Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2023.2216901
A. Oksiutycz, Kumbirai Felix Mwadiwa
Abstract Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) increasingly use social media to build and maintain relationships with different stakeholders; however, previous research shows that NGOs face numerous challenges in the strategic use of social media for dialogic engagement to support their mission. While the use of social media by commercial brands has been researched considerably, research on the use of social media by NGOs as a tool for organisation-stakeholder dialogue in South Africa is scarce. Previous studies on social media usage by NGOs in South Africa have focused on social media adoption patterns or on the use of social media in branding but have not addressed the use of social media as a communication tool for relationship building. This study focuses on the use of social media for dialogic engagement by a non-governmental organisation in Gauteng province in South Africa. Data were collected through 10 semi- structured interviews with six full-time employees and four volunteers who work in the marketing, public relations, and fundraising departments and manage online communication for the organisation. The results of the study revealed that the NGO’s social ties and stakeholder support are of primary importance and that social media play a strategic role in ensuring fulfilment of the organisational mission and maintaining brand legitimacy.
{"title":"Using Social Media as a Tool for Dialogic Engagement: The Case of an NGO in South Africa","authors":"A. Oksiutycz, Kumbirai Felix Mwadiwa","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2023.2216901","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2023.2216901","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) increasingly use social media to build and maintain relationships with different stakeholders; however, previous research shows that NGOs face numerous challenges in the strategic use of social media for dialogic engagement to support their mission. While the use of social media by commercial brands has been researched considerably, research on the use of social media by NGOs as a tool for organisation-stakeholder dialogue in South Africa is scarce. Previous studies on social media usage by NGOs in South Africa have focused on social media adoption patterns or on the use of social media in branding but have not addressed the use of social media as a communication tool for relationship building. This study focuses on the use of social media for dialogic engagement by a non-governmental organisation in Gauteng province in South Africa. Data were collected through 10 semi- structured interviews with six full-time employees and four volunteers who work in the marketing, public relations, and fundraising departments and manage online communication for the organisation. The results of the study revealed that the NGO’s social ties and stakeholder support are of primary importance and that social media play a strategic role in ensuring fulfilment of the organisational mission and maintaining brand legitimacy.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"49 1","pages":"90 - 111"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42755597","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2023.2200961
Abyshey Nhedzi, M. Pritchard, Auguste Fabian
Abstract This paper investigates the use of brand storytelling on Facebook in the context of business-to-business (B2B) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. Branding is often used for business-to-consumer (B2C) products, but the same applies to B2B, as both sectors face a fiercely competitive environment, felt by all SMEs. The study provides insight into how brand storytelling is used for B2B marketing on Facebook. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted across organisations representing key SME owner-managers. The results show that B2B marketing of SMEs uses social media to generate content and influence other B2B markets through collaborations and storytelling strategies about the brands. The study demonstrates how SMEs can use the power of brand storytelling to influence audiences competitively on Facebook. This study explains the use of Facebook by inter-firm brand storytelling mechanisms in terms of the storytelling’s characteristics rather than the individual aspects of the business (e.g., their message and visuals). It provides insight into the authenticity of brand storytelling and explores its collaborative benefits to maximise the SMEs’ limited resources. Insightful implications are that B2B can capture benefits from Facebook use for SMEs with the audience by leveraging storytelling strategies.
{"title":"Examining the Brand Storytelling Key Considerations and Practices in B2B SMEs on Facebook","authors":"Abyshey Nhedzi, M. Pritchard, Auguste Fabian","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2023.2200961","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2023.2200961","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This paper investigates the use of brand storytelling on Facebook in the context of business-to-business (B2B) small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) based in the Namibian capital, Windhoek. Branding is often used for business-to-consumer (B2C) products, but the same applies to B2B, as both sectors face a fiercely competitive environment, felt by all SMEs. The study provides insight into how brand storytelling is used for B2B marketing on Facebook. Ten in-depth interviews were conducted across organisations representing key SME owner-managers. The results show that B2B marketing of SMEs uses social media to generate content and influence other B2B markets through collaborations and storytelling strategies about the brands. The study demonstrates how SMEs can use the power of brand storytelling to influence audiences competitively on Facebook. This study explains the use of Facebook by inter-firm brand storytelling mechanisms in terms of the storytelling’s characteristics rather than the individual aspects of the business (e.g., their message and visuals). It provides insight into the authenticity of brand storytelling and explores its collaborative benefits to maximise the SMEs’ limited resources. Insightful implications are that B2B can capture benefits from Facebook use for SMEs with the audience by leveraging storytelling strategies.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"49 1","pages":"65 - 89"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42088297","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2023-01-02DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2023.2200960
S. Viljoen
Abstract FHM launched its first South African issue in 2000, thereby initiating a new readership into the culture of laddish humour. As an articulation of post-apartheid masculine interest, the magazine used humour in different ways to both push back against apartheid and reinforce its core ideologies. Laddishness, it is argued, provides a carnivalesque resistance to the dominant strains of white masculinity deemed to be aspirational by other men’s magazines at the time. Through a bawdy embrace of juvenile folly and foolishness, FHM South Africa seemed to use self-deprecation and effacement as a means of troubling the ambitious materialism and corporate mobility of the neoliberal masculinities promoted in, for instance, GQ. The question is whether laddish humour was a counterfoil to “serious”, neoconservative masculinities, especially in the early years of democracy, or whether it merely served to complicate and further entrench the project of masculine hegemony.
