scholarly journals Towards an Eco-decolonial Museology: A critical realist analysis of the crises of South African museums

2021 ◽  
Vol 37 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tom Jeffery
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Cultural Landscape ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Quantitative Management ◽  
Realist Analysis ◽  
Relational Capabilities ◽  
Museum Practice

South African museums face multivalent, simultaneous crises. The MELD dialectical framework of critical realist philosophy can be used to explore potential for a deep reimagining of museum theory and practice that may generate a new, relational mode better able than persistent dualist modes to respond to complex, emergent crises. This has been conceived by the author (Jeffery, 2021) as an ecological-decolonial, or eco-decolonial, mode of museology, and is further developed in the present analysis. At 1M, the MELD analysis surfaces the implicit neoliberal ontology of South African museum work and the emergent paradox of ‘emancipatory neoliberalism’. This paradox is generative of a number of constraints on practice and agency, including commodification of heritage, a restrictive form of official memory, and quantitative management practice. These limit potential for museums to respond to complex crises that require relational capabilities.  2E explores the potential negation of these constraints. To disrupt the principle of collection as the grounding ontological activity of museum practice may disrupt the implicit neoliberal ontology. This may contribute to emergent, sophisticated socialecological trends in museum practice, both in South Africa and internationally. At 3L, a dialectical view on the concept of cultural landscape offers a relational frame for an eco-decolonial museum practice that may better respond to the crises faced by museums. The practical implications of the eco-decolonial approach are considered at 4D. Keywords: museum practice, critical realism, ontology, eco-decolonial, collection, cultural landscape

Museums for the Planet : Critical Realist Philosophy and the Possibility of an Eco-decolonial Museology

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Thomas Carnegie Jeffery
Keyword(s):  
Human Nature ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Policy Practice ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Social Ecological ◽  
The Social ◽  
Future Work ◽  
Museum Practice

This study introduces dialectical critical realism into museology as a philosophical underlabourer for the development of new theoretical potentials for the transformation of museum practice. The idea of the museum is in a moment of fluidity evident in emergent decolonial and ecological perspectives and in the International Council of Museum’s process of redefinition of the museum. The potential to reimagine the museum lacks a coherent philosophical and theoretical foundation. The persistence of museological dualism separates the social from the ecological and absents the emergence of relational modes of thinking and practice. This study conceives an ecological-decolonial or eco-decolonial mode of museology that is disruptive of dualism and generative of relationality, and is thus generative of agency for deeper, more effective and enduring social-ecological justice. The core of this thesis is the development of the eco-decolonial mode of museology through the DCR onto-axiological chain or ‘MELD’ schema. At 1M a depth ontological analysis augmented by interviews with key informants establishes a dialectic of society and ecology in the museological context. 1M surfaces capitalism and the implicit neoliberal ontology of museology as deep causal mechanisms of the 2E persistence of museological human-nature dualism. The paradox of ‘emancipatory neoliberalism’ is a policy-practice contradiction that absents potentials for transformation of the museum and that is held in place by the grounding ontological activity of museology, collection. The 2E perspective on absences enables the emergence of new transformative pathways towards the 3L vision of the eco-decolonial mode of museology as a (4D) new way of thinking and working to resolve neoliberal restrictions. The fundamental 4D change envisioned for museum philosophy, theory and practice is an ontological transformation from traditionalist human-nature dualism to a progressive human-nature dialectic. A case study considers instances where museum workers exercised the agency to expand practice in this way. Future work using the expansive learning methodology of Change Laboratories will develop and implement the potentials generated by the onto-axiological chain for the eco-decolonial mode to bring real change to traditional, dualist museum practice, in order to ensure the relevance and the agency of the museum as a social structure in and for a changing world.

scholarly journals Critical Realist Philosophy and the Possibility of an Eco-decolonial Museology

2021 ◽  
pp. 48-70
Author(s):  
Thomas Carnegie Jeffery
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Theoretical Frameworks ◽  
Ecological Processes ◽  
Colonial Era ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
International Theory ◽  
Neoliberal Ideology ◽  
Emancipatory Practice ◽  
Museum Practice

New forms of museum practice that explore the dynamics of social and ecological processes as interlinked systems are increasingly urgent. Critical realist philosophy is used to consider the emergence of tensions between museological processes of decolonization and ecologization, and potentials for their resolution into a new form of practice, which is conceptualized as eco-decolonial. The analysis is focused on South African museums, but is contextualized within international theory and practice. An exploration of the ontology of museum work surfaces a core tension in that trends towards a relational and emancipatory practice are paradoxically embedded within neoliberal ideology. Neoliberalism depends on and perpetuates the problematic human-nature dualism of the colonial era, and constrains the development of progressive social-ecological forms of museum practice. The analysis explores potentials for the resolution of this tension, in a contribution towards the transformation of the philosophical and theoretical frameworks of museum practice.

