This thesis examines the impact technology has on the music industry. Despite decrease in physical sales and piracy, statistics indicate that consumer requests for music content are strong. Although sales of physical product have decreased, the demand for digital music has dramatically increased. The current market players and technology innovations provide new opportunities to deliver music to the consumer. It is imperative to balance the divergent interests of consumers and artists, while ensuring profits for all parties involved. / by Jazmine A. Valencia. / Thesis (M.S.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2008. / Includes bibliography. / Electronic reproduction. Boca Raton, FL : 2008 Mode of access: World Wide Web.

Research Report Submitted in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirements for the Degree of Master of Arts in Political Studies University of the Witwatersrand March 2015 / Recent 21st century political developments in South Africa have given rise to debate surrounding a threat to a functioning democracy. New radical political parties, turmoil in the labour sectors, and dysfunctional government policies and activities have made populist tendencies a central aspect of this debate. Populism is an entity oft evoked in a negative light and rhetoric in this debate. It is associated with demagogues and the ‘uncontrollable’ urges of the masses that would be let loose upon society given the chance, destroying democracy in the process. It is the aim of this paper to argue the opposite. By expanding and contributing to the theoretical literature on populism, and through the analysis of empirical evidence – the Western Cape farm worker’s strikes and the Marikana strikes and subsequent massacre of 2012 –in South Africa this research report seeks to fill a gap in the conceptualisation and practical characterisation of populism in our political setting. Can populism be conceptually, theoretically, and empirically utilised to characterise and explain trends in contemporary South African politics and can it be utilised in providing a contextual underpinning for explaining recent events in South African society as a whole? Through the reliance on the theories of Ernesto Laclau and Slavoj Zizek the aim will be to identify the underlying gaps in democratic politics that gives rise to populist movements and through this argument to build and utilise this conception of populism as a positive and effective analytical tool of contemporary South African politics.

Dissertation in fulfilment of the degree of Master of Arts in International relations by coursework and research report at the University of the Witwatersrand 2015 / The 21 century has seen the dramatic increase in African-Chinese engagement, with a significant increase in both political and economic interaction. The changing international political and economic reality has seen China become the biggest economy in the world, in terms of purchasing power parity, and substantially increase its footprint in Africa. The increased developing relationship of African-Chinese interactions has brought fourth both criticisms and conversations of opportunity. Both arguments focusing on understanding the nature of the relationship and exploring whether the interactions can be seen as being exploitative or a partnership in growth. A look at the importance of this relationship cannot be complete without first analysing Africa’s historical and current relationship with its Western counterparts. Secondly the research paper looks at Africa’s place in the current international political economy and why the new prospering African-Chinese relationship presents opportunities. This is essentially what the paper seeks to understand and discuss, looking primarily at the role the Chinese policy of non-interference can play with regards to African states development path and understanding its role in the context of Africa position in the global political economy. Key words: Sino-Africa, Policy of Non-interference, Exploitation, Eurocentricism, neo-liberalism

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Fine Arts, 2018 / This project consists of two parts: a selection of newly commissioned interviews with South African artists, titled Intent and Material: South African art in conversation, and a theoretical reflection on the significance of the artist interview in our local context, titled A Hermeneutics of Empathy: The artist interview in South Africa. Intent and Material contains interviews with Nicholas Hlobo, Zander Blom, Jody Maria Brand, Mikhael Subotzky, Bogosi Sekhukhuni and Ernest Cole. The accompanying thesis proposes the notion of a ‘hermeneutics of empathy’ as a way of thinking about artist interviews. This is a theoretical model, a wonderful phrase that draws together the work of N. Chabani Manganyi and Rita Felski, and suggests why the artist interview might be of interest in South Africa in 2018. At its best, an artist interview, through the push and pull between the two participants, reaches a level of thought about artistic practice that is rarely achieved in art criticism with a single author. The final, edited transcript has the potential to become an autonomous text that aides our understanding of an artist and the world they inhabit. Based on my reading of Manganyi and Felski, as well as Ronald Christ, Stacy Hardy and Ernest Mancoba, a new anthology of interviews with South African artists would be a meaningful contribution to local art criticism. It could achieve two separate but equally valuable goals: serve as an introduction to the local scene for curators and art historians from elsewhere, and contribute to a local literature on art that is of interest to non-specialists. / XL2018

Thesis advisor: Richard Tresch / As global warming became a more urgent issue, the European Union (EU) nations formed the EU emission trading scheme (EU ETS) to regulate carbon emissions. The EU ETS set upper limits for each EU nation’s carbon emission levels in three distinctive phases to gradually decrease the carbon emission levels to a targeted reduction level by 2020. Throughout the paper, I will focus on how independent variables such as accumulated reserves, allocated allowances, the total outstanding supply of carbon emission rights (CERs) in the market, the demand for CERs, energy consumption, and the required reduction amount by 2020 affect the price of CER and the ratio of verified emissions to the 2020 targeted upper limit. / Thesis (BA) — Boston College, 2016. / Submitted to: Boston College. College of Arts and Sciences. / Discipline: Departmental Honors. / Discipline: Economics.