{"title":"FHM Humour: The “Heroic Couplet of Men and Stupidity”","authors":"S. Viljoen","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2023.2200960","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2023.2200960","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract FHM launched its first South African issue in 2000, thereby initiating a new readership into the culture of laddish humour. As an articulation of post-apartheid masculine interest, the magazine used humour in different ways to both push back against apartheid and reinforce its core ideologies. Laddishness, it is argued, provides a carnivalesque resistance to the dominant strains of white masculinity deemed to be aspirational by other men’s magazines at the time. Through a bawdy embrace of juvenile folly and foolishness, FHM South Africa seemed to use self-deprecation and effacement as a means of troubling the ambitious materialism and corporate mobility of the neoliberal masculinities promoted in, for instance, GQ. The question is whether laddish humour was a counterfoil to “serious”, neoconservative masculinities, especially in the early years of democracy, or whether it merely served to complicate and further entrench the project of masculine hegemony.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"49 1","pages":"1 - 19"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2023-01-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"42718678","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2023.2181370
Zvinashe Mamvura, S. Nyota, Hugh Mangeya
Abstract Humour can function as a protest against bad governance, and citizens often appropriate digital humour to speak back to power. The article analyses 20 satirical memes and texts shared on Facebook and WhatsApp after the government of Zimbabwe introduced bond notes in 2016. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe indicated that the bond notes would be pegged equally against the US dollar. However, the Zimbabwean populace did not embrace the idea of the bond notes. The article uses the theory of voice and the thesis of the weapons of the weak to interrogate how humour speaks truth to power on online public platforms. Zimbabwean netizens do not enjoy such an opportunity in the actual public sphere, given the inhibiting political environment in Zimbabwe. Civil resistance is a form of protest by civilians against those in authority. Cyberspaces offer alternative platforms for registering dissatisfaction with state policies in contexts where the state has orchestrated a substantial shrinkage of the democratic space.
{"title":"“Breaking Taboos”: Bond Notes, Humour, and Civil Resistance in Zimbabwean Cyber-Communities","authors":"Zvinashe Mamvura, S. Nyota, Hugh Mangeya","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2023.2181370","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2023.2181370","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Humour can function as a protest against bad governance, and citizens often appropriate digital humour to speak back to power. The article analyses 20 satirical memes and texts shared on Facebook and WhatsApp after the government of Zimbabwe introduced bond notes in 2016. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe indicated that the bond notes would be pegged equally against the US dollar. However, the Zimbabwean populace did not embrace the idea of the bond notes. The article uses the theory of voice and the thesis of the weapons of the weak to interrogate how humour speaks truth to power on online public platforms. Zimbabwean netizens do not enjoy such an opportunity in the actual public sphere, given the inhibiting political environment in Zimbabwe. Civil resistance is a form of protest by civilians against those in authority. Cyberspaces offer alternative platforms for registering dissatisfaction with state policies in contexts where the state has orchestrated a substantial shrinkage of the democratic space.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"48 1","pages":"19 - 42"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"49589929","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2022.2163268
L. B. Sutton, Tanya le Roux, L. Fourie
Abstract Healthy, mutually beneficial relationships with internal stakeholders within an organisation are crucial for its survival, for achieving long-term goals, and for ensuring value for the organisation and the stakeholders. Organisations should therefore manage internal communication strategically. However, there is no practical or academic consensus as to how to identify “internal stakeholders”, which poses challenges in the diverse South African corporate context. This qualitative study attempted to clarify how best to identify internal stakeholder groupings as recipients of communication. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten internal communication practitioners employed by ten of the Top 500 companies in various sectors in South Africa and with eight independent internal communication consultants in South Africa. The participants were purposively selected for their achievements, responsibilities, knowledge, and experience in corporate internal communication. We found that the traditional view of internal stakeholders as comprising employees only has become obsolete, and that the volatile South African corporate environment requires a wider range of stakeholders to be included in the organisation's internal circle. The article concludes with recommendations for future research.
