Thesis (MPhil)--Stellenbosch University, 2004. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The interface between science and technology and the society has led to the notion of science as a social contract, in which scientists, politicians and the general public are called upon to acknowledge the urgency of using all fields of science and technology to address human needs. Science and technology is used as an instrument of change for a better quality of life and sustainable development for the present and future generations. The object of science and technology policies is to achieve specific development objectives. It is thus imperative to adopt science and technology policies that support the national development strategies. It is also important to set up science and technology structures to facilitate the proper functioning of the science and technology system. Competitiveness constitutes one of the most important challenges facing Southern Africa today. With globalization and the expansion of world trade competition, it has become more difficult for Southern African enterprise to keep up with the pace of technological developments. In the light of these challenges, most countries are driving towards the adoption of a national system of innovation (NSI) to encourage the interaction of policies, research and development, human resource development and industrial development. The study is induced by major science and technology set backs, which are common across countries in Southern Africa namely, poor co-ordination mechanisms, poor science and technology infrastructure and a lack of funding. The study provides background information on the theoretical framework of the concept of NSI. For the research method, a qualitative research design was followed with content analysis of existing documents. Published documents were used to provide information on the three countries, which were used as case studies namely Malawi, Namibia and South Africa. The main focus of the case studies is on the following: an outline of the policy goals of each of the three countries, the concept of the NSI as it is expressed by each of the countries and the science and technology structures in the three countries. The study identified poor co-ordination of science and technology activities as the key problem of all three countries. The structures differ slightly and in particular, the placement of the management of science and technology determines the efficiency of the system. The South African NSI is well established as its network is strengthened by the National Advisory Council for Innovation and the National Research and Development Strategy. Next is Namibia which has a system in place, while Malawi is still at the initial stages of setting up its NS!. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die koppelvlak tussen wetenskap en tegnologie en die gemeenskap het gelei tot die siening van wetenskap as 'n sosiale kontrak waarin wetenskaplikes, politici en die algemene publiek versoek word om te erken dat dit nodig geword het om alle vertakkinge van wetenskap en tegnologie aan te wend om menslike nood te verlig. Wetenskap en tegnologie word gebruik as 'n instrument om verandering teweeg te bring ter bevordering van 'n beter kwaliteit lewe en volhoubare ontwikkeling vir die huidige en toekomstige generasies. Die doel van 'n wetenskap en tegnologiebeleid is om spesifieke ontwikkelingsdoelstellings te verwesenlik. Dit is dus noodsaaklik dat hierdie beleid in ooreenstemming met die nasionale onwikkelingsstrategieë ontwerp moet word. Dit is ook belangrik om wetenskap en tegnologiestrukture in plek te stel wat die effektiewe funksionering van die sisteem kan vergemaklik. Mededingbaarheid is een van die grootste uitdagings wat Suider Afrika tans in die gesig staar. Met globalisering en die uitbreiding van wêreldhandel het dit moeiliker geword vir Suider Afrikaanse ondernemings om in pas te bly met tegnologiese ontwikkeling. In die lig van hierdie uitdagings stuur die meeste lande in die rigting van 'n Nasionale Sisteem vir Innovasie (NSI) om interaksie tussen beleid, navorsing en ontwikkeling, menslike hulpbronontwikkeling en industriële ontwikkeling aan te moedig. Wat aanleiding gegee het tot hierdie studie is die wetenskap en tegnologieprobleme wat algemeen voorkom in die lande in Suider Afrikaanse, naamlik onvoldoende koërdinasie meganismes, swak wetenskap en tegnologie-infrastruktuur en 'n gebrek aan fondse. 'n Kwalitatiewe navorsingsontwerp is gevolg waarin analise van die inhoud van dokumente as navorsingsmetode gebruik is. Die studie verskaf agtergrond-inligting oor die teoretiese raamwerk van die NSI konsep. Gepubliseerde dokumente is gebruik om inligting te verskaf oor die drie lande wat as gevallestudies dien, naamlik Malawi, Namibië en Suid-Afrika. Die hooffokus van die gevallestudies is soos volg: 'n raamwerk van die beleidsdoelstellings van elk van die drie lande, die konsep NSI soos toegepas deur elkeen en die wetenskap en tegnologiestrukture in elk van die betrokke lande. Die studie het swak koërdinasie van wetenskap en tegnologie-aktiwiteite as die sleutelprobleem van aldrie lande geïdentifiseer. Die strukture verskil effens van mekaar en veral die plasing van die wetenskap en tegnologiebestuur bepaal die effektiwiteit van die stelsel. Die Suid Afrikaanse NSI is goed gevestig omdat sy netwerk versterk word deur die Nasionale Adviesraad vir Innovasie en die Nasionale Navorsing- en Ontwikkelingstrategie. Volgende is Namibië wat 'n sisteem in plek het, terwyl Malawi nog maar in die beginstadium is van die daarstelling van hul NSI.

