Dear Jacques, Firstly, thanks for the links to FeministsSA — I appreciate them. The more interest in feminism, the better (even if it is misguided as in your case). A few points where I beg to differ: 1. Andrea Dworkin represents a particular segment of feminism — radical feminism. It’s not called radical for nothing, […]
2011
Posted inGeneral
How not to think Africa from the Cape
By Harry Garuba How does one think Africa from the Cape in this post-colonial, post-apartheid moment? First, let me explain the rise of the notion of thinking from a place. The idea of location and locatedness saturates contemporary academic life. In the humanities and social sciences, the shifts in contemporary theory have made an awareness […]
Posted inGeneral
In the OS arms race, third-party developers must sweat just to keep up
The ever-increasing pace of technology change delivers lots of lovely new gadgets for consumers, but spare a thought for the poor third-party software developer. While Microsoft is already offering sneak previews of Windows 8 and Apple is rolling out yet another major release of OS X, we still have clients running Windows 2000, Windows XP, […]
Posted inGeneral
Race against denial
By Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh There is a growing inclination in South African public discourse towards the idea that race no longer exists. This is a different claim to whether or not it should exist. One of the main consequences of this claim is that selection policies should no longer focus on “race” but on other indicators […]
Posted inGeneral
mHealth needs to be network neutral to flourish
As we’ve started to see in South Africa and across the rest of the continent, the potential for mobile-enabled healthcare is enormous. Evidence from the GSMA Mobile Health Summit held in Cape Town at the start of June shows that mobile operators are currently leading the pack in this space. Going forward, however, it is […]
Posted inGeneral
The passing of a maidriarch
All of last week I was thinking that I need to contact one of the most important people in my life — my nanny, Florence Mbuli. Something inside me told me that I needed to contact her and thank her for making me the person I am today. I found out on Sunday morning that […]
Posted inGeneral
A Super Rugby dream final
Sanzar could not have asked for more. On one side, you have the Queensland Reds. At the bottom a few seasons ago but now a thoroughbred side changing the landscape of Australian rugby. Their home ground was under water as Brisbane suffered its worst floods in 36 years at the beginning of the year. Now […]
Posted inLifestyle
Australia, where is your humanity?
There’s a smug little reality show on Discovery Channel called Border Patrol that shines a spotlight on the work of Australian customs officials. In a recent episode I sat riveted as two Ozzy pensioners quivered tearfully before an officious bitch in blue that had seized their contraband bunch of bananas. The threat level stuttered to […]
Posted inNews/Politics
Mind the perceptual gap
Like Walter Mitty, there are nations whose adventures are mostly imaginary. Think Belgium and New Zealand.
Posted inBusiness, News/Politics
Why Jeffrey Sachs is wrong about sweatshops
The news that a Romanian sweatshop manufactured one of Kate Middleton’s most famous dresses has inspired renewed popular interest in the ethics and economics of outsourcing jobs to utilise super-cheap labour. This is only the most recent in a string of cases that exemplify the shocking proliferation of sweatshops — even across Europe — over the […]
Posted inGeneral
The growing resistance to capitalist work
Here in Thessaloniki, Greece, where the international ISTP (International Society for Theoretical Psychology) Conference has just ended, delegates seemed strangely reluctant to abandon the discussions that have occupied them for a week. And not surprisingly, given the quality of the papers, a case in point being the keynote address by Professor Silvia Federici from New […]
Posted inGeneral
Obama taps into our battle cry for a born-free generation
By Andile Dube “I’m going to see Michelle. I’m going to see Michelle.” I had to motivate my frosty mind as I dragged myself out of bed before dawn on June for the dark and chilly drive to the Regina Mundi Church in Soweto to see the first lady speak. This was not an opportunity […]