{"title":"Who Should Be Identified as Internal Stakeholders? An Internal Communication Practitioner and Consultant Perspective in the South African Corporate Context","authors":"L. B. Sutton, Tanya le Roux, L. Fourie","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2022.2163268","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2022.2163268","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Healthy, mutually beneficial relationships with internal stakeholders within an organisation are crucial for its survival, for achieving long-term goals, and for ensuring value for the organisation and the stakeholders. Organisations should therefore manage internal communication strategically. However, there is no practical or academic consensus as to how to identify “internal stakeholders”, which poses challenges in the diverse South African corporate context. This qualitative study attempted to clarify how best to identify internal stakeholder groupings as recipients of communication. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with ten internal communication practitioners employed by ten of the Top 500 companies in various sectors in South Africa and with eight independent internal communication consultants in South Africa. The participants were purposively selected for their achievements, responsibilities, knowledge, and experience in corporate internal communication. We found that the traditional view of internal stakeholders as comprising employees only has become obsolete, and that the volatile South African corporate environment requires a wider range of stakeholders to be included in the organisation's internal circle. The article concludes with recommendations for future research.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"48 1","pages":"93 - 116"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48932963","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2023.2181371
Oswell Moyo, Oswelled Ureke
Abstract This article examines how The Mirror, a regional newspaper in Zimbabwe, represents issues related to indigenous knowledge, such as the use of medicinal herbs and fruits. The Mirror largely circulates in the Midlands and the Masvingo region, although it also has a presence in parts of Mashonaland East, Manicaland, and Matabeleland South. The article utilises a qualitative methodology, in which archival data were collected from The Mirror to examine its portrayal of indigenous fruits and medicinal herbs. As such, representation theory is the theoretical lens of the study, and the data are analysed using thematic analysis. The study found that stories related to indigenous fruits and medicinal herbs are narrated through an urban gaze, which is sometimes at odds with the common uses of such resources by rural communities. It is argued in this article that The Mirror, as a post-colonial media entity, does not deviate from the colonial practices of suppressing and attacking African culture. Indigenous herbs are framed in terms such as witchcraft, bizarre incidents, and lack of efficacy. Furthermore, news stories published by The Mirror do not provide complete information on the uses of indigenous fruits and medicinal herbs, but instead focus only on what journalists perceive as “newsworthy” and appropriate for their readers.
{"title":"“Get-Rich-Quick Rituals, Remote Sex, and Herbs in Vaginal Canals”: Portrayal of Indigenous Fruits and Medicinal Herbs in Zimbabwe's The Mirror Newspaper","authors":"Oswell Moyo, Oswelled Ureke","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2023.2181371","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2023.2181371","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article examines how The Mirror, a regional newspaper in Zimbabwe, represents issues related to indigenous knowledge, such as the use of medicinal herbs and fruits. The Mirror largely circulates in the Midlands and the Masvingo region, although it also has a presence in parts of Mashonaland East, Manicaland, and Matabeleland South. The article utilises a qualitative methodology, in which archival data were collected from The Mirror to examine its portrayal of indigenous fruits and medicinal herbs. As such, representation theory is the theoretical lens of the study, and the data are analysed using thematic analysis. The study found that stories related to indigenous fruits and medicinal herbs are narrated through an urban gaze, which is sometimes at odds with the common uses of such resources by rural communities. It is argued in this article that The Mirror, as a post-colonial media entity, does not deviate from the colonial practices of suppressing and attacking African culture. Indigenous herbs are framed in terms such as witchcraft, bizarre incidents, and lack of efficacy. Furthermore, news stories published by The Mirror do not provide complete information on the uses of indigenous fruits and medicinal herbs, but instead focus only on what journalists perceive as “newsworthy” and appropriate for their readers.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"48 1","pages":"43 - 66"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48307394","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2023.2181369
Abdull Mohammed, Eserinune McCarty Mojaye, L. Adelakun
Abstract This study adopts meta-analysis and text mining approaches to systematically explore the prevalence of agenda setting theory (AST) in Africa-focused publications indexed in high-impact databases from 2000 to 2020. It aims to evaluate the usage frequency of AST in Africa-focused studies, the dominant perspectives explored in these studies, the dominant communication medium of reference, the dominant academic disciplines, the dominant regions of focus in Africa, frequent keywords within these studies, and the authors’ institutional affiliations. The findings revealed a dearth of quality literature from 2000 to 2008, after which at least one paper was published each year from 2007 to 2020, with the exception of 2016. The research showed that media scholars (51%) published more papers, followed by scholars from political sciences (12%), ethnic studies (12%), public health (9%), development studies (6%), and public administration (6%). Although many papers were about South Africa (33%), other dominant countries of focus were Ghana (18%), Nigeria (12%), and Kenya (9%). The qualitative review revealed the major perspectives of the AST- related papers to be issues of political advocacy, governance, and social activism; rural, national, and regional transformation and development; and social representations and framing. The medium of communication most often referenced for agenda setting was the newspaper.