Yang, Jing. / Thesis (M.Phil.)--Chinese University of Hong Kong, 2010. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 122-135). / Abstracts in English and Chinese. / Chapter Chapter 1: --- Introduction --- p.p.1 / Chapter Chapter 2: --- Literature Review --- p.p.14 / Bodies --- p.p.15 / Spaces --- p.p.19 / Bodies-Spaces --- p.p.23 / "Fantasy, Organization & Gender" --- p.p.28 / Chapter Chapter 3: --- Methodology --- p.p.36 / Data Collection --- p.p.36 / Date Analysis --- p.p.41 / Chapter Chapter 4: --- Fantastic Bodies-Spaces / The ACG Fantasy of Maid --- p.p.43 / Geographical Location & Imaginary Location --- p.p.46 / Inventing Names & Dressing Up --- p.p.50 / "Home, Sweet Home" --- p.p.57 / Fantastic Bodies-Spaces --- p.p.61 / Chapter Chapter 5: --- Organizational Bodies-Spaces / "Maid Date, A Profit-Organization" --- p.p.66 / White Maid Date & Black Maid Date --- p.p.67 / Redrawing the Boundaries Between Home and Work --- p.p.70 / Working as Professionals --- p.p.74 / Supervision --- p.p.79 / Organizational Bodies-Spaces --- p.p.82 / Chapter Chapter 6: --- Gendered Bodies-Spaces / Display of Femininity & Male Gaze --- p.p.87 / Butler's Day --- p.p.93 / Gendered Bodies-Spaces --- p.p. 100 / Chapter Chapter 7: --- Conclusion --- p.p.103 / Appendix --- p.p.117 / Reference --- p.p.122

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published_or_final_version / Sociology / Master / Master of Philosophy

AIDS mortality, its linkages as a determinant and consequence of food security and its impact on natural resource utilisation by mainly rural populations, has not been well researched, especially their effects on rural livelihoods. With the high epidemic prevalence and persistent food insecurity, natural resources are and will continue to play a key role as a buffer against stresses and shocks in rural livelihoods. Determining linkages between household food security, adult AIDS mortality, and how these affect natural resource utilisation at the village level was the objective of this research. The overarching goal of sustainable natural resource utilisation in Agincourt Demographic Surveillance Site (DSS) was determined through three research questions outlined as follows; What is the status of food security, AIDS mortality and Natural resource utilisation in Agincourt?; What is the relationship between dependence on natural resources as a source of food and or livelihood to resource degradation?; and What are the household and community drivers of household food security? Statistical analysis was used to evaluate the prevalence of food insecurity and the reliance on natural resources while remote sensing was used to assess resource availability and identification of possible natural resource degradation hotspots. More than half of the population in the DSS is food-secure, in 2004, with an even smaller hungry population in 2007. HIV/AIDS and non-HIV/AIDS adult mortality, analysed at village level are underlying drivers and determinants, affecting availability of income which is a direct driver of food insecurity. Availability of income, through social grants, remittances or wages, and delay or non-receipt of this income results in food insecurity in some households. Food production, affected and constrained by climate variability, is a less stable and less popular means of attaining food. More than half of the Agincourt population utilises natural resources to supplement dietary diversity and household income, although there is a significant reduction in households using natural resources in 2007 compared to 2004. Resource degradation is noted in the village commons especially between the highly food-insecure villages and are identified as environmental degradation hot spots. The identification of synergies among these factors in policy design and for interventions is essential for poverty alleviation, improved health and sustainable utilisation of natural resources and rural livelihoods. Glory be to GOD for making this work possible “Commit your work to the Lord and then your plans will succeed” (Proverbs 16:3) “Material poverty doesn‟t necessarily lead to a lack of capacity for creativeness and Inventiveness. Poor people survival by their wits and have much more to contribute to address complex problems than we tend to credit them with.” Dr. Maphela Ramphele (Destiny Magazine, 2010)

This thesis is the first dedicated sociological attempt to offer a critical response to cultural studies and allied discourses that concern themselves with the relationship between technology and violence. A critical reconstruction is necessary because these cultural theorists have failed to adequately contextualize their arguments in relation to both the globally ascendant neoliberal policy outlook and its associated social Darwinian technoculture: the combined pernicious effects of which could be described as the logic of ???social constructionism as social psychosis???. The most prominent manifestation of this theoretical psychosis has to do with an interest in biotechnology in particular. The problem I identify in the treatment of this theme is how easily it can be used to support a technologically determinist position. One undesirable side effect is that these determinists are able to project from present trends a dystopian exhaustion of all critique through their focus on violence. In the thesis of ???bioglobalism??? this state of affairs is also deployed to take sociologists to task for insufficient recognition of processual ???network??? forms of distributed agency in technological processes. At stake therefore is the recovery of sociological critique. It follows that the core of my thesis is the radical reworking of two related heuristic devices: seriality and contingency. Seriality is taken to refer to social practices as diverse as the possible relationships between the social problem of rationality, case studies of individuals who have run amok, and the functioning of network characteristics. I use contingency to eschew seriality???s deterministic accounting of the social. Here I propose a new conceptual relationship between creativity and action. Emphasis is accordingly placed upon two related normative projects: Raymond Williams???s cultural materialism, and three of the ???problematiques??? Peter Wagner has identified as inescapable for theorizing modernity: the continuity of the acting person, the certainty of knowledge, and the viability of the political order. I conclude with a renewed conception of the role of normative critique as a form of conceptual therapy for bioglobal projections of seriality.

