scholarly journals The Australopithecines – An Extinct Group of Human Ancestors: My Scientific Interest in South Africa

Werkwinkel ◽  
2017 ◽  
Vol 12 (1) ◽  
pp. 7-17
Author(s):  
Katarzyna A. Kaszycka
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Taxonomic Status ◽  
Morphological Description ◽  
Australopithecus Africanus ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
Australopithecus Robustus ◽  
Extinct Group

Abstract I introduce the subject of my research interest in South Africa - the australopithecines - a group of bipedal, small-brained and large-toothed creatures from the Plio-Pleistocene, from which the human genus arose. I then briefly discuss various topics of my research, concerning: (1) Taxonomic status and morphological description of the extinct human relative from the Kromdraai site (Australopithecus robustus); (2) Graphic reconstruction of the partial skull from Kromdraai - specimen numbered TM 1517; (3) Assessment of size sexual dimorphism of the South African australopithecines (Australopithecus robustus and Australopithecus africanus), which, in terms of facial features, was pronounced - being almost gorilla-sized; (4) Social behavior of a fossil hominid species from around 2 million years ago, which, in terms of the social structure, was most likely a multimale-multifemale one; and (5) An event from the history of paleoanthropology, concerning the content of the 1924/25 photographs of the Taung Child (Australopithecus africanus) - the first australopithecine skull discovered.

EVERYDAY POLITICS AND COLLECTIVE MOBILIZATION AGAINST FOREIGNERS IN A SOUTH AFRICAN SHACK SETTLEMENT

Africa ◽  
2015 ◽  
Vol 85 (1) ◽  
pp. 131-153 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tamlyn Monson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Distance ◽  
Informal Settlements ◽  
Racial Identities ◽  
Shared Experiences ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of ◽  
Equal Citizenship

ABSTRACTIn contrast to the tolerant and largely peaceful ‘living politics' of informal settlements, as embodied by the social movement Abahlali baseMjondolo, this article considers a darker side of squatter politics: ‘xenophobic’ mobilization. I show how the historical stratification of citizenship in South Africa remains spatially embedded in longstanding informal settlements, where distinctive repertoires of collective action have been shaped by a (still unfinished) history of struggle for inclusion. Using archival research and interviews conducted in the informal settlements of Atteridgeville, Gauteng, I show how the continuing struggle for equal citizenship draws on shared experiences of mundane hardship and collective labour, giving rise to social distance between established local squatters and politically indifferent foreign newcomers. At times of protest, this polarity is concentrated by and converges with familiar practices of insurgent citizenship, creating a context for mobilization against foreigners. In this sense, ‘xenophobic’ mobilization may be seen to articulate a claim for inclusion by structurally excluded ‘citizens', rather than an exclusionary claim by those who already belong. The article provides a useful counterpoint to readings of ‘xenophobic’ violence that focus on the role of elite discourses, instrumental leaders or crude racial identities in shaping such mobilization.

scholarly journals The emergence of black queer characters in three post-apartheid novels

2019 ◽  
Vol 56 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-9 ◽  
Author(s):  
Grant Andrews
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Queer People ◽  
The Social ◽  
South African Literature ◽  
Race And Sexuality ◽  
History Of ◽  
Black Queer

Before the end of apartheid, queer lives were almost entirely unrepresented in public literary works in South Africa. Only after the fall of institutionalised apartheid could literature begin to look back at the role of queer people in the history of South Africa, and begin to acknowledge that queer people are a part of the fabric of South African society. A number of celebrated authors emerged who were exploring queer themes; however, most of these authors and the stories they told were from a white perspective, and black queer voices were still largely absent in literature, especially novels. This paper explores the limited number of black queer literary representations following the influential work of K. Sello Duiker. I explore the social dynamics that might have influenced the fact that so few examples of black queer characters currently exist in South African literature. Through an analysis of novels by Fred Khumalo, Zukiswa Wanner, and Chwayita Ngamlana, I show how black, queer characters in post-apartheid novels confront ideas of culture, race, and sexuality as they wrestle with their identities and with questions of belonging and visibility. 

