scholarly journals THE RISE OF THE INFORMAL SECTOR IN INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENTAL DISCOURSE

Politeia ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 50-65
Author(s):  
Mark K. Ingle
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Informal Sector ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
Economic Sector ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The World ◽  
African Context ◽  
The Common ◽  
The Government

This article documents the rise to prominence of the informal economic sector in academic developmental discourse. After a brief survey of the South African context, the article contrasts the new way of viewing the informal sector with the old. It shows how this shift in attitudes, ranging from grudging respect to outright advocacy, has generated new conceptual tools with which to theorise economic informality. A keen appreciation of the imperatives entailed by the different perspectives of the main protagonists is vital to any reconciliation of the divergent policy prescriptions being advanced for the informal sector.Bureaucrats and human rights activists view informality through very different lenses. The World Bank’s exit/exclusion philosophy recognises that economies at different stages of development will require customised approaches in coming to terms with economic informality. However, the common denominator of the theoretical views articulated in the article is a recognition that the informal sector cannot be dismissed out of hand, and that it has grown to the extent that it warrants serious attention and respect. Measures taken by the government to compensate for losses incurred due to informality could prove ultimately to be counter-productive. The informal economic sector has become a force to be reckoned with.

Asad on the Secular

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Auwais Rafudeen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
The State ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
African Context

This paper examines a South African debate on legislating Muslim marriages in the light of anthropologist Talal Asad’s critique developed in his Formations of the Secular (2003). It probes aspects of the debate under four Asadian themes: (1) the historicity of the secular, secularism, and secularization; (2) the place of power and the new articulations of discourses it creates; (3) the state as the arm of that power; and (4) the interconnections (or dislocations) among law, ethics, and the organic environment (habitus). I argue that Asad illumines the debate in the following ways: (1) by providing a deeper historical and philosophical appreciation of its terms of reference, given that the proposed legislation will be subject to South Africa’s secular Bill of Rights and constitution; (2) by requiring us to examine and interrogate the genealogies of such particular hegemonic discourses as human rights, which some participants appear to present as ahistorical and privileged; and (3) by showing, through the concept of habitus, why this debate needs to go beyond its present piecemeal legal nature and develop an appreciation of the organic linkages among the Shari‘ah, morality, community, and self. Yet inevitable nuances are produced when applying Asad’s ideas to the South African context.

scholarly journals Differentiated outlook to portray secondary cities in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 457-477
Author(s):  
Andre DW Brand ◽  
◽  
Johannes E Drewes ◽  
Maléne Campbell ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Economic Growth ◽  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Urban Growth ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Regional Networks ◽  
Extended Phase ◽  
Common Assumption ◽  
African Context ◽  
The Common

<abstract> <p>Cities are playing an increasingly important role in the development and growth of countries. A country's growth and prosperity is largely dependent on the efficient functioning of its cities. The reliance of countries on the ability of their cities to perform crucial central functions, for national growth, continues to rise. South Africa has a long-standing network of cities, towns and localities. These have developed and become hierarchised over the course of history during which population settlements and their distribution have been influenced by colonisation, segregation, industrialisation and globalisation. Since 1911, South Africa has undergone an extended phase of intense urban growth, with areas such as Johannesburg, Cape Town and eThekwini (Durban) agglomerating into dominating economic spaces. There are, however, no universally accepted, distinct criteria that constitute the general characteristics of secondary cities. The common assumption is that secondary cities are those cities that find themselves below the apex of what are considered primary cities. Furthermore, internationally, secondary cities appear to be considered as important catalysts for balanced and dispersed economic growth. In the South African context, the notion of what constitutes secondary cities is to a large extent underdeveloped. The aim of the paper is to appraise interconnected regional networks as a differentiated and novel outlook when determining secondary cities in South Africa. What is evident from the paper is that there are different potential alternatives with which to portray secondary cities.</p> </abstract>

scholarly journals Editorial

2017 ◽  
Vol 14 (5) ◽  
pp. 1
Author(s):  
Francois Venter
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
Justice System ◽  
Legal Status ◽  
International Criminal ◽  
Modern Society ◽  
Common Denominator ◽  
Criminal Courts ◽  
The Common ◽  
The University

This issue opens with an oratio by one of South Africa's most senior judges, the Honourable LTC Harms who suggests that the South African criminal justice system should learn from the experience of international criminal courts regarding a merger of elements from accusatorial and inquisitorial systems.Shaun de Freitas and Georgia Myburgh of the University of the Free State argue that, if the protection of being human serves as the common denominator in the international discussion of human rights, and if human rights are deeply inclusive, however culturally and historically diverse, then failure to deliberate on the legal status and protection of the unborn may be seen as a failure to extend respect where it is due.Roger Evans of UNISA contends that modern society, socio-political developments and human rights requirements have necessitated a broadening of the classes of assets that should be excluded or exempted from insolvent estates.