Includes bibliographical references (leaves 327-346). A random population survey and a survey of vegetarians were conducted to examine South Australians' beliefs about meat and vegetarianism. Meat beliefs, barriers and benefits of vegetarianism, meat consumption, personal values, use of and trust in sources of food/nutrition/health information and demographic variables were measured.

In this thesis I explore the relationship between the mobile phone and its user and argue that this relationship is crucial in merging the contexts of public and private, the physical and virtual, imagined and real, past and present, author and audience. I view this relationship as crucial to understanding the shift in the role of the audience from passive receivers of content to active producers ('Mobile Produsers'). Further, I argue that the diverse contexts of mobile content production and the definition of the content itself have become the central means by which mobile phone practices are emerging. I draw on anthropology, social science and media studies in order to explore the impact of mobile contexts, content, and use on identity. I propose that this approach allows for a new understanding of mobile practices as a form of spectacle, especially what I refer to as the spectacle of the self. Produsership theory informs an understanding of mobile practices, content production and performance, and the Bahktinian concept of carnival becomes a useful term in analysing the mobile as both performance and spectacle. Through an analysis of mobile content within cinematic culture, social interaction, and mixed media environments I consider the ways in which the mobile functions not only as a tool for positioning the individual, but also as performing an integral part in a multi-user process of mobile content production. In this sense, mobile content can be understood as a map, and the mobile as a compass used by the produser to navigate the mobile?s diverse contexts. Furthermore, I demonstrate that mobile content is collectively constructed while being individually absorbed. It is reflective of both the context and its user and open to constant questioning and interpretation, which is then shared with others. Finally, this thesis explores the notion of being t/here as mode of participating with the mobile in time and space, where one's identity is distributed across virtual and physical spaces, simultaneously locating the user as both here and there (t/here).

A random population survey (n=601) and a survey of vegetarians (n=106) were conducted to examine South Australians' beliefs about meat and vegetarianism. Meat beliefs, barriers and benefits of vegetarianism, meat consumption, personal values, use of and trust in sources of food/nutrition/health information and demographic variables were measured via a written questionnaire. There were differences in the responses of vegetarians, semi-vegetarians, and non-vegetarians. For example, vegetarians were more likely than non-vegetarians to use and trust unorthodox information sources and to hold universal values (e.g. 'equality'). The factors associated with meat consumption and four sets of health-related beliefs about meat and vegetarianism (Meat is Necessary, Vegetarianism Health Concerns and Appreciates Meat, Meat is Unhealthy, Health Benefits of Vegetarianism) were examined. Other (health and non-health) beliefs, barriers and benefits of vegetarianism were the most important factors overall to be associated with these beliefs and with meat consumption. Information sources were also associated (particularly orthodox, unorthodox, mass media, advertising, and social sources). Together, these results provided insight into how consumption of meat and plant foods might be influenced. Finally, the proportion of prospective vegetarians was gauged. Approximately 15% of non-vegetarians were found to hold similar beliefs about vegetarianism as vegetarians. Prospective vegetarians were distinct from vegetarians and the remaining omnivores. For example, they were less likely than the remaining omnivores to eat red meat as frequently or to be Anglo-Australian. The research suggested that a significant portion of the population is interested in vegetarian diets, but that certain barriers need to be overcome if this is to increase and lead to dietary change; in particular, the beliefs that vegetarian diets are nutritionally inadequate and that meat is essential for health. Tailored communications about how to prepare healthy, tasty vegetarian meals may also be useful. The results indicated the sources of food/nutrition/health information that may be most appropriate to disseminate such messages. Additionally, it was found that ethical (e.g. environmental, animal welfare) issues were linked to health and dietary behaviour. They may need to be more fully addressed by health professionals if the public is to obtain maximum benefit from plant-based diets, with minimum risk. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--Department of Public Health, 2001.

This thesis examines sources of interactional asynchrony and synchrony in intercultural medical consultations between South African English speaking doctors and Zulu-English speaking patients in an urban setting in South Africa. It employs, principally, the theory and methods of Interactional Sociolinguistics to identify and describe sources of asynchrony and synchrony in medical encounters. The thesis provides a review of the South African and international literature relevant to the analysis of doctor-patient interaction. Having noted the significant absence of research that utilizes a model of language use such as Interactional Sociolinguistics, the author reviews South African and international interactional sociolinguistic research literature with a view to identifying an appropriate research framework for the analysis of selected medical consultations. The thesis reports the findings of the fine-grained analyses of three consultations. The societal consequences of the asynchrony evident in two of the consultations are explored drawing, in particular, on insights provided by Critical Language Study. The relative synchrony of the third consultation is traced to the participants' use of positive politeness strategies to generate the "co-membership" of maleness. The significance of this discovery is explored in some depth. Finally, attention is given to further research possibilities arising from the present study. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1995.