Magister Artium - MA (Anthropology/Sociology)

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https://hdl.handle.net/10566/9286

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Browsing by Subject "Academic dependency"

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    Sociology curriculum in a South African University: a case study
    (2012) Nyoka, Bongani; Adesina, Jimi
    This study sought to investigate the alleged problem of ?academic dependency?, on the part of South African sociologists, on western scholarship. The stated problem is said to undermine South African sociologists? ability to set their own intellectual and epistemological agenda. Sociology in South Africa is characterised by two issues: ?negations? and theoretical ?extraversion?. In the light of the foregoing claim, the study sought to investigate the underlying epistemological features of sociology curriculum in one of the South African universities. In investigating these issues, the thesis relies on the notion of ?authentic interlocutors? put forward by Archie Mafeje. Literature on transformation of the social sciences in (South) Africa was reviewed. Methodologically, the study assumes a qualitative approach. In order comprehensively to understand the problem under investigation, in-depth interviews were conducted along with a review of course outlines of the selected department of sociology; these, in turn, were subjected to content analysis. Interviewees included, respectively, academic members of staff and postgraduate students. The study concludes by highlighting the ?ontological disconnect?, on the part of South African sociologists, not only with their immediate environment but the rest of the African continent. In maintaining this view, it argues that their ontological and epistemological standpoints only succeed in highlighting their cultural affinity with Euro-American perspectives. The said ontological disconnect and cultural affinity, it is argued, lead to extraverted curricula
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    State, democracy and development: An exploration of the scholarship of professor (Archie) Monwabisi Mafeje
    (University of the Western Cape, 2016) Funani, Luthando Sinethemba; Adesina, Jimi
    The departing point of the thesis is that the neglect of African's intellectual heritage within the South African Universities and in public discourse undermines the ability of the post-apartheid government to set its developmental agenda and maximize its democratic potential. The thesis highlights the neglect of Professor Mafeje's scholarly contribution as an example of this neglect and argues that an engagement with his scholarly output might have differently shaped the debate on the thematic issues that are covered in this study. Against this backdrop, this study explores Mafeje's scholarly works in the areas of state, development and democracy, specifically focusing on the insight that we can garner from his scholarly works that will allow us to re-examine the challenges of development. In this context Mafeje's work is examined and situated within the social history of his milieus. The study employs social constructionism to explore the scholarship of Professor Mafeje. An important aspect of this theoretical framework is social embeddedness. Brunner (1990:30) has argued that it is culture, not biology that shapes human life and mind. The important aspect of this approach is that it acknowledges that the way we commonly understand the world, the categories and concepts we use, are historically and cultural specific. Mafeje's ideas make sense when located within complex social contexts in which they were produced. Because he was not producing knowledge in a vacuum, an understanding and appreciation of his ideas must be located within the social history that produced them.