School of Social Sciences (ETDs)

Permanent URI for this communityhttps://hdl.handle.net/10539/37995

Browse

Subject: search.filters.subject.SDG-11: Sustainable cities and communities

Search Results

Now showing 1 - 5 of 5
  • No Thumbnail Available
    Item
    Azibuye Emasisweni: Exploring Everyday Notions of Zulu Nationalism Through the Women in the Hostels of Alexandra Township
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Makhathini, Sinqobile; Mngomezulu, Nosipho
    This thesis explores the lives of four women who ethnically identify as Zulu within the hostels of Alexandra. Hostels, which refer to the housing compounds that were established as ethnically segregated and gender-distinguished spheres for the colonial migrant labour system, have become an essential axis for Zulu nationalist revival away from Kwa-Zulu Natal. Through participant observation and semi-structured interviews, I examine how Mam’Dlamini (57 years), the Nduna of Madala hostel and three hostel residents: Nokukhanya (23years), Mam’Nzama (55 years), Nokwazi (21 years), engage and shape forms of Zulu nationalism within their everyday life. I further engaged in autoethnography, whereby I positioned myself as the fifth participant, undertaking self-reflexivity about my identification as a Zulu woman. My work is invested in ukuzwa ngenkaba, listening with the umbilical cord, which is to say, centring African epistemologies in the ways we research (Mkhize 2023). In this way, I think through Fox and Miller-Idriss’ (2008) four modalities of everyday nationhood (talking, choosing, consuming and performing the nation) within Zulu conceptual frames. In my research, I found that in “talking the nation'' women used ulimi and ukuncelisa both literally and figuratively to signal membership and centre the role of mothers in shaping Zulu subjectivity. The framing of choices as national is understood by participants as more than individual articulations of personal agency but importantly incorporates inherited traditions. Ordinary people are not simply uncritical consumers of the nation; they are simultaneously its creative producers through everyday acts of consumption (Fox et al 2008, 505). My research shows how rituals become fertile sites for enacting Zulu personhood through specific forms of consumption and production. Performing the nation was evidenced through the women’s embodied expressions of inhlonipho. These themes have allowed for the understanding of how women do not remain hidden within notions of co-constituting but rather preserve this order from and beyond their matriarchal hold of the hostel.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Governance quality and popular support for democracy in Africa
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Mongae, Mmabatho; Alence, Rod
    The stability of democracy depends on citizens’ support for and satisfaction with democracy as a form of government. Yet the past decade has seen a public backlash against democracy worldwide, and Africa is no exception. This study aims to clarify the determinants of public perceptions of democracy, in particular how the quality of governance in African democracies affects public perceptions of democracy as a preferred system of government. Are citizens more likely to be supportive of and satisfied with democracy in countries that score higher on indicators of political and economic governance quality? This thesis addresses this question using a mixed methods approach. The study harnesses multi-level statistical analysis, incorporating national-level governance indicators from the Ibrahim Index of African Governance (IIAG), Varieties of Democracy (V-Dem), and Worldwide Governance Indicators (WGI), alongside individual-level survey data from Afrobarometer covering thirty-four African countries. The statistically selected case studies of Sudan, Botswana, South Africa, and Zimbabwe probe more deeply by capturing various experiences with democracy. The central finding is that public support for democracy in Africa depends significantly on the quality of governance. However, support for democracy is not based purely “instrumentally” on the receipt of material benefits, as citizens also value the practical provision of political freedoms and protections “intrinsic” to democracy. These findings challenge existing assumptions about the transactional nature of democratic support, highlighting the critical role of governance quality in fostering a deep-rooted commitment to democratic ideals. By foregrounding the lived experiences of African citizens within democratic systems, this thesis contributes to the discourse on democracy in Africa. It shifts the analytical lens from abstract institutional performance metrics to the tangible democratic encounters of individuals, providing a richer, more textured understanding of democratic resilience and support on the continent. Through this approach, the study not only responds to the existing gaps in literature but also offers fresh insights into the complex dynamics that underpin public attitudes towards democracy in Africa, thereby enhancing our understanding of the factors that promote or hinder democratic engagement and support
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    The Role of Social Networks in Destination Selection Among Urban Refugees in Kampala, Uganda
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Ayanzu, Francis; Wet- Billings, Nicole De
    The rampant displacements due to armed conflicts, torture, gender-based violence, human rights abuse, and all other forms of displacements increased the number of forced migrants residing in urban areas. This study is about the role of social networks in the destination selection of urban refugees, including asylum seekers. Although asylum seekers differ from refugees in terms of status determination, this group is included under refugees because choices about destination occur prior to arrival in Kampala, the place of asylum, not upon arrival. Destination selection refers to the decisions regarding where to go. Existing studies have pointed to the role of social networks, defined as interpersonal relationships through which resources such as information and social support flow, in facilitating the refugee movements and settlement in urban areas. Studies on urban refugees particularly in the Sub- Saharan Africa showed that refugees use their social networks to access livelihood opportunities upon arrival at an urban area. Related to destination decisions, refugee studies in Uganda and Kenya have shown that strong social networks formed in camps and countries of asylum sometimes affect humanitarian interventions regarding returning refugees to countries of origin or relocation of refugees to new refugee settlement areas. Much of these influences have been attributed to the presence of either refugees from the countries of origin at a particular camp or relationships build