Racial Metaphors: Interpreting Sex and AIDS in Africa

Western preconceptions regarding African sexuality distorted early research on the social context of AIDS in Africa and limited the scope of preventive policies. Key works cited repeatedly in the social science and policy literature constructed a hypersexualized pan–African culture as the main reason for the high prevalence of HIV in sub–Saharan Africa. Africans were portrayed as the social ‘Other’ in works marked by sweeping generalizations and innuendo, rather than useful comparative data on sexual behaviour. Although biomedical studies demonstrate the role of numerous factors that influence HIV transmission among poor people, a narrowly behavioural explanation dominated the AIDS–in–Africa discourse for over a decade and still circumscribes preventive strategies in Africa and elsewhere.     

Participation and Passive Revolution: The Reproduction of Neoliberal Water Governance Mechanisms in Durban,South Africa

Abstract: This article demonstrates that Gramsci's concept of passive revolution can be utilised to help unearth some of the contradictions of participatory development within neoliberal governance systems in the global South. I argue that some approaches to “participation” within neoliberal governance systems can, in part, be understood as moments within a protracted process of passive revolution. The argument is traced through eThekwini municipality's Community Participation Programme and the related extension of Free Basic Water (FBW). This article contributes to existing scholarship by demonstrating how a Gramscian analysis is indispensable to understanding the way in which state–civil society relations are conceived in participatory development strategies and the implications this might have for radical social change. I argue that a Gramscian approach compels us to reconsider current understandings of state–civil society relations so that we might overcome the impasse of passive revolution and move towards a more progressive form of politics.     

Maritime and Underwater Cultural Heritage in South Africa: The Development of Relevant Management Strategies in the Historical Maritime Context of the Southern Tip of Africa

South Africans have a long association with water. It has provided a source of food, a medium for trade and a catalyst for migration and development. The country??s geographical position as a crossroads of maritime trade between Europe and the East means that its history is inextricably linked to the history of the rest of the world. The result is a multi-faceted representation of sites, objects and mythologies related to water and maritime heritage that reflect not only local historical and social development, but global cultural change as well. Given the importance of South Africa??s underwater cultural heritage (UCH), managers have grappled with management principles, ethics and theoretical models in an effort to produce and enforce heritage legislation that is relevant and effective. This paper outlines South Africa??s maritime context from 1.5 million years ago until the present, summarises legislative and mitigation developments over the past half century and provides details of current trends in maritime archaeology and UCH management at the southern tip of Africa. Training programmes and public awareness are keys to this strategy to bring UCH and maritime archaeology into the mainstream and counter treasure hunting and looting of this rich, friable resource.     

浅论美国革命时期效忠派

效忠派(即托利党人)是美国革命时期一个人数众多、复杂的群体,他们的基本立场是对殖民地的热爱和对殖民地权利的维护.他们既反对1763年后英国的新殖民政策,又反对殖民地从帝国中分裂出去.效忠派的构成复杂多样,几乎分布于每一个殖民地、每一种行业和每一个阶层.许多效忠派采取了积极的行动:参加英军或民兵组织,出版、传播亲英的小册子等.但从整体而言,大多数效忠派在革命期间保持了沉默.许多效忠派自愿或被迫流亡,但绝大多数人得以留下,得到了新国家的宽容与接纳.若以成败论英雄的话,效忠派是失败者,但他们在历史上的角色是不应该被漠视的.