For a 25-year period during the apartheid era in South Africa, all school-leaving white men were issued with a compulsory call-up to national military service in the South African Defence Force. It is estimated that 600 000 men were conscripted between 1968 and 1993, undergoing military training and being deployed in Namibia, Angola and South Africa. The purpose of this system of military conscription was to support both the apartheid state’s role in the “Border War” in Namibia and Angola and the suppression of anti-apartheid resistance within South Africa. It formed part of the National Party’s strategy of a “total response” to what it perceived as the “total onslaught” of communism and African nationalism. While recruiting and training young white men was the focus of the apartheid government’s strategy, all of white South African society was caught up in supporting, contesting, avoiding and resisting this system in one way or another. Rather than being a purely military endeavour, conscription into the SADF therefore comprised a social and political system with wide-ranging ramifications. The 1994 democratic elections in South Africa heralded the advent of a very different political, social and economic system to what had gone before. The focus of this research is SADF conscripts’ narrations of identity in the contested narrative terrain of post-apartheid South Africa. The thesis begins with a contextual framing of the historical, social and political systems of which conscription was a part. Drawing on narrative psychology as a theoretical framework, the thesis explores discursive resources of whiteness, masculinities and perceptions of threat in conscripts’ narrations of identity, the construction of memory fields in narrating memories of war and possible trauma, and the notions of moral injury and moral repair in dealing with legacies of war. Using a narrative discursive approach, the thesis then reflects on historical temporal threads, and narrative patterns that emerge when analysing a range of texts about the psychosocial legacies of conscription, including interviews, research, memoirs, plays, media reports, video documentaries, blogs and photographic exhibitions. Throughout the thesis, conscripts’ and others’ accounts of conscription and its legacies are regarded as cultural texts. This serves as a means to highlight both contextual narrative negotiations and the narrative-discursive patterns of conscripts’ personal accounts of their identities in the post-apartheid narrative terrain. The original contribution of this research is the development of conceptual and theoretical framings of the post-apartheid legacies of conscription. Key to this has been the use of narrative-based approaches to highlight the narrative-discursive patterns, memory fields and negotiations of narrative terrains at work in texts that focus on various aspects of conscription and its ongoing aftereffects. The concept of temporal threads has been developed to account for the emergence and shifts in these patterns over time. Existing narrative-discursive theory has formed the basis for conscripts’ negotiations of identity being identified as acts of narrative reinforcement and narrative repair. The thesis concludes with reflections on the future possibilities for articulating and supporting narrative repair that enables a shift away from historical discursive laagers and a reconfiguration of the narrative terrain within which conscripts narrate their identities. / Also known as: Edlmann, Theresa

The study was conducted during November and December 2006, and the participants were Taiwanese aboriginal students at five-year junior colleges in Taiwan. Five hundred students from twenty junior colleges were recruited, and completed data for 226 students were analyzed. The data were collected by scoring the responses on six instruments which measured Taiwanese aboriginal junior college students' potential social capital, racial identity development, academic outcome (expected grade) and their psychological adjustment (stress, social support, self-esteem, and academic engagement). The instruments were designed to gather information on the following: (a) potential social capital scale; (b) multigroup ethnic identity measure; (c) racial identity attitude scale; (d) perceived stress scales; (e) self-esteem scale; (f) social support scale; (g) academic engagement scale; (h) academic outcome (expected grade). This quantitative design used SPSS 12 to analyze the data. Independent t-tests, Pearson correlation coefficient, regression model, ANOVA, ANCOVA were applied in the study. Results from this study indicate racial identity affects academic outcome with the covariate of psychological adjustment. This finding contradicts previous research that racial identity cannot affect students' psychological adjustment and academic achievement in higher education. For social capital, the study provides encouraging evidence that social capital is directly, significantly correlated with academic outcomes and that students with broader social networks develop better academic outcomes. Further, when students encounter challenges and conflicts, the broader social network assets are covariates with the positive psychological adjustment to lead to the greater academic outcomes. For racial identity, a higher perception of racial identity does not directly affect academic outcome in this research. This conforms to previous research that racial identity does not have much influence on Taiwanese aboriginal college students to fit in the Han dominant academic environment.

