Performing Theatre and Democracy

2021 ◽  
pp. 87-98
Author(s):  
Leila Henriques
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Embodied Experience ◽  
Performance Ethnography ◽  
Theatre History ◽  
Political Narrative ◽  
The Many ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Perspective

This collection of performances that is linked to this chapter was created as part of the MA exchange project between NTNU and DFL (Drama for Life). Students used performance ethnography as a method for generating performance material in answer to the challenge of building democracy through theatre. South Africa has a rich theatre history that has always engaged with the South African political narrative. Through developing an understanding of the many theatre-making processes that created this unique history, as well as through exploring other contemporary South African performances, students created and tracked their own research methodology so that they were able to hold up a mirror to the world around them. While each performance captured the individual perspective of the performer, they also engaged directly and indirectly with broader South African realities. The course consisted of four components, each shaped by the individual’s journey into their own research methodology. These were: generating material, interpreting the material, rehearsing the material and performing the material. This submission consists of a framing statement written by the lecturer as well as a collection of ten performances that include a short framing statement from each performer. Permission was obtained from all the students to showcase their work apart from one student who has submitted it under a pseudonym. Out of this exploration and through a practical laboratory, students created an embodied experience that addressed the notion of democracy. The value of the work was to gain a fresh embodied perspective of democracy in South Africa. It spoke to our unique South African theatre-making legacy, but also challenged and disrupted our understanding of what democracy is and how it might be performed.

Epistemic Ruptures in South African Standpoint Knowledge-Making: Academic Feminism and the #FeesMustFall Movement

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Desiree Lewis ◽  
Cheryl Margaret Hendricks
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Political Thought ◽  
Economic Restructuring ◽  
Student Protests ◽  
Political Processes ◽  
Academic Feminism ◽  
The Many ◽  
Radical Knowledge ◽  
Intellectual Activism

Alongside the many structural and political processes generated by the #FeesMustFall student protests between 2015 and 2016 were narratives and discourses about revitalising the transformation of universities throughout South Africa. It was the very notion of “transformation,” diluted by neo-liberal macro-economic restructuring from the late 1990s, that students jettisoned as they increasingly embraced the importance of “decolonisation.” By exploring some of the key debates and interventions driven by the #FeesMustFall movement, we consider how earlier trajectories of feminist knowledge-making resonate with these. The article also reflects on how aspects of intellectual activism within the student protests can deepen and push back the frontiers of contemporary South African academic feminism. In so doing, it explores how radical knowledge-making at, and about, universities, has contributed to radical political thought in South Africa.

The Everyday in a Time of Transformation: Exploring a Single South African Lifeworld after 20 Years of Democracy

2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (1) ◽  
pp. 32-54
Author(s):  
P. Conrad Kotze ◽  
Jan K. Coetzee
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Sociological Research ◽  
Contemporary Debate ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Everyday ◽  
Ontological Turn ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Epistemological Framework

Transformation has come to be a defining characteristic of contemporary societies, while it has rarely been studied in a way that gives acknowledgement to both its societal effects and the experience thereof by the individual. This article discusses a recent study that attempts to do just that. The everyday life of a South African is explored within the context of changes that can be linked, more or less directly, to those that have characterized South Africa as a state since the end of apartheid in 1994. The study strives to avoid the pitfalls associated with either an empirical or solely constructivist appreciation of this phenomenon, but rather represents an integral onto-epistemological framework for the practice of sociological research. The illustrated framework is argued to facilitate an analysis of social reality that encompasses all aspects thereof, from the objectively given to the intersubjectively constructed and subjectively constituted. While not requiring extensive development on the theoretical or methodological level, the possibility of carrying out such an integral study is highlighted as being comfortably within the capabilities of sociology as a discipline. While the article sheds light on the experience of transformation, it is also intended to contribute to the contemporary debate surrounding the current “ontological turn” within the social sciences.

scholarly journals BARGAINING IN BAD FAITH IN SOUTH AFRICAN LABOUR LAW: AN ANTIDOTE?

