SOCY 211

LEARNING ACTIVITY 11

According to K. Phajane (2021) these are the four environmental narratives identified in SA.

-the economic

-the conservation

-the non-state factors

-local views

Narrative 1: According to K. Phajane (2021) the economic view of the environment is that it is primarily there for selling and buying: in colonial times for a privileged group to profit from is identified as an economic asset capable of bringing about long-term socioeconomic development and transformation not only in the specific locality but throughout the country.

The motivation for an authoritarian method, according to K. Phajane (2021), is to ensure land protection in the interests of a nation, region, or community; it has a noble goal but inadequate practices. Among the justifications for the approach of instilling fear and worry about the state of the environment, particularly its deterioration in quality, see the environment as a victim in need of rescue.

Narrative 2: According to K. Phajane (2021), Narrative 2: The conservation view is the oldest narrative, with origins in the Apartheid era, and is considered authoritarian when community viewpoints are not considered in decision making. When policies, practices, or directives exclude people and deprive them of their rights to land and other natural resources on that land, it leads to forced removals and resettlement.

According to K. Phajane (2021), the motivation is a capitalist approach those with means and thus power discover opportunities to exploit resources in order to make money which theoretical perspective do you recognise. Nature is an untapped resource that should be harnessed (and thus profitably sold) to lift people out of poverty - thus profit as well as development.

Narrative 3: According to K. Phajane (2021) the non-state actor view is expressed by external interested parties such as academics, scientists, and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).

Narrative 4: Local community perspectives, according to K. Phajane (2021). These perspectives are complicated and highly differentiated, influenced by time, geography, human qualities and circumstances, as well as local power and politics. According to K. Phajane (2021), the nature of the interaction with the environment determines motivation for the approach.

According to K. Phajane (2021), in each narrative, there is a development of environmental thought as articulated in South African environmental discourses.

References

Part 12. Part 12 [PowerPoint presentation]. Unpublished lecture notes on efundi. SOCY211.Vaal: NWU

K. Phajane. 2021. SU7: Application: Environmental problems & environmental social justice in SA

The classical environment theories and their usefulness in SA

Marx, Weber, Durkheim and Simmel are the classical environmental theorists but they have not given the concept of modernity much thought in a much more formal way. Their work show that they were very much concerned about modernization.

The most common problem that we face in South Africa is food wastage because the food that is wasted is more than the food produced and in that manner it causes pollution and littering on the environment. Plastic pollution is very much common in South Africa because many food packages come in plastics so it is very much likely to cause pollution in the environment. Plastic pollution is another issue that South Africa faces, with more than 11 million tons of plastic entering the oceans and rivers every year, according to statistics from 2020. Plastic pollution is harmful to the wildlife and animals that live there, and it also contributes to the ignition of fires. Deforestation contributes to the environmental problem because it affects agriculture, which causes deforestation.

Air pollution is another source of concern in South Africa, as people burn many chemicals in the air, such as coal, to generate electricity, and we have a large number of cars, which is another source of concern for the environment.   

SOCY 211

LEARNING ACTIVITY 9

Environmental problem have always been a problem at and it most affects the society. They are the main cause of the problems of the society. Air pollution, climate change, deforestation etc. are the environmental problems that most affect the society. Wild fires are most especially the cause of air pollution. Environmental problems affect the role of status because sometimes it limits the society. But society also has a hand in environmental problems. The extraction of species in the environment is also how the society influences the environment. Global warming which causes a change in climatic conditions threaten human populations. The pollution of air and water and soil lead to health problems.

PARTICIPATORY DEVELOPMENT

This development was one of the variant humanist paradigm or alternative theories. This development is used as a way to collaborate and provide information between community members and stake holders that are involved. Participation serves as an empowerment for people because it empowers people to do better and reach their greatest capacity and potential. Participatory development seeks to involve the poor and local population by giving them the part in the development projects. Participatory development creates partnership.

 In South Africa context this does not work properly because there is a lot of corruption thus leading to people dividing and refusing to form partnership. South Africa is a poverty stricken country which makes it hard for societies to engage in meaningful development.

SOCY 211

LEARNING ACTIVITY 7

WOMEN IN DEVELOPMENT (WID) AND WOMEN AND DEVELOPMENT (WAD)

Boserup was the first woman to position women in the development section. She was against the idea of modernization because the new modernization made men in control of many things. It was basically making men feel dominant and superior of women. Women were treated unfairly and reduced their power making everything they do go unrecognised, women also experienced violation of their rights. Boserup highlighted the importance of women in the economy. Boserup posited the correlation between the roles played by women in the agricultural production. Women in development voiced out women to refuse deterioration of their status.

Women And Development

Women and development argued that women should not be included in modernization because it is what makes them poor. Women and development argued that equality will be essential to improving women’s positions in the economic sector but still frames change in terms of providing women access to the productive sector. WAD argued that the integration of women in the development only made their equality worse.

