scholarly journals ‘deep wounds… left… in hearts and minds’: South African Public History

2018 ◽  
Vol 24 ◽  
pp. 1-21
Author(s):  
Julia C. Wells
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Public History ◽  
African Identity ◽  
The Public ◽  
Academic Communities ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
To Come ◽  
Oral History Interview ◽  
Hearts And Minds

Public history practise in South Africa holds out much promise of further things to come. It can close the gulf between history and heritage. This chapter argues that the role of the public historian should not be conflated with the dynamics of the heritage sector, but suggests how trained academics can indeed put their skills to work in a society that is passionately interested in understanding itself and how its pasts created the present. The student movement sharply raised the image of universities in crisis, requiring a whole new, relevant curriculum and rethinking the ways that universities relate to their publics. Public historians can work towards creating invented spaces for co-production of knowledge, moving beyond the traditional oral history interview. The divide between academia and communities is huge and needs to be constantly tackled, providing access to the secluded information of the professional world. I suggest that due to their privileged place in society, many historians have been unable or unwilling to engage with the recovery agenda – the massive need for affirmation of African identity, capacity and culture. A handful of dedicated public historians do not fit this mould and have been exemplary in rolling up their sleeves and boldly engaging with the messy complications of dealing with non-academic communities to produce new forms of historical knowledge, based on inclusiveness.

Reason, argument, and agitation

2020 ◽  
pp. 417-449
Author(s):  
David A. Clark
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Community Action ◽  
Amartya Sen ◽  
Democratic Deficit ◽  
Joint Work ◽  
The Public ◽  
Positive Results ◽  
India And China

Amartya Sen has argued that democracy has intrinsic and instrumental significance for economic and social development. In joint work with Jean Drèze, he has shown that democratic pressures can produce positive results in democratic and non-democratic nations alike. An Uncertain Glory briefly discusses the BRIC (Brazil, Russia, India and China) nations in this regard, but is inexplicably silent about South Africa (the final member of the BRICS). Can South Africa follow in the footsteps of the BRIC nations? Or might the South African brand of democracy really fall short? Reaffirming Drèze and Sen’s conclusion for India, this chapter argues there are grounds to be ‘contingently optimistic’ about the role of public participation in South Africa—despite the massive democratic deficit the country has inherited. This is illustrated through three case studies of participation focusing on pressure for HIV/AIDS treatment, the role of the public protector, and community action in Bokfontein.

scholarly journals Introduction

2011 ◽  
Vol 18 ◽  
pp. 1-11 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hilda Kean
Keyword(s):  
Public History ◽  
Historical Knowledge ◽  
Historical Representation ◽  
Making Meaning ◽  
Historical Process ◽  
The Public ◽  
Opening Up ◽  
Distinctive Role

This issue of Public History Review discusses aspects of the distinctive role of public historians that goes beyond an approach simply aimed at bringing in people to exhibitions or making historical knowledge ‘accessible’. As James Gardner argued in the last issue of Public History Review, ‘We are often our own worst enemy, failing to share what we do. If we want the public to value what we do, we need to share the process of history’. Opening up the premises underpinning different forms of historical representation can assist in widening the historical process and facilitate a way of understanding and making meaning.

scholarly journals The role of prophetic action in public theology – the implications for addressing corruption in a context of sustainable development

2014 ◽  
Vol 48 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Friedrich W. De Wet
Keyword(s):  
Sustainable Development ◽  
Public Space ◽  
South African ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Role ◽  
African Churches ◽  
Private And Public ◽  
Two Kingdoms ◽  
The Church