Obiter ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Fiona Leppan ◽  
Avinash Govindjee ◽  
Ben Cripps
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Collective Bargaining ◽  
South African ◽  
Good Faith ◽  
Bad Faith ◽  
Labour Law ◽  
International Labour Organisation ◽  
Labour Legislation ◽  
The Many ◽  
Labour Organisation

While good-faith bargaining is recognized in many overseas jurisdictions and by the International Labour Organisation, such a duty has not been incorporated in South African labour legislation. Given the many recent examples of labour unrest in South Africa, it is time to consider whether there should be a duty to bargain in good faith when taking part in collective bargaining. Recognizing such a duty would arguably benefit both employers and employees and South Africa as a whole.

Soviet Freedom in South Africa

2020 ◽  
pp. 71-103
Author(s):  
David Johnson
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Literary Form ◽  
The Political ◽  
The Novel ◽  
William Morris ◽  
Olive Schreiner ◽  
Political Journalism ◽  
Political Freedoms ◽  
The Many

The reception in South Africa of the utopian tradition initiated by Marx, Engels and Lenin is analysed, focusing on the period from 1910 to 1930. The chapter examines the early South African dreams of freedom derived from or influenced by classical Marxism: the political journalism of Olive Schreiner from the 1880s to 1920; the novel 1960 (A Retrospect) by James and Margaret Scott Marshall; the Christian-influenced dreams of David Ivon Jones and Josiah Gumede; the 1928 Native Republic Thesis prescribed for South Africa by the Soviet Union’s Comintern; the literary visions of freedom of Edward Roux (inspired by Swinburne) and J. T. Bain (inspired by William Morris), as well as the many dreams expressed in literary form in the pages of The International and successor CPSA newspapers The South African Worker and Umsebenzi; J. M. Gibson’s ideal of an economic freedom that supersedes the political freedoms of liberalism; and the Stalinist telos driven by ‘the deepening economic crisis’ and culminating in the dictatorship of the proletariat. Roux’s political cartoons envisioning freedom and published in Umsebenzi are analysed.

(Un)Liberated and Contested Narratives

2019 ◽  
pp. 334-347
Author(s):  
Bongani C Ndhlovu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Public Sphere ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Cohesion ◽  
Nation Building ◽  
The State ◽  
The Public ◽  
The Public Sphere ◽  
The Many ◽  
Contested Narratives

This chapter analyses the influence of the state in shaping museum narratives, especially in a liberated society such as South Africa. It argues that while the notion of social cohesion and nation building is an ideal that many South African museums should strive for, the technocratisation of museum processes has to a degree led to a disregard of the public sphere as a space of open engagement. Secondly, the chapter also looks at the net-effect of museums professionals and boards in the development of their narrative. It argues that due to the nature of their expertise and interests, and the focus on their areas of specialisation, museums may hardly claim to be representative of the many voices they ought to represent. As such, the chapter explores contestations in museum spaces. It partly does so by exploring the notion “free-spokenness” and its limits in museum spaces. To amplify its argument, the chapter uses some exhibitions that generated critical engagements from Iziko Museums of South Africa.

scholarly journals Depression in the South African workplace

2016 ◽  
Vol 22 (1) ◽  
pp. 2
Author(s):  
Marthinus P. Stander ◽  
Margreet Bergh ◽  
Helen Elizabeth Miller-Janson ◽  
Janetta C. De Beer ◽  
Frans A. Korb
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Work Environment ◽  
South African ◽  
Depression And Anxiety ◽  
The South ◽  
Anxiety Group ◽  
Prevalence Of Depression ◽  
The Individual ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Insight Into

Depression is a common psychiatric disorder and can be costly, having a significant impact on the individual and employers. The South African Depression and Anxiety Group (SADAG) in partnership with HEXOR, with the support of Lundbeck, undertook research into depression in the workplace, because South African information is not available on this topic. It provides insight into the prevalence of depression within the workplace in South Africa, as well as the impact of depression on the employees and employers in terms of sick leave and levels of productivity, especially when the symptoms include cognitive impairment. It is apparent that stigma plays a pivotal role in the reasons for non-disclosure to employers. It further highlights the magnitude of awareness, early detection and the provision of a holistic support system within the work environment, free from bias, to ensure that optimum benefit can be achieved for both employer and employee.