scholarly journals Integrating African Pentecostalism into the theological education of South African Universities: An urgent task

2018 ◽  
Vol 74 (3) ◽  
Author(s):  
Mookgo S. Kgatle
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Theological Education ◽  
High Rate ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Urgent Task ◽  
The World ◽  
South African Universities ◽  
African Context ◽  
Pentecostal Churches ◽  
Very High

African Pentecostalism continues to be a growing part of Christianity both in Africa and the rest of the world. Pentecostal churches in Africa are on the rise at a very high rate. However, theological education in South African universities does not reflect this reality, but continues to be of a western orientation. Therefore, there is an urgent need and demand for a theological education that will be relevant to Africa. It is an urgent need for African Pentecostalism to be integrated into the theological education of South African universities. This can be achieved by integrating African Pentecostalism into the curriculum, by decolonising Pentecostal research and by the emergence of critical African scholars that can address cutting-edge issues in a South African context. Thus, theological education in South African universities shall be a contextual and relevant one.

Our World through Our Words: the People and Their Stories through Our Ancestors’ Voices

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (1-2) ◽  
pp. 81-98
Author(s):  
Natalia Molebatsi ◽  
T Tu Huynh
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
South African Context ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Black And White ◽  
Local Texture ◽  
The Past ◽  
The People ◽  
Urban Livelihoods ◽  
The World ◽  
African Context

Abstract The article aims to give local texture to people’s, specifically Chinese, mobilities in a South African context. Through a retelling of a grandmother’s stories to her granddaughter, we argue that they offer a vision of the world that Black and Chinese South Africans inhabited during apartheid – they disrupted the world built by the all-white government. During the apartheid period, people were forced to see the world in black and white terms, not to mention powerful and powerless. It is this reality of the past that an ancestor’s oral accounts about how her people met and interacted with people from other shores, who had different stories than hers, are important. In this article, one of the authors recalls and further reimagines these stories about people who came from afar to make their own living in South Africa, cross paths with the locals, and leave their own marks. The article also highlights the significance of “Mo-China,” the Chinese fafi gambling game in supplementing Black and Chinese South African urban livelihoods during apartheid. The article concludes by pointing out that these stories, crossing and informing worlds, are prohibited knowledge that requires new attention which debates on the Chinese presence in African contexts have neglected thus far.

scholarly journals Mentorship: A process of nurturing others

2011 ◽  
Vol 67 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Maake Masango
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Cultural Differences ◽  
South African ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Healthy Working ◽  
University Of Pretoria ◽  
The World ◽  
African Context ◽  
The University

This article is dedicated to Prof. Dr Andries van Aarde who has mentored a large number of students during his time as a lecturer at the University of Pretoria. It is written at the time when workers in South Africa are striking. Industrial psychologists are involved in mediation and aim to develop a culture of understanding between workers and management. The article analyses some causes of tension between managers and workers in the South African context and indicates how mentorship may help to foster growth amongst workers and managers. A case study explores the issue of cultural differences which often lead to misunderstandings, especially when managers do not understand the world in which workers live. The aim of the article is to contribute to existing insights that may help to create a healthy working relationship between managers and workers which will benefit both.

Exploring the world of paramedics in the South African context.

2000 ◽  
Author(s):  
Catherine Cosser ◽  
Madri Jansen van Rensburg ◽  
Johan Nieuwoudt ◽  
Kgomotso Ratlhagane ◽  
Kobus van Staden ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
South African Context ◽  
The South ◽  
The World ◽  
African Context

Asad on the Secular

2013 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Auwais Rafudeen
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
South African ◽  
The State ◽  
South African Context ◽  
Bill Of Rights ◽  
The South ◽  
Legal Nature ◽  
African Context

This paper examines a South African debate on legislating Muslim marriages in the light of anthropologist Talal Asad’s critique developed in his Formations of the Secular (2003). It probes aspects of the debate under four Asadian themes: (1) the historicity of the secular, secularism, and secularization; (2) the place of power and the new articulations of discourses it creates; (3) the state as the arm of that power; and (4) the interconnections (or dislocations) among law, ethics, and the organic environment (habitus). I argue that Asad illumines the debate in the following ways: (1) by providing a deeper historical and philosophical appreciation of its terms of reference, given that the proposed legislation will be subject to South Africa’s secular Bill of Rights and constitution; (2) by requiring us to examine and interrogate the genealogies of such particular hegemonic discourses as human rights, which some participants appear to present as ahistorical and privileged; and (3) by showing, through the concept of habitus, why this debate needs to go beyond its present piecemeal legal nature and develop an appreciation of the organic linkages among the Shari‘ah, morality, community, and self. Yet inevitable nuances are produced when applying Asad’s ideas to the South African context.

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