I.—The Geological History of South Africa

1906 ◽  
Vol 3 (3) ◽  
pp. 97-104 ◽  
Author(s):  
F. H. Hatch
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Coastal Area ◽  
Land Surface ◽  
Geological History ◽  
Physical Conditions ◽  
History Of ◽  
The Subject ◽  
History Of The South ◽  
Broad Outline

The subject of this address is a brief acount of the succession, thickness, and geological history of the South African, and more especially of the Transvaal, formations. The information necessary for such an account is of course very incomplete, but in broad outline the succession is now known, and some speculation as to the physical conditions that prevailed during the building up of the region may perhaps be permitted. I propose to deal with the period of the geological history of this country that came to an end with the close of Karroo times. The Karroo period ends with the Stormberg rocks (Rhæitic), and since that time South Africa has, with the exception of a small coastal area, been a land surface, and the rocks have consequently been exposed uninterruptedly to the forces of denudation.

scholarly journals SOCIAL SCIENCE STUDENT TEACHERS’ AWARENESS OF THE INTERTWINESS OF SOCIAL SCIENCE AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN MULTICULTURAL SCHOOL SETTINGS

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Titus Williams ◽  
◽  
Gregory Alexander ◽  
Wendy Setlalentoa ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Justice ◽  
Social Science ◽  
South African ◽  
Science Curriculum ◽  
Social Justice Education ◽  
Education Students ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Science Education ◽  
The Subject

This qualitative study is an exploration of final year Social Science education students awareness of the intertwined nature of Social Science as a subject and the role of social justice in the classroom of a democratic South Africa. This study finds that South African Social Science teachers interpret or experience the teaching of Social Science in various ways. In the South African transitional justice environment, Social Science education had to take into account the legacies of the apartheid-era schooling system and the official history narrative that contributed to conflict in South Africa. Throughout the world, issues of social justice and equity are becoming a significant part of everyday discourse in education and some of these themes are part of the Social Science curriculum. Through a qualitative research methodology, data was gathered from Focus Group Discussion (FGD) sessions with three groups of five teacher education students in two of the groups and the third having ten participants from the same race, in their final year, specializing in Social Science teaching. The data obtained were categorised and analysed in terms of the student teacher’s awareness of the intertwined nature of Social Science and social justice education. The results of the study have revealed that participants had a penchant for the subject Social Science because it assisted them to have a better understanding of social justice and the unequal society they live in; an awareness of social ills, and the challenges of people. Participants identified social justice characteristics within Social Science and relate to some extent while they were teaching the subject, certain themes within the Social Science curriculum. Findings suggest that the subject Social Science provides a perspective as to why social injustice and inequality are so prevalent in South Africa and in some parts of the world. Social Science content in its current form and South African context, emanates from events and activities that took place in communities and in the broader society, thus the linkage to social justice education. This study recommends different approaches to infuse social justice considerations Social Science; one being an empathetic approach – introducing activities to assist learners in viewing an issue from someone else’s perspective, particularly when issues of prejudice or discrimination against a particular group arise, or if the issue is remote from learners’ lives.

scholarly journals Colonial Institutionalisation of Poverty among Blacks in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Vol 43 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Tshepo Lephakga
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Black People ◽  
African Society ◽  
Social Death ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Epistemological Foundation ◽  
The People ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

This article examines colonial institutionalisation of poverty amongst colonised and conquered blacks in South Africa. Colonialism divided the world in two:  the centre, which is occupied by Europeans, and the periphery, which is occupied by non-Europeans. This division institutionalised poverty amongst the colonised to maintain the supremacist status of the coloniser and the colonial status of the colonised as non-beings. Colonial apartheid, following the colonial epistemological foundation(s) and justification(s) of the centre imposing itself on the periphery, strived to make black people go through social death, which became a necessity fed into the colonial thinking that those in the periphery are lesser beings. Social death was engineered and maintained through the impoverishment of black people. Poverty and colonial dependency syndrome were institutionalised following the systematic institutionalisation of the social creation of race. A number of scholars have noted that race is a social creation with real consequences. It is thus not surprising that the painful history of South Africa resulted in the impoverishment of the majority of the people in the country. Following its long historical institutionalisation, poverty resulted in poor black people internalising oppression and doubting their humanness. This paper contends that colonial apartheid is the cause of a vast inequality in the South African society, including social institutionalised poverty among the blacks in South Africa.

scholarly journals South African Social Science and the Azanian Philosophical Tradition

Theoria ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 68 (168) ◽  
pp. 111-135
Author(s):  
Anjuli Webster
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Social Science ◽  
South African ◽  
Philosophical Tradition ◽  
Ethical Question ◽  
Contemporary History ◽  
Material Problem ◽  
The Social ◽  
History Of

This article discusses the contemporary history of South African social science in relation to the Azanian Philosophical Tradition. It is addressed directly to white scholars, urging introspection with regard to the ethical question of epistemic justice in relation to the evolution of the social sciences in conqueror South Africa. I consider the establishment of the professional social sciences at South African universities in the early twentieth century as a central part of the epistemic project of conqueror South Africa. In contrast, the Azanian Philosophical Tradition is rooted in African philosophy and articulated in resistance against the injustice of conquest and colonialism in southern Africa since the seventeenth century. It understands conquest as the fundamental historical antagonism shaping the philosophical, political, and material problem of ‘South Africa’. The tradition is silenced by and exceeds the political and epistemic strictures of the settler colonial nation state and social science.

