DOI: 10.14749/1510144688
title: Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) Research Seminars 2016-2017

description: Description: 
 The seminars focused on HSRC projects that were underway in 2016-2017 and related work being done elsewhere at the time of the seminar. The seminars addressed latest research, identified research gaps, suggested new research agendas and explored potential policy relevance. This data set includes the proceedings of the 10 seminars of 2016-2017. The following themes were covered:

 30 June 2016 - Rebellion of the poor: Research, politics, policing and people

 01 July 2016 - Rebellion of the poor: Research on protests: South Africa, Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine Compared

 28 September 2016 - Researching youth languages in Africa

 21 November 2016 - Capacity building for (community) engaged scholarship

 23 November 2016 - Policy co-ordination and growth traps in a middle-income country setting: The case of South Africa

 24 November 2016 - Best practice in male circumcision: The acknowledgement of traditional leaders as custodians

 08 March 2017 - The 'Human Capital Pipeline' - Human capabilities and the South African System of Innovation

 22 March 2017 - Towards a more equal society: Perspectives of educational inequality in South Africa

 23 March 2017 - The National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS): What does NIDS tell us about growing up in South Africa? A focus on children and youth

 31 March 2017 - Intergenerational trauma and memory: Implications for social cohesion in contemporary South Africa
Abstract: 
 The Human and Social Dynamics (HSD) Research Seminar Series is a collaboration between the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) in terms of which DST has contracted the HSRC to implement HSD Research Seminars for a three-year period from 2014/15 to 2016/17. The seminar series is designed to:

 
 showcase research and knowledge production in the Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) which is generated by the National System of Innovation (NSI)
 
 serve as vehicles for disseminating research evidence to wider and diverse audiences
 
 operate as platforms for the sharing of local and international expertise and experience and
 
 promote research and knowledge production in the SSH that benefits and enhances the NSI.


 The seminars focused on HSRC projects that were underway in 2016-2017 and related work being done elsewhere at the time of the seminar. The seminars addressed latest research, identified research gaps, suggested new research agendas and explored potential policy relevance.

 The following themes were covered:

 30 June 2016 - Rebellion of the poor: Research, politics, policing and people

 The seminar focused on community protests about service delivery, labour problems, political contestation and other related issues. Its purpose was two-fold:

 
 to enable engagement between the researchers and key role-players with an interest in and affected by this research
 
 to enable the researchers to refine their analysis for a forthcoming book based on their study.


 1 July 2016 - Rebellion of the poor: Research on protests: South Africa, Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine Compared

 The seminar focused on community protests about service delivery, labour problems, political contestation and other related issues.

 The purpose of the seminar was:

 
 To compare and attempt to generalize from the experiences in this area of Egypt, Turkey, Ukraine and South Africa and draw comparative conclusions.
 
 To analyse the origins and role of violence in comparative perspective.
 
 To attempt to understand the geographical and social setting of protest, for example comparing large city-centre protests, which have characterized Egypt, Turkey and Ukraine, and the widespread but individually smaller protests occurring in South Africa.


 28 September 2016 - Researching youth languages in Africa

 This seminar focused on research conducted into youth languages in Africa. Some of the pertinent questions that were debated were:

 
 Are the languages under discussion necessarily all confined to âyouthâ
 
 Are they all âlanguagesâ in the full sense, with a coherent syntax and the potential to enable discussion of the whole range of human experience?
 
 Youth languages are often seen as the preserve of young urban males. Are these languages always urban?
 
 Are they really confined to males?


 21 November 2016 - Capacity building for (community) engaged scholarship

 This seminar focused on the developmental challenges of the country, and consider how universities can play a bigger role to support socio-economic development and growth, through their teaching, research and outreach or engagement. In rethinking the balance of their multiple functions and mandates, universities should assign greater priority to their roles as key agents supporting inclusive social and economic development.

 23 November 2016 - Policy co-ordination and growth traps in a middle-income country setting: The case of South Africa

 The research seminar focused on policy coordination and growth traps in a middle-income country setting using South Africa a case study. The seminars bring together local researchers and leaders to discuss the latest research, identify research gaps, suggest new research agendas and explore potential policy relevance.

 24 November 2016 - Best practice in male circumcision: The acknowledgement of traditional leaders as custodians

 The seminar focused on best practices in traditional male circumcision, and the significance of the role of traditional leaders as the custodians in this practice, working towards reduction and eventual elimination of deaths in traditional circumcision.

 08 March 2017 - The âHuman Capital Pipelineâ - Human capabilities and the South African System of Innovation

 This seminar focused on the role of the human element in performance and evolution of systems of innovation.

 22 March 2017 - Towards a more equal society: Perspectives of educational inequality in South Africa 

 This seminar focused on the fact that the South African education system exhibits a skew distribution of achievement levels for an upper-middle-income developing country. It uses the 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) to examine this issue from a number of different perspectives.

 23 March 2017 - The National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS): What does NIDS tell us about growing up in South Africa? A focus on children and youth

 This seminar focused on The National Income Dynamics Study (NIDS) and the lessons it offers about growing up in South Africa focussing on children and youth.

 31 March 2017 - Intergenerational trauma and memory: Implications for social cohesion in contemporary South Africa

 This seminar provided a forum for constructive engagement on the extent to which South Africaâs past continue to bedevil us more than two decades after the attainment of democracy in a way that impacts negatively on our social fabric.
description: Compilation or synthesis of existing material
description: Transcription of materials
description: For the 2016/17 period, the seminars focused on the scholarly work done at poverty and inequality related SARChi Chairs, as well as building on seminars held in the previous years.