UWCScholar :: Browsing by Author "Gibson, Diana"

Browsing by Author "Gibson, Diana"

Now showing 1 - 19 of 19

Blaming the others: refugee men and HIV risk in Cape Town
(University of the Western Cape, 2006) Iboko, Ngidiwe; Lees, James; Gibson, Diana; Institute for Social Development; Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences
This study investigated the societal perception of refugee men as being a risk group, being polluted and the consequent risk of HIV infection they might face. It also determined the factors that could expose them to the risk of HIV infection while living in exile in South Africa.
Commissioned women soldiers and politics in Zimbabwe
(University of the Western Cape, 2020) Ziyambi, Gabriel; Gibson, Diana
The Zimbabwe National Army (ZNA) and the ruling party, the Zimbabwe African Union Patriotic Front (ZANU-PF), are strongly interlinked in politics since independence, that is, the Army largely functions as the military wing of the party (ZANU-PF) and the state. The ZNA is also deeply involved in civilian politics. This study examines the experiences of commissioned women soldiers, as well as their understandings of power and politics in the ZNA. While many male soldiers are in positions of power and authority in the military, party, state, and civilian politics, commissioned women soldiers are marginalised in all of these areas. The role and position of women soldiers in this regard nevertheless remain under-researched. In this thesis I interrogate the complex processes and relations of power which discipline women soldiers and exclude them from processes of power and politics in the ZNA. I argue that there are various practice and discourses which affect women soldiers? roles in the military. To do so, I draw on Foucault?s (1977) work on power/ knowledge, particularly the concepts of practices, relations, power and panopticism to examine how woman soldiers? aspirations regarding power and politics are monitored and restricted in the military. I also draw on Enloe?s (2000) work on power politics and Sasson-Levy?s (2003) work on military gendered practices as interpretive and critical paradigmatic approaches to analyse how women experience hegemonic military masculinities in- and outside the army. The study employed ethnographic methods such as life histories, in-depth interviews and informal conversations with ten commissioned women soldiers in the ZNA. These methods were triangulated to corroborate responses from research participants and the data was thematically analysed
Coping with violence: institutional and student responses at the University of the Western Cape
(University of the Western Cape, 2005) Sass, Bridgett Virginia; Gibson, Diana; Faculty of Arts
This thesis is based on research conducted at the University of the Western Cape, a previously ?coloured? university with its beginnings rooted in the political tensions in South Africa. The university is geographically disadvantaged since it is situated on the Cape Flats, which is viewed as a potentially violent area with high crime rates. The study focuses on students who stay in in- and off-campus residences since they are exposed to potential violence when they move inside as well as outside the campus and residence vicinity. In addition to semi-structured interviews conducted with students from the university, I draw on my own experiences as a student having lived in on- and off-campus residences at the university. In this thesis I investigate the tactics students use to stay safe in the face of potential violence in student residences and also in the vicinity of the university. I refer to violence in the same way as Scheper-Hughes and Bourgois (2004) do - as falling on a continuum along with other forms of violence which include structural violence, torture, genocide, political violence, state violence, symbolic violence, sexual violence and colonial violence. When students move outside of campus and residences they fear being robbed, murdered or sexually violated. Students also felt that if this should happen to them, others present will not step in to help them. The tactics students use to stay safe outside and on campus include moving in numbers, staying away from deserted or specific places at certain times, walking fast with a serious facial expression, and greeting oncomers. In residences women particularly feared going to ablution areas at certain times of the day because of stories they heard about sexual violence taking place in showers. The tactics they used to stay safe from that involved taking showers during ?peak? hours. However, a lack of trust which students have in residential administrators impedes the safety students experience in residences. I questioned how students can feel safe outside residences when residential organisation leaves their safety precarious. Overall I found that awareness of potentially dangerous spaces, through stories, the news media or witness, informed students? tactics of safety. Furthermore, this thesis explores the relevance of formal campus services in response to violence in the everyday lives of students who live in in- and off-campus residences. I discuss the changes that have taken place in terms of campus security, and how the meanings of safety, play an important role in the ways the university as an institution responds to violence. The meanings of safety and security also translate into specific safety interventions, which I found to focus more on perpetrators of violence from ?outside?, that on perpetrators of violence on the ?inside?. In the institution?s dealings with sexual violence I also explore how perceptions of sexual violence and relationship dynamics influence the infection of HIV/AIDS, and the university?s approach to dealing with this threat to students? safety.
