Thought Leader

An open letter to my students: Cat-calling women is not okay

9 September 2019 Psychological Society of South Africa

By Kerry Frizelle While I was lecturing, a female student arrived late*. As she made her way to a seat, another student cat-called her (a whistle). The female student was already conspicuous because she was late and the cat-call drew the entire class’s attention to her. It took me a while to process what was…

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Why women suffer in our society

5 September 2019 Bert Olivier

I have written about the position of women in our patriarchal society from various perspectives on this site several times before – in the context of guns and violence against them, on a fundamental level on the link between patriarchy, writing and images, on why one should respect women for their extraordinary qualities, and on…

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The war on our women, children and fellow Africans

5 September 2019 Ryan Ravens

I am ashamed to be a South African man today. How have we fallen so far as a nation? From being celebrated globally as the ‘Rainbow Nation’ — for our peaceful transition to democracy; for our Constitution which stood as one of the best in the world because of the weight afforded to protecting basic…

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Biko: Philosophy, identity and liberation

2 September 2019 Avishkar Govender

Reading Biko: Philosophy, Identity and Liberation by Professor Mabogo Percy More; I am left to wonder of the man (Bantu Stephen “Steve” Biko) who should have been king; that is the man who should have been the first black president of the Republic of South Africa. Or is that racist? Perhaps I should say, the…

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Theoretical psychology: A direct attack on neoliberalism in Copenhagen

25 August 2019 Bert Olivier

Copenhagen is a beautiful city. It is also a financial black hole for South Africans. With a currency that is constantly edging lower against international currencies because of an inept and corrupt ANC government which cannot manage the country’s economic relations in such a way that its toxic internal political conflicts do not impact negatively…

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A new world awaits: Who is brave enough to imagine it?

21 August 2019 Mandela Rhodes Scholars

By Anton I. Botha As J.K. Rowling once noted, we do not need magic to change the world, we already have the power to imagine a better one. And so, as humanity finds itself faced with unprecedented global challenges the question remains, do we have the power to imagine something better or will we let…

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When work becomes inhuman, and when competition ruins relationships

12 August 2019 Bert Olivier

Some time ago I wrote a piece on Shoshana Zuboff‘s recently published The Age of Surveillance Capitalism, and already other signs are beginning to appear that this invidious phenomenon is spreading in the workplace too, as surveillance of workers to ensure optimal productivity. In a recent edition of TIME magazine (‘When humans become robots‘; July…

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