Ubuntu/Botho culture and development in South Africa: a focus on work and workplace performance. Concerns, potential limitations and opportunities for Ubuntu/Botho in the workplace - what can be done.
Appendix 2
Introduction
In their introductory chapter, Ray and Sayer offer what they consider to be some contribution to the culture-economy debate and the idea of the cultural revolution. The first part begins with Chapter 1, which provides an outline of theoretical perspectives on the relationship between culture and the economy in order to establish not only an understanding of the nature of this relationship, but also the role, if any, that culture plays in socio-economic life. companies.
PART ONE
Chapter One
34; There is a sense of cultural imperialism here as simply serving the capitalist system. In the second half of the twentieth century, a destructive process that differs significantly from historical examples.
Chapter Two
Culture and Economic Development: A Review of the East Asian Experiences
For example, O'Malley's (1988) comparative study of the role of culture in the economies of both the East Asian countries (focusing especially on Japan, the Republic of Korea and Taiwan) and the South East Asian countries (especially Indonesia), Burma, Thailand, Malaysia and the Philippines ) in the 1980's. In this article, Sen offers an apparently cautious and ambiguous critique of the view that rapid economic growth and development in the East Asian countries can be attributed to the common shared Confucian value system and culture.
Chapter Three
Perspectives on African Traditional Cultures and Value Systems: Are they
Implications for Botho / Ubuntu Culture in South Africa
Introduction
This chapter provides a critical review of the literature on the role and importance of African traditional cultures and value systems for progress and development. This is done in order to create a wider continental framework for subsequent analysis and examination of the role that the indigenous African culture of ubuntu or both could play in economic development in South Africa. Interest in the study and search for understanding the nature of African cultures and/or value systems and their relationship and importance to the economy increased in the post-colonial period, a period in which intellectual energy was directed towards the search for useful models. and strategies for the reconstruction and development of former colonized African countries and for overcoming the legacy of colonial subjugation and exploitation.
As Kwame Gyeke noted, the postcolonial era marked not only an end to '…the period of diktat, the forcible imposition of a variety of alien values and institutions,…but also) a period of autonomous self-expressions on the part of the previously colonized people, but also of self-affirmation, sober reflection on values and goals, and the gradual abandonment of the self-flagellating aspects of the colonial mentality that we have acquired through decades of coloniality” (Gyeke, 1997: 25). For Gyeke, however, this period not only means the total rejection of the entire colonial heritage by the former colonized countries, but also the voluntary selection of those aspects of the heritage that are considered valuable and conducive to development. As the literature review on the topic of African traditional value systems and/or cultures and their relevance to economics and development will show, a variety of conflicting perspectives and narratives have been developed and put forward.
It is on the basis of the critical review of these perspectives and accounts that I will give an assessment that will form the basis for my later analysis and investigation of.
Review of Literature and Debates
In the past, all such potentially credible claims to knowledge of medicinal plants disappeared after the death of the traditional healer or priest. This point was also reflected in Wiredu's comparative analysis of African (traditional/folk) thought and Western (traditional/folk) thought systems. Take, for example, Jean-Marie Makang's (1997) review and criticism of the views of Placide Tempels, a Belgian missionary in the former Zaire (now the Democratic Republic of Congo), on the indigenous African population and their traditional cultures. .
However, Makang is critical of the inability of Tempels' ontology to recognize the evolutionary, dynamic character of African traditions. On the contrary, he argues, philosophical reason is not independent of the mythical or religious life of the people. 34;Traditional medical practice is intimately familiar with the psychological, social, and cultural nuances of patients' and that'.
They will use European values to awaken the dormant values of Negritude, which they will bring as their contribution to the Civilization of the Universal .." (Senghor.
Concluding Remarks
34;With us, or in spite of us, universal civilization is growing up before our eyes, thanks to scientific discoveries, technical progress, the increase in international exchanges. NJegritude is the sum of the values of the civilization of the African world .. You must agree that the civilization of the universal will be produced by the fusion of 'different civilizations'. They will use European values to awaken the dormant values of Negritude, which they will bring as their contribution to the civilization of the universal…”(Senghor, 1996: 50).
