Electronic Theses and Dissertations (PhDs)

Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37996

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Subject: search.filters.subject.SDG-8: Decent work and economic growth

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Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Operating under the Radar: Forestry Plantation Workers Everyday Resistance in Chimanimani District, Zimbabwe
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mvundura, Wellington; Pillay, Devan
    This thesis explores and analyses the everyday forms and practices of labour resistance that rural commercial forestry plantation labour crafts to navigate a highly insecure post-colonial capitalist plantation labour process. It attends to the scholarly puzzle that in Zimbabwe, Africa, and elsewhere quotidian forms and practices of resistance are in a much less or barely empirically demonstrated and theoretically elaborated state in both resistance and labour resistance studies. This is even more pronounced in agrarian labour politics studies, yet agriculture labour constitutes a significant proportion of the overall industrial labour-force in xii Africa and elsewhere and is arguably the most easily exploitable form of wage labour. This motivated my empirical focus on commercial plantation labour. In light of evidence from Barura plantation estate, I argue that the workers may have to accept the fact of post-colonial capitalist plantation wage employment, the plantation-specific modalities of statist ethno-national citizenship, and state-sanctioned partisan national politics while contesting the terms and conditions under which these mutual systems of domination and exploitation occur. The practices do not seek to radically decompose the historical material- cum-symbolic bases of these systems of power. The everyday practices of defiance mediate the workers’ realisation of piecemeal de facto material and status gains more than the de jure recognition of those gains. My major empirical contribution is the discovery and foregrounding of the quotidian practices of subaltern groups as an integral part of politics. In a specialised and methodical manner, I re- centre the mundane everyday acts of plantation labour as workplace politics namely labour resistance. Theoretically I deploy and test the conceptual-cum-theoretical positions of seminal scholars on (everyday) resistance and modify some of these positions in light of empirical evidence. Methodologically, I break from the intention-oriented and foreground the practice- oriented approach to everyday resistance. This study is based on a continuous fourteen-month long on-site ethnography at a state-owned commercial forestry plantation. Ethnography was instrumental for the contextualised in-depth discovery and thick description of the workers’ forms, practices, and dynamics of subterranean labour resistance. It also enabled the cultivation of high levels of trust and rapport required to discover a sensitive, incriminating, and largely backstage (hidden) social phenomenon like quotidian labour resistance. For data collection I used three levels of participant observation, unstructured in-depth interviews, casual conversations, and deep hangouts.
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    The crisis of trade union representation in post-1973 unions and the role of the full-time shop steward (FTSS): A case study of NUMSA at BMW Rosslyn Plant Tshwane South Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2023) Malabela, Musawenkosi Hemelton; Mosoetsa, Sarah
    Full-time shop stewards (FTSSs) are elected trade union shop stewards paid by the employer to do full-time union work. This is a peculiar arrangement in the South African industrial landscape which draws from the German model of workers’ councils. These FTSSs were first negotiated in the early 1980s at Ford and Volkswagen (VW) in South Africa. The main reason for these FTSSs was, as noted by Gomomo (1985), to deal with production pressures and disruptions caused by ordinary shop stewards, who, from time to time, would be pulled from the production line to attend to trade union business. The employer offered these positions as a tool for addressing this dilemma. This benefitted the trade unions that were growing exponentially and did not have money to hire organisers to service every organised and non- organised workplace. The s served to augment the role of the organisers; they became a de facto organiser. This study, through in-depth interviews, document analysis, focus groups, ethnography and participant observation, explores the contradictory role of FTSSs through the case study method at BMW. The findings highlight the significance of the FTSSs in building the power of the trade union at the shopfloor level and the potential they have in building a strong, vibrant and militant trade union movement on the ground or branch level. The evidence shows that, if not properly managed, FTSSs’ positions can be used for upward social mobility by self-interested individuals. This is because of the benefits and resources attached to these positions, which accord incumbents some level of social status. Hence these positions are highly and fiercely contested. For these positions to yield positive outcomes, FTSSs ought to be accountable to the rank-and-file members through regular meetings for feedback and mandate takings, and regular 4 elections ought to be institutionalised. Notions of career pathing of FTSSs need not be entertained as they will open space for the institutionalisation of upward social mobility of FTSS. Although upward social mobility is one of the options for an FTSS, those who are not re-elected to office face social downgrading, which includes going back to the production line. This comes with a huge personal loss and has a psychological impact as they lose the benefits associated with these positions and the social status that comes with it. The thesis turns Michels’ (1958) notion of ‘iron law of oligarchy’ on its head as it shows that FTSSs should act as a countervailing force against the development of oligarchic tendencies in the workplace. Because accountable FTSSs suffocate the development of oligarchic tendencies in the trade union. The thesis argues that accountability is a pain of democracy—it should be embraced and promoted, and regular elections of FTSSs should be encouraged and institutionalised as a countervailing force to the development of oligarchic tendencies. This will promote the worker control principle, which is the cornerstone of these post-1973 trade unions. The thesis further argues that the FTSS falls into the trap of being a tool of management if not properly managed. They become a communication bridge of management or information brokers1 (see Malabela, 2012) by communicating production schedules. Borrowing from Tony Lane's (1974) thesis of shop stewards being the man with two masters, it argues that the FTSS is the man with three masters. The three masters are the workers who elected them, the second one is the employer who pays their salary, and finally, the trade union who they represent and on whose card they were elected. I posit that all these masters have different expectations: the 1 See Malabela, 2012 5 first is to represent them against the employer, the second is to maintain labour peace and avoid unnecessary strikes and stoppages, and the third is to build a strong workplace organisation. In the final analysis FTSSs are an important and integral part of South African industrial relations—and benefit both the employer and the trade union. The trade union needs to develop clear policies to manage FTSSs, so that the positions are not abused for upward social mobility and to hold them accountable. Accountability occurs through regular general meetings with workers to solicit mandates and report back, and FTSS elections should be institutionalised. Trade unions ought to benefit a great deal from FTSSs only if these positions serve the intentions of the trade unions and build a vibrant workplace organisation that serves the interest of the rank-and-file.