{"title":"Exploring the Prevalence of Agenda-Setting Theory in Africa-Focused Research, 2000–2020","authors":"Abdull Mohammed, Eserinune McCarty Mojaye, L. Adelakun","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2023.2181369","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2023.2181369","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This study adopts meta-analysis and text mining approaches to systematically explore the prevalence of agenda setting theory (AST) in Africa-focused publications indexed in high-impact databases from 2000 to 2020. It aims to evaluate the usage frequency of AST in Africa-focused studies, the dominant perspectives explored in these studies, the dominant communication medium of reference, the dominant academic disciplines, the dominant regions of focus in Africa, frequent keywords within these studies, and the authors’ institutional affiliations. The findings revealed a dearth of quality literature from 2000 to 2008, after which at least one paper was published each year from 2007 to 2020, with the exception of 2016. The research showed that media scholars (51%) published more papers, followed by scholars from political sciences (12%), ethnic studies (12%), public health (9%), development studies (6%), and public administration (6%). Although many papers were about South Africa (33%), other dominant countries of focus were Ghana (18%), Nigeria (12%), and Kenya (9%). The qualitative review revealed the major perspectives of the AST- related papers to be issues of political advocacy, governance, and social activism; rural, national, and regional transformation and development; and social representations and framing. The medium of communication most often referenced for agenda setting was the newspaper.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"48 1","pages":"67 - 92"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43723933","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-10-02DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2023.2169317
Sibongile Mpofu
Abstract For feminist research, digital media now enable other ways of knowing currently lacking in mainstream research. Therefore, searching for African women's lived experiences in other sites, such as digital media spaces, requires the appropriation of methodologies that empower women. This article discusses the feminist approach of centring women as subaltern counterpublics, to show how this unearths the intersection of technology, power, hegemony, and subordination in the Zimbabwean context. The overall goal is to explain how the feminist counterpublics approach enables empirical findings on the emancipatory potential of blogs for Zimbabwean women. This research approach reveals how Zimbabwean women are using digital media as spaces to circulate counterdiscourses that resist their subjugation and the legitimation of power. Utilising the feminist approach to qualitative content analysis and semi-structured interviews, the study shows that communicative spaces online enable traditionally emasculated groups in Zimbabwe, particularly women, to reaffirm their identities and to begin to question the societal norms that continue to oppress them. This approach illustrates that blogs act as sites for regrouping and contestation, developing remedies for women's oppression, taking positions, and influencing wider publics.
{"title":"Digital Media and Discursive Contestation: The Importance of Feminist Counterpublics Online","authors":"Sibongile Mpofu","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2023.2169317","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2023.2169317","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract For feminist research, digital media now enable other ways of knowing currently lacking in mainstream research. Therefore, searching for African women's lived experiences in other sites, such as digital media spaces, requires the appropriation of methodologies that empower women. This article discusses the feminist approach of centring women as subaltern counterpublics, to show how this unearths the intersection of technology, power, hegemony, and subordination in the Zimbabwean context. The overall goal is to explain how the feminist counterpublics approach enables empirical findings on the emancipatory potential of blogs for Zimbabwean women. This research approach reveals how Zimbabwean women are using digital media as spaces to circulate counterdiscourses that resist their subjugation and the legitimation of power. Utilising the feminist approach to qualitative content analysis and semi-structured interviews, the study shows that communicative spaces online enable traditionally emasculated groups in Zimbabwe, particularly women, to reaffirm their identities and to begin to question the societal norms that continue to oppress them. This approach illustrates that blogs act as sites for regrouping and contestation, developing remedies for women's oppression, taking positions, and influencing wider publics.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"48 1","pages":"1 - 18"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-10-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"48986030","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-03DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2022.2143835
Musa Ngobeni
Abstract Many studies have examined xenophobia in South African townships and inner cities, but few have interrogated how xenophobia manifests itself in other South African contexts, such as tertiary education environments. The study presents the results of a qualitative study undertaken to explore the perceptions and experiences of students regarding xenophobia at the University of Johannesburg Auckland Park Kingsway Campus (UJAPK). The results indicate that most students have perceptions or have experienced xenophobia at UJ—although in subtle forms including language discrimination, anti-migrant attitudes, and social and academic exclusion. There are, however, traces of non-perception or experiences of xenophobia observed in the responses of some students. The findings further reveal that African foreign nationals (the so-called makwerekwere) are the primary targets of xenophobia rather than non-nationals from outside the continent. I argue that patterns inherited from South Africa’s colonial and apartheid past persist in post-apartheid South Africa, manifesting through the politics of race, nationalism, and fear of the other. I propose dialogue sessions where students (local and international) can openly communicate their perceptions of xenophobia and its consequences and find potential ways to mitigate the phenomenon.
