Much of the available documentation, and the multiple oral testimonies collected for this thesis agree that the most important changes that have occurred in Keiskammahoek district over the past half century resulted from the implementation of the government's conservationist policy known as betterment. The work is thus dominated by a wideranging look at betterment in Keiskammahoek The thesis is arranged chronologically, and each of the successive periods designated is analysed in terms of power. The first period considered is c.1920-c.1936; this was the time during which betterment policy was conceived. The key question that is posed here is why the policy was formed. Foucault's idea of power/knowledge features prominently in answering this question. For all of the remaining periods a conspicuously ,important power relation (unequal relationship) is chosen, and the analyses consist of plotting the histories of the various relations. The first of these periods is that which preceded the implementation of betterment in the district, i.e. c.1936-1960. Since multi-form resistance against betterment characterised this period, the power relation considered is that between the state and the various communities of Keiskammahoek. Next, attention is given to the actual implementation of betterment in the district. Because betterment affected locations in which land was held communally so differently from locations in which land was held under title, these two categories of location are analysed separately. In communal locations, a power relation spawned by betterment that has come to dominate life is that between village neighbours. In the other category of location, betterment has often further differentiated the power relation between title-deed holders and non title-deed holders. The thesis is not exclusively devoted to betterment. The 1970s saw many people being forcibly removed to Keiskammahoek. The final section of the work examines these events in relation to the changing economy of South Africa. In this section the power relation that is deemed important is that between the employed and unemployed The overall aim of the thesis then is to give an indication of the variety of forms or configurations of power that run through modernday Keiskammahoek.

Derived from a marxist/liberal humanist view of power, conventional critiques and historical accounts of the socio-medical sciences in South Africa see only their power to repress and negate the true bodily attributes and authentic person of the African. In so doing, they ignore the productive capacity of these knowledges and practices as a manifestation of what Michel Foucault termed "disciplinary" power, by which the human body is manufactured and made manageable as an object of medical knowledge and industrial utilisation. Accordingly, this thesis offers just such a Foucaultian reading of western socio-medical knowledge in South Africa to demonstrate how it has operated to fabricate the bodies of Africans as visible objects possessed of distinct attributes that have provoked particular strategies for their surveillance, management, and government in health and disease. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

Derived from a marxist/liberal humanist view of power, conventional critiques and historical accounts of the socio-medical sciences in South Africa see only their power to repress and negate the true bodily attributes and authentic person of the African. In so doing, they ignore the productive capacity of these knowledges and practices as a manifestation of what Michel Foucault termed "disciplinary" power, by which the human body is manufactured and made manageable as an object of medical knowledge and industrial utilisation. Accordingly, this thesis offers just such a Foucaultian reading of western socio-medical knowledge in South Africa to demonstrate how it has operated to fabricate the bodies of Africans as visible objects possessed of distinct attributes that have provoked particular strategies for their surveillance, management, and government in health and disease. / Psychology / D. Litt. et Phil. (Psychology)

It is argued that South African feminism in the 1990's risks sabotaging itself as a movement and as a form of social critique because it has (1) not completely eradicated key positivist elements from its ontology and epistemology; (2) inadequately examined a crucial issue in an emancipatory social science, namely power; (3) increasingly opted for relativist and pragmatist perspectives in theorising women's oppression and social transformation. It is further argued that the over-reliance on relativism, standpoint theory and pragmatism is problematic for contemporary feminism. As an alternative, Bhaskar's transformational analysis of power in combination with an anti-racist feminism and social psychology is used to provide a robust framework within which complex social issues may be addressed. In this study, 16 female participants were interviewed about their experiences of living in an impoverished township. Themes identified in the data suggested that the theoretical perspectives used in the study provided insights into the subtleties and complexities of the operation of power in society. These insights enabled productive understanding of the strengths and weaknesses of development initiatives and political decision-making processes in the community, and the survival strategies of its women. It is hoped that research work of this sort could make a real contribution to the ongoing women's emancipation struggle in Port Alfred and similar communities.

M.Ed. (Community Education) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

Few would deny that the Republic of South Africa (South Africa) has achieved a lot in its quest to improve the pressing social challenges (such as poverty; illiteracy; HIV/AIDS; crime prevalence; preventable diseases, and high levels unemployment). It must be firmly said that these social ills generally affect everyone – particularly the historically marginalised group in South Africa. However, there are also few who would deny that South African women (including the girl-child), as it is the case elsewhere in Africa suffer disproportionately that their male counterparts. Some have supported the view that gender discrimination is the main source of women’s disempowerment today. For instance, society has accepted consciously or otherwise that women are inferior to men and as such cannot take part both in public and private spheres of life. It is nevertheless not the object of this study to delve into to the complex and often misunderstood causes of women’s marginalisation in South Africa. / Thesis (LLM (Human Rights and Democratisation in Africa))--University of Pretoria, 2011. / http://www.chr.up.ac.za/ / nf2012 / Centre for Human Rights / LLM

Cultural factors have been shown to play a role in human decision making and behaviour. The main objective for this research was to identify and evaluate the possible influence of Shangaan cultural beliefs, myths and behaviours, on the spread of HIV within the Mnisi tribe. A qualitative method of investigation was followed; interviews with three participants and observations of the Mnisi culture were used in the construction of the investigation and findings. Through the information obtained two cultures influencing the spread of HIV in the Mnisi tribe were identified, they are (1) The culture of power-rule and fear, and (2) The culture of poverty. / Psychology / M.Sc. (Psychology)

Cultural factors have been shown to play a role in human decision making and behaviour. The main objective for this research was to identify and evaluate the possible influence of Shangaan cultural beliefs, myths and behaviours, on the spread of HIV within the Mnisi tribe. A qualitative method of investigation was followed; interviews with three participants and observations of the Mnisi culture were used in the construction of the investigation and findings. Through the information obtained two cultures influencing the spread of HIV in the Mnisi tribe were identified, they are (1) The culture of power-rule and fear, and (2) The culture of poverty. / Psychology / M.Sc. (Psychology)