A survey of four classes of ELD (English language deficient) students of Mexican descent was performed at Rancho Verde High School, Moreno Valley, CA in March, 2001 in an attempt to determine whether adolescents of Mexican descent who develop an identity close to their Mexican roots have higher levels of self-esteem than those who develop an identity close to their American experience.

This thesis explores the role and positionality of three Black public intellectuals in post-94 South Africa, namely, Simphiwe Dana, Ntsiki Mazwai and Sisonke Msimang. For the purpose of this study, I analysed the twitter postings shared by these intellectuals on various social matters that concern the condition of the Black in post-94 South Africa. Using Fanon’s Native Intellectual Consciousness as a lens, the study seeks to capture and evaluate an emergent form of ‘cyber’ activism in the country. The main argument of this thesis is that, the concept and function of intellectualism must undergo a complete overhaul, beginning with the accommodation of more voices, particularly those of oppressed Black women. For this reason, the study is based on three Black women and seeks to dismantle the colonial lens through which Black women are studied This study not only historicises Black women as producers, users and custodians of knowledge but it also situates their lived experiences as relevant ‘knowledges’ albeit ignored in discourse. Moreover, the study is not only a form of epistemic protest against epistemic racism, but it is also a form of Black positioning in communication studies. I therefore posit that, Black Twitter is the communicative plane on which blackness performs and articulates itself, for itself. For this purpose, I conceptualise Black Solidarity within Communication studies; a field that often pretends to be only marginally affected by issues of race. This study contributes to Communication Studies, a new, raw and altruistic way of studying blackness by allowing it to think, and speak through its pain as opposed to the usual pathologising white gaze. Using the decolonial concept of a traditional Imbadu as the methodological aspect in conducting this study, I observe that even in the face of debilitating colonial hangover, blackness persists through those intellectuals whose intergenerational trauma forces them to think and speak from Blackness. The chosen intellectuals who are feminists by choice, think and speak from Blackness albeit being silenced by oppression. As such, the study itself is a pedagogical contradiction to the orthodox axiology of a detached scholar and hence written in the autobiographical form. / Communication Science / D. Phil. (Communication)

This study focuses on dark-skinned, Black women's representation in Black sitcoms. Through a mixed-methods use of a comparative textual analysis and focus group, the content and context of episodes from A Different World and Dear White People are explored to illustrate portrayals of dark-skinned, Black women and how these portrayals affect dark-skinned, Black women's self-esteem. Its findings contribute to colorism research by exploring colorism in Black sitcoms. Because this topic is largely unexplored, this study seeks to begin a conversation about dark skinned, Black women's representation in Black sitcoms. The main objective is to ultimately improve their depictions and roles in Black sitcoms and hold Black creatives responsible for the role they play in promoting colorism and its ultimate effect on Black women's self esteem.

This study looks at the construction of white identity within postcolonial conflict in Zimbabwe. Is it possible to be white and African? And how will the white African look when his identity as 'privileged' is stripped from his/her? This study also challenges the church to respond to the endemic violence by finding ways of bringing hope and healing. The role that trauma plays in our ongoing narratives is explored along with ways to exit these cycles without re-traumatizing large sectors of the community who are considered 'outsiders'. It ends with questioning the usefulness of 'white' and 'race', except as a political construction that benefits those in power to be able to tap into past historic pain and injustice. / Philosophy, Practical & Systematic Theology / M. Th. (Practical Theology (Pastoral Therapy))