Cultural and Social Factors Impacting on the Programme to Prevent-Mother-To-Child-Transmission (PMTCT) of HIV in Namibia: a Case Study of the Kavango Region
(University of the Western Cape, 2010) Shirungu, Michael M.J.; Gibson, Diana; NULL; Faculty of Community and Health Sciences
This study focuses on socio-cultural issues, which affect Kavango women's decision to participate in the PMTCT programme. It investigates the treatment methods used by HIV-positive pregnant women for themselves and their unborn babies, neonatally, during pregnancy and after delivery, particularly in relation to the prevention of transmission of HIV. The thesis further investigates whether women choose alternative services such as traditional healers for medical attention during pregnancy, birth and post-natally. The research aims to establish and describe the role of local notions and practices concerning anti-retrovirals on the aforementioned programme. Ethnographic and thus qualitative research methods were used to gather and analyze data. I spent three months working as a nurse in two health facilities that offer PMTCT in Rundu, Kavango. I also held semi-structured and open-ended interviews, formal and informal discussions, formal and informal focus groups with nurses, community counselors, pregnant women, women who had recently given birth in the health care facility and traditional health care practitioners. In the case of the latter, I utilized narratives of healing to understand their perception of HIV/AIDS, their beliefs and practices as well as their healing methods. Furthermore, I employed other informal conversations outside the formal research participants. The study shows that there is a paucity of partner involvement and in some cases women have to first seek permission from their partner before enrolling into the programme. My research findings further indicate that women utilized various traditional herbal medicines for themselves and their babies as part of their cultural beliefs and practices. It was evident that some of these, such as Likuki, affect women's participation in and adherence to the protocols of the PMTCT programme.
Die stam van die gemeenskap: An exploration of hypertension and herbal treatment amongst the elderly in Nuwerus
(University of the Western Cape, 2016) Pasquallie, Michell e Sheila; Gibson, Diana
Hypertension is estimated to a ect 20 million people in South Africa, with lifestyle factors predisposing certain individuals to this condition disease (Hughes et al., 2013). The prevalence rate of hypertension is higher in areas with low socio-economic status, with women more at risk of developing it than men. Current research suggests that 60-80% of people in South Africa use 'traditional'- most often plant based - medicines at some point for their primary healthcare needs (WHO, 2008; Hughes et al., 2013). In rural and underprivileged areas, such as the community of Nuwerus in the Western Cape Province, the use of herbal medicines and its practices are maintained in an ageing population. This study looks at the ways in which the elderly and the home based care workers of Nuwerus understand hypertension. I focus on the transition from hypertension to high blood pressure and how the two concepts overlap in Nuwerus. I highlight the way the elderly maintain their sense of vitality. I also look at concepts of resilience and vitality to unpack the personal, religious and social dimensions of old age. I focus on the various activities the elderly participate in to unpack the subtle ways with which they push the boundaries of old age consequently challenging conventional notions of health and wellness amongst the aged. The vigour with which the elderly go about their everyday life is what ultimately makes them the pillars and knowledge holders of the community.
'Doing' diabetes: a focus on local experience, medical knowledge systems and herbal management of Type 2 Diabetes among individuals in Genadendal, Western Cape
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Parker, Hameedah; Gibson, Diana
In South Africa 3.5 million people (estimated 6% of the total population) are diagnosed and living with diabetes. The majority of the diagnosed group suffer from Type 2 diabetes respectively. Described as a metabolic disorder, diabetes is also understood as an illness and disease and is usually handled through the intervention of biomedical perspectives, especially in the manner in which it is treated and managed. However, few ethnographies have interrogated how individuals living with diabetes in South Africa in negotiate between various medical/healing knowledge systems- both ?alternative? and biomedical. The study explores the area of Genadendal as a case study, using an ethnographic approach and a material semiotic approach (Mol, 2002) in relation to medical sense-making and treatments. I investigate the partial connections as discussed by Strathern (2004), between medical/healing knowledge systems, i.e. biomedical and herbal management through plant medicines, which inform diabetic realities. Ultimately, this study considers the various notions and understandings of diabetes, local knowledge, experiences of individuals with diabetes and the interfaces of different ways of knowing with each other.
