Beyond the utility of violence

Focaal ◽  
2009 ◽  
Vol 2009 (54) ◽  
pp. 16-32 ◽  
Author(s):  
Isak Niehaus
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
The Social ◽  
High Incidence ◽  
Unanticipated Consequence ◽  
Social Enactment

This article points to the limitations of utilitarian theories of violence, as evident in the works of anthropologists who insist that all acts of violence either serve instrumental purposes (such as advancing one's own position) or expressive purposes (such as communicating key social ideas). Against the totalizing claims of such theories, the article observes that most homicides that occurred in the South African lowveld village where I conducted fieldwork research were the unanticipated consequence of men striking out in moments of anger. Although not the purposeful outcome of calculated conduct, these homicides were not however random. The high incidence of homicide can be explained in terms of Sahlins's concept of conjunctive agency, and by the co-presence of structural conditions of deprivation, ideologies of masculine domination, the wide prevalence of firearms, and the social enactment of rage.

Introducing the South African student to the social work profession

1991 ◽  
Vol 34 (3) ◽  
pp. 251-264 ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Bernstein ◽  
Marilyn Gray
Keyword(s):  
Social Work ◽  
South African ◽  
The South ◽  
The Social ◽  
African Student

DNA barcoding reveals a high incidence of fish species misrepresentation and substitution on the South African market

2012 ◽  
Vol 46 (1) ◽  
pp. 30-40 ◽  
Author(s):  
Donna-Mareè Cawthorn ◽  
Harris Andrew Steinman ◽  
R. Corli Witthuhn
Keyword(s):  
Dna Barcoding ◽  
South African ◽  
Fish Species ◽  
The South ◽  
High Incidence

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.

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.

scholarly journals The cross-cultural application of the social axioms survey in The South African police service

2008 ◽  
Vol 34 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adi Barnard ◽  
Sebastiaan Rothmann ◽  
Deon Meiring
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Item Bias ◽  
The South ◽  
Cross Sectional Survey ◽  
Police Service ◽  
Social Axioms ◽  
South African Police Service ◽  
Language Groups ◽  
The Social ◽  
South African Police

The objectives of this study were to investigate the replicability, construct equivalence, item bias and reliability of the Social Axioms Survey (SAS) in the South African Police Service (SAPS). A cross-sectional survey design was used. the participants consisted of applicants who had applied for jobs in the SAPS (n = 1535), and the SAS was administered to them. An exploratory factor analysis utilising target rotation applied to all 60 items of the SAS revealed four interpretable factors (Social Cynicism, reward for Application, Fate Control, and Spirituality/religiosity). Values of tucker’s phi higher than 0,90 were found for seven language groups (Zulu, Sotho, Tswana, Swati, Tsonga, Venda and Pedi). Analyses of variance found that item bias was not a major disturbance. Unacceptable alpha values were found for some of the scales of the SAS.

scholarly journals Pathways, intersections, and hotspots

2017 ◽  
Vol 4 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Theodore Powers
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Policy Process ◽  
Hot Spots ◽  
Participant Observation ◽  
State Health ◽  
The South ◽  
Policy Actors ◽  
The Social ◽  
Health Administrators ◽  
Hiv Aids

Since the late apartheid era, the South African HIV/AIDS movement has mobilized infected and affected communities and cultivated alliances to establish and expand a national HIV/AIDS response that is based on human rights. In doing so, HIV/AIDS activists have actively engaged with political dynamics across the institutional domains of the state. Participant observation research with South African HIV/AIDS activists and analyses of the South African HIV/AIDS policy process therefore necessitate following the movement of research participants across many sites. Bringing together existing approaches to multisited research, the concepts of pathways, intersections, and hot spots are utilized to represent the social and spatial experiences of HIV/AIDS activists, state health administrators, and other policy actors within a unified conceptual framework.

scholarly journals The leadership role of emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the social development of the South African society

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
pp. 263-297
Author(s):  
KJ Pali
Keyword(s):  
Social Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Social Issues ◽  
Leadership Role ◽  
African Society ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Society ◽  
The Social ◽  
Desmond Tutu

Leadership of the ministers of the Word is often restricted to within church boundaries, on the pretext that ministers should be religious and not too involved in the “world”. On the other hand, ministers are involved in social issues mostly to address immediate needs, often at the expense of  transforming the unjust system that perpetuates social injustices. Emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu practised his leadership ministry within and beyond the church boundaries. In the South African society, his leadership ministry contributed towards social development and transformation. This article aims to analyse the contribution of the leadership role of emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu in the social development of the South African society. The main research question is to what extent is or was the leadership of emeritus Archbishop Desmond Tutu involved in the social development of the South African society?

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.

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