The importance of sport in the revision of the past has gained much recognition in recent times and the genre of sport history has become ever more popular as a result. This dissertation attempts to locate and trace the historically binary relationship of sport with concepts such as unification and division, inclusion and exclusion, while focussing on the historical divide in South African rugby. While it is true that sport creates community and pulls people together, it is also true that sport often serves as a stage for division and social exclusion. This is well illustrated in the development and diffusion of rugby in South Africa. Various theories have been developed to analyse division within societies which may shed more light on the effectiveness of sport as a social divider in the nineteenth century. The concepts and theories include B. Bernstein, H. L. Elvin and R. S. Peters's ideas on rituals and symbols; Eric Hobsbawm's "Invented Traditions"; Benedict Anderson's "Imagined Communities"; as well as Antonio Gramsci's "Cultural Hegemony". These theories, employed within a strong legacy of British cultural imperialism, could explain how the rugby community in South Africa came to be racially stratified. This dissertation sets out to show how the establishment of schools based on the English public school model, and exclusive rugby clubs and unions in South Africa, all aided in the formalisation of rugby and in doing so unlocked the political power of the sport. By looking to the formalisation, and thus politicisation of rugby, this dissertation attempts to trace the origins of separation in South African rugby. It is thus the aim of this study to discern the link between middle class schools, the establishment of exclusive clubs and unions and the racial stratification of South African rugby. / Dissertation (MHCS)--University of Pretoria, 2017. / Historical and Heritage Studies / MHCS / Unrestricted

Appalachia, itself a difficult to resolutely define region, has undergone the economic forces of colonialism and industrializing capitalism which allow for an excellent case study to apply Gramsci’s theory of cultural hegemony. No American region’s national conception is likely to have been as varied and often misrepresented as that of Appalachia. From the Revolutionary American State’s invention of early White settlers as the virtuous yeoman of the Republic to the modern perception of Appalachia as backwards, conservative, and drug-addled, shifting national economic conditions resulted in a constant invention of Appalachia in congruence. Whenever the people residing in Appalachia, whether Black, White, or indigenous, either failed to represent or directly challenged the interests of empire or profit, ideas and perceptions of the region subsequently shifted accordingly. Utilizing secondary sources which have attempted to paint an overarching narrative of the region and primary sources recounting contemporary individuals’ views on said region’s people, the broad arc of cultural hegemony’s construction in Appalachia was traced in this thesis. From Thomas Jefferson’s invention of the virtuous and integral small land holding settlers in the region to Theodore Roosevelt’s shifting of national consciousness away from Appalachian settlers and into the proverbial international settler frontier, tracing the ideas of state leaders within the American Republic and profit-focused interests allowed for a general timeline of social invention to be traced. The constructed timeline insinuated that one thing remained certain throughout Appalachian history: constantly changing perceptions of the region almost directly followed changing economic and political agendas. Further, after an exploration of how Black and White Appalachians indeed presented a counter-hegemonic movement necessarily connected with the rest of the nation in the form of the Mine Wars, Appalachia as a proverbial helpless region apart is argued to be ultimately a false conception. In response to this conclusion, a responsibility arose for those with the power of narrative and cultural production. Meaning, as academics or scholars, those Antonio Gramsci deemed the intellectual base of any given economic class, conscious counter-narrative production steeped in consciousness of exploitation and class antagonisms became objectively necessary. In fact, the thesis concludes, without an intellectual counter to dominant minority economic interests, social invention of often exploited regions will and do continue unabashed and unopposed.

During the recent years, the rapid progression of China has become increasingly manifest on the international arena. Accordingly, it has been questioned whether the world is currently witnessing the re-emergence of a new ‘Pax Sinica’, implying a period of Asian dominance as evident during the 10th century. In general, China has tended to be portrayed as a threat to the US hegemony and the current ‘Pax Americana’. In light of China’s quest for new markets and energy supplies so as to sustain its growing economy, its search for global alliances and enhanced presence in the resource-rich continent of Africa is of significant importance. As such, this study has argued that the Sino-African relationship could be seen as an illustration of China’s endeavor towards global recognition. In this context, the conceptual framework of geopolitics has been used to enhance the understanding of the Sino-African relationship, the potential of a ‘Pax Sinica’ and the various perspectives surrounding it. Potential constraints and possibilities from both an African, Western and Chinese perspective have accordingly been examined. In particular, the concept of critical geopolitics has been employed in order to better identify different notions of power, common discourses and their possible motivations. The concept of hermeneutics has likewise been applied so as to move beyond the general impression of China and its interaction with Africa. In doing so, some of the core components of the multifaceted Sino-African relationship have been investigated, i.e. aid, trade, and oil. Likewise, the implications of Chinese migration to Africa and the country’s role in ‘less significant’ countries such as Ethiopia have been considered. The main conclusions of this study are that there are strong indicators of China becoming a leading hegemony, and particularly in the ‘Global South’. From a geopolitical standpoint, two distinct perspectives in regards to China and their interaction with Africa have been highlighted. The first one is the typical Western standpoint, which has commonly adopted a more conventional geopolitical perspective in their portrayal of ‘the greedy Chinese’ as a global threat. This has been put in contrast to the more critical geopolitical perspective of China, who has pointed to its asserted ‘peaceful rise’, unconventional strategies and use of ‘soft power’. In acknowledging China as the leading hegemony of the ‘Global South’, it is likely to believe that the world will sooner or later enter an era of ‘Pax Sinica’.