This research took an ethnographic view in understanding the relationship between rural people and ZANU-PF in post-2000 Bindura South electoral constituency in Zimbabwe. I seek to understand the complexity with which rural people come to make political choices through discussing ZANU-PF’s techniques in the maintenance of political power despite the loss of political legitimacy. The complicity between ZANU-PF and rural people is uncomfortably created through these techniques which include mobilizing historical claims, youth violence on villagers, partisan distribution of economic resources, surveillance and spying to create subjects who conform to ZANU-PF’s political will. I have argued that rural people’s circumstances should be understood through an analysis of their everyday lives and livelihoods. Findings have shown that rural people make political choices because they are life choices there are slight possibilities for alternative political action in rural Zimbabwe.

There is a rich inventory of the oral arts within Swazi culture. In a culture that relies heavily on annual events saturated with song, dance and praise poetry lies the opportunity for people to express themselves more freely than within more conservative dialogue. Swaziland has a lack of freedom of expression in casual conversation and media. Many people fear for the harm that might come to them if they speak out of turn. But there is a new generation full of burning questions towards culture, a youth that has access to most international information through the internet, cellphones and television and yet struggles to get the answers they need from Swazi culture. Many boundaries within Swazi culture are caused through respect for powers of a spiritual nature and love of King. However there are few opportunities for the youth of Swaziland to voice their concerns and ask the questions that would help them affi liate more closely to Swazi tradition. The Lobamba Interpretation Centre of the Oral Arts and Landscape explores the possible solution of a forum that enables the youth to interact with their culture, to unearth the ghosts of the past on a more regular basis through the medium of the arts, a medium they have become familiar with due to technology. The oral arts of storytelling, poetry and song are a neutralized means of communication and an opportunity for dialogue in a respectful and entertaining way that can still bring forth a message without disrespecting the cultural element of speech, essentially using culture to answer cultural issues. Politics is always controversial but the arts allows for the disparity and a layering of opinion. This thesis is in no way a critique of Swazi culture, it merely aims to source solutions from Swazi culture to accommodates dialogue and freedom of speech in a growing Swazi society. It aims to understand the importance of performance, a language familiar to the people of Swaziland. It unearths examples of traditional Swazi methods of communication that have been used for centuries, in order to include a younger generation that is very heavily reliant on international customs due to their accessibility to the media, a media that embraces global news but shies away from the bigger issues behind culture. Swazi culture and landscape form a tight bond .The Swazi are a people of their land who listen and base many of their cultural decisions on natural vegetation, weather, river sources and topography. In order to fully embrace Swazi culture and expression, one must also begin to understand the dialogue between Swazi culture and landscape. My building is an interpretation centre of the oral arts in Lobamba, Swaziland, the heart of Swazi culture. My building suggests the opportunity of a site that allows for a freedom of expression in the very heart of these tensions, without disrupting /disrespecting the cultural norms of its context. This will be programmed with a series of platforms for expression, stages and exhibition spaces that can allow for connection points between the youth and culture.The building will house an exhibition space for the oral arts as well as accommodation for the infl ux and subsequent dispersal of people that take part in cultural ceremonies through pilgrimages 4 times a year. My thesis allows for a discovery of this complex and layered landscape, an unpacking of time, landscape and space and refl ects back its impact on Swazi culture and the oral arts namely: storytelling, song and praise poetry. It also documents the existing built form and topography and begins to make sense of the area’s patterning. It builds an understanding of the oral arts and its importance in Swazi context in order to sustain the notion of tradition. In this book, I will be taking you on a journey through my thought process towards the interpretation center of the oral arts and landscape. All quoted poetry within this book is my own work that I have marked with “inverted commas”.

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Management at the University of Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Masters of Management in Public and Development Management, 2016 / This report sought to determine the nature of participatory democracy practices in Madibeng municipality. In order to achieve the intension of this study, two research questions were formulated (1) what is the nature of participatory democracy in Madibeng municipality? (2) To what extent does the implementation of participatory democracy mechanisms influence municipal policy decisions? A hypothesis was formulated in respect of the second question that: The implementation of participatory democracy mechanisms in Madibeng is limited to compliance with existing laws and regulations. Data was drawn from two strata’s (population samples), [ward councillors and community members] from Madibeng municipality. A probability simple random sampling was used to collect data from a total list of 36 ward councillors, whilst a non-probability convenient sampling was used to collect data from 27 community members. In respect of ward councillors, the study targeted 26 respondents and only achieved 52% response rate, whilst a total of 11 respondent was targeted and 27 responses were attained, indicating 145% response rate in respect of data collected from community members. The general finding in relation to the first question is that participatory democracy practice in Madibeng municipality is characterised by the implementation of five mechanisms; IDP, Ward committee structures, Mayoral imbizos, Policy public hearings and Petitioning system. A revelation was made that communities prefer to participate in IDP and ward committee structures meetings than the other three mechanisms reflected in the report. However, it remained unclear as to how effective and efficient is the exercising of the two preferred mechanisms. The general arguments found in various literature sources, that the practice of participatory democracy in South Africa’s local municipalities seem ineffective and often do not often yield positive results, was also confirmed by this study. This conclusion was based on the revelations made from the contradicting responses given by ward councilors and community members. In general, ward councilors considered the implementation of available participatory democracy practices in Madibeng as effective and strongly believed such practices informs the municipal Executive Council’s policy decisions to a large extent. On the other hand, community members seemed unsure or inadequately informed about the influence, their participation in policy decisions has on the overall service delivery by the municipality. / XL2018

