Marx,labour and emancipation in South African sociology: a preliminary rethinking

In a university and disciplinary environment where knowledge is increasingly commodified, this paper sketches a reconstruction of the mature Marx’s analysis of capitalism. I argue that his understanding remains methodologically powerful and helps to ground sociological analyses of the present. While accepting that there are good grounds for questioning the relevance of Marx in the wake of the South African political transition and the Post‐Fordist transformation of labour, this interpretation departs significantly from how Marx has generally been interpreted by sociologists and other social scientists in the country by foregrounding the commodity as the starting point of his social critique. Indeed, I argue that ‘class’ and ‘workplaces’, long a focus of radical sociologists, are on their own inadequate to grasp Marx’s concept of capitalism. Finally, drawing on the Frankfurt School, I suggest the importance of a critique of labour and the recognition of contradiction as the starting point of an emancipatory project.     

Coverage of Marikana: war and conflict and the case for Peace Journalism

Different narratives around the Marikana massacre of August 16, 2012 have emerged in the South African news media with regard to what actually happened, what the underlying causes of the strikes were, and who is to blame. Criticism has been levelled against the mainstream news media with regard to embedded journalism, sensationalised coverage and polarisation of views and stakeholders. For this article, an analysis of news articles on Marikana published in the mainstream South African news media has been conducted. This analysis confirms many of the findings of earlier research and I argue that the form of reporting evident in these findings conforms to what has been labelled “war journalism.” I argue that the coverage of Marikana could have been improved by adopting “Peace Journalism” as a model for reporting.     

Rapid change in a South African tertiary institution: Implications for occupational social work

Universities, like most organisations, are in a state of continuous transformation. The past decade has seen dramatic changes taking place at universities in South Africa, which have impacted on employees, especially academics. This article focuses on the transformations at the University of Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape, and recounts the qualitative findings of a small-scale research project, conducted by the first author, which provide a flavour of the way in which UFH academics perceived and responded to a fast changing university milieu. It examines the strengths which sustained them and argues that universities should help people to identify and utilise such strengths within their organisations by employing occupational social workers. The authors, both social work trained and former practitioners, have written this article jointly under the auspices of a three-year British Council Higher Education Link Programme between the Social Work Department at the University of Fort Hare and the Community and Criminal Justice Studies Division at De Montfort University, Leicester.     

The Indian Ocean travels of Sheikh Yusuf and Imam Ali Ali: literary representations in Ishtiyaq Shukri’s The Silent Minaret and Achmat Dangor’s Bitter Fruit

This article investigates the narrative function of prominent Muslim travellers (both historical and fictional) across the Indian Ocean to South Africa in the seventeenth and nineteenth century respectively. Ishtiyaq Shukri, author of The Silent Minaret, juxtaposes the figure of Sheikh Yusuf with the protagonist Issa Shamsuddin of the narrative present to critique contemporary politics, both in post-apartheid South Africa and in the global North and its ‘war on terror’. Similarly, Achmat Dangor’s novel Bitter Fruit sheds light on the difficult choices faced by the main protagonist, Michael Ali, by drawing on the migration narrative of the Sufi Imam Ali Ali from India to South Africa in the 1890s. Both authors highlight the continuous history of imperial pursuits in the Indian Ocean world and their devastating effects in the past and the narrative present.     

西南联大校歌歌词的“史诗”意蕴

西南联大是中国近代教育史上的一个奇迹,在抗日战争的烽火中,她奋勇诞生,毅然挺立,不仅集中了一大批著名教授和学者,做出了大量的研究成果,而且为国家培养、造就了相当可观的人才。西南联大在艰苦卓绝的环境中作＂艰卓刚毅＂的不懈奋斗,高举理想主义大旗,弦歌不辍。罗庸创作的校歌《满江红》歌词描述了西南联大学人的心路历程,彰显了中国优秀的文学传统,弘扬了可贵的大学精神。     

中非技术合作的回顾与反思

从上世纪50年代初至今五十多年来,中非技术合作有序开展,不断深入。文章从国际技术扩散的视角,分四个阶段对中非技术合作的历程作了回顾与总结,并指出了其中存在的问题,提出了相应的对策思路。     

关于会党与辛亥革命关系研究中的几个问题——以西南袍哥与辛亥革命为中心

对于会党与辛亥革命的关系及其评价,学术界历来分歧颇大,主要集中在以下几个方面:第一,资产阶级革命派对会党的联络、争取和利用,是"成功的策略",还是"一个误区";第二,会党在辛亥革命时期是"革命党人联系农民的纽带",还是"阻隔资产阶级革命派与农民的‘栏栅’";第三,会党在辛亥革命中是"充当了革命的主力",还是"既是助力,又是阻力";第四,辛亥革命后,资产阶级革命派与会党关系的破裂,是革命派"过河拆桥"的结果,还是"势所必然"。以辩证唯物主义和历史唯物主义为指导,对上述问题作出客观的符合历史实际的评价,既是秘密社会史研究的内容,也是深化辛亥革命史研究的需要。     

The evolution of population policies in Kenya and Malawi

Our case studies of the evolution of population policies in Kenya and Malawi offer insights into the interaction between the global population movement and national governments. The comparison is useful because it permits identifying the common strategies of a global movement, strategies that are likely to be evident elsewhere; it also permits identifying differences in national responses related to particular domestic contexts. We find a common repertory of movement strategies to influence the governments of Kenya and Malawi to adopt a neo-Malthusian population policy and to implement a family planning program. However, these strategies were promoted more or less aggressively depending on the national response and the chronological period. National responses were related to differences in the governments approaches to nation-building, their willingness to accept foreign influence and the importance they placed on preserving cultural traditions, and to their assessment of benefits they would gain from responding favorably to movement proposals. The data come from written accounts and from interviews with international actors and Kenyan and Malawian elites who participated in the policy development process.     

Satisfied and dissatisfied South Africans: results from the General Household Survey in international comparison

Who are the satisfied South Africans 10 years into democracy? How do material factors contribute to their life satisfaction? These are the questions addressed in this paper. Earlier South African research has consistently found a close positive relationship between life satisfaction and material standards of living in the apartheid and post-apartheid era. Recently, a new source of information has become available to shed further light on the association between material and subjective well-being. In 2002, Statistics South Africa, the country’s official source of statistical information, agreed to ask South Africans participating in the General Household Survey whether they were satisfied or dissatisfied with life. The 2002 General Household Survey (n26’000) used a measure developed for the Euromodule that allows for international comparison. The wide-ranging information contained in South Africa’s official?household survey offers a unique opportunity to explore what makes for satisfied and dissatisfied South Africans in relation to their material living standards. Results indicate that the improved living standards afforded to many black South Africans under democracy are associated with increases in life satisfaction. Furthermore, habituation does not appear to have diluted the positive relationship between living standards and well-being. However, political factors continue to play an important role in shaping subjective well-being. In conclusion, it is argued that material gains might also have restored the pride and dignity denied to black South Africans in the past.     

Post-agreement societies and inter-ethnic competition: A comparative study of the Protestant community of Londonderry and the white population of Pretoria

The arrival of thousands of international students from Asia and the Pacific after the Second World War has reshaped the social and political texture of Australian life by helping undermine long-held suspicions of inferiority, racial pollution and political disruption. This article examines the transnational experience of sponsored and private overseas scholars in relation to the growing body of transnational theory and suggests why scholarly discourse and Australian museums have largely omitted non-permanent migrants, such as student sojourners. It also suggests how museums might avoid the pitfalls of the multicultural or pluralist imperatives that guide migrant heritage collection and exhibition practices.