scholarly journals The phenomenon of skin lightening: Is it right to be light?

2016 ◽  
Vol Volume 112 (Number 11/12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Lester M. Davids ◽  
Jennifer van Wyk ◽  
Nonhlanhla P. Khumalo ◽  
Nina G. Jablonski ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Perspectives ◽  
Skin Bleaching ◽  
Social Rhetoric ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
The World ◽  
Random Product ◽  
Skin Lightening ◽  
Chronic Use

Abstract Chemicals capable of lightening the skin – variously known as skin-bleaching, skin-lightening, depigmenting, skin-evening and skin-brightening agents – are among the most commonly used skin preparations in the world. Globally, Africa reportedly exhibits a high prevalence of skin lightener use. In this review, we provide both clinical and social perspectives on skin lightener use in Africa, with particular emphasis on South Africa. We narratively explore the timeline associated with skin lightener use in South Africa and attempt to interweave the social rhetoric of this specific paradigm. Despite the risks associated with exposing the skin to known constituents of these formulations, such as hydroquinone and mercury, chronic use continues. In spite of legislation banning hydroquinone and mercury in cosmetics in South Africa, these ingredients are present in widely available products. We recommend better implementation of policies and greater ethical responsibility of multinational cosmetic companies in addition to the initiation of a system of random product testing and penalties that could improve industry compliance.

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.

scholarly journals The social construction of HIV/AIDS

2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Natalie Goldstein ◽  
H G Pretorius ◽  
A D Stuart
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Construction ◽  
Full Text ◽  
Aids Epidemic ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
Hiv Aids

An in-depth look is taken at the specific discourses surrounding the debilitating HIV/AIDS epidemic sweeping South Africa and the world. Opsomming Hierdie artikel poog om ‘n indiepte ondersoek te loods na die spesifieke diskoerse rondom die MIV/VIGS epidemie in Suid-Afrika en die wêreld. *Please note: This is a reduced version of the abstract. Please refer to PDF for full text.

scholarly journals Armoedekultuur: Die leefwereld van die Nuwe Testament en die situasie in Suid-Afrika vandag

1996 ◽  
Vol 52 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andries Van Aarde
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
New Testament ◽  
Social Dynamics ◽  
Eastern Mediterranean ◽  
Culture Of Poverty ◽  
Economic Statistics ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The New Testament ◽  
Social Scientific

Culture of poverty: The world of the New Testament then and the situation in South Africa today. In this article poverty in the world of the New Testament is explained in the  light of the social dynamics of the first century Eastern Mediterranean. The focus is on the sub-culture of the disreputable poor. Features of a culture of poverty are reflected upon from a social-scientific perspective in order to try to understand why poverty is intensifying in South Africa today. The article aims at identifying guidelines for Christians in using the New Testament in a profound way to challenge the threat of poverty. The following aspects are discussed: the underdevelopment of third-world societies over against the technical evolution in first-world societies during the past two hundred years, economic statistics with regard to productivity and unemployment in South Africa, the social identity of the disreputable poor, poverty within the pre-print culture of the biblical period, and the church as the household of God where Christians should have compassion for others.

scholarly journals The colonial matrix of power: Image ontology and the question of blackness

2021 ◽  
Vol 77 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Itumeleng D. Mothoagae
Keyword(s):  
United States ◽  
South Africa ◽  
United States Of America ◽  
Black People ◽  
World Order ◽  
The United States ◽  
Global South ◽  
Black Theology ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

The question of blackness has always featured the intersectionality of race, gender, sexuality and class. Blackness as an ontological speciality has been engaged from both the social and epistemic locations of the damnés (in Fanonian terms). It has thus sought to respond to the performance of power within the world order that is structured within the colonial matrix of power, which has ontologically, epistemologically, spatially and existentially rendered blackness accessible to whiteness, while whiteness remains inaccessible to blackness. The article locates the question of blackness from the perspective of the Global South in the context of South Africa. Though there are elements of progress in terms of the conditions of certain Black people, it would be short-sighted to argue that such conditions in themselves indicate that the struggles of blackness are over. The essay seeks to address a critique by Anderson (1995) against Black theology in the context of the United States of America (US). The argument is that the question of blackness cannot and should not be provincialised. To understand how the colonial matrix of power is performed, it should start with the local and be linked with the global to engage critically the colonial matrix of power that is performed within a system of coloniality. Decoloniality is employed in this article as an analytical tool.Contribution: The article contributes to the discourse on blackness within Black theology scholarship. It aims to contribute to the continual debates on the excavating and levelling of the epistemological voices that have been suppressed through colonial epistemological universalisation of knowledge from the perspective of the damnés.

