Classical environmental theories and their usefulness in the context of SA

There are 14 environmental theories that are occupied to give an understanding in the significant causes of environmental crisis such as pollution and warmer climates. According to this theories environmental crisis is the long the threat on the earth’s well being. Because human technology has done a lot in exploiting natural resources. Miners in South Africa are rapidly using up both renewable and non renewable resources,  in most informal settlements of South Africa pollution has impacted the poor and people of color disproportionately more due to such things as low income housing units being placed near old existing industrial sites. A major factor contributing to the environmental crisis is that SA’s economy is an extractive economy . 

One of the most commonly accepted definitions of participatory development is as follows: “Participatory development seeks to give the poor a part in initiatives and projects that are designed by outside organizations in the hopes that these projects will be more sustainable and successful by involving local stakeholders in the projects goals.”The goal of economic and social development in developing countries is to set in motion a process of self-reliant and sustainable development through which social justice will be realized. "Self-reliant development" means building the endogenous mechanisms of society that will enable developing nations ultimately to achieve growth without aid. "Sustainable" development means continuing a stable growth pattern in such a way as economic development is in harmony with the environment. The realization of "social justice" means equalizing and ensuring opportunities for people to participate in order to rectify disparities between regions, income levels, and gender.  An example of participatory development in South Africa was when the Thusong Service Centres  built  school in townships to help the poor. 

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Useful women development approaches in South Africa 

1. GAD in South Africa.

This approach recognized women as a diverse group with interests that vary by sex, class, age, and ethnicity.

It recognizes men and women as partners in development. Considers both of them in economic and political relations .

The ‘Gender and Development’ approach concentrated on the unequal relations between men and women and seeks to transform this.

Thus apart from women, the ‘Gender and Development’ approach focuses on the social relations between men and women.

It emphasizes the equal access of women and men to the resources, and benefits from development.

It analyzes the contributions of women within (reproductive) including unpaid domestic work and outside the household (productive work). In other words, it recognizes the gender division.

2. Women in Delopment 

he purpose of Women in Development was to integrate women into economic development by focusing on women’s productive work in two ways:

Providing women money and other resources for income-generating activities.

Developing appropriate technologies to lighten women’s load. 

The modernizing theory underpinned the ‘WID’ Approach. It believed that industrialization would lead to economic development. 

Modernization and Dependency theory ​​​​​​.

Both the theories identify he same problem but attribute the causes to different factors. 

• Modernization and dependency theory are both limited in their ability to explain how the world is changing today. We see that through environmental crisis, Global inequality and Globalization. Although the dependency theory focuses more on the economic underdeveloped or previous colonies and non industrialized countries and modernization pays attention on how traditional or undeveloped communities change to modern Societies. Modernization deals with a lot of things, we can classify it into social, psychological, cultural, demographic and political dimensions. 

Dependency theorists argue  with the fact that capitalism does not develop equally and  it focuses in core areas and that the development of core countries is connect to the underdeveloped societies. Mean while Modernization argues that capitalism is a reward system and the inequalities have to be tolerated as an outcome of innovation.  Dependency theory brings history into the understanding of making of development, it is helpful in Providing a relational approach to development and indirectly pointing out the uneven distribution of global power. 

Four factors of development:

1. Distribution of income 

  Distribution of income refers to how the country’s total GDP is shared among its population. In South Africa the distribution of income is not equal for every one. Since South Africa is a capitalist society, most businesses are owned by individuals and not the our govern, so Rich people get a disproportionately big part of the economy which creates income inequality. 
 

2. Political Transformation ​​​​ 

Political transformation is known as the development of Democracy, South Africa is a country of diversity and it is working on freeing its self of legacy of discrimination, economic explanations and the political authorisation to build a New Democratic and equitable regime. 
 

3. Demographic Transitions 

Demographic transition refers to change of high birth rates and death rates in communities using minimal technologies. Most in South Africa people have are living with HIV which reduces the life expectancy and most people in South Africa are living in unpleasant environment which affects their health and reduces life expectancy. 
 

4. Modernisation 

A country that is Modernized when it uses Morden and advance technology, 

South Africa it is modernized people it has all the Morden technology appliances and they are striving to endorse forth Industrial revolution. 
 

Benefits of poverty to individuals and the community: 

• In South Africa free Clinics and hospitals were built which now benefits everyone 

• Recycling business were opened even though you may think it benefits the poor it actually benefits everyone because of it keeps the environment clean 

• The poor get access to free Education, which in the results benefits the country because after graduation the person might no longer be poor and his/her tax money will also help the poor 

• The poor get free houses and they do not pay water and electricity.. which makes them worry only about getting food so we get to have fewer stressed or depressed number of people in a country 

• Farm owners  usually hire poor people to take care of their plants in return they get paid helping a few population of the poor but then this benefits everyone because it makes sure a country has adequate numbers of food. 
• people living in poverty usually have all the time to rest and take care of their families. 
• The poor do not waste food reducing numbers of food waste 

• Most companies were able to come up with job opportunities to help the poor which in return also helps the country 

 CONFLICT ORIENTATION TO SOCIAL PROBLEMS

Conflict orientation as social problem can be that it tends to affect families and the society at large. it  reflects and addresses the issues of class and status in a society, as social problems come from basic and important faults in the structure of a society. but the difference is that conflict orientation focuses more on the inequality between the rich and the poor while as social problems deals with everyone. for example rape,  everyone in the world can be sexually abused regardless of how much they have, yet there are things that a poor person can wish to have and rich person already has.

FEMINIST ORIENTATION TO SOCIAL ORIENTATION 

Feminist fight for equality between man and women, they are fighting to show the world that women can work as hard achieve as much but even though this is the case it has also become a 50% social problem and 50% not a social problem,  it is a social problem because we now have lots of women who left their homes to go and work in mines leaving their kids alone with no one to look after them, which leaves them unprotected  and unsafe. But again it is not a social problem because it teaches girls from a younger age not to rely on men to get hard work to be done and lots of women to share their voices. 

 DEPRESSION 

1. depression is a social problem, it doesn't only affect the person who has it but it affects the family and the society, the medication they take can cost a lot than a person can afford even if the person can afford it,  it will create unwanted dependence on families,  will strain social interactions and family relationship and it can go as far as disrupting education and career path and make it hard for social developments, and again because it is a mental disorder it will be too complicated to heal other times it can be fatal. 

SMASH AND GRAB 

2.  smash and grab is a crime, and like any other crime in the world it is a social problem, because it cannot exist without society, and when a person smash and grab other people's belongings, they can grab a person's valuable documents that can never be replaced and in that way a persons life can be ruined,  and also the person who smashed and grabbed can be caught and put to jail increasing the number of prisoners and the money spent in jails, which might lead to increase in tax. 

RAPE 

3. Rape is a huge social problem, it changes a person's world and affects family relationships, friendships and the society's safety,  a victim will always feel threatened outdoors or anywhere they are alone, they will lose self esteem and trust. it will also require emotional support of the society and the law. and the rapist will be a threat to the society if not arrested and if arrested it will be a liability to the government. 

FAST FOOD

4. Fast food, fast food is a social problem because it contributes to a rapid increasing rate of diet relating diseases, systemic animal abuse and environmental degradation.

HIV AND AIDS 

5.  it is a social issue because people with this virus may be unable to do their daily work , or affording the nutritional life style they should be living and can create unwanted dependence of their families and they medication is expensive which strain the economy a little it is is supposed to be free in other countries.