through shared ethnic membership with local communities in which the refugees reside. However, not all ethnic members have equal weight in exerting influences on a refugee and not every actor in the social network supports the choice of a destination. Moreover, actors who exert influences are not only at the places of origin or destination, but also those encountered on transit or those living elsewhere in another country or camps. The details of who actually influence the refugees to move to city is important because it enables us to answer the question whether refugees make decisions on where to go and if so, what enables their decision-making capacity. This is a critical aspect in the context of Uganda where refugees are associated with settlements in the rural areas. The purpose of this study, therefore, is to investigate the role of social networks in the selection of Kampala, actors involved in the social networks and how they influenced the refugees’ decisions to specifically move to Kampala. Specifically, study explored the associations between social 17 networks and destination selection and how actors in the social networks influence the decisions of the refugees. The study also investigated the profiles of the refugees associating with destination selection, and patterns of movement to Kampala.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    An Evaluation of Democratization Processes in West Africa: A Comparative Analysis of Nigeria’s and Ghana’s Democratic Governance
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2024) Nevobasi, Aletta Adaaku
    Since 2022, the robustness and endurance of democracy in Africa have been subject to debate due to the rise in military coup d'états in sub-Saharan Africa. The rise of military takeover highlights the possible democratic regression on the continent. Therefore, it is imperative to examine the level of consolidation of democracy on the continent. This research study aims to evaluate the strength and quality of democratic governance in Africa by comparing Nigeria and Ghana. By utilizing the Democracy Index devised by the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), this analysis evaluated the internal dynamics of both nations to determine their operationality or non- operationality. The five categories are used to assess the state of democracy in each country. To achieve this, the analysis relied on the five categories utilized by the EIU index to evaluate the state of democracy. The categories are 1. Electoral processes and pluralism 2. Functioning of government 3. Political participation 4. Civil liberties and 5. Political culture. The EIU Index offers a comprehensive evaluation of democracy through the inclusion of objective and subjective indicators. These variables were selected for this research as they best provide a comprehensive framework of the key components of a democratic system. In the category of electoral processes and pluralism, this report will compare the 2019 presidential elections in Nigeria to the 2020 presidential elections in Ghana. Regarding civil liberties, this report compared the perception of civil liberties in relation to ethnicity. Additionally, the report compared the pervasiveness of corruption in both Nigeria and Ghana, in the years 2019 and 2022 in the category functioning of government. In terms of political participation, the report will assess the involvement of women in parliament and politics since both nations formally restored democracy (Nigeria in 1999 and Ghana in 1992). Lastly, the report examined militarism in Nigeria and neo-patrimonialism in Ghana within the category of political culture. In conjunction with the presented case studies, this research report incorporated public opinions to further analyze the quality of democracy. It specifically compared social variations in the practice and perception of democracy. The report concludes by emphasizing the significance of leadership in advancing democracy, asserting that leadership challenges in Nigeria and Ghana contribute to hindered consolidation. Consequently, the report advocates for a reimagining of leadership, with a particular focus on the concept of thought leadership, thought liberation, and critical consciousness as three pivotal elements for advancing democracy.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Justice as Recognition in the Ecological Community
    (University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 2022-06) Francis, Romain; Hamilton, Lawrence
    This thesis postulates that an alternate mode of recognition is required to develop an authentic conception of justice that reconciles the subaltern’s desire for dignity with affording greater love, care, and respect for nature. Extant redistributive and recognitive justice frames within traditional western political theory and philosophy are strictly anthropocentric and restrict nature to a purely utilitarian function in the satisfaction of human needs. This maintains a moral hierarchy between humans and nature that perpetuates ecological injustice. Using decoloniality as both a method and critical analytical framework, this thesis develops and employs the coloniality of nature to illustrate that the continued destruction, exploitation, and disrespect for nature is fundamentally tied to the misrecognition of subaltern people. Misrecognition is a product of a deep-seated sociogenic problem of coloniality introduced during European colonisation, which consolidated the superior status of a hegemonic western subjectivity. Other experiences, knowledges, practices, and ways of articulating human-nature relations were rendered as non-scientific and superstitious and devoid of any value. The misrecognition of subaltern people denied humanity an opportunity to learn from other viewpoints and integrate them into an inclusive idea of justice where no single subjectivity assumes a dominant status. Centered on a decolonial love predicated on Fanon’s idea of “building the world of the You”, not the I, Us or We, this thesis draws on the principles of transculturalism and border thinking to promulgate a practical idea of justice as recognition in the context of an ecological community, that is more inclusive of other living and non-living entities. It advances a dialogical mode of recognition that attempts to achieve the following objectives: i) promote critical introspection amongst the subaltern to understand how their experience of (mis)recognition is connected to the destruction of nature, and how their attitudes towards nature were altered by the introduction of western modernity, capitalism and colonisation, ii) enable those social groups that are on the top of the ontological hierarchy to understand their role in such processes and how to address them, and iii) to demonstrate that increasing humanity’s love, care, and respect for nature is not possible without first addressing misrecognition between people.