Ethnobotanical survey of medicinal plants used to manage High Blood Pressure and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Bitterfontein, Western Cape Province, South Africa
(Elsevier, 2016) Davids, Denver; Gibson, Diana; Johnson, Quinton
ETHNOPHARMACOLOGICAL RELEVANCE: The aim of this study was to identify and document medicinal plants used to manage High Blood Pressure and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus in Bitterfontein, Western Cape Province, South Africa. METHODS: One hundred and twelve (112) respondents were interviewed between August 2014 and September 2015 through semi-structured surveys to gather data on the percentage of people who had been diagnosed with High Blood Pressure and/or Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus and to determine the frequency of medicinal plant and allopathic medicine use. Twelve (12) key respondents were subsequently selected, using a non-probability snowball sampling method. They were interviewed in-depth concerning their plant practices and assisted with plant collection. RESULTS: Twenty-four plant (24) species belonging to 15 families were identified for the management of High Blood Pressure and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus. The most frequently reported families were Asteraceae (20.8%), Lamiaceae (16.67%), Crassulaceae (8.33%) and Aizoaceae (8.33%). The remaining (45.54%) were evenly split over eleven families- Fabaceae, Amaryllidaceae, Anacardiaceae, Capparaceae, Geraniaceae, Apiaceae, Convolvulaceae, Apocynaceae, Rutaceae, Asphodelaceae and Thymelaeaceae. The most commonly used plant species overall was Lessertia frutescens (96.55%). The most frequently used plant parts included leaves (57.63%) roots/bulbs (15.25%) and stems (11.86%), mostly prepared as infusions or decoctions for oral administration. CONCLUSIONS: Medicinal plants are widely used by High Blood Pressure and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus sufferers. They employ diverse plant species to manage both conditions. In addition, some sufferers often use prescribed allopathic medication, as well as medicinal plants, but at different intervals. Despite high usage the plants identified are not currently threatened (Red Data list status: least concern).
Genealogies and narratives of San authenticities the ?Khomani San land claim in the southern Kalahari
(University of the Western Cape, 2012) Ellis, William; Gibson, Diana
In this thesis, I examine the narratives of authenticity, the limits thereof, the potential interests served by these narratives, and the power relations involved in the promotion of an authentic San identity. I focus on four key areas to achieve this goal: the methodological issues involved in studying authenticity, the framing of the land claim lodged by the San against the Kalahari Gemsbok National Park in South Africa in 1995, the post-land claim settlement activities on the restituted farms, and the various issues around authenticity and traditional leadership. I will also highlight a variety of issues, ranging from livelihoods to governance, community-based natural resource management (CBNRM), identity and ethnicity, and common property debates. The study begins with a brief introduction to the richly textured and highly contested debates and analytical issues concerning the San. Among other things, this first part of the thesis deals with naming, the alleged disappearance of the San, and the eventual reemergence of this group in the post-apartheid landscape of southern Africa. This is followed by a brief description of some aspects of the natural environment of the southern Kalahari and how the San see themselves situated within this cultural�ecological complex. This exploration of the cultural�ecological landscape is not meant to mirror previous San studies of cultural ecology but rather to offer an account of a possible San ontology. The thesis gives an inventory firstly of the research methods applied by myself, and then probes the research encounter reflexively. The main descriptive chapters of the thesis begin with an examination of how the ?Khomani San emerged onto the political landscape of post-1994 South Africa and how an ethnic entity was constituted through the land restitution process. The post-restitution activities of at least three subgroups of the ?Khomani San Common Property Association (CPA) are then examined and shown to be a series of contestations and challenges of authenticity. In the final chapter, I take an experimental look at a particular institution that emerged as central to the debates about authenticity and the management of resources in the ?Khomani San CPA
The interrelationships of violence - from the transnational to the domestic. Experiences of refugee women in Cape Town
