3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item South Africa's embrace of the social economy.(2012-09-04) Moss, Michalya SchonwaldIn this Masters Research Report I explore how South Africa, in reaction to the global economic crisis’s impact on national unemployment statistics, has embraced the social economy. As this is a recent undertaking of the state, this research covers the timeline of events pertinent to what I determine to be the tipping point of the social economy in South Africa between 2009-‐2011. Based on documentary analysis and in-‐depth interviews with key actors determined to be ‘experts’ in the field, this research attempts to gain an understanding of how the concept of the social economy and its organizations of social entrepreneurship and social enterprise are being transposed onto the South African landscape, specifically in the Gauteng province. By examining the trend of the social economy and how it is being conceptualized in the country, this research aims to understand the implications for the future of South Africa’s socioeconomic development path.Item Economic cooperation in Kenyan credit cooperatives: exploring the role of social capital and institutions(2012-01-18) Muthuma, Elizabeth WanguiCredit cooperatives make a significant economic and social contribution to development in Kenya. They are unique financial institutions that are jointly owned and democratically controlled by their members. This study explores how members of Kenyan credit cooperatives achieve economic cooperation. A sociological basis of cooperation exists because cooperatives are voluntary associations. Economic cooperation was thus conceptualised as collective economic action that enables individual actors to secure economic benefits through associational membership. An economic sociology perspective provided the theoretical basis for combining the analysis of economic interests and social relations. The study employed a qualitative case study research design involving a rural and an urban credit cooperative. Social capital was used to explore the role of associational features in facilitating collective action while the concept of institutions was used to examine how institutions organize and shape collective action. Each cooperative was conceptualised as a microstructure to enable an analysis of group relations. An analysis of the economic and socio-political context provided the contextual basis for economic cooperation. The findings suggest that shared values and solidarity bonds are important in creating collective economic resources while maintenance of the collective resources depends on regular reciprocity exchanges, effective enforcement and transparent representation. A new regulatory framework that emphasizes prudential standards and economic efficiency has redefined the incentive structure for Kenyan credit cooperatives. It is likely to favour a business rather than a social welfare mentality in the cooperatives. The socio-political context reveals persistent vertical linkages that have resulted in low political and economic power for rural smallholder farmers compared to urban public sector employees. The study concludes that although credit cooperatives have acted as financial catalysts by enabling the participation of disadvantaged groups in the economic sphere, they are also societal mirrors that reflect the broader income and gender inequalities existing in society. The recognition of cooperatives as economic and social organizations therefore contributes to a better understanding of how cooperatives work.Item Moshito and small enterprise development(2012-01-17) Walters, LeeThis research report documents diverse impressions and experiences, of and about the South African music industry in general and Moshito Music Conference and Exhibition in particular. Foregrounding the perspectives of black South African entrepreneurs that operate and own small businesses, the research enunciates how Moshito has come to embody an expression of the transition to democracy. Within a broader political, cultural and industrial context, the report captures anecdotes, observations and interviews with key interviewees and decision makers linked to Moshito, in addition to its dialogue with the interconnectedness of various social theories and concepts, and their relationship with industrial and government policy. Necessarily the research also engages literature concerned with cultural industries, music industry and development discourses.Item Career trajectories of Masters in Education (M.Ed.) students : a tracer study of the M.Ed. class of 1999 at the University of the Witwatersrand.(2011-06-20) Sing, RinelThe expansion of higher education and changes in the labour markets seem to have reached a point where training for an M.Ed is affected by a number of issues traditionally raised in the context of graduate employment and work. Growing emphasis is placed on general skills and flexibility, which is briefly mentioned in this report. Labour market theory, human capital development, social capital and career development are explored in detail. Management is no longer perceived in terms of maintaining the business machine but is evolving into a motivator and leader of staff, an inspirational entity that is quintessential to the retention of highly qualified staff . This has resulted in the language of business changing, thus the „efficient company‟ has become a „learning organisation‟ (Germishuys, 2006). Therefore it is of great interest to actually conduct a case study of 11 M.Ed. graduates to track their career trajectories to see where this prestigious qualification has taken them. The researcher traces a general group of M.Ed graduates from the class of 1999 from the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits). The main idea of this study is to ascertain exactly what it is that the sample M.Ed graduates have accomplished in their professional lives. It was found that the colour of one‟s skin, background, contextual factors, opportunities, social networking and career aspirations have played a pivotal role in the career progression of the M.Ed. graduates.Item Features of social capital that enhance the employment outcomes of FET college learners.