scholarly journals Social education through the lens of Bakhtinian theory

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 ◽  
pp. R7-R16
Author(s):  
Oleg Osovsky ◽  
Svetlana Dubrovskaya ◽  
Ekaterina Chernetsova
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Classroom Practice ◽  
Theory And Practice ◽  
Social Education ◽  
Contemporary Theory ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Trace Back ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Philosophical Texts ◽  
Bakhtinian Theory

A review of Bakhtin in the Fullness of Time: Bakhtinian Theory and the Process of Social Education, Edited by Craig Brandist, Michael E. Gardiner, E. Jayne White and Carl Mika. L.: Routledge. 2020. 160 p. The review of the collection of articles Bakhtin in the Fullness of Time: Bakhtinian Theory and the Process of Social Education represents an analysis of the perspectives, main trends, and interpretations of key points, ideas, and concepts of M. M. Bakhtin in the contemporary theory and practice of Social Education. The book’s nine chapters are grouped within three problem areas, researched by the book’s contributors. This is, in the first place, a re-establishment of those philosophical and sociological sources that trace back to the roots of Bakhtin’s early views that had defined the nature of his responses to the challenges of his time in his early philosophical texts, books about Dostoevsky and books about bildungsroman. Another field of examination is Bakhtin's late dialogue with his contemporaries. Sometimes this dialogue is active and obvious, as it happens in the situation with the latest aesthetic and literary trends in Russia at the beginning of the 1920s. Sometimes this dialogue turns out to be ambiguous, therefore researchers can only guess how to reconstruct it, basing their views on the complementarity of Bakhtin’s ideas and Lev Vygotsky or Paulo Freire’s ones. An equally important aspect of this collection is a number of articles devoted to how Bakhtin's theory is transformed into "classroom practice", whether it concerns the use of dialogue and its capabilities in interaction with foreigners, providing educational opportunities to the most economically vulnerable segments of South African society, or communication with preschoolers in kindergarten. The authors of the book managed to create a convincing picture of how Bakhtinian theory is becoming one of the most important elements of contemporary theory and practice of education. At the same time, not only Bakhtinian ideas, primarily the concepts of dialogue, polyphony, carnival, and chronotope, are important, but also that free polyphony, which puts into effect any creative practice.

scholarly journals Skriftuurlike perspektiewe op die effek van doop op vergifnis

2013 ◽  
Vol 34 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Barend J. De Klerk
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
African Society ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Key Points ◽  
Triune God ◽  
In Christ ◽  
Nicene Creed ◽  
Forgiveness And Reconciliation

Scriptural perspectives on the effect of baptism on forgiveness. This article focused from a Scriptural perspective on the question of whether baptism can and should have an effect on forgiveness and reconciliation in the South African society. This aspect was examined because in one of the most widely used confessionals of the worldwide church, the Nicene Creed, the following words are found: �We believe in � one baptism for the forgiveness of sin�. Another reason for investigating the effect that baptism should have on forgiveness and reconciliation is the connection between God�s forgiveness and the calling on the baptised to forgive. The article highlighted the following five key points: God acts in baptism; the Triune God works in baptism; the covenant relationship is expressed in baptism; baptism is a baptism in Christ�s death and resurrection; God�s forgiveness and reconciliation in baptism call the baptised to forgive.

Suicidal Behavior in Black South Africans

Crisis ◽  
2003 ◽  
Vol 24 (1) ◽  
pp. 24-28 ◽  
Author(s):  
Lourens Schlebusch ◽  
Naseema B.M. Vawda ◽  
Brenda A. Bosch
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Suicidal Behavior ◽  
Health Care Facilities ◽  
South African Society ◽  
South Africans ◽  
The Past ◽  
The People ◽  
Care Facilities ◽  
Black South Africans ◽  
To Come

Summary: In the past suicidal behavior among Black South Africans has been largely underresearched. Earlier studies among the other main ethnic groups in the country showed suicidal behavior in those groups to be a serious problem. This article briefly reviews some of the more recent research on suicidal behavior in Black South Africans. The results indicate an apparent increase in suicidal behavior in this group. Several explanations are offered for the change in suicidal behavior in the reported clinical populations. This includes past difficulties for all South Africans to access health care facilities in the Apartheid (legal racial separation) era, and present difficulties of post-Apartheid transformation the South African society is undergoing, as the people struggle to come to terms with the deleterious effects of the former South African racial policies, related socio-cultural, socio-economic, and other pressures.

Some Reflections on Reparation in Post-Apartheid South Africa, using a Couple Therapy Intervention as a Microcosm of South African Society

2011 ◽  
Vol 1 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Andrea Hill ◽  
Sylvia Poss
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Couple Therapy ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Depressive Position ◽  
Central Hypothesis ◽  
Transference And Countertransference ◽  
Constructive Engagement ◽  
The Impact ◽  
Therapy Intervention

The paper addresses the question of reparation in post-apartheid South Africa. The central hypothesis of the paper is that in South Africa current traumas or losses, such as the 2008 xenophobic attacks, may activate a ‘shared unconscious phantasy’ of irreparable damage inflicted by apartheid on the collective psyche of the South African nation which could block constructive engagement and healing. A brief couple therapy intervention by a white therapist with a black couple is used as a ‘microcosm’ to explore this question. The impact of an extreme current loss, when earlier losses have been sustained, is explored. Additionally, the impact of racial difference on the transference and countertransference between the therapist and the couple is explored to illustrate factors complicating the productive grieving and working through of the depressive position towards reparation.

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.