Drawing insight from ethnic studies along with cultural and human geography, the main focus of this thesis is to identify the cultural survival mechanisms of immigrants by using as a case study the framework of the Greek-Canadian unbounded ethnic community in South Florida. Greek- Canadians, being a twice-migrant group, first in Canada and later in the United States, reflect the challenges contemporary immigrants face in order to maintain their ethnic culture in this increasingly transnational environment. In the past few years, researchers have examined the impact of the spatial concentration of immigrants in large metropolitan areas with little attention centered on ethnic communities that lack geographic propinquity. In order to uncover the cultural survival mechanisms of this immigrant group, this study suggests looking beyond the traditional model. This new model of ethnic community is called `Culturescape.' This contemporary ethnic community not only meets the needs of immigrants but also aids their cultural maintenance and preservation. The use of the realism-structuration framework enables a multi-method research approach in order to examine beyond the level of events and to explore the mechanisms that generate the creation of unbounded ethnic communities. This study combines a number of sources that have been collected over a three-year period. Multiple indepth interviews with Greek immigrants were conducted not only in South Florida but in Montreal as well. Additionally, an on- line structured survey open to all selfidentified Greeks in South Florida was conducted. Field notes from many ethnic events as well as official documents and the Internet were utilized. This research reveals that Greek-Canadians constructed their culturescape as a strategy to maintain and practice their ethnic culture. Their culturescape functions as a traditional geographically bounded ethnic community; however, it is a reflection of contemporary global conditions. Based on this case-study, geographic setting does matter because it structures the way cultures evolve. When immigrants move to a new setting, a two-way process of cultural exchange inevitably takes place. Hence, the Greek-Canadian culturescape is as unique as the setting that creates it. / Geography / D.Litt. et Phil. (Geography)

This research is concerned with the notion of being human. It acknowledges the dislocation of black people through themselves, a process which was exacerbated during, the colonial era and further through apartheid. The interest in this research is due to the historical dehumanisation of black people through dispossession and subjection to foreign rule and culture, by white people. The historical accounts of dehumanisation and disparity, through either pigmentation, poverty or an inferiority complex, led to black people viewing their humanity in terms of materialism and individualism in the present context. This research explores how materialism and individualism have affected black people's understanding of themselves and self-determinism. It is argued in the United States through Black Theology, the notion of the Black Church in the South African context and through Black Consciousness that the humanity of black people is affirmed historically and to date. / Philosophy & Systematic Theology / M.Th. (Systematic Theology)

Dissertation submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for M.Tech.: Graphic Design, Durban University of Technology, 2011. / Social issues are a very real problem in South Africa. Violent protests in poorer communities around South Africa indicate a need to better understand negative social realities impacting on communities. This research examined the sociocultural context of Wentworth in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, as shown on the map on page x. The focus of this study was the social and community realities; and the significance of photography in the context of examining these. The aim was to use photography as a research tool as well as to document the data collected. From the data a 118-page book, as shown on page viii, was conceptualised, which captures this community’s social context. Further, the study questioned the use of design practice to support social change. Because of the distinctly “Coloured” nature of Wentworth, literature was sought for the definition, history, current dynamics and complexities of Coloured identity. The literature review highlighted ethics and the strategies that should be adhered to when considering the social nature of photography. For this inquiry a qualitative analysis was conducted using the Grounded Theory method. A collaborative, or participatory research approach, was used for data collection, by working closely with families and health, church and non-governmental groups in Wentworth. Qualitative data collection methods used to gather primary data were photographic documentation and interviews. This research produced a number of key findings regarding socio-cultural problems plaguing the community. Findings deemed photography a rich tool for researching the social and for accurately recording everyday life. The main conclusions drawn from this research were that in-depth studies be conducted on individual problems, utilising greater manpower and funding. In addition, that further research and documentation be undertaken in the community.

This study uses Frantz Fanon‟s thoughts on race and blackness, the black elite and black public intellectuals as the theoretical framework and examines the positionality of Sipho Seepe, Xolela Mangcu and Andile Mngxitama as black public intellectuals in order to understand how they view the post-1994 political discourse. Seepe, Mangcu and Mngxitama‟s views are studied by analysing themes emerging from newspaper columns they have written. This study reveals that the three black public intellectuals examined have been radical and forthright, though they display different understandings of race and blackness, the black elite and black public intellectuals. However, the study reveals that only Mngxitama‟s postionality has been consistently radical, whereas Seepe and Mangcu‟s views have been fluid and are now considered moderate. This study concludes by highlighting the relevance of Fanon‟s thoughts in enabling a new reading of post-1994 South Africa. Of central importance is the creation of the „new being‟, who is informed by the process of liberation, which is the antithesis of the black condition. / Political Sciences / M. A. (Politics)