Women are not a homogenous group and the notion of gender equality cannot be reduced to power struggles between women and men, Catherine Albertyn, Constitution,
globalisation
Posted inEquality
The African immigrant is a human being
There’s a need for South Africa and other African states to better handle those who cross its borders in search of a better life
Posted inBusiness, Equality, General, News/Politics
Does the ANC realise that their expropriation drive will make of South Africa an economic ‘basket case’?
By the day I am more and more astonished that the ANC — with a leader whom I used to regard as an intelligent man — is forging ahead with an expropriation policy that can have only one result: lowering the economic status of South Africa to rock bottom, where it can rub shoulders with […]
Posted inEnvironment, Equality, General
Educational disparities at an international level
For some time now, it has been the case that internationalisation of education cannot be separated from globalisation as a multifaceted phenomenon. This inevitably raises the question of whether such globalisation, especially given its inseparability from advanced (electronic) communicational developments (partly as a means to the sharing of knowledge and, unavoidably, economic prosperity), is judged […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics, Tech
The early 21st century: Taking stock
We live in a society in transition – a process rooted in a technological revolution that stretches back to the middle of the previous century, with the invention of television, followed by other innovations in the media, and culminating in the invention of the internet, initially conceived as a military tool of sorts. Although the […]
Posted inGender violence, General
Masculinity and violence against women
During this period of encouraging the “proper” ethical behaviour towards women and children on the part of men, I have listened to a number of discussions on this topic on my car radio while driving, and I have not heard a single reference to Susan Faludi’s exemplary work in this field. Maybe it is because […]
Posted inBusiness, Equality, News/Politics
Global inequality is much worse than we thought
It’s familiar news by now. According to Oxfam, the richest 1% now have more wealth than the rest of the world’s population combined. Global inequality is worse than at any time since the 19th century. For most people, this is all they know about global inequality. But Oxfam’s wealth figures don’t quite tell the whole […]
Posted inBusiness, Environment, News/Politics
We need to break the one sacred rule of the global economy
Scholars are still trying to figure out why the society on Easter Island collapsed, ending the people famed for their construction of towering stone heads. One interesting theory holds that it had to do with the heads themselves. Somehow, the islanders decided that the giant heads represented power and success, so different groups competed to […]
Posted inGeneral, News/Politics
How should one understand the rise of ‘fundamentalism’?
With the current wave of “terrorist” attacks, not only in France, but in other parts of the world such as Nigeria and Mali, too, “fundamentalist” organisations have become the focus of many questions, including the one concerning the reason why (particularly young) people join these despite risking their lives in the course of performing their […]
Posted inGeneral
Teaching and learning in the ‘network society’
Teaching at university in the early 21st century requires of lecturers that they take the “lifeworld” in which students live seriously. This lifeworld comprises what Manuel Castells (2010) calls the “Network Society” (see here) – a global society that has actualised an ever-expanding web or network of electronic means of information and communication. The fact […]
Posted inNews/Politics
How we stopped thinking like Africans
Not so very long ago, as recent as 1977, the exponents of Black Consciousness (BC) taught us that there were two nations in South Africa: one European, oppressive and privileged; the other African, oppressed and dispossessed. The minority Europeans were aware that they were outnumbered by the natives. So, they went out of their way […]
Posted inGeneral
What does authentically African mean?
Over the last 20 years, self-appointed custodians of “authentic Africaness” have derogatively referred to fellow blacks as “coconuts”, that is, citizens with black skins but white souls or cultural tendencies. Perhaps instead of feeling indignant and insulted, it is important to provide a context for what is meant by this label. It may be long […]