(2009-09-07T06:34:24Z) Gewer, AnthonyJob creation remains a critical challenge for South Africa. Despite strong achievements in macro-economic stability and increases in employment, the growing labour force has outstripped the capacity of the labour market to absorb young people. The state of the country’s skills base, rendered inadequate by the legacy of apartheid, contributes to sustained inequalities in the labour market. This impacts on the capacity of the economy to grow in an increasingly competitive global environment. In this context, Vocational Education and Training (VET) is viewed as an important mechanism for building the necessary intermediate technical skills to support key sectors of the economy. However, international experience demonstrates that expanding the VET system and developing human capital more broadly will not in itself lead to increased job creation. The alignment of skills supply and demand can only be achieved through a well-developed understanding of the factors that support or inhibit the transition of young people into the labour market. This study investigates these factors through the lens of social capital theory. Through tracing 1,532 individuals who graduated from FET Colleges in the Gauteng province in 1999, the study interrogates the role of bonding and bridging social capital in supporting the transition into colleges and from colleges into the labour market. The findings show support for the three hypotheses: 1) Poor socio-economic family contexts appear to offer little information from which to make effective educational choices. Young people generally make such choices on the basis of perceived long-term value of post-school education rather than short-term economic considerations. 2) FET colleges are ineffective agents of bridging social capital and therefore have limited impact on the rate of employment, in particular the rate of relevant employment. 3) Personal networks are critical, but in impoverished environments are ineffective for finding meaningful employment on initial entry into the labour market. Therefore, restricted social networks have the potential to further entrench social inequality. The study contributes to a greater understanding of the challenges facing youth in navigating through the transition from school to work and the implications for FET policy in pressurising colleges to create access to effective social networks for their students and thereby meaningfully contribute to job creation.Item Exploring local economic activities in reconstruction and development programme housing: case study of Mapleton Township(2009-03-26T08:27:38Z) Nkadimeng, Patike MoffatEconomic activities are lacking in many townships around South Africa. The newly developed Reconstruction and Development Programme townships are also facing the problem of encouraging economic activities. These townships are always criticized for being overcrowded by the people who are unable to support economic activities because of lack of capacity to be employed. This study adopted assets pentagon method to find the assets which the people have in the township which they can use to support and encourage economic activities in the area. Assets Pentagon method includes social and political capital, human capital, physical capital, financial capital and natural capital. The availability of these assets in the township will be vital to encourage and support economic activitiesItem Social capital and good governance in Kenyan public provisioning(2008-03-07T08:34:15Z) Miruka, Collins OgutuIn the past decade and a half or so, the pace of civil service reforms in Africa has increased with high profile donor support as well as a growing demand locally for improved service delivery, greater accountability and more transparency. The development partners have promoted the enhancement of an agreed set of principles that characterizes these good governance initiatives. The thesis considers good governance characterized by the elimination of waste, fraud and abuse as well as a diligent regard for the rule of law. The major strategic development partners considered here include the World Bank, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the Organization of Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) and the European Union (EU). The thesis argument is that at present, the nature of social capital amongst the various Kenyan publics is a threat to the entrenchment of good governance principles in the civil service as espoused by major development partners. An attempt is made to interrogate the two concepts of good governance and social capital vis-à-vis the current trends of civil service reforms in Kenya. To develop the thesis, an international survey of the literature on good governance and social capital was carried out concurrently with a situational analysis of the Kenyan public provisioning in order to pinpoint policy implications for future reforms. This was done in order to obtain a theoretical angle to the major concerns of good governance that privilege participation and responsiveness in public provisioning. To answer pertinent questions in this regard, the Kenyan health sector was chosen as a mirror with which to analyze public provisioning in Kenya. The health sector was chosen because of the convenience it offers in terms of access as well as due to the fact that it makes it easy to interview and survey both the community of users as well as the service providers in one place (the hospital). The major finding was that abundant stocks of social capital exist amongst the various Kenyan publics; but it is mainly of the bonding and bridging type. There is need for society-wide civic education to inculcate the third element, that of linking social capital, in order to transcend the limitations of nepotism, tribalism, cronyism and other forms of corruption in public provisioning.