documents. This article outlines international and African norms in respect of the right of access to electricity in the context of the international socio-economic development debate. It proceeds to examine the South African context, policies, legislation and constitutional court judgments in respect of socio-economic development with a special focus on access to electricity—a matter which is closely linked to political, public policy and development issues such as housing and the environment in South Africa. The article calls for the right of access to electricity to be declared a basic human right and to be legislated as such in the South African legal regime.

scholarly journals Caregiver-child interaction in a rural village in South Africa

1994 ◽  
Vol 41 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Belinda K. Seeff ◽  
Melissa A. Bortz
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Dominant Role ◽  
Social Play ◽  
The South ◽  
Rural Village ◽  
Speech Language Pathologist ◽  
Child Interaction ◽  
Play Interactions ◽  
The Social

The aim of this study was to describe the caregiver-child interaction in a South African rural village. A social interactional approach was adopted and a triangulation of methods was used. The interaction of nine caregiver-child dyads was observed during a semi-structured play situation, and the caregivers were interviewed concerning their beliefs about, and attitudes towards their child's communication. Interactions were rated according to an interactional profile and common themes found during the interviews, were identified. Interview results showed that although the majority of caregivers assigned importance to interacting and playing with children, their reported actions were not congruent with this. Caregivers played a dominant role during the social play interactions. Support was found for the utilisation of the social interactional approach and a triangulation of methods. Results obtained have important implications for the South African speech-language pathologist.

The Social Economy and Role of Government in South Africa

2019 ◽  
pp. 943-955
Author(s):  
O. E. Okeke-Uzodike ◽  
Mogie Subban
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
The South ◽  
Global Recession ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Impact

Social economy, as a relatively new concept, is considered the ‘third sector' of the economy in government discourse. It plays significant roles in socio-economic and political spheres of any nation. Emphasis on social economy has been as a result of the global recession which caused economic depression in several countries all over the world. In South Africa, the impact of the economic recession has reflected mostly in increased unemployment and poverty levels resulting in maximization of discrepancies between the rich and poor with inequalities, creating disenabling environments for foreign investments. These social problems have called for an examination of the role of the social economy in liberating the South African economy from its current dire state. This chapter on tracing the developmental agenda of the South African government, will examine how the social economy has fed into the National Development Plan and the impact of implementation of government policies and regulatory frameworks to ensure achievement of various national imperatives aligned to the Millennium Development Goals in the context of the social economy. The authors state that whilst there is a growing trend towards the social economy in the current context of government, multi-faceted effects of poverty needs to be targeted through robust entrepreneurial opportunities for growth and development of the economy.

The Social Economy and Role of Government in South Africa

2016 ◽  
pp. 227-239
Author(s):  
O. E. Okeke-Uzodike ◽  
Mogie Subban
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Economy ◽  
The South ◽  
Global Recession ◽  
Regulatory Frameworks ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Rich ◽  
The Impact

Social economy, as a relatively new concept, is considered the ‘third sector' of the economy in government discourse. It plays significant roles in socio-economic and political spheres of any nation. Emphasis on social economy has been as a result of the global recession which caused economic depression in several countries all over the world. In South Africa, the impact of the economic recession has reflected mostly in increased unemployment and poverty levels resulting in maximization of discrepancies between the rich and poor with inequalities, creating disenabling environments for foreign investments. These social problems have called for an examination of the role of the social economy in liberating the South African economy from its current dire state. This chapter on tracing the developmental agenda of the South African government, will examine how the social economy has fed into the National Development Plan and the impact of implementation of government policies and regulatory frameworks to ensure achievement of various national imperatives aligned to the Millennium Development Goals in the context of the social economy. The authors state that whilst there is a growing trend towards the social economy in the current context of government, multi-faceted effects of poverty needs to be targeted through robust entrepreneurial opportunities for growth and development of the economy.

scholarly journals Parodies of whiteness: Die Antwoord and the politics of race, gender, and class in South Africa

2020 ◽  
Vol 49 (1) ◽  
pp. 115-147
Author(s):  
Ian Bekker ◽  
Erez Levon
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
The Political ◽  
The South ◽  
The Social ◽  
Recent Developments ◽  
New Nation ◽  
Politics Of Race ◽  
And Gender

AbstractThe dramatic reconfiguration of the social, political, and ideological order in South Africa since 1990/1994 has demanded a concomitant reconceptualization of (white) Afrikaner notions of self and belonging in the (new) nation. In this article, we draw on recent developments in the study of varidirectional voicing (polyphony), performance, and mediatization to examine how the South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord makes use of parody and metaparody in their music to critique emerging ‘new Afrikaner’ identities and the racial, class, and gender configurations on which they are based. We also discuss the structural limits of these critiques and the political potential of (meta)parodic performance more generally. ((Meta)parody, polyphony, performance, race, class, gender, South Africa)*

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