This thesis is a response to a lacuna in musicology, namely the near absence of postcolonial and decolonial epistemologies. Employing both diachronic and synchronic perspectives, it provides a historical overview of the institutional positioning of musicology as an academic discipline founded on structures of expectation and exploitation indebted to Western imperialism. This longer historical view is accompanied throughout by an examination of ethics in its institutionalised forms, specifically in the domains of knowledge production and the university. The thesis maintains that while such ostensibly ethical underpinnings may promise redress on the basis of the violence inflicted by an imperialist past, the discourse employed in its application in fact serves to strengthen the ideological hold of Western hegemony and, in so doing, betrays the promise of reparation that ethics is ordinarily understood to encompass. The thesis examines different aesthetic and epistemological manifestations of the postcolonial, considering at length Steve Reich's string quartet, Different Trains (1988), Philip Glass's opera, Waiting for the Barbarians (2005), and Philip Miller's choral work, REwind: A Cantata for Voice, Tape and Testimony (2006). Both content and style weave these works together as they engage, by means of a post-minimalist aesthetic, stream-of-violence narratives intimately bound up with the postcolonial condition. Of particular importance in the consideration of these musical texts is the urgent necessity for epistemological transformation, marked in musicology as the lack of post- and decolonial perspectives. Finally, the thesis grapples with the (im)possibility of complicit scholarship that must, through its very expression, wound its subject.

Natural disasters are increasing in both number and severity, causing the number of people being displaced by disaster to rise as well. Hurricane Katrina provides a particularly poignant example of the human impact of disaster, and of inadequate disaster response, especially where housing is concerned. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans exposed a gap in the approach to housing survivors of natural disasters, especially at the interim housing level. The FEMA trailer - which was only intended to house survivors temporarily but, in many cases, became a long term housing solution, - provided shelter for survivors, but did not account for their psychological well-being. The loss of one’s home can be a traumatic experience, as people identify their sense of self with their home. Therefore, it is crucial to reinstate this sense of home, and in turn provide continuity to the sense of self, early on in the recovery process. Rebuilding after a natural disaster is a long process. Because of this, disaster housing needs to be able to evoke a sense of home and ownership so that inhabitants can connect with their environment and reinstate their daily routines. This helps them to rebuild their lives. The proposed project attempts to do this by allowing for flexibility and choice in both the design and daily use of the house. The house transitions from temporary to permanent housing, allowing for a dialogue between inhabitant and environment to begin early on in the recovery process, and to persist. The design is informed by theories on place making, elements of home, dwelling, as well as loss and the grieving process.

Natural disasters are increasing in both number and severity, causing the number of people being displaced by disaster to rise as well. Hurricane Katrina provides a particularly poignant example of the human impact of disaster, and of inadequate disaster response, especially where housing is concerned. The Federal Emergency Management Agency’s response to Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans exposed a gap in the approach to housing survivors of natural disasters, especially at the interim housing level. The FEMA trailer - which was only intended to house survivors temporarily but, in many cases, became a long term housing solution, - provided shelter for survivors, but did not account for their psychological well-being. The loss of one’s home can be a traumatic experience, as people identify their sense of self with their home. Therefore, it is crucial to reinstate this sense of home, and in turn provide continuity to the sense of self, early on in the recovery process. Rebuilding after a natural disaster is a long process. Because of this, disaster housing needs to be able to evoke a sense of home and ownership so that inhabitants can connect with their environment and reinstate their daily routines. This helps them to rebuild their lives. The proposed project attempts to do this by allowing for flexibility and choice in both the design and daily use of the house. The house transitions from temporary to permanent housing, allowing for a dialogue between inhabitant and environment to begin early on in the recovery process, and to persist. The design is informed by theories on place making, elements of home, dwelling, as well as loss and the grieving process.

This study evaluated the effectiveness of the South African Truth and Reconciliation Commission (SATRC), using the theoretical and conceptual framework of the five pillars of transitional justice. Chitsike (2012) identified the five Pillars of Transitional Justice that the study uses. For that reason, Truth-Seeking and Truth-Telling, Trials and Tribunals, Reparations, Institutional Reform and Memorialisation are the Five Pillars of Transitional Justice that this study elected to use as the conceptual and theoretical framework. The Five Pillars of Transitional Justice that were delineated by Boraine (2005) are referred to for analytical purposes in the study. Methodologically, the study assumes a qualitative posture. Literature study through content analysis that uses description and exploration is deployed to make interpretation of the used literature. This study notes that each one of the pillars of transitional justice has its recommendations and limitations, and the pillars are much more enriched and enriching when applied in complementarity to each other rather than in isolation. The SATRC process also had its achievements and limitations, and its popularity was based on political impressions rather than concrete transitional justice achievements on the ground, in the view of the present study. Furthermore, it appears to the present study that more time is needed for much more reliable evaluations of the effectiveness of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission (TRC) to be made, some of its successes and limitations will take many years and or even decades to manifest because at the end of the day, TRCs are historical process and not events. / Political Sciences / M.A. (Politics)