3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item The reading world of black workers(2015-03-13) French, Edward.;An understanding of the identity of reading and its social meanings should contribute to the quality of adult literacy work. This study is an inquiry into ways ot understanding reading, and specifically into its meaning and role in the lives of black workers in South Africa. The understanding of reading has been dominated by positivism, but 1ncreasing interest has been shown in the relationship cf literacy and society. However, even these approaches remain largely objective. Alternatives to objectivism are presented in some detail. This provides the background and rationale for a broad account of the social history and contexts of reading in black society in South Africa and for a study of what reading means to eighteen leading black employees at two East Rand factories. The reading world of black workers is characterised by various deprivations and disadvantages. The printed word is owned and controlled by white government and capital in a contradictory and contested hegemony, yet it is perceived positively as an aspect of our society in which black people participate fully, and from which they benefit unequivocally. Reading is understood in terms of aspirations to modernity and to be.ng at home in s national and cosmopolitan community. The experience of reading is felt to be vitally important, although it is not a major feature in the daily lives of most of the participants in this study. Newspapers occupy a dominant position in the reading world of black workers, but t ne level of critical awareness of the media would appeal to be low. The study as a whole works against reductionism; the tendency for literacy to be claimed in the name of instrumental purposes is contested. Implications of the study for adult education and research are briefly considered.Item The effect of long journeys to work on black commuters' punctuality, absenteeism and travel behaviour(2015-01-21) Fourie, Elizabeth MariaDue to a number of reasons, black commuters In South Africa are often faced with long, timeous and complicated journeys to work. The purpose of this research report is to determine how these long commuting distances influence the punctuality and rate of absenteeism of black employers to the work-place. A survey was undertaken in Cape Town, Pretoria, Bloemfontein and Durban. The sample of 1238 respondents was divided into long and short-distance commuters and the answers of these two groups were compared. Respondents were questioned about factors causing them to be late or absent from work as well as . their attitudes towards punctuality. They were also questioned about their employers' attitude towards lateness. The results showed clearly that transport related problems constituted a major part of all late arrivals at the work place. Lateness due to transport problems was mainly influenced by the distance travelled to work, the total travel time, the number of transfers, the time the commuter had to leave his home, and the time he had to start work. Although absenteeism was also increased by the distance commuters had to travel and the difficulty of the journey, it was experienced much less than lateness. Lateness at the work-place due to transport problems is a big problem in South Africa, which is aggravated by the long distances faced by many commuters. It is important to try to minimize the problem and thereby cut the cost of lateness to industry.Item Inner-city ritual centre: reflect + facilitate culture(2009-09-21T09:02:24Z) Mavunga, TatendaThe built environment is a product of man’s rationales and understandings of space. It is on the basis of these understandings that man builds, to facilitate his ways of life. These “understandings”, are the discourses that each individual is born into and the “ways of life” are the cultural practices resulting from these discourses. Architecture being a product of cultural discourse is intended to facilitate cultural practices. Post 1994 South Africa, has inherited a Johannesburg inner-city built environment, which is predominantly a product of apartheid and colonial discourse. During this era, black people were marginalised and excluded from the inner city, both physically and through architectural representation. The inner city was built in accordance with western (white) discourse to facilitate western cultural practices. Today the inner city is predominantly inhabited by black people, who were excluded and marginalised in its conception. Post colonial theorists assert that, while black people have embraced “modernity” and “western urbanity”, it has not resulted in a complete acceptance or appropriation of western cultural practices and discourses. Due a process termed “post colonial hybridity” these people merge the two seemingly irreconcilable cultural discourses and practices to form new cultural hybrids. The consequence of hybridity in the inner-city is; while the appropriated western cultural practices and discourses are inherently reflected and catered for, the retained aspects of black cultural practice and discourse remain marginalised. The built environment, which is meant to facilitate and reflect, negates and marginalises aspects of black discourses and cultural practices. “To be truly expressive, a building should grow out of its natural, social, and civilization context. It should reflect not only the personal values, needs and interests of its dwellers but also its relation to its natural and architectural site. Thus the formal organization of a building cannot be imposed on a people from the outside; it should originate from the context of human life in the given region. In this origination the process of spatial articulation results from a thought- full grasp of the dynamic interaction between the material elements of the architectural work and the human vision which guides this activity.” (Mitias 1994:103) In order to make a contribution to the creation of a more inclusive built environment this paper proposes the development of a hybrid building prototype that would facilitate and reflect the hybrid cultural practices and discourses of the city’s black inhabitants. The building prototype named the “Inner City Ritual Centre” aims to facilitate some of the marginalised practices of black people living in the city and to reflect some of the excluded spatial understandings of black people. The paper proposes a method of practice that utilises postcolonial hybridity, to include excluded and marginalised practices and discourses into the architectural representation of the city. This paper uncovers and highlights a few of these discourses and practices and demonstrates how the use of postcolonial hybridity in architecture would result in a more inclusive built environment.