M.A. (Development Studies) / Resolving conflict in South Africa is one of the greatest challenges facing the country, in addition to being a basic prerequisite to creating a political and economic climate conducive to development. The continued violence between the ANC and the IFP, has been one of the main components of conflict in this country. It can be argued that the resolution of this particular conflict would be synonymous to having brought relative peace to South Africa I while simultaneously serving as a model for dealing with future conflict. It is the objective of this study to investigate the origins, characteristics and magnitude of the ANC/IFP conflict, thereby serving to create a basis for understanding and managing the conflict. Once clarity is achieved in this regard, the study will focus on the impact which conflict can have on development, with special reference to the KwaZulu/Natal region...

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This thesis makes an ethnographic contribution to the anthropological debates about the contested nature of ‘culture’ as a central term in the discipline. It examines discourses as tools that create, recreate, modify and transmit culture. The research was done in the town of Rundu in Kavango region, northeastern Namibia. In attempting to understand the local notions of culture this study focused on two main events: the Independence Day celebration on 21 March 2006 and a funeral that was held earlier in the month of January. During the study two particular media through which cultural ideas are negotiated, language and clothing were observed.

Magister Legum - LLM / This paper aimed to analyse the impact of power sharing on democracy. The paper also compared the approach of Burundi and Rwanda in their constitutions to the concept of power sharing. / South Africa

Please read the abstract in the section, 00front of this document Copyright / Thesis (PhD (Psychology))--University of Pretoria, 2008. / Psychology / unrestricted

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This thesis will analyse the identity politics of the Chinese party-state’s nation-building project in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. It will examine how the party-state intends to overcome the barrier of ethnic boundaries in the production of a shared sense of multi-ethnic, national belonging. Uyghurs and Han can be thought of as belonging to different civilisations (Chinese and Turkic-Islamic) but in modern times they are often thought of as divided by ethnic boundaries. The party-state’s idea of the Chinese nation (Zhonghua Minzu) is a nation-building project to eliminate these boundaries so as to produce a multi-ethnic nation. Fieldwork was conducted after the riots of July 2009 engulfed the region. Ethnically targeted violence against both Han and Uyghurs destabilised the city of Ürümchi and challenged the party-state’s vision of China as a unified and harmonious nation. The official Chinese explanation was that this was an internationally funded and synchronised terrorist attack but Uyghur rights groups have blamed tensions on government policy repressing Uyghur culture and stoking Han nationalism. The theoretical framework employed draws from the concepts of production and performativity in Post-Structuralist and Critical International Relations (IR) theory, particularly the work of Cynthia Weber (1998) and David Campbell (1998). The critical approach adopted here takes security as a process of performative enactment of identity, which produces the units we take for granted as worthy of security. The analysis will examine official performances of what it means to be Chinese and Uyghur. It will then ask how these performances are received and (re)performed by members of the postulated nation. The party-state seeks to include Uyghurs as Chinese but it also excludes and securitises Uyghur Turkic and Islamic identities as ‘outside’ threats to the unity of the nation. The research is a result of one year of fieldwork (September 2009-August 2010) in Ürümchi, the capital city of Xinjiang. This was the first ethnographic study of responses to the violence of July 2009. Furthermore, the incorporation of Han perspectives has been very limited thus far in the literature on Xinjiang. The analysis uses a top-down approach, which employs discourse analysis of official texts to understand what type of national identity the party-state seeks to produce. However, these methods are coupled with a bottom-up analysis using ethnographic methods, particularly detailed, semi-structured interviews, to explore how these official discourses are received. The perspectives of Han and Uyghurs in Xinjiang can inform us how nation-building will unfold and what type of social dynamics it will engender. Analysing perspectives on the nation from below can help us understand the type of nation we expect to be produced in China rather than the type of nation the party-state narrates. The findings of this research demonstrate that both Uyghurs and Han are turning official Chinese nationalist discourses against themselves to articulate separate ethnic nations. Uyghurs frame China as an assimilationist transgression of ethnic boundaries for the benefit of the Han. Han frame their nation as under threat from Uyghurs and articulate China as a Han nation. The party-state’s nation-building project is unintentionally producing insecurity and reinforcing ethnic boundaries which remain obstacles to a shared sense of nationhood.

This study explores the effects of intercultural training from the perspectives of learners and facilitators. Three central questions are addressed: How does participation in an intercultural studies program affect the way learners approach intercultural interactions? How do learners engage learning between the educational and practice contexts? What are the implications for program planning? In-depth interviews were conducted with eleven learners and eight facilitators from a certificate program in intercultural studies at a Canadian university. The program is delivered through a combined on-site and online format. With its emphasis on practice-based learning, this program offered a unique opportunity to explore learner change and the application of learning in the workplace. This study was undertaken to inform program planning for intercultural training. The conceptual resources that guided the study are frameworks for program planning and transfer of learning. Perceived learner change as a result of training is explored through multiple lenses of transfer, including application (engaging and creating knowledge in practice) and diffusion (sharing ideas with others formally and informally in the workplace). Factors that contribute to engagement of learning between the practice and training contexts include the integration of theory and practice and the building of an online learning community. The study explores the concept of emotional safety, the impact of identity and representation on intercultural interactions within the training context, and the challenges of facilitating difficult dialogues related to race, power and identity. This study is situated within the larger context of the field of intercultural training. This is contested terrain comprised of two major streams: international and domestic training. Domestic training is represented by three frameworks: diversity, multicultural and anti-racism training. The study indicates that learning is influenced by the degree to which analyzing power or respecting differences is emphasized in the exploration of intercultural interactions. The study concludes with suggested reflective questions for planners of intercultural programs. / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