(University of the Western Cape, 2008) Wanka, Ngwetoh Nchangmum; Gibson, Diana; Faculty of Arts
Although gender-based violence has been identified as highly problematic in South Africa, it has not been given much scholarly attention in relation to refugee women. This study focuses on the experience of some of these women who have resettled in Cape Town. The main focus is on gender-based violence and the linkages between conflicts at home, fleeing from it, as well as the problems faced by women when they reach the 'new' country where they are suppose to be safe, but yet continue to experience gender violence. By referring to my own empirical research I try to tease out the many instances of violence and abuse such women face, how they understand and try to make sense of it and how they try to take up their lives in Cape Town. I utilized the much used ecological framework to analyze gender-based violence and argue that, while this 'model' is dynamic and allows one to make analytical linkages across different 'levels' of violence, it nevertheless does not adequately provide for understanding the relationship between larger global and international processes, the connection that women may still have with their countries of origin and the impact of being a refugee or unwanted 'immigrant' in South Africa. Data was collected through in-depth interviews and participant observation. The participants were 25 and a descriptive analysis indicated that three quarter of the women have in one way or the other been abused by their husbands/partners. The findings also indicated that refugee/forced immigrant women just like any other woman in South Africa do encounter gender-based violence but other factors beyond their control has exacerbated it?s occurrence amongst them. Thus, the findings were based on ethnographic research that analyzed how forced immigrant/refugee women talk about gender-based violence.
Knowledge Interfaces: Kruiekenners, plants and healing in Genadendal
(University of Western Cape, 2021) Davids, Denver; Gibson, Diana
This thesis was informed by what I perceived to be a tense relationship between Western biomedical science and, for example, �traditional� or �indigenous� ways of producing knowledge about medicinal plants used to manage a pervasive condition like Tuberculosis (TB) in South Africa. Hoping to reimagine this relationship and its possibilities, I follow medicinal plants collected from Genadendal through three research spaces with disparate but intertwined knowledge heritages to investigate these tensions but also to tease out how knowledge about locally used medicinal plants is generated and �done� in practice. The first space was at the South African Herbal Science and Medicines Institute (SAHMI) as part of an experiential science project led by scientists who were interested in studying medicinal plants which could potentially provide new sources of safe, affordable, and sustainable medicine for communicable conditions such as TB.
Negotiating difference: exploring masculinity and disability in contemporary dance
(University of the Western Cape, 2015) Valentyn, Coralie Pearl; Gibson, Diana
There is a theoretical gap in scholarship pertaining to masculinity and disability in dance. Existing scholarship on masculinity, disability and dance respectively, seldom bring these three themes into conversation with each other, missing opportunities to examine the nuances of masculinity. Through an ethnographic study, I endeavoured to capture the narratives of three professional disabled male dancers from different contexts and backgrounds. The phenomenological approach was selected in order to enhance understanding of my participants? experiences in an attempt to illuminate how these dancers negotiate and embody their masculinity in dance spaces. The nuances of masculinity, disability and dance are therefore interpreted through a phenomenological framework and seek to foreground the intricacies of negotiation and subjectivity. Through face-to-face in-depth interviews, watching performances and rehearsals as well as less formal conversations, this project aims to illuminate the lives of Marc Brew (Scotland), David Toole (England) and Zama Sonjica (South Africa) as disabled male dancers. I am particularly interested in disability?s ability to challenge normative ideas around dance, identity and masculinity. I argue the need to change limiting perceptions of hegemonic masculinity and the male dancer?s body to advance the artistic medium of dance and allow for constructive dialogue around issues of access and inclusivity. Furthermore, like Roebuck (2001), I am interested in the ways in which contemporary dance works "contributes to the development of a more sensitive understanding of the ways in which dance articulates masculine identity" (Roebuck, 2001: 1).
