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Articles by Nicola de Jager
NICOLA DE JAGER | The perils of a partisan state
During Hungary’s communist era (1949–89), when the country fell under Soviet influence after World War 2, equality before the law was abandoned. Justice became an ideological instrument. Farmers, aristocrats and middle-class citizens — labelled “class aliens” — routinely received harsher sentences than members of the working class for similar offences. Many were evicted from their homes, and their property was confiscated.
NICOLA DE JAGER | Opposition politics struggles in Southern Africa but that could be changing
Across much of Southern Africa, elections are held regularly, opposition parties contest for power and constitutions promise democracy. Yet in most countries the same party has governed since independence. Why has opposition struggled to thrive, and why might this finally be changing? Southern Africa tells a striking political story.
Primary tumor microbiomes predict distant metastasis of colorectal cancer
Abstract Metastasis causes most cancer-related deaths in colorectal carcinoma (CRC), and microbiome markers may have prognostic value. We hypothesized that primary tumor microbiomes predict distant metastases. We analyzed 5-year metastasis-free survival (MFS) in a retrospective cohort of 900 ORIEN CRC tumor microbiomes (RNAseq). ORIEN findings were validated on an independent cohort using 16S rDNA sequencing and pathobiont-specific qPCR.
NICOLA DE JAGER: Critical theory is not critical thinking, but can be a totalising ideology
A key characteristic of 20th-century totalitarian systems was the deliberate assault on the individual’s private moral judgment through control over education, information and communication. The Bolshevik and Nazi regimes had in common an official ideology to which its respective societies were expected to adhere. Ideologies are overarching frames for interpreting state and society that tend to include a programme and strategy for how to change and reform a society. ..
EDUCATION OP-ED: This is a critical time to defend democracy and the powers of school governing bodies in education
EDUCATION OP-ED The Basic Education Laws Amendment Bill (Bela Bill) proposes centralising many of the powers currently held by school governing bodies under the control of the provincial head of education. This creates the potential for an abuse of power and the country's reversion to the levels of centralised control of the apartheid era.
can civil society help fill the gap?
There is something inherent in the idea of democracy that invokes expectations of valuing human dignity and thus freedoms. These include freedom of association, thought, belief, religion and speech, and freedom from government abuse. Contemporary comparative politics scholars Christian Welzel and Ronald Inglehart argue that liberal democracy is a manifestation of human freedom.
South Africa: Sex Education Raises Questions About the Role of the State in South Africa
Passions are running high in South Africa about a proposed new curriculum for education about sexuality in schools. Aimed at children in grades 4 to 12, it's intended for roll out in public schools in 2020. Concerns raised by parents, schools and civil society organisations include that elements of the curriculum are not appropriate for the age of the children who will be targeted - mostly 10-year olds - and that it undermines the authority of parents.
Sex education raises questions about the role of the state in South Africa
Passions are running high in South Africa about a proposed new curriculum for education about sexuality in schools. Aimed at children in grades 4 to 12, it’s intended for roll out in public schools in 2020. Concerns raised by parents, schools and civil society organisations include that elements of the curriculum are not appropriate for the age of the children who will be targeted – mostly 10-year olds – and that it undermines the authority of parents.
South Africa: What Does Comprehensive Sexuality Education Say About the Role of the State in South Africa?
In South Africa, the pushback against Comprehensive Sexuality Education by parents, teachers, schools, religious bodies and civil society alike is a clarion call to 'stay out of our homes'. Other spheres of authority are reclaiming their jurisdiction and sovereignty. Will the South African state respect this or are we moving to a monoculture society imposed from above?
OP-ED: What does Comprehensive Sexuality Education say about the role of the state in South Africa?
In South Africa, the pushback against Comprehensive Sexuality Education by parents, teachers, schools, religious bodies and civil society alike, is a clarion call to ‘stay out of our homes’, says the writer. (Photo: Ashraf Hendricks / GroundUp) In South Africa, the pushback against Comprehensive Sexuality Education by parents, teachers, schools, religious bodies and civil society alike is a clarion call to ‘stay out of our homes’.
State companies can't help development if the state is a partisan player
State-owned enterprises are legal entities required to take on commercial and development activities for the government. They tend to be hybrid by nature in that they have a business mandate with a profit aim combined with a development, social or service delivery mandate. In South Africa’s case there is a particular emphasis on state-owned enterprises contributing to the goals of a developmental state. This development mandate is not unique to South Africa.
South Africa is in danger of becoming a radicalised society - again
South Africa is increasingly displaying evidence of radicalism, racialised rhetoric and general disenchantment. There are similarities between what’s happening today and the mood in South Africa in the 1940s – the results of which altered the country’s course. For the worse. A pertinent dynamic, visible in South Africa’s political landscape since the 1940s, has been moderates moving to the fore and then, intermittently, to the background.
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