Browsing by Author "Phiri, Chidongo"

Now showing 1 - 2 of 2
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The social act of exchange in power relations: The study of the phenomenon of Nichekeleko at the weighbridges in Zambia
    (CODESRIA, 2017) Phiri, Chidongo
    This article examines the widely practiced phenomenon of Nichekeleko at the Weighbridges (WBs) in Zambia. The commonly held understanding of Nichekeleko by the Zambian people is that, it is corruption; ranging from bribery, theft, embezzlement, gratification to favouritism. Sociologically, the phenomenon was conceived as a social act of exchange within the context of power relations by the actors who engage in it. Foucault�s notion of power relations and Bourdieu�s concepts of �practice� and �fields�� provided the theoretical framework for the study. Power was considered as a system, and a network of relations, encompassing the whole society than a relation between the oppressed and the oppressor. Methodologically, this study was based on mixed method research; the large part of it involving participant- observation, interviews and administering of questionnaires The argument in this paper is that failure to analyse corruption from a linguistic and philosophical perspective implied in �Nichekeleko� reduces the practice to mere violation of the law or moral rules. A much closer look at corruption from a language vantage point provides us with essential dimensions of the practice, why, and how it has persisted in Zambia
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The social act of exchange in power relations: A study of Nichekeleko phenomenon at the Weighbridges in Zambia
    (University of the Western Cape, 2017) Phiri, Chidongo; Oloyede, Olajide
    This study examined the widely practiced phenomenon of Nichekeleko at the Weighbridges (WBs) in Zambia. The commonly held understanding of Nichekeleko by the Zambian people is that; it is corruption, ranging from bribery, theft, embezzlement, money laundering, and gratification to favouritism. Sociologically, this phenomenon can be referred to as the Social act of exchange perpetuated in the context of power relations by the actors who engage in the phenomenon. The study used a local concept to examine the reasons for its persistence. The focus of the study was based on cultural-specific words implied in Nichekeleko reflecting the actor"s experiences of doing and thinking about things in a certain way perpetuating the phenomenon. The subject was approached through an observation of how public discourses of corruption are reported in a negative sense in print and electronic media ignoring the localization of the phenomenon. This is because; when a culture linguistic analysis is used at the WB to examine the reasons for its persistence; it has revealed psychological dimensions of self-esteem to helping one another by drivers and operators in the form of gifts and other favours distinct from monetary value. This reflects a Chewa cultural practice for sharing material gifts and offering moral support to one another.