‘Limping, Yet Made to Climb a Mountain!’ Re-Reading the Vashti Character in the Hiv And Aids South African Context

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Madipoane Masenya (Ngwan’A Mphahlele)
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
External Factor ◽  
Hiv And Aids ◽  
African Women ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Land Grabbing ◽  
The Bible ◽  
History Of ◽  
African Context

The history of the Christian Bible’s reception in South Africa was part of a package that included among others, the importation of European patriarchy, land grabbing and its impoverishment of Africans and challenged masculinities of African men. The preceding factors, together with the history of the marginalization of African women in bible and theology, and how the Bible was and continues to be used in our HIV and AIDS contexts, have only made the proverbial limping animal to climb a mountain. Wa re o e bona a e hlotša, wa e nametša thaba (while limping, you still let it climb a mountain) simply means that a certain situation is being aggravated (by an external factor). In this chapter the preceding Northern Sotho proverb is used as a hermeneutical lens to present an HIV and AIDS gender sensitive re-reading of the Vashti character in the Hebrew Bible within the South African context.

scholarly journals Calcium isotopic patterns in enamel reflect different nursing behaviors among South African early hominins

2019 ◽  
Vol 5 (8) ◽  
pp. eaax3250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Théo Tacail ◽  
Jeremy E. Martin ◽  
Florent Arnaud-Godet ◽  
J. Francis Thackeray ◽  
Thure E. Cerling ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Breast Milk ◽  
South African ◽  
Early Life ◽  
Tooth Enamel ◽  
Biological Evolution ◽  
Milk Consumption ◽  
Interbirth Interval ◽  
Australopithecus Africanus ◽  
The Social ◽  
Life Behavior

Nursing is pivotal in the social and biological evolution of hominins, but to date, early-life behavior among hominin lineages is a matter of debate. The calcium isotopic compositions (δ44/42Ca) of tooth enamel can provide dietary information on this period. Here, we measure the δ44/42Ca values in spatially located microsized regions in tooth enamel of 37 South African hominins to reconstruct early-life dietary-specific variability in Australopithecus africanus, Paranthropus robustus, and early Homo. Very low δ44/42Ca values (<−1.4‰), indicative of milk consumption, are measured in early Homo but not in A. africanus and P. robustus. In these latter taxa, transitional or adult nonmilk foods must have been provided in substantial quantities relative to breast milk rapidly after birth. The results suggest that early Homo have continued a predominantly breast milk–based nursing period for longer than A. africanus and P. robustus and have consequently more prolonged interbirth interval.

Implications for the age of South African Devonian rocks in which Tropidoleptus (Brachiopoda) has been found

1983 ◽  
Vol 120 (1) ◽  
pp. 51-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. J. Boucot ◽  
C. H. C. Brunton ◽  
J. N. Theron
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
North America ◽  
South African ◽  
Early Carboniferous ◽  
Fossil Plants ◽  
Geological Time ◽  
Marine Sedimentation ◽  
History Of ◽  
Near Shore ◽  
First Time

SummaryThe Devonian brachiopod Tropidoleptus is recognized for the first time in South Africa. It is present in the lower part of the Witteberg Group at four widely separated localities. Data regarding the stratigraphical range of the genus elsewhere, combined with information on recently described fossil plants and vertebrates from underlying strata of the upper Bokkeveld Group, suggest that a Frasnian or even Givetian age is reasonable for the lower part of the Witteberg Group. The recognition of Tropidoleptus in a shallow water, near-shore, molluscan association, at the top of the South African marine Devonian sequence, is similar to its occurrence in Bolivia, and suggests a common Malvinokaffric Realm history of shallowing, prior to later Devonian or early Carboniferous non-marine sedimentation. It is noteworthy that Tropidoleptus is now known to occur in ecologically suitable environments around the Atlantic, but is absent from these same environments in Asia and Australia. Tropidoleptus is an excellent example of dispersal in geological time — first appearing in northern Europe and Nova Scotia, then elsewhere in eastern North America and North Africa, followed by South America and South Africa, while continuing in North America.

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