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In western media, Asian men have traditionally represented as either effeminized or emasculated. First providing a historical and ideological account for such representations, this thesis proceeds to analyze the advantages and disadvantages of the three strategies that Asian filmmakers have adopted to counter this stereotype: the assimilationistic strategy, the segregationistic strategy and the integrationistic strategy. Eventually, this thesis proposes a new way to cope with dilemma by providing a close reading of a British independent film, Lilting. It argues that a fourth strategy, which is named the dynamic strategy, can be detected. Because in this film masculinity is presented as a fluid quality that flows through different characters and does not attach to race or any other fixed identity, there is no need to struggle against the demands imposed by the white hegemony.

This study sets out to establish an hegemony of light and examine its relationship to the lens in photography. Through a series of sequenced photographs presented as an exhibition 'The Light Ages' in May 2017. The photographs were 841mm x 1189 mm Giclee prints mounted on aluminum which explore the way in which difference sources of light contribute to the identity of different spaces by fracturing and separating the light and duration of the image. The thesis explores how light permeates the English language and is inscribed in terms used to define photography. As a source of energy, light provides the very essence of visibility and defines the perception of objectivity and its limits. The geometric relationship between the light axes and the lens axis is what forms the basis of my development of Gramsci’s concept of hegemony. Since all photographs rely on some kind of light it was important to identify one that was developed specifically for photographic use and controlled almost exclusively by the agents of photographic representation. It also appears to mark the ontology of the image, however, as this study examines it is only one of the temporal registers. The practice seeks to tear apart these temporal registers to show the dualism and hegemony of light, how it attempts to pin down one interpretation at the expense of another. One of the greatest challenges for researchers, is to consider new photographic discourses that attempt to understand how advances in technology affect the relationship between the aesthetic and the signified. Through practice, the study tests and explores the relationship between flash light and the lens axis. It questions whether our perception of the centrality of photographic representation is the defining characteristic of photography as a stable form of representation in contemporary culture.

The aim of this qualitative study is to look into the experiences of four single fathers in the Stockholm area, regarding how they perceive their situations as fathers before and after their disruptions of their previous unions, societal norms around them; if there are discrepancies between normative pressures and the possible day to day practices available for them to live. A masculinities perspective is applied for analyzing interviews made with the fathers, drawing on previous findings, mainly the omnipresent hegemonic masculinity but under which is also found the transnational masculinity and the child oriented masculinity. These masculinities are used as a back-drop against which the empiric material is viewed and analyzed in the search of the fathers’ views on their life worlds’ discrepancies between normative pressures and societal discourse, in comparison with the boundaries set up by their day to day practices, which limit their possible choices of action. The results show that there are discrepancies between different external pressures connected to norms for the fathers and that this at the individual level can at times cause internalized conflicts. A select few topics for future research in the field of single fathers’ fatherhoods are suggested, which conclude the study.

The development of human civilization has not caused the world to be stable under the anarchy, and there are still many states jeopardize humanity safety seriously. If the states still just go there own way, it will certainly cause the risks in human¡¦s development and the damage to the human¡¦s survival right. Since peace will not arrive naturally, we should seek the construction of norms which will keep the human historical development on the track. In March 1999, the humanitarian intervention event in Kosovo has shown the universal human rights value, and challenged the existent paradigm of world order. Humanitarian intervention showed that states without supreme authority can do things along with justice principle and the moral reason, more than just chasing the interest and power. It also emphasized the universal identity of sovereign states under the human rights totem, as well as promoted the will and the right of individuals. It was a significant progress when humanitarian intervention accentuate universal human rights value and put it into effect, nevertheless, it is still challenged and criticized in the real world. The conflicts of interest among sovereign states must be reconciled gradually. Besides, whether the individuals or the political communities (sovereign states) should be the subject of rights and obligations in the world, as well as how should we define the hegemony are still the controversial issues. This article will takes the dialogs among parties that hold different opinions to humanitarian intervention, and try to reach the mutual recognition. It will also point out the differences of human being will be assimilated eventually in consideration of the globalization tendency. Global community which take root on the universal human rights value will be the foundation of norms which lead the world to ideal.

The purpose of this essay is to describe and examine differences in social behavior and social interactions in Nadine Gordimer’s July’s people. Specifically, attention will be given to the interim order that occurs after the collapse of the former South African regime and before a new regime has been established. In short, the essay attempts to answer the question how power is redistributed after the black revolution that occurs in the narrative. Antonio Gramsci’s Neo-Marxist theory is used to examine who dominates and who is subordinated among the novel’s main characters.

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