Gender And Development

The main aim for Gender and development was to bring together Women In Development and Women And Development bringing together the lessons and limitations brought by these two approaches. Gender and development also recognises that women may be involved in development but may not necessarily benefit from it.

SOCY 211

LEARNING ACTIVITY 6

COMPARING AND CONTRASTING TENETS OF THE MODERNIZATION AND THE DEPENDENCY THEORIES

Modernization is the process of social, cultural and economic transformation in which is getting more and more advanced from the pre-industrial modern societies in the prescription of the MDCs. Dependency is when the development and the expansion of one economy is at the expense of another economy in the form of exploitation and colonialism. Modernization says that poor countries are poor because they are still yet to develop in modern economies and if they fail to do so it will be because of internal factors, Dependency theory says that poor countries are poor because they have been and still exploited by the first world countries and this exploitation evolved from colonialism. When it comes to modernization it is of outmost importance to have economic progress while in the dependency theory the only thing important is getting wealthy because of other countries which are underdeveloped and about to develop.

SOCY 211

LEARNING ACTIVITY 5

WHAT CONSTITUTES TO DEVELOPMENTS

Rural to Urban Migration

When people move from rural areas to urban areas they want growth hence this factor contributes to growth and development. They move to the urban areas because they want better things than those that they were getting in the rural areas, they want better lives than the ones they are living now. They move to a place where most economic activities take place. The place that is prone to migration in South Africa is Johannesburg.

Modernization

Modernization goes hand in hand with advanced technology and a lot of things that are advanced. When modernization takes place it exhibits growth and development in that country or particular area. In South Africa modernization is taking place because technology is getting more advanced than before a lot of things that were done by labour are now done by machines and not only is this happening in South Africa it is also happening all over the world were of course there are more developed countries than South Africa.

Distribution of Income

There has been inequality when it comes to the distribution of income amongst working individuals in the country, people who do the easiest jobs earn a high salary and those who do hard labour earn a little amount of salaries. South Africa has the lowest GDP because of this issues of inequality when I comes to distribution of income.

Improvements in Education and Health

When it comes to education South Africa is trying by all means to improve it and get everyone to be educated. It has implemented things like free education for all and “Fees Must Fall” to accommodate everyone. Health has improved a lot in South Africa because there are a lot of people who want to help when it comes to health. This has improved a lot in terms of developments.

SOCY 211 LEARNING ACTIVITY 4

Poverty is one word that is very difficult to define. Many experts have tried to give a very proper and suitable definition of it so it can be easily understood in words.

Poverty can be defined as the inability to live a normal life of being able to provide and maintain a normal standard of living. It can also be defined as the inability to make ends meet to survive. Poverty can also be defined as the lack of things that a person has in order to fit in the society, more like basic things that we need for our basic life. The inability to provide for yourself is viewed as being poor. The most popular definition of poverty is the one that says “Poverty is the inability to satisfy your basic needs or the state of one who usually lacks a usual or socially acceptable amount of money or material possessions

Poverty is often viewed in terms of financial welfare and the access to resources that you need to have a normal standard of living. So if a person does not have financial stability and proper access to resources they are considered to be poor.

LEARNING ACTIVITY 3

BENEFITS OF POVERTY

The community and the individual benefit a lot from poverty although it deprives one`s well-being.

An individual can benefit from poverty by being creative. Poverty is triggered mainly by unemployment so a person can find ways to make money by being creative. Many people try by all means to make end meet and provide for their families. Poverty can make a person to be a hard worker. Unemployment can also benefit people because they have a lot of time in their hands to help around the house. A lot of poverty striken people have a lot of time.

The community can benefit from poverty because a lot of people can start recycling programs to make money thus the community will be clean. A lot of business minded people trying to get out of poverty appear out of nowhere to make a life for themselves. People spend most of their time getting domestic work done just so they can make ends meet for their families.

SOCY 211

LEARNING ACTIVITY PART 2

COMPARING AND CONTRASTING TWO THEORATICAL APPROACHES

STRUCTURAL FUNCTIONALIST ORIENTATION AND CONFLICT ORIENTATON

These two theoretical approaches focus on what is a threat on the community in order for it to be solved. These two theoretical approaches aim to reach an equilibrium and solution so the society can be peaceful. Structural functionalist theory has always makes sure the society has a structure that is being followed and not interrupted also the conflict theory does that.

The structural functionalist approach’s view of the society is balanced and has stability hence it reaches an equilibrium which is called a dynamic state of equilibrium. The conflict approach’s view of the society is that it is forever and continuously transmuting and always in conflict.

Structural functionalist approach makes sure that everyone plays their role while the conflict theory looks at the fundamental faults caused by the society. Structural functionalist brings peace upon the society while the conflict approach has people fighting over scarce and natural resources.