scholarly journals The social shaping of nuclear energy technology in South Africa

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britta Rennkamp ◽  
Radhika Bhuyan
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Energy Technology ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Shaping

scholarly journals The Social Shaping of Nuclear Energy Technology in South Africa

2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Britta Rennkamp ◽  
Radhika Bhuyan
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Nuclear Energy ◽  
Energy Technology ◽  
African Government ◽  
Political Actors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Media ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Shaping ◽  
Energy Emissions

This chapter analyses the question why the South African government intends to procure nuclear energy technology, despite affordable and accessible fossil and renewable energy alternatives. The authors analyse the social shaping of nuclear energy technology based on the statements of political actors in the public media. The authors combine a discourse network analysis with qualitative analysis to establish the coalitions in support and opposition of the programme. The central arguments in the debate are cost, safety, job creation, the appropriateness of nuclear energy, emissions reductions, transparency, risks for corruption, and geopolitical influences. The analysis concludes that the nuclear programme is not primarily about generating electricity, as it creates tangible benefits for the coalition of supporters.

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.

“Tradition,” Vernacularism, and Learning to Be a Folk Musician With Social Media

2020 ◽  
pp. 442-466
Author(s):  
Simon Keegan-Phipps ◽  
Lucy Wright
Keyword(s):  
Social Media ◽  
Digital Media ◽  
Case Studies ◽  
Folk Music ◽  
Learning Mechanisms ◽  
Media Technologies ◽  
Arts And Humanities ◽  
The Arts ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Shaping

This chapter considers the role of social media (broadly conceived) in the learning experiences of folk musicians in the Anglophone West. The chapter draws on the findings of the Digital Folk project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council (UK), and begins by summarizing and problematizing the nature of learning as a concept in the folk music context. It briefly explicates the instructive, appropriative, and locative impacts of digital media for folk music learning before exploring in detail two case studies of folk-oriented social media: (1) the phenomenon of abc notation as a transmissive media and (2) the Mudcat Café website as an example of the folk-oriented discussion forum. These case studies are shown to exemplify and illuminate the constructs of traditional transmission and vernacularism as significant influences on the social shaping and deployment of folk-related media technologies. The chapter concludes by reflecting on the need to understand the musical learning process as a culturally performative act and to recognize online learning mechanisms as sites for the (re)negotiation of musical, cultural, local, and personal identities.

scholarly journals Boundaries of solidarity: a meta-ethnography of mask use during past epidemics to inform SARS-CoV-2 suppression

2021 ◽  
Vol 6 (1) ◽  
pp. e004068
Author(s):  
Po Man Tsang ◽  
Audrey Prost
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Healthcare Access ◽  
Individual Responsibility ◽  
Trust In Government ◽  
Political Leaders ◽  
Collective Levels ◽  
The Social ◽  
Social Meanings ◽  
The Usa

BackgroundMany countries aiming to suppress SARS-CoV-2 recommend the use of face masks by the general public. The social meanings attached to masks may influence their use, but remain underinvestigated.MethodsWe systematically searched eight databases for studies containing qualitative data on public mask use during past epidemics, and used meta-ethnography to explore their social meanings. We compared key concepts within and across studies, then jointly wrote a critical synthesis.ResultsWe found nine studies from China (n=5), Japan (n=1), Mexico (n=1), South Africa (n=1) and the USA (n=1). All studies describing routine mask use during epidemics were from East Asia. Participants identified masks as symbols of solidarity, civic responsibility and an allegiance to science. This effect was amplified by heightened risk perception (eg, during SARS in 2003), and by seeing masks on political leaders and in outdoor public spaces. Masks also acted as containment devices to manage threats to identity at personal and collective levels. In China and Japan, public and corporate campaigns framed routine mask use as individual responsibility for disease prevention in return for state- or corporate-sponsored healthcare access. In most studies, mask use waned as risk perception fell. In contexts where masks were mostly worn by patients with specific diseases (eg, for patients with tuberculosis in South Africa), or when trust in government was low (eg, during H1N1 in Mexico), participants described masks as stigmatising, uncomfortable or oppressive.ConclusionFace masks can take on positive social meanings linked to solidarity and altruism during epidemics. Unfortunately, these positive meanings can fail to take hold when risk perception falls, rules are seen as complex or unfair, and trust in government is low. At such times, ensuring continued use is likely to require additional efforts to promote locally appropriate positive social meanings, simplifying rules for use and ensuring fair enforcement.

Values and culture in the social shaping of the future

2011 ◽  
Vol 59 (2) ◽  
pp. 107-118 ◽  
Author(s):  
Reimon Bachika ◽  
Markus S Schulz
Keyword(s):  
Social Settings ◽  
The Social ◽  
The Future ◽  
Social Shaping ◽  
Globalized World

This article introduces the Current Sociology monograph issue on Values and Culture. It discusses sociology’s renewed interest in values and the general approach on which the contributors converge despite diverse theoretical backgrounds, areas of focus and social settings. It explains how the studies in this publication contribute to the understanding of the formation and operation of values on micro, meso and macro levels in an increasingly globalized world.

scholarly journals Engaging the ‘Missing Men’ in the HIV Treatment Cascade: Creating a Tailored Intervention to Improve Men’s Uptake of HIV Care Services in Rural South Africa: A Study Protocol

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (7) ◽  
pp. 3709
Author(s):  
Oluwafemi Adeagbo ◽  
Kammila Naidoo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Health Outcomes ◽  
Hiv Treatment ◽  
Hiv Care ◽  
Treatment Cascade ◽  
Hiv Care Cascade ◽  
Care Services ◽  
The Social ◽  
Hiv Treatment Cascade ◽  
Male Specific

Men, especially young men, have been consistently missing from the HIV care cascade, leading to poor health outcomes in men and ongoing transmission of HIV in young women in South Africa. Although these men may not be missing for the same reasons across the cascade and may need different interventions, early work has shown similar trends in men’s low uptake of HIV care services and suggested that the social costs of testing and accessing care are extremely high for men, particularly in South Africa. Interventions and data collection have hitherto, by and large, focused on men in relation to HIV prevention in women and have not approached the problem through the male lens. Using the participatory method, the overall aim of this study is to improve health outcomes in men and women through formative work to co-create male-specific interventions in an HIV-hyper endemic setting in rural KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Marriage Money: The Social Shaping of Money in Marriage and Banking

1999 ◽  
Vol 28 (3) ◽  
pp. 298 ◽  
Author(s):  
Judith Treas ◽  
Supriya Singh
Keyword(s):  
The Social ◽  
Social Shaping
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