FOUR ENVIRONMENTAL NARRATIVES IDENTIFIED IN SOUTH AFRICA

1. The conservation.

2. The economic.

3. Non-state actors.

4. Local views.

OBJECTIVE AND MOTIVE FOR EACH NARRATIVE

The conservation view

When it comes to policy and procedures, there is an Authoritarian. It isolates individuals and takes away their rights to natural resources. The motive is to guarantee that an authoritarian approach is taken to land conservation in the interests of nation, religion, and communities, and it has a noble goal but bad practices.

The economic view:

The goal is for the environment to be viewed as a commodity that is mostly used for selling and purchasing. The perspective is often seen as a valuable asset. The reason is also that nature is an incredible resource that is being used to pull people from poverty, therefore there is a financial incentive as well as a development objective.

The non-state actor view:

The aim is for the perspective to come from relevant parties outside of the local community. The approach is influenced by a conviction in the importance of the environment, which should be preserved and valued. It also opposes human interactions that damage the environment.

Local views:

Because environmental narratives in South Africa are informed by time, place, personal qualities, and circumstances, they are complicated and highly differentiated. Policies and practices are used as a framework to influence the thoughts and responses of local communities. 

Two main discourses in South Africa

Sustainable development, and the environment, and social justice; all improve people's standard of living, and sustained progress is only feasible if the environment is conserved. The overall pattern and access to better environmental resources are inextricably tied to addressing such challenges and their consequences for societies.

The classical environment theories in the South Africa context

The traditional environmental theorists include Marx, Weber, Durkheim although they have not given the notion of modernity any attention in a more formal sense. Their work demonstrates that they were deeply concerned with modernization.

The most prevalent problem that we encounter in SA is food wastage since the food that is wasted exceeds the food that is produced, causing pollution and trash on the environment. Plastic debris is quite widespread in Southern Africa since many packaging materials are made of plastic, which is quite prone to pollute the environment. Another concern that South Africa faces is plastic pollution, with more than 12 million tons of trash entering the oceans and rivers each year, according to 2018 figures. Plastic pollution is hazardous to the ecology and species that belong within, and it also leads to fires starting. Soil erosion adds to the environmental problem because it has an impact on agriculture, which causes pollution. Another cause of concern in S.A is air pollution, which occurs when individuals burn various chemicals into the atmosphere, like coal, to create power, and we have a significant number of vehicles, which is another source of environmental concern.

Anthropogenic nature of environmental problems

Environmental issues and human beings are inextricably intertwined, and we see the outcomes in the environmental issues that we see and experience today. Humans, not nature, are mostly to blame for these issues.

Our country's electrical generation necessitates the extraction of coal. It is not only expensive, but it also has an influence on our health. We end up inhaling air that has been poisoned by chemicals emitted by the companies, and we occasionally end up drinking water that has also been tainted by harmful substances. The grass fires that would erupt in Cape Town would also contribute to global warming the ozone layer is being depleted as a result of global warming. As rural-urban migration rises, deforestation must also occur, putting many species' lives at risk of dying.

The environment has always been an issue, and it has the greatest impact on society. They are the primary source of society's troubles. The most serious environmental issues affecting society include air pollution, climate change, deforestation, and so on. Wildfires, in particular, are a major source of air pollution. Environmental issues have an impact on the function of status since they can constrain society. However, society has a role to play in environmental issues. The exploitation of wildlife from the ecosystem is another way in which society affects the ecosystem. Human populations are threatened by global warming, which produces changes in climatic circumstances. Pollution of the air, water, and soil causes health concerns.

Discuss the concept of participatory development approach and critique with an example from the South African context:

Participatory Development

The term Participatory Development may be defined as an alternative model of development where certain beneficiaries are involved from the conception stage through to the completion of the development intervention. The technique empowers grassroots individuals to contribute to the organizational process.  This indicates that engagement isn't really a passive activity; rather, it is utilized to cooperate and share knowledge among community members and other parties engaged.

Participatory Development in South Africa context

When applied to the South African context, this technique may fail due to the country's high level of corruption. Local elites, such as members of the ruling party, may hijack or take over participatory organizations if they are formed.  Moreover, there are currently inadequate technologies in disadvantaged communities, which will certainly provide a hurdle to participatory development. Finally, the persistent poverty culture in South Africa's rural areas makes it difficult for societies to participate in real development.

Critically discuss women in development and development approaches. Which of these are most useful in the SA context

1. WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT [WID]

[WID The problem, according to the Women in Development approach, has been the exclusion of women from development programs and projects. As a result, involving women in such initiatives was regarded as the solution. WID recognized women as a group that was being denied the ability to participate in development. As a result, the primary goal was to promote women's control over resources and involvement in development. And though the WID focused solely on gender disparities, it overlooked the social, cultural, legal, and economic aspects that contribute to gender disparities in society. WID focused mainly nearly entirely on women and thought that women were outside the development agenda.

2. WOMEN AND DEVELOMENT [WAD]

Women and development state that women can not be included in transformation since it is the source of their poverty. Women and development contended that equal rights are essential to enhancing women's economic positions, but frames change in terms of providing women access to the productive sector. WAD maintained that including women in development only increased their equality.

3. GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT (GAD)

The approach's main goal was to combine the lessons and constraints acquired from the WID and WAD  techniques.  GAD investigates the effects of development on both men and women.  GAD brought about the realization of women is never a homogeneous group, but instead are rejected by their cultures racially, status, or nationality. It is also necessary to consider the effects of influences such as political, religious, racial, and economic pressures that mix and affect gender relations. The strategy seeks to guarantee that both women and men engage in and benefit from prosperity in an equitable way; it prioritizes the balance of benefits and management in community development.

The GAD and WAD are the two techniques that will be most beneficial in the SA scenario.

Compare and contrast the core tenets of the modernization and dependency theories

Modernization

Mar (2008) defined modernization as the process of transitioning from a traditional or underdeveloped society to the way of life of modern Western society. From the definition, modernization is a developmental process that was derived from the steps followed by western countries when they were doing their development.

This theory is mainly used in many contexts of development, like politics, agriculture, religion, economics and it is based on four main assumptions. The modernization theory suggests that development is a linear evolutionary process that should follow the stages and the way developed countries developed. Rice (2012) alludes that, the assumption of the theory is centered on the fact that development is a series of successive stages through which all countries happen through a process of diffusion. As a result, modernity, policies aimed at raising the standard of living of the poor, frequently consist of disseminating knowledge and information about more efficient production techniques. For instance, the agriculture modernization process involves encouraging farmers to try new crops, new production methods, and new marketing skills (Matunhu 2008). Therefore, Western countries' societies are the most advanced in terms of technological, social, and political terms. They go through a series of stages in their rate of becoming advanced.

Dependency

Dependency is a historical condition that shapes a certain structure of the world economy such that it favors some countries to the detriment of others and limits the development possibilities of the subordinate economics, a situation in which the economy of a certain group of countries is conditioned by the development and expansion of another economy, to which their own is subjected (Ferraro 1996).

According to Sharmila (2008), dependency theory is a relationship between two or more countries that takes on the form of independence when some (dominant ones) can do so as a reflection of expansion. Therefore, the relationship between these countries is not equal. The dependency theory views developing countries as politically conservative because they view developing countries as undeveloped because they lack the qualities that developed nations have. This is compared with the dependency theory which sees development as due to the exploitation of advanced nations. Moreover, dependency theory states that there is the core, semi-periphery, and periphery. The core consists of developed countries, the semi-periphery is the newly industrialized countries like Brazil and the peripheries are developing countries. Costantino (1998; 9) postulates that "The final result is the creation of a core and a periphery, with a number of semi-periphery countries in between. The core consists of the industrialized countries, the periphery of the agricultural export countries. The semi-peripheral countries (like Brazil), which act as a buffer between the core and the periphery, are differentiated from the periphery by their more significant industrial production. The semi-periphery functions as a go-between: it imports high technology from the core and in return exports semi-manufactured goods to the core. It imports raw materials from the periphery and exports its industrial products.

Four factors that constitute development

1. Transformation in politics.

Political development should be accompanied by economic and socio-cultural development. For instance, whereas political freedom in the Middle East is rising and has an effect on economic progress, prosperity still has not been correlated with political freedom in South Africa and Mozambique.

2. Modernization.

It is vital for a country to stay current with its technology. As a result, the world is heading in the direction of a technological era. South Africa, on the other hand, has battled with modernization for many years, and as a result, we remain a third-world nation with limited technical development.

3. Distribution of income

Relatively level income distribution is necessary for countries to develop, this means that everyone's income improves. That is, income distribution is equitable, but the concept of "equitable" is subjective. Income equality has the potential to accelerate growth and promote economic development. The distribution of wealth and income in a country is one method of distributing a country's wealth and revenue fairly.

4. Educational and health advancements

When a country has access to high-quality education and training like south Africa, which results in significantly improved learning outcomes. Improvements in healthcare quality indicate fewer errors, shorter service delivery times, more efficiency, improved market share, and cheaper costs. Education and health have the potential to influence the development of the country are critical to the accumulation of human capital and the process of development.

DEFINING POVERTY

Poverty is defined as a lack of a normal or socially acceptable quantity of money or material belongings. Poverty is defined as a lack of resources to meet one's fundamental necessities. In this context, identifying poor people necessitates first determining what constitutes basic needs. It also can be as precise as "those necessary to survive" or as broad as “individuals showing the society's current living standard.” The first measure would pertain only to people on the verge of starvation or death from exposure; the second would apply to people whose nutrition, housing, and clothing, while adequate for survival, fall short of those of the general population.

POVERTY

The advantages of poverty it promotes the material of social deprivation, on the other hand, social exclusion is the ability of a group or an individual to participate in economic, social, cultural, and political life, as well as how they associate with others. Gender, disability, age, ethnicity, and unemployment status are all crucial variables in social exclusion. Poverty advantages some groups of people.

Deprivation helps several people in sustaining one's living standard, which is ascertained either by things that those individuals buy, such as food. Poverty guides them in pulling their budget. Because you're in poverty, you notice a plethora of cheap stuff, such as clothes, and you find the pricing on your living standards. Just before you live in poverty, you receive free facilities, freshwater, and healthier meals.

 People and communities benefit so much from the government unlike rich people because poor people receive free education and will not have to pay school fees. They also receive RDPs. People living in poverty also can receive free medical care and medical assistance. People who are poor do not have to pay taxes. Individually, if you are poor, you put more effort into your studies because you want to get out of poverty, so I believe you are also benefiting.