After almost two decades of democratic rule in South Africa, patterns of withdrawal and uncertainty about the complexities involved in defining the contents, rationality and impact of the public role of the church in society seem to be prevalent. As unabated levels of corruption and its sustained threat to sustainable development point out, a long-awaited reckoning should take place – at least in the circles of South African churches from reformed origin – regarding its rich tradition of critical and transformational prophetic involvement in the public space. In this article, the author places different models for the public role of the church in the field of tension that is generated when the private and public spheres meet each other. The author anticipates different configurations that will probably form in this field of tension in the cases of respectively the Two Kingdoms Model, the Neo-Calvinist Approach and the Communicative Rationality Approach.Die rol van profetiese prediking in publieke teologie: Die implikasies vir die hantering van korrupsie in ‘n konteks van volhoubare ontwikkeling. Na bykans twee dekades van demokratiese regering in Suid-Afrika blyk dit dat patrone van onttrekking en onsekerheid oor wat die inhoud, rasionaliteit en impak van die publieke rol van die kerk in die samelewing presies behels, steeds voortduur. In ‘n situasie waaruit dit blyk dat daar geen werklike teenvoeter is vir die hoë vlakke van korrupsie asook vir die bedreiging wat dit vir volhoubare ontwikkeling inhou nie, is dit hoog tyd dat die kerk, ten minste in die geval van die Suid-Afrikaanse kerke van reformatoriese oorsprong, diep oor sy profetiese rol in die samelewing moet besin. Hierdie kerke kom uit ‘n ryke tradisie van kritiese en transformerende betrokkenheid in die publieke sfeer. In hierdie artikel plaas die outeur verskillende modelle vir die publieke rol van die kerk in die spanningsveld wat gegenereer word wanneer die private en publieke sfere mekaar ontmoet. Die outeur antisipeer verskillende konfigurasies wat waarskynlik na vore sal tree in hierdie spanningsveld in die gevalle van onderskeidelik die Twee Koninkryke Model, die Neo-Calvinistiese Benadering en die Kommunikatiewe Rasionaliteit Benadering.

Customer-centered knowledge management: challenges and implications for knowledge-based innovation in the public transport sector

2015 ◽  
Vol 19 (3) ◽  
pp. 559-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Stavros Sindakis ◽  
Audrey Depeige ◽  
Eleni Anoyrkati
Keyword(s):  
Knowledge Management ◽  
Public Transport ◽  
Management Practices ◽  
Transport Systems ◽  
Transport Sector ◽  
Content Type ◽  
The Public ◽  
Knowledge Based ◽  
Knowledge Management Practices

Purpose – This study aims to explore the role of knowledge management practices in supporting current and emerging passengers’ and customer needs, aiming to create value. Specifically, the research examines the importance of customer-centred knowledge management in the delivery of innovative services and practices in the public transport sector, promoting the role of interactions between mobility stakeholders and travellers. Design/methodology/approach – A theoretical framework is developed and supported by the background literature on customer-centric knowledge management approaches, business model innovation, as well as on inter-organisational and network co-operations. Findings – Results show that the development of sustainable innovation and technologies in the transport sector requires knowledge management practices, which enable the access to knowledge about users’ needs, the mapping and evaluation of innovative knowledge, the promotion of knowledge-based innovation through collective approaches, as well as the acquisition and integration of new knowledge. Research limitations/implications – The conceptual framework developed in the paper remains limited to a theoretical understanding. Further research should empirically examine knowledge issues related to the intangible character and intellectual capital intensiveness of innovation in the transport sector. Practical implications – Researchers, public transport companies and public transport authorities are expected to benefit from this research, by developing mechanisms for customer-centred knowledge management, which is found to lead to innovative services and practices in the public transport sector. Another practical implication regards the adoption of knowledge management practices, leading to technological innovations in public transport, and advancing the level of sustainability in transport systems. Originality/value – The originality of this study lies in the development of a customer-focussed knowledge management framework, which provides a novel perspective of value creation in an attempt to engage researchers and practitioners from the transport industry in the conceptualisation and development of innovative solutions.

scholarly journals Managing Nigeria’s development through the public budget: Lessons from the foundations laid by Okotie-Eboh, 1958–1965