People’s understanding of TB in a setting of high HIV/TB prevalence: case studies in Gugulethu Township, Western Cape Province
(University of the Western Cape, 2014) Ncube, Wenzokuhle S.; Gibson, Diana
Tuberculosis (TB) infection is present in many people but it is sometimes latent until one’s immune system is compromised. As such, it increasingly manifests in people, especially those whose immune system has been compromised by e.g. HIV, as an opportunistic disease. TB is thus closely interlinked with HIV and efforts to eradicate TB have been integrated with the fight against HIV in South Africa. The study revealed that factors such as poverty and stigma - be it enacted or perceived - has an impact on how people with TB deal with the burden of having the disease. Using qualitative research as the choice of methodology and collecting data using observations, in-depth interviews and structured interviews among 18 participants the study focused on the ways in which people understand TB in an area that is known to have high HIV prevalence. The researcher explored people’s experiences with TB and investigated their understanding of the disease as well as explored how people on Directly Observed Treatment Strategy (DOTS) make sense of and interact with this programme in Gugulethu Township. During the study it emerged that people have significant understanding of TB and its symptoms but their initial reaction to those symptoms is selfmedication and this results in delayed treatment seeking. TB is stigmatised in Gugulethu despite some people acknowledging that the environment itself is partly to blame for the rapid spread of the disease. The study revealed that there is good healthcare provision in Gugulethu and it is accessible but the burden of suffering from TB is a difficult one that requires family support, financial support and good relations with clinic and hospital staff in order for one to adhere to treatment and recover from TB.
Perceptions of traditional health practitioners on violence in the Helderberg Municipal Area, Western Cape
(AOSIS OpenJournals, 2013) Gibson, Diana
This study on perceptions of violence was conducted with 56 traditional health practitioners (diviners: amagrirha) in the Helderberg Municipal Area of Cape Town Metro. It forms a subsection of a larger study on African medicine. This particular research focuses on how traditional health practitioners perceive violence, including gender-related violence. Individual, in-depth interviews were done with 21 traditional health practitioners and focus group discussions were held with 35 participants. The paper reports on their understanding of, as well as the meanings attached to, community and gender-based violence in an urban setting. The traditional health practitioners related violence to a range of disconnections in society, ranging from not adhering to traditional norms and practices, to breaks in relations between parents and children, within families and in marital- and sexual relations. They referred to a general sense of disjuncture between the living and the ancestral worlds. The accumulative effect of this sense of not being connected was seen as damaging and a precursor to violence. In two sites where there were high concentrations of violence, ceremonies were held to purify the areas by ritual. In addition to attending to the physical manifestations of illness, distress and violence, these traditional health practitioners attempted to enhance and restore proper social relationships between the living, as well as between the living and the dead.
Rethinking medicinal plants and plant medicines
(National Inquiry Services Centre, 2018) Gibson, Diana
Because plants are perceived as sessile and immobile, they are often represented as objects or things in current literature. In this paper, I explore variations and shifts in research and literature since 2000 that reconsider the ways that plant-related ideas, expertise and practices intersect in multiple associations related to medicinal plants. I argue that, in their relationship with humans, plants have histories, are mobile and can also bring about political and other effects. I use ethnographic material from Namibia and the Western Cape of South Africa to review medicinal plants, by focusing on human-plant relations and the incorporation of plants as non-human subjects with non-intentional agency.