A thesis submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, September 2017 / The study attempts to examine the relationship between national identity and political sovereignty and their impact on the emergence of nations, with a special focus on debates around the South African nation-state from 1990 to 2004. Located within the postcolonialism approach, the study looks at national identity through the prism of ethnicity, language, religion and race, while sovereignty is considered through its two component parts, the state and citizenry. By examining two postcolonial contexts, the Arab world and India, the study has developed a framework which is applied to the study of the South African state. This framework identifies nationalism as a glue which holds sovereignty and identity together in the nation-state. The two cases reveal that there is always more than one nationalist narrative, often competing against each other. In the case of the Arab world the study looks at the tensions between pan-Arabism, Arab nationalism and Islamism. In the case of India a secular Indian nationalism has had to compete against a Hindu nationalism. The study argues that South Africa’s history has been characterised by contestation between a white, Afrikaner nationalism and an African nationalism. As in the two case studies, these narratives are not just polar ends, but rather a complex spectrum which has seen alliances being struck across the racial divide. The essence of the former has been an attempt at addressing the ‘Native Question’, that is how to manage the continued subjugation of the overwhelming number of Africans in this country. Having its roots as a reaction to its socio-economic conditions in the Cape, it evolved into an ethnically constructed view of itself and through which it mobilised political and economic resources to perpetuate its dominance after it reached its zenith in the 1948 elections. This narrative’s arc saw it being redefined in race terms to encompass English-speaking whites, and then through a combination of anti-communist rhetoric and anti-African scare-mongering, included the coloured and Indian parts of the South African population. Today it manifests itself in a return to an ethnic laager which takes the form of attempts at discriminating against non-Afrikaans speakers on the basis of an appeal to victimhood and the exercise of constitutional rights. The African nationalism narrative begins from the mid-1800s, tracing the impact of those educated at missionary schools on the society they came from. This Christian elite came to play a powerful role in establishing a plethora of organisations so that as the wars of resistance were ending, political mobilisation was taking off. This mobilisation took the form of voter registration and voting for those white candidates considered to be acting in the interests of Africans, church congregations as well as newspapers which served as platforms for airing of grievances. A moderate, urbanbased, accommodating form of politics ran parallel to a more militant, rural-based form of resistance. The former would shape the first few decades of the African National Congress until the 1940s, while the latter was subsumed under the rhetoric of the nationalist elite – similar to the experiences of India and the Arab world. / XL2018

A research report submitted to the Wits School of Arts in the Faculty of Humanities at the University of the Witwatersrand, in fulfilment of the requirements for the Masters Degree in Coursework and Research in Arts, Culture and Heritage studies. Johannesburg, 2015 / One of the principal purposes of the Johannesburg Art Gallery (JAG), one of Johannesburg’s public institutions, is to educate the public through the arts. The many changes, including political changes, in South Africa that caused the movement of people from one area to another have affected the audience participation at this museum. The Johannesburg Art Gallery is located in Joubert Park, the southern part of Hillbrow, which has been affected by the changes that have taken place from the time of the museum’s inception to the present day, when the area is inhabited by black people from all over Africa. The concern is therefore to understand the relationship between these two. I plan to interrogate the mission of JAG, to find out if it is relevant to the community that it is located in, and if the community is aware and supportive of JAG’s activities. The purpose of this investigation is to challenge the methods that are used by JAG to obtain and maintain visitors to the museum, and to expand the target market group by shifting focus from the people that used to live within this community to the present-day inhabitants. This is done by finding out from the Joubert Park community what is it that they wish to see in this museum. By observing their everyday life and interviewing them, I explore why or how much the people of Joubert Park are involved in the Johannesburg Art Gallery today. To reach the conclusion of this research, observing the area and interviewing the community will be followed by interviewing the co-ordinators of the Joubert Park Project (started in 2000) that was designed for the purpose of involving this community in the public spaces and institutions around them, and finally the employees of the Johannesburg Art Gallery. In addition, studying recent successful exhibitions would possibly reveal the explanation of what people want to see. In this world of ever-changing technology and culture of cyber space, can a museum attract new audiences by using methods that are contemporary and interactive?