2017 ◽  
Vol 5 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Adetunji Ogunyemi
Keyword(s):  
Economic Development ◽  
House Of Representatives ◽  
Public History ◽  
Federal Budget ◽  
Public Budget ◽  
The Public ◽  
Finance Minister ◽  
The 1960S ◽  
The Individual

This article examines the essential issues in the economic development of Nigeria in the 1960s as shown in all the budget speeches presented to the parliament by her first indigenous Finance Minister, Festus Okotie-Eboh. The study highlights the Minister’s efforts to obtain parliamentary approval for the Appropriation Bills laid by his government before the Nigerian House of Representatives in Lagos. The purpose being to underscore the role of the individual in shaping the course of the development of any nation. Hence, the study identifies the fiscal policy orientation upon which the key programmes and projects reflected in such speeches were built. It also establishes the extent to which the projects were achieved. The study concludes that Chief Okotie-Eboh’s parliamentary speeches on Nigeria’s federal budget, though loaded with oversized literary niceties, were still, rather than depictive of a mere display of endless parliamentary filibustering, indeed, a veritable part of the sources of Nigeria’s public history.

The role of place and identity as core contributing success factors in Jayan Moodley’s Keeping up with the Kandasamys and Kandasamys: The Wedding

2020 ◽  
Vol 12 (2-3) ◽  
pp. 229-246
Author(s):  
Sogen Moodley ◽  
Arushani Govender
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Critical Analysis ◽  
Success Factors ◽  
Place Identity ◽  
Community Members ◽  
African Identity ◽  
South Africans ◽  
Box Office ◽  
Place And Identity

Keeping up with the Kandasamys (Moodley 2017), a family comedy co-written and directed by Jayan Moodley, was the first cinematic feature to be set in the post-apartheid Indian township of Chatsworth, Durban and generated R16.3 million at the box office. The film delves into the matriarchal rivalry of neighbouring families while showcasing the unique Chatsworth subculture. This box office success prompted the release of the sequel Kandasamys: The Wedding (Moodley 2019), which broke its own sales record, earning R18.9 million. As filmmakers who were intimately involved in the production of the sequel, and who engaged with viewers and community members, we provide a critical analysis, reflecting on why the films attracted large audiences and galvanized an outburst of fandom. This article postulates that Indian South African audiences identified with the authentic portrayal of the nuances of every-day life in Chatsworth, resulting in feelings of visibility and nostalgia. In attempting to explain the phenomenal support from these audiences, the authors examine theories of place identity and literature on Indian South African identity, inferring that the intersection of place, and the representation of Indian South Africans in the features, is significant to the films’ success.

scholarly journals ‘You are not my type’: The role of identity in evaluating democracy & human rights promotion

2021 ◽  
pp. 136914812110169
Author(s):  
Efe Tokdemir
Keyword(s):  
Human Rights ◽  
Group Versus ◽  
Policy Implications ◽  
Democracy Promotion ◽  
Opinion Survey ◽  
The Public ◽  
Positive Attitudes ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Hearts And Minds

In this article, we examine the impact of the democracy and human rights promotion efforts that are supposed to bolster positive attitudes among the public abroad and act as a tool to reach hearts and minds. Yet, we suggest that a salient in-group versus out-group dichotomy within a society could activate a reactive devaluation bias, and hence, conditions how individuals perceive and react to foreign actors and their policies depending on the source country and its links with in- and out-groups within the target state. By employing an original public opinion survey from Lebanon, we find that identities, and the level of attachment to the identity, affect individuals’ attitudes towards human rights and democracy promotion efforts. Our results offer important policy implications: practitioners should comprehensively reconsider the benefits of hearts and minds tools, as pre-existing attitudes are the main drivers of how these policies will be evaluated by the public abroad.

scholarly journals IN LIGHT OF ‘NKANDLA’, WHAT IS THE ROLE OF THE PUBLIC PROTECTOR IN UPHOLDING THE RULE OF LAW IN SOUTH AFRICA?