scholarly journals Generalities About Caring Mental Illness and Impact on Family Caregivers in Chinese Community: A Ten Years Narrative Review Study

2021 ◽  
pp. 5-14
Author(s):  
Nkundimana Balthazar ◽  
Xu Xiaoming ◽  
Prof. Kuang Li ◽  
Fei Gao ◽  
Jiglan He ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Family Caregivers ◽  
Psychiatric Illness ◽  
Chinese Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Prevalence ◽  
The World ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities ◽  
Multiple Challenges ◽  
Mental Health In China

Background: Worldwide, the burden of mental health is increasing day by day. The WHO alerts countries that diseases caused by mental health will occupy the second rank on the rest of non-communicable diseases. The increase of mental diseases is always associated with the increase of multiple challenges in primary caregivers who are mostly family members of the patient. China is one of nations with high prevalence of mental health disorders. Like many other countries caregiving mental health in china would have challenges and opportunities. This study aimed to narratively combine studies on family caregivers of psychiatric illness in China thereby making an objective conclusion Methods: A matrix method was narratively used in this study. Studies conducted in Chinese community which includes studies in main land China, Hong Kong and Taiwan conducted in the period between 2008-2019 were considered. 47 studies were considered for analysis and five main themes were found for consideration. Results: The findings in this study are summarized in the following themes 1. High burden and burnout of care and influencing factors, 2. The high stigma of caregivers 3. The low quality of life of caregivers 4. the social support. 5. Care and intervention for caregivers of psychiatric disorders. Conclusion: caregivers of psychiatric illness in Chinese community face challenges that are in some cases different to the rest of the world however there are many similarities with the rest of the world that are found. To overcome these challenges, all parties are called to play its assigned role in the eradication of these challenges. There is a need of strengthening the available opportunities and the common understanding of the problem is required in Chinese community.

Khoisan – the Best Hunters in the World

1970 ◽  
pp. 93-100
Author(s):  
Sandra Wawrzyniak
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Harsh Environment ◽  
Way Of Life ◽  
Hunter Gatherers ◽  
Special Regard ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

Khoisan or Bushmen, are one of the last hunter-gatherers living on our planet that follow the traditional way of life. They inhabit the remote, harsh environment of the Kalahari and Namib deserts, and are often described as the best hunters in the world. This article presents the outline of their thousands of years old hunting techniques, strategies as well as weapons and traps applied while hunting. It also demonstrates how hunting affects the social and economical structure of their communities. The article also deals with the trends in tourist hunting in South Africa with special regard to the ‘hunting with the Bushmens’ offers.

The Interior Life of Mtutu: Psychological Fact or Fiction?

2005 ◽  
Vol 35 (3) ◽  
pp. 555-573 ◽  
Author(s):  
K. Ratele
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Economic History ◽  
Interpersonal Relations ◽  
Inner Life ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Black Person ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World ◽  
The Face ◽  
History Of

This article seeks to understand the routes to, and pasts, possibilities and forms of, the interior world of the African or black person in its relations to the politics and economy of superiority and separation. The world that is explored is primarily sexual, and therefore, incorporates embodied life, but of necessity widens to include affective, cognitive, and purposeful aspects. In the face of the scarcity of scholarly psychological literature in the area of the intimate lives of black individuals, particularly when seen against the backcloth of colonial and apartheid arrangements, the article begins by arguing for the importance of turning to other, imaginative, sources for help in trying to comprehend African interiors. It then turns to meanings of intimacy on which interiority is indexed, going on to discuss the notion in relation to the social, political and economic history of South Africa, while taking in the notion of soul along the way. Next, the interest of colonial and apartheid regimes in intimacy is traced, showing that this interest stretched beyond interpersonal relations to the very calculus of discrimination and domination. The article concludes by urging African scholars to take black inner life a little more seriously and without abandoning creativity, still locating such efforts within radical and ethical theoretical frameworks.