Soldiers in exile: the military habitus and identities of former Zimbabwean soldiers in South Africa
(U, 2014) Maringira, Godfrey; Gibson, Diana; Richters, Annemiek; Carrasco, Lorena Nunez
After analysing stories of 44 former soldiers from Zimbabwe (39 army deserters and 5 who resigned from the army), I argue that even though they were disillusioned by the Zimbabwe National Army's conduct both in war and during peacetime deployment, in exile in South Africa they continue to hold on to their military identities. While in many studies trained soldiers are presented as capable of becoming civilians in post-combat life, my thesis points to the difficulties associated with such a process. Even though scholars present military identities as fluid, I argue that it is also deeply embodied and expressed through �bodily disposition�. In substantiating my argument, I employ Bourdieu�s (1990) theory of habitus and field, to reveal how what was learned in the military is difficult to unlearn. I argue that the practice of clinging onto a soldierly identity is a social and economic resource for the former soldiers who became my research participants. The soldierly habitus is social because of its capacity to elicit and provide a bonding space in the absence of a supportive exile host community. It is a financial resource in the sense that it represents military skills that enable these former soldiers to access productive work in the formal and informal markets. I argue that, even though these former soldiers have the capacity to engage in violence, they have remained disciplined, while skillfully deploying their �soldierly-ness�. Although these former soldiers experience nightmares of, for instance, having killed in war, they continue to �soldier on� in their exile context. They journey between two different, but complementary, spaces of healing, the Pentecostal churches and a soldier-in-exile support group. Even so they remain dissatisfied with what both spaces have to offer. The two spaces, with different kinds of support for the former soldiers, present seemingly contradictory results which the soldiers themselves try with limited success to integrate, in rebuilding their lives. They do not find conclusive healing in either space and continue to experience nightmares, while perceiving such a situation as part of the soldiering �self�: an on-going military life outside the barracks. Methodologically, I employed qualitative research methods. I utilised ethnographical tools which included the life history approach, field conversations and group discussions in order to understand the exiled soldiers� past and how and why they have remained stuck in their military past. Having been a soldier in the Zimbabwe National Army myself for more than 10 years, I explain why I found it interesting, yet complex, to study my comrades. The interviews were done in the IsiNdebele and ChiShona languages, with a few done in English. The choice of language was influenced by each former soldier�s preference.
Sutherlandia frutescens: The meeting of science and traditional knowledge
(Mary Ann Liebert, 2013) Aboyade, Oluwaseyi; Styger, Gustav; Gibson, Diana; Hughes, Gail
Sutherlandia frutescens (L.) R.Br. (syn. Lessertia frutescens (L.) Goldblatt and J.C. Manning) is an indigenous medicinal plant extensively used in South Africa to treat a variety of health conditions. It is a fairly widespread, drought-resistant plant that grows in the Western, Eastern, and Northern Cape provinces and some areas of KwaZulu-Natal, varying in its chemical and genetic makeup across these geographic areas.1 Sutherlandia is widely used as a traditional medicine. Extensive scientific studies are being carried out on the safety, quality, and the efficacy of this medicinal plant to validate the traditional claims, elucidate the bioactive constituents, and conduct clinical trials. This has resulted in a unique situation in South Africa’s history, where traditional knowledge and science intersect to provide insight into this popular plant. This photoessay attempts to illustrate the interlinkage of science with the indigenous knowledge of traditional healers, the local knowledge of people who care for the sick, product development, and innovation agenda of the country as it relates to this plant.
Understanding women?s involvement in primary health care: a case study of Khayelitsha (Cape Town)
(University of the Western Cape, 2012) Kali, Julia Mamosiuoa; Gibson, Diana
Women are the principle providers of their families when it comes to issues of health care, even though their health needs and efforts are neglected. The contributions that they make to health development seem to be undervalued, and their working conditions ignored. Societies depend heavily on women as role players in the welfare of their families and of national economics together with their physical well-being which determines the ability to be productive. The study has provided an overview of the experiences of women concerning primary health care and the quality of service in Nolungile PHC Khayelitsha, Cape Town. Primary health care (PHC) forms an integral part both of the country?s health system and the overall social and economic development of the community. Central to the PHC approach is full community participation in the planning, provision, control and monitoring of services. Priority has to be given to the improvement of women?s social and economic status.A much neglected perspective in health issues is that, a number of questions arise from the provision of PHC. Does PHC rely on the contribution of women and if so, why women? Women in their communities have joined their hands together as community health workers, educating community members on issues of health. The study has provided an insight of the work that women are doing in their communities, and how do they give meaning to their experiences in PHC. The study also answered questions that raise fundamental issues on gender stereotyping and disparities in PHC. The study gave me an opportunity to work closely with the women while observing the challenges that they are facing and how to they overcome them in the daily lives.Changes are called towards the attitudes of health care providers working in the formal and nonformal sectors. The provision of health education for women ultimately empowers them as health educators for the community.