Getting real about BIM

2014 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 405-422 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stephen Fox
Keyword(s):  
Critical Realism ◽  
Causal Mechanism ◽  
Building Information Modelling ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Future Goals ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Building Information ◽  
Realist Analysis ◽  
Business Outcome

Purpose – For some years, it has been claimed that Building Information Modelling (BIM) will bring about major improvements to the productivity of the building industry. Yet, productivity has declined while claims for BIM have expanded. Often, BIM descriptions comprise the naïve framing and multiple fallacies of hype. The purpose of this paper is to present critical realist descriptions and explain their advantages compared to BIM hype descriptions. Design/methodology/approach – A longitudinal critical realist case study of BIM causal mechanism and causal context. Findings – Critical realist analysis reveals that hype about BIM underplays many inter-related causal requirements: all of which are needed to bring project business outcome from management action. Practical implications – Many inter-related non-trivial causal factors need to be taken into account to achieve business outcome from BIM implementation action. Further, factors claimed at the outset to be adequate to achieve outcome from action may be less than adequate. Originality/value – The originality of this paper is that critical realism analysis across six years is presented. This longitudinal data reveals that claims for BIM can be more future goals than current certainties. The value of this paper is that detailed analysis of hype descriptions is provided alongside critical realist descriptions.

Managing Competition Risk: A Critical Realist Philosophical Exploration

2012 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 130-149 ◽  
Author(s):  
Udechukwu Ojiako ◽  
Alasdair Marshall ◽  
Michelle A Luke ◽  
Max Chipulu
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Risk Perceptions ◽  
Critical Realism ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Risk Map ◽  
External Reality ◽  
Constant Flux ◽  
Critical Realist ◽  
Subjective Risk ◽  
The Military

As firms act to meet competitive challenges, they separately vary their exposure to objectively real risks, and their subjective risk perceptions. Hence the ‘fit’ between each firm's subjective risk map and its objective ‘riskscape’ is in constant flux. Realist thought, which emphasizes the separateness of mind from external reality, and sets itself the slow and painstaking task of improving the fit between the two, is therefore universally relevant for risk management. This simple ‘risk realism’ has value for academics wishing to analyse risk management practice and can provide useful working assumptions and procedural guidelines for practitioners. Mindful of both uses, this paper utilizes the philosophical thesis of critical realism to develop ontological and epistemological standpoints that relate specifically to what we call ‘competition risk’. Working from these standpoints we develop parallels between business and military engagements with competition risk. We explore what we treat as ontologically indistinct competition risk issues present across both contexts and conclude that firms can learn much from how the military deals with both ‘regular’ and ‘irregular’ forms of competition risk.

Doctor Edwards Deming – a Thinker Against Time

2020 ◽  
Vol 27 (3) ◽  
pp. 5-10
Author(s):  
Yu.P. Adler ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Job Training ◽  
Sampling Methods ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Mathematical Statistics ◽  
Management Theory ◽  
Modern World ◽  
Human Endeavor ◽  
On The Job Training

Dr. Edwards Deming, whose 120th birthday falls on October 14, 2020, has made outstanding contributions to management theory and practice, mathematical statistics and many other areas of human endeavor. This work, written for the anniversary of E. Deming, examines the paradoxes arising from his teachings. They relate, inter alia, to competition, motivation and remuneration, the use of sampling methods, on-the-job training, operational definitions and much more. Resolving these paradoxes is the path to a deeper understanding of the modern world and to the improvement of management practice. Already during Deming’s lifetime, numerous attempts were made to revise his teachings, and now there is a desire to abandon the use and development of his heritage. This is alarming and worrying.

A Review of Medical Waste Management in South Africa

2018 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 34-45 ◽  
Author(s):  
Olaniyi FC ◽  
Ogola JS ◽  
Tshitangano TG
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Waste Management ◽  
South African ◽  
Management Practice ◽  
National Policy ◽  
Medical Waste ◽  
African Government ◽  
The Past ◽  
Government Documents ◽  
Medical Waste Management

Background:Poor medical waste management has been implicated in an increase in the number of epidemics and waste-related diseases in the past years. South Africa is resource-constrained in the management of medical waste.Objectives:A review of studies regarding medical waste management in South Africa in the past decade was undertaken to explore the practices of medical waste management and the challenges being faced by stakeholders.Method:Published articles, South African government documents, reports of hospital surveys, unpublished theses and dissertations were consulted, analysed and synthesised. The studies employed quantitative, qualitative and mixed research methods and documented comparable results from all provinces.Results:The absence of a national policy to guide the medical waste management practice in the provinces was identified as the principal problem. Poor practices were reported across the country from the point of medical waste generation to disposal, as well as non-enforcement of guidelines in the provinces where they exit. The authorized disposal sites nationally are currently unable to cope with the enormous amount of the medical waste being generated and illegal dumping of the waste in unapproved sites have been reported. The challenges range from lack of adequate facilities for temporary storage of waste to final disposal.Conclusion:These challenges must be addressed and the practices corrected to forestall the adverse effects of poorly managed medical waste on the country. There is a need to develop a medical waste policy to assist in the management of such waste.

scholarly journals The South African Redistribution Imperative: Incongruities in Theory and Practice

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-27
Author(s):  
Sue-Mari Viljoen
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Theoretical Approach ◽  
Land Reform ◽  
Careful Analysis ◽  
Economic Justice ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
The South ◽  
Slow Pace

Abstract It has partly been assumed that the constitutional obligation to pay compensation for expropriations is to blame for the slow pace at which land has been redistributed in South Africa. However, this assumption requires careful analysis and reflection, with reference to the imperfections of the policies and laws that set out to address landlessness, as well as the underlying theoretical approach to economic justice. This article questions the purpose for which land reform beneficiaries acquire land, with reference to the role that property should ideally fulfil for the landless. The article makes a number of observations to cast light on why the redistribution of land has been alarmingly slow, where inconsistencies and loopholes exist in the programme, and whether expropriations for nil compensation will make any difference in remedying existing failures in the redistribution programme.

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