Books

Being pregnant and a young parent in South African schools is not easy. Books and Babies examines why this is the case. Drawing on both quantitative and qualitative research conducted in secondary schools in Durban and Cape Town, the book explores how teachers and principals respond to the presence of pregnant learners and young parents in school, and surveys the attitudes of fellow learners towards them. Interviews with the young parents themselves yield rich narratives which, accompanied by a visual essay, invite the reader into their lives as they confront the demands of pregnancy, parenting and school. Books and Babies provides a finely textured analysis of these demands and shows the ongoing need to challenge the unequal and gendered load of pregnancy and parenting, both in schools and the broader social context.

Spanning pivotal years in the historic democratisation of South Africa, the essays collected in Bounds of Democracy provide a trenchant reflection on Higher Education in transition.

Brazil, Russia, India, China, South Africa (BRICS) nations have become a strong engine of South-South Cooperation. The most significant outcome of the emergence of BRICS is the shift they have brought to the balance of power in global affairs.

The media play a key role in post-apartheid South Africa and is often positioned at the centre of debates around politics, identity and culture. Media, such as radio, are often said to also play a role in deepening democracy, while simultaneously holding the power to frame political events, shape public discourse and impact citizens’ perceptions of reality. Broadcasting Democracy: Radio and Identity in South Africa provides an exciting look into the diverse world of South African radio, exploring how various radio formats and stations play a role in constructing post-apartheid identities. At the centre of the book is the argument that various types of radio stations represent autonomous systems of cultural activity, and are ‘consumed’ as such by listeners. In this sense, it argues that South African radio is ‘broadcasting democracy’. Broadcasting Democracy will be of interest to media scholars and radio listeners alike.

Broadcasting the Pandemic tells the story of a South African television show, Beat It! Created during the aspirational years of the political transition in which the broadcast media were poised to democratize the airwaves, Beat It! was first screened on public television in 1999 and developed into one of the most powerful health education initiatives in contemporary history. Broadcasting the Pandemic traces the shows evolution, exploring how Beat It! used the medium of television to inform its viewers about HIV at a time of increasingly rapid infection rates, but in which government education and treatment campaigns were largely absent.

This monograph, based on an empirical study of the public-private partnerships that existed between 2002 and early 2003, offers the first compelling account of a hitherto under-researched phenomenon in higher education provision in South Africa.

Capital cities today remain central to both nations and states. They host centres of political power, not only national, but in some cases regional and global as well, thus offering major avenues to success, wealth and privilege. For these reasons capitals simultaneously become centres of 'counter-power', locations of high-stakes struggles between the government and the opposition.

Care in Context is a thought-provoking book that looks at gender inequalities in the context of care. Drawing in part from unique transnational perspectives and gripping interviews, this book focuses on key questions that intellectuals, policy makers and all of us who care and need care have to ask, such as: What is good care? Who should be involved in providing it? And how should care be arranged and organized so that that the interests of both care givers and care recipients are equally provided for?
Care is indispensable to human flourishing. Without it we cannot survive. It is vital to the development of all individuals and to that of the broader society. Increasing economic and health problems have also contributed to mounting care crises in different parts of the world. With this view, the book offers fresh and nuanced perspectives and is a definite must read for all those affected by issues of care.

This report forms part of a series that examines the work undertaken as part of the Kellog OVC Intervention Project from 2002 - 2005

This report forms part of a series that examines the work undertaken as part of the Kellogg OVC Intervention Project from 2002 to 2005