In the context of development in marginalised communities in South Africa (and other Third World countries), the thesis project suggests an interim phase of development – between the immediate needs of the marginalised community and the implementation of urban development frameworks. The interim phase has both spatial and temporal implications – it is development at a smaller scale (i.e. site specific) and due to its small scale and subsequent smaller impact on its surroundings, it can be implemented in a shorter period of time. The phase thus fills the spatial and temporal gap for development in Marabastad. The design is one such attempt at starting to fill the gap. It entails the design of a space that functions mainly as a market, which many commuters in Marabastad use as a thoroughfare and as a place to eat and rest. Basic market infrastructure is provided in the form of improved floor surfaces, trees, water and electricity, ablution facilities, storage, shelter and structure. Apart from serving the physical needs of the users of the site, the space should elicit a sense of ownership with its own implied advantages. The market and the accompanying facilities provided in the design are a direct response to the current activities and problems on the site. The implementation of similar projects across Marabastad, each addressing site specific issues, could ultimately lead to the whole of Marabastad being rejuvenated. / Dissertation (ML (Prof))--University of Pretoria, 2007. / Architecture / unrestricted

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / The experiences and perceptions of ICT access and usage by women in marginalised South African communities is sorely under researched. Where information from a gender-based perspective reflecting potential digital gender disparities exists, it is typically a statistical view of the ICT landscape (largely reflecting access). Exploration of the complex underlying socio-cultural factors affecting women’s ICT usage is under-represented. There is an urgent need to hear women’s own voices and perspectives on such intricate and often obscure subject matter. This research has aimed to bring traditionally overlooked perspectives to the fore by exploring the experiences and perceptions of women in marginalised South African communities regarding ICT access and usage. This qualitative study, guided by a feminist phenomenological perspective, focused on the individual lived experiences of twelve women living in three marginalised areas of the Western Cape of South Africa. Data were collected via semi-structured interviews and analysed through the Interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) approach. The findings showed that the women had strong attachments to ICT and had integrated it into their own individual contexts, to fit their needs and activities. ICT had been interwoven into various social, economic, educational, political, cultural, recreational and spiritual dimensions of life. A range of factors emerged as having influence on women’s digital participation. Some of the more significant barriers were digital skills and confidence, poor social support systems, affordability of ICT, awareness of personally beneficial opportunities, time constraints, resistance from a male partner and poor literacy. Additionally, the women lived in highly gendered environments, with sociallyconstructed gender norms, roles and identities, which had a strong influence on digital experiences and perceptions. This socio-cultural gender inequality was fundamental in the time constraints, and in the power dynamics and resistance women faced from male partners. Findings indicated that gender identities and traits disadvantage females in the digital context, for example ideas of femininity being viewed as conflicting with a perceived ‘dirty’ ICT field. Detrimental perceptions associating sophisticated ICT activity with males were reportedly prevalent in the communities and some of the women interviewed subscribed to the essentialist theory which considers men inherently better suited to technology. These findings have important implications for policies and practices in view of enhancing the digital inclusion of women in marginalised South African communities. Recommendations towards this end are outlined, specifically centred on gendersensitive approaches in the planning and implementation of digital inclusion initiatives.

This thesis explores the relationship between education and employment, particularly as it affects the socio-economic mobility of people from poor and marginalized communities in Nepal. I carry out a multi-sited, inter-generational analysis to investigate the aspirations, expectations, and experiences of young people. Based on ethnographic and participatory fieldwork in a village and a school in the outskirts of Lalitpur in 2012, this research grows organically to provide a detailed review of current schooling practices and their employment as well as wider implications in Nepal. Theoretically, this thesis investigates the experiences of the marginalized in terms of the relevance, level, and quality of their education. I examine the role of education as a socializing institution as well as its characteristics as a social and a positional good. I assess the outcomes of their education through internal measures (such as exam scores and pass rates) but also extend the analysis to include external ones (such as job opportunities and life trajectories). I focus on the deterministic life-stages model of transition to challenge the expectation that children go to school, acquire skills, obtain jobs, and become 'adults'. People have historically placed high hopes on education, but the potential for socio-economic mobility for the poor and marginalized are limited by the failures of the school system, sustained challenges to higher education access, limited relevance of education to employment opportunities, and continued prominence of social and cultural capital to secure jobs. Yet, their educational engagement has provided some benefits even as their expectations for gainful employment have not been met. Schooling has become an integral part of childhood, but foreign migration is emerging as a prominent alternative avenue for the aspirant youth. Further, the distinctions between children and adults are also blurred as students balance their transitions between school, work, and home to succeed within the system.

In South Africa there has been a growing recognition of community craft projects in previously marginalised communities. They are acknowledged for their artistic merit, and for the fact that they serve as a means of economic empowerment for especially black South African women. This study goes beyond this and identifies the embroidered story cloth projects as serving as potential archives for the communities in which they are situated. The embroidered story cloths produced by the Mogalakwena Craft Art Development Foundation (MCADF) are considered as a relevant practical example of the counter-archival discourse in the archival process. This Foundation is situated in a remote area of the Limpopo Province, South Africa, close to the Botswana border. Founded in 1994 in an effort to alleviate poverty and unemployment in this community, this project has grown into a unique archive, which documents various aspects of the women’s everyday life. This project encompasses a number of aspects highlighted by the counter-archival discourse. The embroidered story cloths constitute archival sources that previously would not have been considered part of the conventional nineteenth and twentieth century archive as they involve oral tradition and material craft art practices. Furthermore, the choice of subjects documented by the participants of the MCADF project, which include everyday life situations, as well as rituals and rites of passage, moves the focus of history away from the dated “grand narratives of progress” of the Western world to include the voices from outside the political realm. This aligns with elements of the community archive which have an important role to play in terms of democratising the archival record, decentralising the archives as public institution as well as giving previously or currently marginalised people a voice. In this case it is women who, due to their gender, their inability to express themselves in written form and the previous discriminatory political dispensation in South Africa (apartheid), would not have been included in traditional archives. / Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2015. / tm2015 / Historical and Heritage Studies / DPhil / Unrestricted

This thesis investigates the inconsistencies in classification and indexing present in the University of the Arts Library catalogue, and examines how these relate to the perspectives of qualified librarians through the use of qualitative interviews. We surmise that effective representation of items relating to marginalised communities, within the language of classification and indexing, has a great impact on the findability of these items. Representation of marginalised groups within knowledge institutions proves to be ever more significant in aiding democracy, dialogue and equitable access to information; therefore, it is significant to scrutinise, critique and propose development of this representation.