scholarly journals How the Word “Zionist” Functions in Antisemitic Vocabulary

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 1-18
Author(s):  
David Hirsh
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Partial Response ◽  
Jewish Life ◽  
A Priori ◽  
Social World ◽  
Double Standard ◽  
Observation Data ◽  
Complex Phenomenon ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

Abstract This paper is a partial response to the intuitive claim that hostility to “Zionists” is not hostility to Jews and so is not antisemitic. It examines ways in which the terms “Zionist” and “Zionism” themselves feature in antisemitic text and discourse. It argues that antisem­itism should be understood as a complex phenomenon that is observable in the social world only with some difficulty, and that understanding should begin in a consideration of that observation data. This paper is critical of the opposite method, which sees the observ­able world only through pre-existing a priori concepts; an example of this is the construction of the concept of Zionism as essentially racist. This method treats observable phenomena, like racism, as inevitable manifestations of the predetermined concept, Zionism. Zionism, and its relationship to racism, should be understood after observing their actuality in the world, not as a priori definitions, which then structure what is observed. Much under­standing of Zionism therefore adds a methodological double standard to the double stan­dards of judgment, which have already been well described. The paper draws on a number of case studies, that is, actualizations of Zionism and antisemitism in the existing world: the opposition to David Unterhalter’s nomination to the Constitution Court in South Africa; the antizionist construction of Zionism as racism without the consent or the col­laboration of people who self-identify as Zionists; statements circulating in academia that define the communities of scholarship and of morality in ways that exclude most Jews; the designation of Israel as apartheid. The paper concludes with a word on how antizionist nostalgia resists facing the material changes to Jewish life, which were enforced during the twentieth century.

scholarly journals The search for a moral compass and a new social contract in the context of citizenship education

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johannes L. Van der Walt
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Social Contract ◽  
Citizenship Education ◽  
Political Transformation ◽  
Social Instability ◽  
Moral Compass ◽  
The Social ◽  
Daunting Task ◽  
The World ◽  
Resultant Increase

Some observers regard South Africa as one of the most violent, lawless and morally depraved societies in the world. Several other countries around the world can be shown to be similarly afflicted. In South Africa’s case, this condition might be because of political transformation, particularly the lingering effects of the struggle against past injustices (apartheid, racism) inflicted on sections of the population. The social instability has been exacerbated by an influx of migrants and a resultant increase in diversity. One way of attempting to assuage this situation is to harness the school subject known as ‘citizenship education’ for guiding the upcoming generations into committing to a new moral compass, that is, awareness or consciousness with a conscience, and to an accompanying new social contract. Finding a rationale for such a moral compass and social contract that all the citizens of South Africa and of other similarly stricken countries would be prepared to commit to is a daunting task because people tend to be subjective in reflecting about their personal and group views, particularly about their religious beliefs and convictions. Closer examination reveals, however, that despite all the diversity, differences and conflict prevalent in societies, people are potentially able to share a set of basic values that arguably could form the core of the sought-for moral compass. Citizenship education could be functional in bringing home to the next generation the notion of henceforth living in accordance with the precepts of such a moral compass and social contract.

How Heresy Makes Orthodoxy

2016 ◽  
Vol 4 (4) ◽  
pp. 345-367 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ali Qadir
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Qualitative Analysis ◽  
Supreme Court ◽  
Moral Authority ◽  
Social Processes ◽  
Court Cases ◽  
Muslim Community ◽  
The Social ◽  
The World

This article explores the on-going construction, or “sedimentation,” of Sunni orthodoxy by paying attention to the boundary role of “insider-Others.” To highlight how boundary positions of heretical communities shape the category of orthodox Islam, this paper focuses on the social processes excluding the “heretical” Ahmadiyya Muslim Community in South Africa. The paper undertakes a qualitative analysis of two Supreme Court cases involving Ahmadis and the Muslim Judicial Council of South Africa, local representatives of orthodox Sunnism. These two cases stand out in a contentious history that has led to extreme ostracism of Ahmadis by Sunni Muslims in the country. The analysis identifies three features of Sunni orthodoxy that crystallized in the process of conflict with the Ahmadiyya: alienation, transnationalism, and Archimedean moral authority. These features help make sense of social processes marginalizing Ahmadis around the world, and offer new insights into construction of global Sunni orthodoxy.

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