This research project seeks to provide a critical and reformist perspective of the rationale for a school district race relations policy. By conducting a comprehensive critique of established assumptions behind traditional race relations models, and by bringing to light the motivations and understandings of committee members who established a school district race relations policy, the researcher hopes to make clear that stated purpose for the policy can be interpreted from variety of perspectives. The policy aims to foster a learning environment in which racial, ethnic, cultural and religious differences are recognized and valued. These differences must not be the basis of discrimination (Taylor School District. 1992) It is not clear what ethnic, cultural, and religious differences are to be recognized and valued. A reformist perspective would promote social structural equality and prepare young, developing citizens to work towards what Freire called "conscientization" (Freire, 1985: 103), to have the desire and skills to question society, see through versions of 'truth' that allow unfairness to be masked, and then to be empowered to "envision, define, and work towards a more humane society" (Sleeter, 1994: 212). This project will contribute to the body of knowledge on the underlying assumptions, factors, and motivations that impact race relations work as well as make recommendations for the implementation of effective race relations strategies. Race relations work that is "Multicultural and Social Reconstructionalist" (Sleeter, 1994: 209) is designed to reflect the concerns and aspirations of diverse groups of people. In education, rather than being limited to additional curricula or increased minority hiring, it is a "different orientation and expectation of the whole educational process" (Sleeter, 1994: 209). It also contends that major institutions such as schools are incapable of being vehicles in the elimination of racism until their institutional reason for being, their purpose, or guiding mission undergoes significant change. Proposing idealistic rationale statements is a fabulous start if the statements mirror, or initiate more subsequential changes within the foundations of educational institutions. Unless there are fundamental changes in the motivations and goals of the ministry, school boards, administrators, teachers, parents, students - all shareholders, we cannot expect to obtain different results when traditional beliefs, motivations, and practices are retained. In order to effectively understand and then employ critical and reformist approaches to race and race relations education, I begin with theorists who are making "strategic interventions" (Apple, 1993: viii) into the debates on race, racial differences, and race relations education. To define culture, I begin with the work of Bullivant (1981) to ascertain whether traditional race relations approaches reflect the following components of his definition of culture: culture is holistic, culture is transmitted, culture evolves, and culture is made up of problem solving approaches to life. To understand the progress being made in the theorization of race, I begin with the traditional biological definitions that still exist. I then look to Omi and Winant (1993) to provide an excellent alternative perspective based on a "racial formation process" (Omi and Winant, 1993: 3) in which race is understood as a social construct. I then use their work to understand the foundations upon which a critical, process orientated, socially comprehensive theory of race must stand, specifically; race must be interpreted in the here and now, race must be seen in its global context, and race must be recognized as a legacy of the modern era. McCarthy (1993) provides a critique of contemporary approaches to multicultural education and also outlines an alternative approach that is critical, reformist and takes into consideration factors that go beyond psychology as well as incorporating the evolving conceptualization of race. Finally, West (1993,1993) provides a call for a "new cultural politics of difference" (West, 1993: 11) in which cultural critics are to attempt creative responses to the particular local and global circumstances we are in regarding matters of race. By also employing the ideas of Sleeter (1993), Calliou (1995), and McCarthy (1993) I can understand why a critical and reformist approach to race relations education is necessary, what it entails, and how it might apply to specific work being done in race relations such as a newly created school district policy. To provide insight into how a critical, reformist approach might apply in the real world, the study also offers a snapshot of how nation-wide cultural and demographic changes are represented in one suburban West Coast school district in British Columbia, Canada. The study provides an in depth look into how the committee members perceived race relations; why they were involved in the formulation of the policy, what their individual motivations were and what they viewed as the purpose of the policy. The research was undertaken during the 1996 - 1997 school year, three years after the committee was first formed. I use an ethnographic sensibility to questioning the committee members to obtain rich, in-depth insights. This is seen as the most effective way in which to ascertain the often hidden, subconscious cognitive and social frameworks, which inform and determine the perspectives of individuals within our contemporary society.\ By asking open-ended questions, I encourage the respondents to elaborate upon their own ideas by active listening and co-participating in the dialogue (Spradley, 1979). By reviewing my notes after each interview I created a verbal understanding of the 'reflective thinking" (Hampton, 1995) that took place in each of the interviews. I have been all too to aware that it can be extremely difficult to articulate a clear perspective within an area in which viewpoints are often subconsciously framed by a myriad of socially and personally developed cognitive articulations. Theorists such as Bullivant and Peter believe we must go through a process of critical inquiry into the basic assumptions of established theories and models in order to address the perspectives that we claim to maintain (Bullivant, 1986: 35). / Education, Faculty of / Educational Studies (EDST), Department of / Graduate

In the last 15 years, urban change in Vancouver, British Columbia, has been broadly understood in racial terms. Media and academic treatments of landscape transformation have suggested that Vancouver, as a 'gateway city' to the Pacific Rim, will inevitably experience Asian-lead change, economism, and 'creative destruction'. Oppositely, white Canadians are often portrayed as the defenders of tradition, the environment, and Vancouver 'as is'. The epithet 'monster' house, used to describe large, new, and predominandy Chinese-owned houses in Vancouver's elite Anglo neighborhoods, evidences how built form has been strongly correlated with the concepts of race and culture in popular representations of landscape. This thesis problematizes these essentialist, race-driven narratives by examining the ways in which textual representations of urban change are embedded within existing relations of power, particularly taken-for-granted subject-object looking relations. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Architecture and Landscape Architecture (SALA), School of / Graduate