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    The Persistent Health Burden: Understanding Black South African Working-Class Men’s Experiences of Living with Tuberculosis
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Madhuha, Edmond; Carrasco, Lorena Nunez
    This study is the culmination of ethnographic fieldwork on black working-class men’s tuberculosis (TB) illness experiences, conducted during 2020 and 2021 in Modimolle Township, a non-mining, peri-urban community of South Africa’s Limpopo province. The study examines ways men construct masculine identities and how this provides a lens through which to understand their health-seeking behaviours when beset with TB suggestive symptoms. Men’s construction of masculine identities further helps shed light on their tuberculosis illness experiences and treatment outcomes. Tuberculosis scholarship in South Africa has justifiably focused on the impact of silicosis on men, and the subsequent oscillating labour migration as pathways through which the disease is contracted and transmitted to non-mining communities of the country and the southern African region. Men’s experiences with tuberculosis disease in non-mining communities have however received little attention in South Africa’s extensive tuberculosis research. Drawing from the African-centred theories of masculinity is a conceptualisation of men that I call masculinity in sociability. This thesis of masculinity in sociability manifests when men gather in spaces and engage in social behaviours and practices such as sharing cigarettes and beer within proximity of each other. I demonstrate that masculinity in sociability is informed by the socio-cultural values of seriti (dignity, integrity, and respect), maitshwaro (manners and conduct), and botho (humanness, ubuntu, the sum of human values), which engender a sense of belonging and community among men in specific masculinised spaces. I argue that masculinity in sociability illuminates the crucial and intricate interplay between masculinised, enclosed physical spaces and shared air as possible ways tuberculosis is contracted and transmitted among men. Considering that masculinity in practices of sociability is predominantly performed in masculinised spaces, I further argue that its manifestation concomitantly recedes when men experience TB illness in the private sphere of the home. The thesis demonstrates that men’s exposure, infection, diagnosis, and response to tuberculosis treatment are influenced by their masculinity. In contrast to the public performances of masculinity for the purposes of sociability, the vulnerabilities brought about by tuberculosis create a significant disruption in individuals’ life stories. This disruption is evident in men’s experiences of losing their sources of income and becoming dependent on the care provided by mothers and spouses, which can be experienced by men as a return to a more childlike state. From health through to the continuum of TB diagnosis and illness experience, the thesis shows that masculinity exhibits a remarkable flexibility and adaptability. The thesis contributes to our understanding of masculinities by offering a condensed perspective on how iv economically marginalised black men perceive and undergo the challenges of tuberculosis. Using metaphors, men depict TB as a debilitating and insidious illness condition which unmasks their vulnerability.