scholarly journals Towards A Bill of Rights for a Democratic South Africa

1991 ◽  
Vol 35 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 21-43 ◽  
Author(s):  
Albie Sachs
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
Equal Rights ◽  
World Community ◽  
African People ◽  
Constitutional Level ◽  
The World ◽  
The Individual

All revolutions are impossible until they happen; then they become inevitable. South Africa has for long been trembling between the impossible and the inevitable, and it is in this singularly unstable situation that the question of human rights and the basics of government in post-apartheid society demands attention.No longer is it necessary to spend much time analysing schemes to modernize, reform liberalize, privatize, or even democratize apartheid. Like slavery and colonialism, apartheid is regarded as irremediably bad. There cannot be good apartheid, or degrees of acceptable apartheid. The only questions are how to end the system as rapidly as possible and how to ensure that the new society which replaces it lives up to the ideals of the South African people and the world community. More specifically, at the constitutional level, the issue is no longer whether to have democracy and equal rights, but how fully to achieve these principles and how to ensure that within the overall democratic scheme, the cultural diversity of the country is accommodated and the individual rights of citizens respected.

A Spatial Model of Authority-Dependency Relations in South Africa

1975 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 483-490 ◽  
Author(s):  
Charles F. Schmidt
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Conceptual Framework ◽  
South African ◽  
Spatial Model ◽  
The South ◽  
Alternative Means ◽  
Spatial System ◽  
Dependency Relations ◽  
The Many

Solutions to old problems are sometimes found in new paradigms and models which provide alternative means of approach and analysis. It is suggested here that South Africa's socio-economic and political problems, stemming from the country's multi-ethnic structure, may be viewed within a conceptual framework that emphasises the spatial dimensions of the associated conflict. A model suitable for understanding this will stress the many disparities and tensions between the white core élites and those black counter-élites – including the leaders in the Homelands – who are emerging from the subdominant peripheral groups. Moreover, an analysis of the interaction between core and periphery will highlight the transformation necessary to reduce and resolve the conflict between whites and blacks in the South African spatial system and so promote their more equitable development?

Recognising Influences on Attitudes to Knowledge Sharing in a Research Establishment

2016 ◽  
pp. 1038-1058
Author(s):  
Penny Hart
Keyword(s):  
Action Research ◽  
Knowledge Sharing ◽  
Tacit Knowledge ◽  
Research Methodology ◽  
Research Organization ◽  
Risk Averse ◽  
Organizational Subcultures ◽  
Knowledge Capability ◽  
The Individual ◽  
Individual Perspective

Knowledge sharing in organizations is influenced by several interconnecting factors, but there is little written on the individual perspective of those involved in sharing. An interpretivist, action research methodology was used to help members of a research organization determine what knowledge means for them and the knowledge sharing issues they face. Their shared Appreciations were that although they believed “knowledge-as-practice” was an essential aspect of their work, it was undervalued by the organization's clients and fund-holders, causing difficulties for the maintenance of knowledge capability, and influencing organizational subcultures. These included a “you should know” subculture and a risk-averse subculture, where staff perceive that there is a tendency to assign blame rather than to accept and learn from errors. An officially mandated culture of knowledge sharing is subverted by these subcultures, affecting individuals' motivation to share their tacit knowledge, their self-efficacy and consequent sharing behaviours.

Who is responsible for protecting my health during the COVID- 19 pandemic?

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Karlien Kallmeyer ◽  
Melvin A Ambele ◽  
Chrisna Durandt ◽  
Graeme Ford ◽  
Simone Grobbelaar ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Fundamental Question ◽  
South African Government ◽  
Infected Person ◽  
The South ◽  
African Government ◽  
Global Pandemic ◽  
The Government ◽  
The Individual

Since the report of the first COVID-19 infected person in South Africa, COVID-19 moved from being a distant threat to a new reality overnight. Metaphorically, COVID-19 could be described as rain, and in order to be protected one would need to stand under an umbrella. The fundamental question that stems from this is who is holding this protective umbrella? Is the government holding the umbrella or are we holding the umbrella? In this article/commentary/perspective, we briefly discuss the responsibility of the South African government and the individual during this global pandemic, the reasoning behind the implementation of lockdown and the consequences thereof. We conclude that both government and citizens need to cooperatively take responsibility and work together to fight COVID-19. The protective umbrella needs to be held by both government and by ourselves.

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