HSS RESPONSE TO PANDEMIC
NIHSS in association with South African Deans' Association (SAHUDA)
"At a deeper level, we also look to our social scientists, philosophers, historians, artists & others to help us to rebuild our sense of nationhood, our independence and our ability to take our place proudly in the community of nations."
| Title | HSS Response Summary | Download Full Article |
|---|---|---|
| Anticipatory Grief | Two months since COVID-19 became a reality in our lives, the picture of what awaits us is coming into stark relief. Many of us will die. Many will most certainly be infected with the coronavirus and those of us who recover will know many others who will die. The wave is poised above our heads and its collapse is inevitable. | anticipatory_grief_-_covid-19_0[1]_0.pdf (65.52 KB) |
| Artists improvising distance and closeness during COVID-19 | The COVID-19 pandemic has, unlike any other global crisis, driven the performance of everyday life almost wholly to a digital landscape of interactions – from Zoom meetings and WhatsApp video calls with friends and family, right through to Instagram “lockdown” parties. | artists_improvising_distance_and_closeness_during_covid-19_-_covid-19_0_0.pdf (87.48 KB) |
| On folklore in times of Covid-19 | COVID-19 catapulted itself upon the world with astounding chronodynamic rapidity, putatively from incubation and hatching in Wuhan, a city in the People’s Republic of China that has become the notorious caput mundi of the virus, to a pandemic of spectacular proportion that dominated every medium and form of communication and activity in every conceivable locus on the planet that is occupied by invasive humanity. | on_folklore_in_times_of_covid-19_-_covid-19_0[1]_0.pdf (132.46 KB) |
| Culture and Control in South Africa: Funerals in a time of Covid-19 | The twin priorities of preserving health and protecting the economy have rightfully taken centre stage in the popular discourse in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, presented as an apparent ichotomy or even a zerosum game. | funerals_in_a_time_of_covid-19_-_covid-19_prof_hendricks_0_0.pdf (83.16 KB) |
| The Subaltern Cannot Breathe: between the 5G Mast and the COVID-19 Mask | Until Wuhan coughed in November 2019, it was a widely held historical commonplace that “When France sneezes, Europe catches a cold”. As I contemplate the devastation of the USpatented ‘Wuhan virus’ from my perilous existence in its Johannesburg epicenter, I deliberately eschew Statistical data on daily COVID-19 infections, deaths and recoveries because that only answers the tumescent question that stealthily occludes the disturbing fact that vaccines and technologies are deleterious to the body of the subaltern. | between_the_5g_mast_and_the_covid-19_mask_-_covid-19_0[1]_0.pdf (89.47 KB) |
| Corona must bring change of policy thinking now!!! | Let us start this article with some truth. One does not like or believe in the hegemony of the big three ratings agencies (Standard & Poor’s, Moody’s and Fitch Group), particularly for developing states like South Africa. However, it would be folly to pretend that they do not have an influence over how international investors and markets view our small state. | corona_must_bring_change_of_policy_thinking_now_-_covid-19_0_0.pdf (89.3 KB) |
| Ask not what you can do to Corona, but what Corona can do to you | No matter the angle of the spotlight, Coronavirus is positioned in the front and centre. Its message is loud and clear, the human race will be used as vehicles to occupy the globe. Corona seeks to thrive and it is impatient and aggressive. It is discriminatory. | ask_not_what_you_can_do_to_corona_but_what_corona_can_do_to_you_-_covid-19_0_0.pdf (168.4 KB) |
| “How to make a Camera Obscura" instruction from 'MaBareBare, an expression of Khelobedu in the present' (2019) | For my contribution, I would like to offer some step-by-step instructions of “how to make a Camera Obscura” (pdf) in your own home/room or personal space. This instruction is an excerpt from my doctoral submission ‘MaBareBare, an expression of Khelobedu in the present’ (2019). | how_to_make_a_camera_obscura_instruction_-_covid-19_0_0.pdf (612.69 KB) |
| Renewal in the face of a crisis: SA’s active state and public response to COVID-19 | The South African government has faced heavy criticism in the last two decades about its capacity to deal with the country’s challenges and so, with the global emergence of the pandemic known as COVID-19, there were warranted fears about how it would cope in dealing with the outbreak. | renewal_in_the_face_of_a_crisis_-_rikhotso_0_0.pdf (75.03 KB) |
| Power of information is a double-edged sword in a pandemic | Information has been described as power. This is because information gives the bearer or receiver knowledge to act to improve upon a situation or develop strategies to cope with situations in instances where solutions do not emerge immediately. | power_of_information_is_a_double-edged_sword_in_a_pandemic_-_covid-19_0_0.pdf (84.35 KB) |