{"title":"Narratives of Xenophobia at a South African University","authors":"Musa Ngobeni","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2022.2143835","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2022.2143835","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract Many studies have examined xenophobia in South African townships and inner cities, but few have interrogated how xenophobia manifests itself in other South African contexts, such as tertiary education environments. The study presents the results of a qualitative study undertaken to explore the perceptions and experiences of students regarding xenophobia at the University of Johannesburg Auckland Park Kingsway Campus (UJAPK). The results indicate that most students have perceptions or have experienced xenophobia at UJ—although in subtle forms including language discrimination, anti-migrant attitudes, and social and academic exclusion. There are, however, traces of non-perception or experiences of xenophobia observed in the responses of some students. The findings further reveal that African foreign nationals (the so-called makwerekwere) are the primary targets of xenophobia rather than non-nationals from outside the continent. I argue that patterns inherited from South Africa’s colonial and apartheid past persist in post-apartheid South Africa, manifesting through the politics of race, nationalism, and fear of the other. I propose dialogue sessions where students (local and international) can openly communicate their perceptions of xenophobia and its consequences and find potential ways to mitigate the phenomenon.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"48 1","pages":"43 - 60"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"43273473","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
Pub Date : 2022-07-03DOI: 10.1080/02500167.2022.2142254
Anneli Bowie
Abstract This article offers a thematic review of criticism directed at high-level public discourse surrounding the South African Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) agenda. While the South African adoption of the World Economic Forum's 4IR strategy for economic growth and skills development has been met with widespread enthusiasm, it has also attracted considerable criticism. This article thus seeks to offer insight into the debate surrounding the legitimacy and contextual propriety of the South African 4IR agenda. Insofar as the local criticism directed at the 4IR agenda reflects international criticism of the concept, the first part of this article draws on global critiques to explore objections raised against the 4IR's constitutive legitimacy. The second part of the article identifies critical themes surrounding more locally specific rejections of the 4IR agenda, such as it being an imported and contextually inappropriate framework for addressing local problems. Finally, I analyse an editorial cartoon that captures the various grounds on which the South African 4IR agenda is commonly critiqued. While this article provides insight into a particular public policy controversy, it also elucidates some general oppositional values as expressed by critics in their assessment of development rhetoric.
{"title":"“Not Our Revolution”: A Thematic Review of Fourth Industrial Revolution Criticism","authors":"Anneli Bowie","doi":"10.1080/02500167.2022.2142254","DOIUrl":"https://doi.org/10.1080/02500167.2022.2142254","url":null,"abstract":"Abstract This article offers a thematic review of criticism directed at high-level public discourse surrounding the South African Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) agenda. While the South African adoption of the World Economic Forum's 4IR strategy for economic growth and skills development has been met with widespread enthusiasm, it has also attracted considerable criticism. This article thus seeks to offer insight into the debate surrounding the legitimacy and contextual propriety of the South African 4IR agenda. Insofar as the local criticism directed at the 4IR agenda reflects international criticism of the concept, the first part of this article draws on global critiques to explore objections raised against the 4IR's constitutive legitimacy. The second part of the article identifies critical themes surrounding more locally specific rejections of the 4IR agenda, such as it being an imported and contextually inappropriate framework for addressing local problems. Finally, I analyse an editorial cartoon that captures the various grounds on which the South African 4IR agenda is commonly critiqued. While this article provides insight into a particular public policy controversy, it also elucidates some general oppositional values as expressed by critics in their assessment of development rhetoric.","PeriodicalId":44378,"journal":{"name":"Communicatio-South African Journal for Communication Theory and Research","volume":"48 1","pages":"1 - 19"},"PeriodicalIF":0.8,"publicationDate":"2022-07-03","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":null,"resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":"41531595","PeriodicalName":null,"FirstCategoryId":null,"ListUrlMain":null,"RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":"","ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":"","EPubDate":null,"PubModel":null,"JCR":null,"JCRName":null,"Score":null,"Total":0}
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