3. Electronic Theses and Dissertations (ETDs) - All submissions
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Item Justification of the state and anarchist alternatives(2008-10-03T10:08:22Z) Taylor, TristenJustification of the State and Anarchist Alternatives aims to establish four key findings regarding the State and its justification according to a revised form of Aristotelian perfectionist ethics. The first finding is a proper definition of a State, and how that definition of the State compares to other definitions of the State, most notably, Max Weber’s definition. The second finding is the establishment of what parts of Aristotle’s ethics and politics are feasible and sound; this requires historical enquiry in addition to philosophical enquiry. The third finding is that this revised form of Aristotelian ethics does not justify the State. The fourth finding is that Aristotelian ethics would justify a non-state political structure (the modern polis), and objections to that structure are dealt with. The core of the thesis is that Aristotle’s ethics do not justify the state, but would justify a form of anarchism.Item Anarchism and syndicalism in South Africa, 1904-1921: Rethinking the history of labour and the left(2008-02-29T13:16:11Z) Van der Walt, Lucien Jacobus WheatleyAbstract: This is a study of the influence of anarchism and syndicalism (a variant of anarchism) on the left and labour movements in South Africa between the 1890s and the 1920s, but with a focus on the first two decades of the twentieth century. Internationally, this was a period of widespread working class unrest and radicalism, and the apogee, the “glorious period”, of anarchist and syndicalist influence from the 1890s to the 1920s. The rising influence of anarchism and syndicalism was reflected in South Africa, where it widely influenced the left, as well as significant sections of the local labour movement, as well as layers of the nationalist movements. This influence also spilled into neighbouring countries, fostering a movement that was multi-racial in composition, as well as internationalist and interracial in outlook. These developments are today almost entirely forgotten, and have been largely excised from the literature: this thesis is, above all, a work of recovering the history of a significant tradition, a history that has significant implications for understanding the history of left and labour movements in South Africa and southern Africa.