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Beyond Charitable Imperialism investigates the role of film, digital media, and music in mediating social and political change in conflict regions with specific attention to the aesthetic choices, ethical implications, and lived consequences of audio-visual production in and about Congo. This study intervenes in the discourse on activist African cinema through a bi-directional investigation of (1) increasingly prominent instances of aesthetic and ideological practices in Congolese film that are emerging as central to larger projects of social transformation, and (2) the extent to which humanitarian narratives depicting present-day Congo obscure or expose the ongoing, neo-colonial power struggle between Congo and the West. My research includes critical analyses of temporality, memory, and language in audio-visual representations of Congo, as well as extensive field research investigating embodied instances of the 'film act.' In this context I advocate a historically informed reading of the correlation between current cinema practices and contemporary history based on the evolutionary relationship between audio-visual media, politics, and identity. Drawing on frameworks of militant Third Cinema this study interrogates the role of media in the creation and dissemination of 'Truth' and thereby draws pointed attention to global consequences that form the basis of what I call charitable imperialism. With methodological inspiration across disciplinary lines from scholars including Frantz Fanon, Teshome Gabriel, and Stuart Hall, I offer an anatomy of the particular ways in which film can emerge as a real means of social transformation in the face of conflict and mental colonization. Central to this inquiry is the history of resistance embedded in Congolese musical practices. I suggest that, fortified by intersections with visual technology, the elevated cultural capital of song as a vehicle of social mobilization is reconstituting both music and visual media and increasingly allowing Congolese voices to participate in global dialogues on their own terms. Ultimately I conclude that mediated agency effectively challenges charitable imperialism and repositions Congolese subjects as viable agents of sustainable social transformation. / African and African American Studies

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Thirty-two students worked together for eight weeks to write nearly fifty short plays from which thirty were selected, produced and performed in a production titled Warning May Cause Irritation, inspired by the Neo-Futurists' signature show: Too Much Light Makes the Baby Go Blind. Nineteen students were also involved in the concurrent case study of the project and kept journals, participated in focus group sessions, developed scripts and filled out worksheets. Data generated was analyzed for evidence of student empowerment, relevancy of the work to student's lives, and their ability to work democratically.In the end, it seems the students enjoyed and felt empowered by the democratic process used to generate the final production and the result was an educative, relevant and fulfilling experience that may inspire some to continue working in the theatre and the students seemed open to continuing to explore nontraditional theatre projects in the future.

This paper concerns the changes in attitudes towards the use of force within the South African police force after democratisation. The paper debates the current approaches towards the analysis of violence and a new theory on community and conflict management is developed. This new theory aims to provide a new framework for analysing the use of violence. The theory is then applied on a fieldwork conducted at a local police station in Cape Town, South Africa.

Over the past fifty years, numerous cultural and structural changes have profoundly altered how heterosexual women and men in North America envision and live out their intimate lives. As key social structures where individuals typically sought guidance about their relationships have lost cultural potency, and insecurities about social and economic structures have grown, people have turned increasingly to alternative sources of advice, of which self-help books are a readily available option. In three interrelated studies, this dissertation considers one of North America’s most popular and lucrative book genres—relationship advice—and its readers. On a textual level, it examines connections between ideological shifts in advice and macro-level changes; with regard to audiences, it asks what generates particular modes of self-help reading. All studies then consider the implications of ideological shifts and modes of reading for the creation or maintenance of social boundaries and attendant inequalities. While prior theoretical and empirical work on relationship advice products and audiences has considered time-limited samples of women’s texts, and research in reception studies has emphasized the importance of gender in generating modes of reading, this dissertation contributes new insight by looking longitudinally at bestselling advice books, offering the first detailed look at books for men, and considering the influence of variables beyond gender in channeling readers toward particular modes of reading. Findings demonstrate strong coupling between ideological trends in advice and broader social changes, and an interlocking effect of readers’ biographical, demographic and psychological factors on modes of reading. Analyses of texts and readers also reveal how the genre reinforces social inequalities. Paper 1 corrects presumptions about advice book content by identifying new ideological trends, Paper 2 develops a conceptual and theoretical vocabulary for understanding constructions of ideal masculinity, namely through identification of a process of “masculinizing” intimacy, and Paper 3 newly identifies two modes of reading—targeted and habitual—and generates theoretical insight broadly applicable to reception studies.

Over the past fifty years, numerous cultural and structural changes have profoundly altered how heterosexual women and men in North America envision and live out their intimate lives. As key social structures where individuals typically sought guidance about their relationships have lost cultural potency, and insecurities about social and economic structures have grown, people have turned increasingly to alternative sources of advice, of which self-help books are a readily available option. In three interrelated studies, this dissertation considers one of North America’s most popular and lucrative book genres—relationship advice—and its readers. On a textual level, it examines connections between ideological shifts in advice and macro-level changes; with regard to audiences, it asks what generates particular modes of self-help reading. All studies then consider the implications of ideological shifts and modes of reading for the creation or maintenance of social boundaries and attendant inequalities. While prior theoretical and empirical work on relationship advice products and audiences has considered time-limited samples of women’s texts, and research in reception studies has emphasized the importance of gender in generating modes of reading, this dissertation contributes new insight by looking longitudinally at bestselling advice books, offering the first detailed look at books for men, and considering the influence of variables beyond gender in channeling readers toward particular modes of reading. Findings demonstrate strong coupling between ideological trends in advice and broader social changes, and an interlocking effect of readers’ biographical, demographic and psychological factors on modes of reading. Analyses of texts and readers also reveal how the genre reinforces social inequalities. Paper 1 corrects presumptions about advice book content by identifying new ideological trends, Paper 2 develops a conceptual and theoretical vocabulary for understanding constructions of ideal masculinity, namely through identification of a process of “masculinizing” intimacy, and Paper 3 newly identifies two modes of reading—targeted and habitual—and generates theoretical insight broadly applicable to reception studies.