Based on my review of these two main perspectives, I would like to argue that the perspective led by Gyeke, Horton and Temple, among others, which holds the view that indigenous African cultural values and thought systems are regressive and incompatible with development, is difficult. to build upon in light of the counter-analysis provided by Amato, Sogolo, Wiredu, Hannerz and Hallen, among others. On the contrary, and as Hallen has shown with his study of Yoruba herbal practitioners, the constant reference to the importance of reference to spiritual and divine powers is appreciated for its functional importance for the further growth and development of herbal practice and community. Both Gyeke and Wiredu, however, make a valid point that the West has made significant strides in developing a strong scientific base and principles for rational inquiry, and that for Africa to achieve similar levels of scientific development, it must remove get rid of yourself some of the backward customs and practices.
Without a detailed discussion and analysis, I would argue that these findings make a strong case for the role played by the indigenous African cultural heritage of ubuntu/botho, and its central defining principles and values, in the development of contemporary South African society, especially in the context of the new democratic political.
PART TWO
Chapter Four
On Ubuntu/Botho Culture
Introduction
It has been made clear from the previous two chapters that social cultures and/or social value systems are neither a dependent variable nor a passive variable in the processes of socio-economic change and development. Strong evidence emerging from current understanding as described in the previous two chapters suggests that cultures and/or value systems play a central role in the socio-economic life of any human society. The implication of this evidence for African cultures and/or ubuntu/botho value systems is that, as a social culture or value system, they also have economic significance and therefore a role to play in the economy.
Regardless, the question that remains and needs to be addressed is exactly what that role would and/or is, how it could be implemented and under what conditions. In addressing this question, it would first be necessary to outline what the ubuntu/botho culture or value system is and what it entails. What current perspectives exist, if any, on ubuntu/botho culture and its relationship to the economy and its relevance to contemporary SA society.
What lessons and insights, if any, do these perspectives provide for analyzing the economic role that the ubuntu/botho value system could play in current and future South African society?
Literature Review of Debates on Ubuntu/Botho Culture and Development in Contemporary South Africa
- Ubuntu or Botho Culture - What is it and what does it Entail?
34; This philosophy gave substance to life in the Sutu-nguni states before the advent of the white man. This conference led to the formulation of the South African Native National Congress (the chairman of the African National Congress). They were not interested in prayer; they were not interested in dialogues; they were not interested in the Africans' white 'friends'.
Over the years, behavior patterns were regulated in the hostels on the East Rand. The name of the law was also changed to the Bantu Labor Relations Regulation Act. This could be deduced from the disparity in the number of works committees and the number of liaison committees established.
The resulting conflictual relations between management and the unions were exacerbated by the introduction of the incentive bonus schemes. This is indicative of organized black workers' challenge of racial discrimination and exclusion in the workplace. This is even more so in light of the pressures that the processes of globalization and especially the increased competition are exerting on the SA economy.
Concerns, Potential Constraints and Opportunities to Ubuntu/Botho in the Workplace - What can be done?
This, he argues, can be seen from some of the books that were used in the curriculum. This is a view shared by the editors of the Culture of Working Life Project journal, INJULA. Concerned with what she perceived and observed as the question of the relevance of native Africans.
In his analysis of the politics and nature of the African Corporate Petty Bourgeoisie (ACPB), and in particular the African Personnel Practitioners (APPs), Nzimande (1991) found that the political and ideological orientation of the APPs have always been ambivalent. Such contradictions, he argues, can be deduced from the ACPB's situation, which is characterized by simultaneous inclusion and exclusion. This is especially true in light of the conflicting statements of various analysts and empirical research that both challenges and supports the claims.
This evidence was obtained through the literature review of empirical research conducted in South Africa past and present in this chapter.
Workplace Culture, Participation and Work Performance in South Africa
Implications for the role of Ubuntu/Botho Culture - A Case Study
Cranco Metals' Organisational Culture: The Performance Enhancement Culture (PEC)
Beyond promoting and publicizing Cranco Metals' corporate cultural values, senior management developed practical and complementary measures to ensure that the goals associated with the PEC are actually realized. This lack of enthusiasm stems from dissatisfaction with the approach management had adopted to promote PEC and the nature of the BEP or Sebenza project as a business improvement strategy. In other words, this section aims to examine, based on findings from interviews with both workers and line managers, the impact that KPP and its values have on shop floor and work performance.
The main aim here is to determine whether the case study of Cranco Metals, as an illustrative example of a typical South African workplace, makes a strong case for the need to experiment with cultural values of ubuntu/both in the workplace for improved. workplace. One area investigated through interviews with line workers and managers was that of the nature of production and labor relations on the shop floor. That managers are arbitrary, authoritarian and racially biased in their treatment of black workers in the shop also emerged during an interview with the representative of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM) at Cranco Metals.
34;They are very bad in the sense that line managers do not understand the role of the union in the company.