The use of medicinal plants to treat mental illness in Kavango East and West regions, Namibia
(University of the Western Cape, 2016) Shirungu, Michael M.J.; Gibson, Diana; Cheikhyoussef, Ahmad
The thesis examines mental illness as it is understood and treated by traditional healers in Kavango, based on ethnographic data collected over twelve (12) months in three (3) different phases from 2014 to 2016. The thesis offers ethnographic material and theoretical insight on the socio-cultural construction of three common mental disorders (CMD) which were identified and treated by traditional healers: Nyambi, Kasenge and Ndjangura. I employed the �cultural models� of Dahlberg et al (2010, p. 282) as a framework to understand mental illness and its treatment by traditional healers - who deal with sick persons on a daily basis. The three common mentally related illnesses appear to be specific to the Kavango people, based on their cultural settings. I argue that these mental illness categories are not fixed or objective, but rather reflect the expertise of the Vanganga (Traditional healers) who identify them, and ultimately treat the afflicted. While traditional healers themselves assume that these local notions of mental illness are static, in reality they are not. Rather, these are active concepts constituted by culturally and socially relative categories whose precise boundaries and meanings vary and are highly contested. It was evident that the conceptualization (expression of belief patterns, thoughts and ideas) by the Vanganga (Traditional healers) of the three local mentally related illnesses differed, in the ways they perceived and treated similar conditions. The manner in which these perceived signs and symptoms informed their diagnoses differed, but also overlapped: in terms of basic assumptions that underlay explanations and treatment, and the ways in which the conditions became manifest. The thesis postulates that Traditional healers form part of the local health care system, historically unregulated. There have been calls for the recognition and regulation of traditional healers and their medicines, but to date such recognition and regulation has, if anything, been sporadic, insufficient and controversial. In response to this I provide a new way of classifying traditional healers in Kavango and propose the use of three categories: Kangangwena (assistant traditional healer), Nganga (general traditional healer) and Nkurunganga (expert traditional healer). The thesis discusses the cultural epistemology of traditional healing concerning the use of medicinal plants as treatment for mental illness. Plant knowledge and its application by traditional healers is explored, with the emphasis on the medicinal plants used to treat various mentally related illnesses. In addition, administration methods and the medicinal plants used in the treatment of mental illness are examined. I argue that medicinal plants are believed to possess powers that need to be "enticed or seduced" by healers, in order to produce a therapeutic effect on the muveri (sick person). I contend that medicinal plants are perceived to have an agentivity which is embedded in the community and people who utilize them. Thus, I intend to show that medicinal plants have power that work at different levels via ritual healing ceremonies and communication to the ancestors, as a way of "seducing" them to bring forth their therapeutic effect on the sick person. The plants in question were "seduced" inter alia by boiling, powdering, crushing and soaking, to increase their rate of reaction and generate more therapeutic power. A total of 37 medicinal plant species belonging to 24 families were reported to be used traditionally in Kavango regions in Namibia, to treat the five different categories of mental disorders. The most reported use of plants was of Albizia tanganyicensis, Ancylanthos rubiginosus, Bobgunnia madagascariensis, Dialium engleranum Diospyros virgata, Elaeodendron transvaalense and Guibourtia coleosperma. Roots and leaves were most frequently used in treatment. Remedies were prepared by boiling, while oral intake and steaming were most commonly used by healers to administer them.
When soliders become refugees: Surveillance and fear among Rwandan former soliders living in Cape Town, South Africa
(University of the Western Cape, 2017) Ncube, Florence; Gibson, Diana
This study examines the fears of Rwandan army deserters who oppose President Kagame, of being found by the External Security Organisation (ESO), a Rwandan spy organisation meant to sniff them out wherever they are in exile: in this case Cape Town, South Africa. The army deserters are perceived as both a political and military threat to the survival of President Kagame. I argue that the fear of being hunted is a real threat which (re)produces 'militarised identities' as these former soldiers employ their military training skills to hide from the ESO in South Africa. In this I employ Foucault's (1977) concept of 'panopticism' to examine these army deserters' experiences of surveillance by the ESO and also Vigh's (2006) concept of 'social navigation' to understand how the army deserters 'scan' and manoeuvre the exile terrain. In substantiating the thesis argument, my study draws from six in-depth interviews and conversations with Rwandan army deserters living in Cape Town. It also made use of thematic analysis, drawing themes from the data on which it is based.

Browsing by Author "Gibson, Diana"

Results Per Page

Sort Options