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    Rethinking Agricultural Marketing Middlemen in Tanzania: A Social Embeddedness Perspective
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Musinamwana, Earnest; Sefalafala, Thabang Masilo
    This thesis explored how social relations of middleman traders influenced and patterned their entrepreneurial actions in informal agricultural output markets of Kasulu District in Tanzania. The study applied a mixed methods social network analysis design which involved a balanced fusion of personal network analysis and ethnographic techniques. The study established that middleman traders’ personal relationships have a pervasive influence on their entrepreneurial actions. Interpersonal trust emerged as a key mediating factor of entrepreneurial actions. Contrary to the perception that middleman roles are performed by minorities and “strangers”, the study showed that trading middlemen emerge from the peasantry and, therefore, represent a form of endogenous entrepreneurship. The study showed that governance of entrepreneurial exchanges occurred mostly through informal personal relationships. The study revealed a tendency for reverse embeddedness involving the overlaying of personal relations on relationships that originate from pure market interactions. The overlaying of social dimensions on pure economic relationships creates a social enforcement mechanism that compensates for the lack of formal rules and regulations. Overall, study results suggest that social embeddedness of informal entrepreneurship manifests through a composite interplay of sociological concepts such as patronage, clientelisation and reciprocity. Based on the study findings, I argue that bean-trading middlemen employ a socially embedded business model in which social relations are accessory to the performance of entrepreneurial actions. In sum, this study has generated new insights regarding the link between social embeddedness and persistence of middlemen in agricultural markets. The integrative theoretical and analytical approach contributes to the quest for a unified approach to studying social embeddedness. Ultimately, the study revealed that, while economic sociology concepts have independent theoretical lives, they are inextricably linked and integrating them is central to understanding the social embeddedness of economic phenomena.
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    YouTube: Video Commercialization, Value Creation and Identity
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2021-12) Dlamini, Gabby Sipho; White, Hylton
    Social media has been blamed for promoting unrealistic flashy lifestyles and an increase in influencer brand marketing. The outcome of this is said to put extreme pressure on individuals to maintain a certain lifestyle to the detriment of their self, promoting a performance of life rather than real life experiences, resulting in the breakdown of social bonds. Yet social media platforms such YouTube, Twitter, Instagram and many others are growing at considerable rates, despite all the critiques. The thesis overall questions how YouTube vloggers turn the intangible value of activities in everyday life into monetary income by attracting online audiences to their vlogs. The research is located as part of transformations taking place in late capitalism, that used to characterise the organisation of labour and, therefore, society in nineteenth and twentieth-century iterations of modern capitalist society; and the changing concepts of “private” and “public” that are described as part of the technological development and integration into our everyday lives. This thesis traces the changing structures and relationships between YouTube, YouTubers and viewers as the economy of YouTube has continued to grow. Whilst influencer brand marketing and social media reach are popularly viewed as detrimental to the individual and society, this thesis argues against this general view. Instead, I argue that in the wake of influencer marketing and the financial economies, embedded within YouTube and other social media, new ways of being and belonging are being negotiated. This thesis, using ethnographic data, focuses on these new ways of being and belonging by explaining how ideas of value, suspicion, affect, and digital footprint are factors in creating online community ties and online identities that continue inside and outside of the online space.
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    The use of self-service technologies (interactive screens) in enhancing the shopping experience in selected South African shopping malls: a consumer/shopper perspective
    (2023-07) Uta, Lloyd
    With the South African consumer market continuously evolving, it is imperative for shopping-mall owners to create more innovative shopping ways to satisfy the needs of the 21st century South African consumers. One of the innovative ways is to provide the use of self-service technologies (SSTs), which reportedly provides consumers positive cognitive, affective, and sensory customer experience benefits. Using SSTs in banks, shopping malls, hotels and other business environments have become a trend as customers do not only enjoy fresh and actionable experiences, they also get service quality, efficiency and entertainment that can be better and consistent than the human services. Despite these benefits, emerging markets such as India and South Africa respectively are slow to adopt SSTs, especially in the shopping mall environment. This study integrated relevant elements of technology acceptance model, diffusion of innovation theory, theory of planned behaviour and the flow theory to examine SST site factors (i.e., user interface, aesthetics and authenticity), the technology-related factors (i.e., relative advantage, complexity, perceived ease of use[PEOU], perceived usefulness [PU]) and consumer factors (i.e., subjective norms, perceived behavioural control, enjoyment and concentration) driving attitudes and behavioural intentions to use SSTs at some selected shopping malls in Johannesburg. The mediating roles of PU, PEOU and attitudes were also tested. Based on proximity to the researcher’s resident and malls similarities in size, ranking, and social class (i.e., middle and higher income) and socio-economic profiles of shoppers, the researcher selected three contemporary shopping malls which have been identified as super regional centres. These malls were Mall of Africa, Rosebank and Sandton City malls. Additionally, the malls have installed SSTs like information kiosks or interactive screens. A quantitative research study was conducted with data collected successfully from 260 respondents and analysed using structural equation modelling with Smart PLS. Sobel’s test was used to test mediation. Findings revealed that user-interface and aesthetics and authenticity positively impacted PU and PEOU. The PU and PEOU with relative advantage drove attitudes to adopt SSTs, which with perceived control, subjective norm and enjoyment were positive and significant drivers of behavioural intention to use SSTs. The mediating effects of PU, PEOU and attitudes were significant. Managerially, drivers of shoppers’ attitudes and intentions to adopt SSTS are exposed. Theoretically, the study’s integrated model enriches the explanation of the acceptance of a technology, that is SST, especially in emerging market and multicultural context.