Showing items 1 - 6 of 6

Covid-19 fully exposes Zimbabwe’s comatose economy

- Chagonda, Tapiwa

Is Zimbabwe on the cusp of mass protests over the country’s worsening economic malaise?

- Chagonda, Tapiwa

Seeking barriers to the development of knowledge transgressivity potential (KTP) : lessons from a postgraduate student survey at the University of Johannesburg

- Dworzanowski-Venter, Bronwyn, Chagonda, Tapiwa

  • Authors: Dworzanowski-Venter, Bronwyn , Chagonda, Tapiwa
  • Date: 2015
  • Subjects: Knowledge transgressivity potential , University of Johannesburg , University of Johannesburg - Students
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: uj:5598 , ISSN 09766634 , http://hdl.handle.net/10210/14311
  • Description: Institutional mergers coupled with the distinction between teaching-focused ‘comprehensives’ and traditional, research-intensive universities are evidence of differentiation in action within South African higher education. Comprehensive institutions such as the University of Johannesburg (UJ) are relatively underresearched. A UJ-based survey of postgraduate students (n=300) suggests the possibility of knowledge transgressivity within and outside of UJ. However, the development of a transdisciplinary platform [to facilitate the evolution of knowledge transgressivity potential (KTP)] between natural and social science-focused postgraduates, is likely limited by perceptual class and race barriers, with the former proving most influential. Moreover, inter institutionalKTP between UJ, as a comprehensive, and WITS, as a traditional university, is present, but limited by material class barriers, such as fees differentials. Nevertheless, findings suggest that KTP could be developed at the junior postgraduate level if class perceptions and structural legacies are to be overcome. Comprehensives like UJ are capable of more than solely fulfilling an undergraduate teaching function as such, they should enjoy more research attention. While all South African universities contribute to transformation and competitiveness in distinct ways, the rigid demarcation, and potentially inadvertent ‘privileging’ of some South African universities, should be avoided. This is critical as such demarcation cannot lead to long-term institutional integration and increased potential for true knowledge transgressivity.
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The other face of the Zimbabwean crisis: the black market and dealers during Zimbabwe’s decade of economic meltdown, 2000-2008

- Chagonda, Tapiwa

The response of the working class in Harare, Zimbabwe to hyper-inflation and the political crisis, 1997-2008

- Chagonda, Tapiwa

  • Authors: Chagonda, Tapiwa
  • Date: 2011
  • Subjects: Working class - Social aspects - Zimbabwe - Harare , Inflation (Finance) - Social aspects - Zimbabwe - Harare , Inflation (Finance) - Political aspects - Zimbabwe - Harare , Unemployment - Effect of inflation on - Zimbabwe - Harare , Income - Effect of inflation on - Zimbabwe - Harare , Political persecution - Zimbabwe - Harare
  • Language: English
  • Type: Doctoral (Thesis)
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/84600 , uj:19240
  • Description: The dissertation traces the responses by Harare's working class to the economic and political crisis that gripped Zimbabwe in the years 1997 to 2008. It starts with 'Black Friday' in 1997, which initiated a period of rising inflation culminating in the second worst hyper-inflation in world history, and ends with dollarisation. This was a period marked by rigged elections, notably in 2000 and 2008, and by considerable political repression. Drawing mainly on interview data, the repertoire of reactions is considered at three levels: unions, work and the household. A distinction is made between three kinds of response: workerism, partyism and survivalism. Combined with economic and political data this leads to a periodisation. First, from 1997-2000 there was a shift in the dominant response from workerism to partyism. Secondly, following failure by the unions and the Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) to respond effectively to the stolen election of 2000, and with a rapidly declining economy and bouts of state terror, there was a move towards survivalism. Thirdly, this became more pronounced during years of hyper-inflation, 2006-08. But, fourthly, survivalism failed to provide the solution to people's problems, and there was a return to partyism, with this feeding into the MDC's success in 2008 and, thus, to dollarisation. Finally, there are signs of a limited return to workerism in the period since 2008. Whilst there was significant numerical and organisational disintegration in the working class from 2000 onwards, this remained partial, with the unions contributing to the MDCs electoral gains in 2008. Accounts of the period that privilege survival strategies not only obscure other responses to the crisis, they also occlude an appreciation of the role of repression in atomising workers, thus reducing their options, and the significance of the failure of workerism and partyism in encouraging individualised responses. A more rounded view can also assist us in making sense of the outcome and implications of the 2008 elections, and along with it, moves that went beyond survival strategising. The dissertation considers the experiences of four groups of workers and shows how these differed greatly. Teachers stayed away from work, in large measure to save on travel costs and participate in cross-border trade; factory workers often benefited from non-salary and even non-monetary remuneration; the catering workers at times relied on small-scale deals in the informal sector; banking workers suffered less than other workers and were better placed to engage in financial scams. It is possible that this unevenness further undermined the possibility of unified action by workers... , D.Litt. et Phil. (Sociology)
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‘Getting involved on campus’ : student identities, student politics, and perceptions of the Student Representative Council (SRC)

- Nyundu, Tony, Naidoo, Kammila, Chagonda, Tapiwa

  • Authors: Nyundu, Tony , Naidoo, Kammila , Chagonda, Tapiwa
  • Date: 2015
  • Subjects: Student Representative Council (SRC) , Gender differences , Racial identity
  • Language: English
  • Type: Article
  • Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10210/69599 , uj:17888 , Citation: Nyundu, T., Naidoo, K. & Chagonda, T. 2015. ‘Getting involved on campus’ : student identities, student politics, and perceptions of the Student Representative Council (SRC).
  • Description: Abstract: Since 1976 when school students in Soweto took to the streets in active defiance of the apartheid state, students as a political constituency have always been admired, noted and feared for the political positions they have taken and campaigns launched. South African student organisations in the 1980s and 1990s a ligned themselves with mass democratic movements and engaged with and shaped their agendas. Commentators suggest however, that the nature and character of student organisations have changed in post-apartheid South Africa, and consequently, also students’ interest in ‘getting involved’. With regard to SRCs, while many authors argue that SRCs are no longer a ‘revolutionary force’ and have become either retrogressive or disempowered, others suggest that more effort needs to be made to understand the content of ‘new’ SRCs in post-apartheid South Africa and their appeal to diverse student populations. This paper seeks to establish the attitudes of University of Johannesburg (UJ) students towards voting for, and supporting, the Students Representative Council (SRC), and, for involving themselves in student politics at UJ. In making sense of students’ perceptions, the paper probes differences and similarities in terms of four key factors: gender, race, year of study, and residential background.
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