Revisiting Poverty, Human Development and Inequality in Democratic South Africa

2021 ◽  
pp. 097370302110329
Author(s):  
Vusi Gumede
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Human Development ◽  
South African ◽  
Measurement Techniques ◽  
National Income ◽  
Population Group ◽  
Poverty Dynamics ◽  
The South ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Multidimensional Poverty Index

There are many questions related to poverty in South Africa that remain unsatisfactorily answered. Given the poor performance of the South African economy, including declining per capita incomes and increasing unemployment, since 2010 or so, it is important to examine poverty dynamics in the recent years. Many recent studies in this regard have relied on 2015 data, and do not examine all the three interrelated aspects of wellbeing viz. poverty, human development and inequality. In this context, this paper uses all the five waves of the National Income Dynamics Study and employs different poverty and inequality measurement techniques to investigate poverty dynamics, human development and inequality during the post-apartheid period in South Africa. The estimates suggest that although poverty was declining prior to the coronavirus pandemic, the African/Black population group is the most affected by poverty. The phenomenon of feminisation of poverty is also verified based on the evidence of increasingly more women in poverty than men. The proportion of population experiencing multiple deprivations, measured by the Multidimensional Poverty Index, have not changed in the post-apartheid period. Similarly, human development has not improved during this period. South African society continues to be one of the most unequal societies in the world. The paper argues that the inability to sufficiently reduce poverty, unemployment and inequality results from the weak performance of the South African economy. In the same vein, it is the structure of the South African economy that has kept the levels of human development low and income inequality high.

Why English dominates the central economy

2002 ◽  
Vol 26 (2) ◽  
pp. 159-177 ◽  
Author(s):  
Laurence Wright
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Nineteenth Century ◽  
Language Policy ◽  
South African ◽  
English Speakers ◽  
African Society ◽  
World Language ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Economic Basis ◽  
State Of Affairs

This paper sets out to formulate some of the economic reasons for the continuing dominance of English in the boardrooms, government forums, parastatals and laboratories of South Africa, to consider whether this situation is likely to change, and to assess the extent to which such a state of affairs is at odds with South Africa’s new language policy. The historical reasons for the dominance of English in this sphere are well known: the language’s imperial history, its status as a world language, its role as a medium for political opposition during the apartheid conflict, and the accumulation of capital and economic influence by English-speakers from the mid-nineteenth century onward. However, the day-to-day economic basis for the continuing dominance of English at the apex of South African society has hardly been considered.

Folklorisation and the Emergent Moral Degeneration: A Functionalist Approach

2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Siziwe Mandubu
Keyword(s):  
Young People ◽  
South African ◽  
Moral Judgments ◽  
Behavioral Norms ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Moral Principles ◽  
Societal Norms ◽  
Moral Standards ◽  
The Social ◽  
Functionalist Approach

Living in an egalitarian society has resulted in the corrosion of the moral base among certain sectors in the community. Some people misconstrue egalitarianism as an authorisation to act as they see fit. Young people, in particular, are gradually losing touch with reality in relation to acceptable behavioral norms in the South African society. Based on the functionalist theory of balancing the social equilibrium among people, the article delineates moral standards as the most fundamental and general principles of behaviour and reflects on how the society expects one to act in certain situations. The article, therefore, explores the primary concepts within functionalism and attempts to outline that the society is a system of interconnected parts that work together in harmony to maintain a state of stability and social cohesion. The article will use the folktale “uDyakalashe noMvolofu” (“The Jackal and the Wolf”) to reflect on the expected societal norms. It demonstrates that folktales, which used to transfer values, morals and shape the conduct of people in the olden days are still appropriate in reshaping the outlook and perceptions of today’s generation. As such, the shrewd nature of folklore in the moral regeneration of the current generation of young people is exposed. While there are many folktales in this category, “uDyakalashe noMvolofu” (“The Jackal and the Wolf”) provides the theme relevant for the analysis of the topic to highlight that moral standards generate moral principles and moral judgments.

IN THIS ISSUE

2020 ◽  
Vol 38 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Henning Melber
Keyword(s):  
South African ◽  
Economic Freedom ◽  
Good Governance ◽  
Human Security ◽  
Economic Transformation ◽  
South African Society ◽  
Strategic Issues ◽  
Finance Minister ◽  
Multiple Challenges

South African Finance Ministers (notably in the plural, given the events since December 2015) face multiple challenges. They deal not only with an economy in stagnation through an austerity policy as recently presented by Pravin Gordhan in his Medium Term Budget in late  October, but also with the sobering results of the limited socio-economic transformation since the end of apartheid. The contradictions prevailing since then are reflected not least in the devastating crisis sweeping across South Africa  universities. As if that is not enough, a Finance Minister concerned about good governance is also waging an uphill battle to reduce damage by trying to protect the state and its assets from further capture by predatory elites. Considering all of this, it is not surprising that a critical analysis of what is termed economic freedom, an interpretation of the meaning and its consequences, is a fitting contribution to the Strategic Review. Joleen Steyn Kotze presents such an examination in the first article of this issue. Her reflections compare and juxtapose the different notions and ideologies of economic freedom and the effects these may have if turned into policy. This invites further debate regarding the transformation of South African society, which inherited one of the most grossly unequal societies in our world, a condition yet to be markedly reduced. Debates are also required about other aspects that are relevant for a journal focused on regional strategic issues. These include not least the notion of human security and the role of the military. Thuso Benton Mongwaketse relates directly with his contribution, to a subject raised in recent issues.1) By concluding that "security and human security in particular, is fundamentally about responsiveness, accountability, and transparency in governance", he more than indirectly links the discourse on the role of a national defence force to the socio-economic dimensions dealt with in the first article.

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