Cellphones and whistles: Exploring the communicative ecology and sociality of the Enkanini informal settlement in Makhanda
- Authors: Baloyi, Karabo
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Communication models , Cell phones Social aspects South Africa Makhanda , Cell phones Economic aspects South Africa Makhanda , Squatter settlements South Africa Makhanda , South Africa Social conditions 1994- , South Africa Economic conditions 1991- , South Africa Social life and customs , Communication Economic aspects South Africa Makhanda , Whistles South Africa Makhanda , Decolonization South Africa Makhanda , Communicative ecology
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/191046 , vital:45053
- Description: This thesis explores the communicative ecology in the Enkanini informal settlement in Makhanda, and in particular their use of mobile phones and whistles to build a sense of community. It makes the case for word-of-mouth as an integral part of the communicative ecology despite not being a technological device. It then examines the sociality that arises from the use of these devices, and how coloniality impacts on the participants’ everyday experiences. The research was conducted through telephonic in-depth interviews with participants. To corroborate some of the content drawn from interviews, I used Grocott’s Mail, Makhanda’s only independent newspaper as an archival source, as well as some of the participants’ Facebook profiles. This research argues that as a consequence of coloniality, Enkanini’s residents suffer socio-economic challenges, and thus are unable to use digital technologies as much as they might like to, to communicate with their neighbours. As a consequence, word-of-mouth is their main form of communication with one another. Whistles are the ‘low-tech’ device used for community-wide communication to alert residents of an emergency, or about a meeting or protest. My findings contest generalised claims of society moving towards a network sociality, where individuality and project-based communication is valued over more communal forms of living. They also demonstrate the ways in which coloniality shapes almost every aspect of marginalised people’s lives, making word of mouth the most significant form of communication, notwithstanding the apparent availability of digital technology. It also shows how a marginalised group uses the resources it has to pressure local government officials to provide them with the basis infrastructure they need for survival. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10-29
To fail at becoming South African: Moral blindness, liminality, and Rainbowism
- Authors: Moletsane, Dimpho
- Date: 2021-10-29
- Subjects: Liminality , South Africa Social conditions 1994- , South Africa Economic conditions 1991- , Contractarianism (Ethics) , Political science South Africa , Humanity South Africa , Social integration South Africa , Social justice , Rainbow Nation-Building Project (RNP) , Rainbowism
- Language: English
- Type: Master's theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/188352 , vital:44746
- Description: In an effort to move away from Apartheid and its evils -South Africa and South Africans have committed to a shared moral project -the Rainbow Nation-Building Project (RNP); a project that confers certain moral duties and responsibilities upon its citizens, including a joint commitment to robust inclusivity, equality, and unity. Importantly, however, our environments –be they physical, social, or psychological –are such that they (actively or passively) obscure our awareness of some morally relevant facts about our society, and thereby hinder us as moral agents and therefore threaten our abilities to fulfil our moral project and commitment.What does it mean for us -a society ostensibly committed to the RNP -to be plagued by racism, sexism, queerphobia and xenophobia? What is it that contributes to our complicity regarding social practices and ideas that we would otherwise find morally objectionable? What does it say about our commitment to our publicly-exalted ideals and values (of inclusivity, diversity, reconciliation, justice, and unity) when we are unwittingly complicit in the marginalisation and social exclusion of members of our society? And how can institutions such as universities work to overcome this?In this work, I argue that the obscuring of, and failure to perceive, morally relevant facts that call on us for ethical attention and/or action -a phenomenon I refer to as ‘moral blindness’ -is responsible for at least some of our behaviours and practices that run contrary to our moral ambitions; and therefore has profound implications for us as moral agents and our ability to succeed in our moral goals. Moral blindness, then, is both an epistemic and ethical concern that enables socially unjust systems to perpetuate themselves; and is thus a threat toallmoral projects.I argue that, for South Africa, much of what can be identified as moral blindness is the direct result of the shifting and conflicting socio-cultural conditions the nation finds itself liminally caught amidst in its transition from its Apartheid past and towards its promised inclusive Rainbow Nation future. Commitment to the RNP, I argue, involves a self-transformation and habituation of certain supportive virtues on the part of South Africans to become the kinds of people who are compatible with the Rainbowist society -whom I call Rainbow Citizens. But this self-transformation itself is also a moral project, and therefore subject to the threat that moral blindness presents, and so too can be failed. If all this is true, then it seems that if we do not take moral blindness seriously, we could ultimately fail to become South African. , Thesis (MA) -- Faculty of Humanities, Philosophy, 2021
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- Date Issued: 2021-10-29