2016 ◽  
Author(s):  
Aadelah Shaik Yakoob
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Rule Of Law ◽  
Economic Freedom ◽  
National Assembly ◽  
The Rule Of Law ◽  
The Public ◽  
Freedom Fighters

The focus of this article will be to ascertain what role, if any, the Public Protector plays in achieving and upholding the rule of law as envisaged in section 1(c) of the Constitution. In doing so, I will assess the powers of the Public Protector as envisaged by the Constitution and supporting legislation and analyse the effect of recommendations made by the Public Protector. I will then offer a discussion on certain shortfalls within the legislation that have become a hindrance to the Public Protector achieving her mandate in practice. I will, further, highlight the importance of the powers of the Public Protector as an avenue to achieving the rule of law, and, offer an analysis of the judgments in South African Broadcasting Commission v Democratic Alliance and Economic Freedom Fighters v Speaker of the National Assembly. I will, finally, conclude by discussing possible solutions to the challenges faced by the Public Protector in practice and offer a summary of my views.

scholarly journals Perceptions of chiropractors in the eThekwini Municipality on the integration of chiropractic into the public healthcare sector of South Africa

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Natalie Davies
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Healthcare System ◽  
Chiropractic Profession ◽  
Healthcare Sector ◽  
Public Healthcare ◽  
Medical Doctors ◽  
The Public ◽  
Public Healthcare Sector

Background Currently, chiropractic is not incorporated into the South African public healthcare sector despite its emphasis on the values of wellness and health. This is due to a poor relationship with mainstream medical practitioners, the construct of chiropractic education and its long standing isolation within the healthcare system within South Africa. The public healthcare sector in South Africa is strained. Low back pain is one of the main reasons patients seek medical attention from primary medical doctors. A growing body of evidence is now emerging which supports the role of chiropractic in post-­surgical rehabilitation and the treatment of extraspinal non-­pathological musculoskeletal conditions. Based on the findings of these studies, an argument could be made for the transition of chiropractic from a mainly private practice base to one that would enable it to reach to the wider population in the public healthcare sector. Aim The aim of the research study was to explore and describe the perceptions that chiropractors have about the integration of the chiropractic profession into the South African public healthcare sector. Method A descriptive exploratory qualitative approach was used to guide the study. In-­ depth interviews were conducted with ten chiropractors within the eThekwini municipality. The main research question for this study was “What are the perceptions of chiropractors in the eThekwini Municipality on the integration of chiropractic into the public healthcare sector of South Africa?” The data was analysed through thematic analysis. Results The main themes that emerged were the role of chiropractic in the healthcare system, the integration of chiropractic into the healthcare sector and the challenges facing chiropractors in the healthcare system. The themes and sub-­ themes were as follows;; • Theme 1 Role of chiropractic in the healthcare system Sub-­theme 1.1 Primary contact for neuromuscular medicine. • Theme 2 Integration of chiropractors into the public healthcare sector Sub-­theme 2.1 Relief of overworked healthcare workers. Sub-­theme 2.2 Decrease costs in surgical and medication use. Sub-­theme 2.3 Increased learning opportunities. Sub-­theme 2.4 Use of chiropractic in post-­surgical care. Sub-­theme 2.5 Need for pre-­surgical assessment. Sub-­theme 2.6 Integration facilitated by the Chiropractic Association of South Africa (CASA). • Theme 3 Challenges facing chiropractors in the public healthcare sector Sub-­theme 3.1 Opposition from medical doctors. Sub-­theme 3.2 Opposition from within the chiropractic profession. Sub-­theme 3.3 Inability to function as the primary practitioners. Sub-­theme 3.4 Unfamiliar structure of the public health care sector. Conclusion A lack of clarity on the identity and role of chiropractic in the public healthcare sector emerged from the findings of this study. Individual chiropractors, the professional body (CASA) and the Allied Health Professions Council of South Africa (AHPCSA) need to engage in active roles in the integration of chiropractic into the public healthcare sector of South Africa.

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