title: Trader sailor spy: The case of John Pringle and the transfer of accounting technology to the Cape of Good Hope

authors: Samkin, Grant

subjects: accounting technology

abstract: The transfer of accounting technology to the southern hemisphere during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has been considered previously by Carnegie and Parker (1996), Foreman (2001) and Carnegie et al. (2006). Set at the Cape of Good Hope in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, this study adopts a microhistory approach to evaluate the contribution made by John Pringle, an employee of the East India Company, to the transfer of British-style accounting technology. The circumstances of the time mean that, as an individual, Pringle’s long-term contribution to the transfer of accounting technology was minimal and limited to training the assistants he employed. As far as can be established, this is the first article that considers how an individual, who was not an accounting author, contributed to the transfer of British-style accounting technology to southern Africa.

text: Trader sailor spy: The case of John Pringle and the transfer of accounting technology to the Cape of Good Hope The transfer of accounting technology to the southern hemisphere during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries has been considered previously by Carnegie and Parker (1996), Foreman (2001) and Carnegie et al. (2006). Set at the Cape of Good Hope in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth century, this study adopts a microhistory approach to evaluate the contribution made by John Pringle, an employee of the East India Company, to the transfer of British-style accounting technology. The circumstances of the time mean that, as an individual, Pringle’s long-term contribution to the transfer of accounting technology was minimal and limited to training the assistants he employed. As far as can be established, this is the first article that considers how an individual, who was not an accounting author, contributed to the transfer of British-style accounting technology to southern Africa.

year: 2010

title: Development of sustainable composites from treated harakeke (New Zealand flax) fibre and poly(lactic) acid

authors: Akindoyo, John O.

abstract: The building and construction sector consumes large volume of materials, it generates enormous amounts of solid wastes, and it is responsible for about 40% of annual global CO2 emissions. So, sustainable biodegradable, recyclable or renewable materials such as polymer-based materials are seen as potential substitutes to their non-renewable, non-environmentally friendly counterparts. Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is a polymer produced from renewable sources, thereby supporting sustainability. The use of PLA is sometimes limited by its inherent brittleness, and insufficient mechanical strength when used alone. The brittleness of PLA may be reduced by toughening it with rubbery additives, while its strength can be improved through reinforcement with materials such as natural fibres.  

In this thesis, fibres extracted from harakeke (Phormium tenax), otherwise called New Zealand flax is used as reinforcement in PLA composites. The fibre properties were modified to facilitate processability, improve its compatibility with PLA, and to enhance its reinforcing ability by removing components such as lignin and hemicellulose which are detrimental to the mechanical and thermal performance of the composite. Different methods such as chemical treatment with alkali solutions, mechanical processing, and enzymatic treatment were explored to modify the harakeke fibre. In addition, polybutylene succinate (PBS) was blended with PLA, followed by reactive compatibilization of the reinforced PLA/PBS blend with dicumyl peroxide (DCP), with the aim of improving the toughness of the composite. 

The results show that harakeke fibre is a good reinforcement for PLA, as it increased the composite strength from 62±1.02 MPa to 82±0.98 MPa. In addition, it was found that PLA/PBS blends can be reactively compatibilized and reinforced concurrently, thereby supporting the production of composites with improved mechanical, thermal, and thermomechanical performance. Generally, the results show that enzymatic treatment could serve as a more sustainable environmentally friendly route to fibre treatment as it obviates a chemical processing route and supports recyclability and reusability. Likewise, the combination of mechanical processing with enzymatic treatment has great potential for producing large scale environmentally friendly and good quality fibres, suitable for composites.

text: Development of sustainable composites from treated harakeke (New Zealand flax) fibre and poly(lactic) acid The building and construction sector consumes large volume of materials, it generates enormous amounts of solid wastes, and it is responsible for about 40% of annual global CO2 emissions. So, sustainable biodegradable, recyclable or renewable materials such as polymer-based materials are seen as potential substitutes to their non-renewable, non-environmentally friendly counterparts. Poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is a polymer produced from renewable sources, thereby supporting sustainability. The use of PLA is sometimes limited by its inherent brittleness, and insufficient mechanical strength when used alone. The brittleness of PLA may be reduced by toughening it with rubbery additives, while its strength can be improved through reinforcement with materials such as natural fibres.  

In this thesis, fibres extracted from harakeke (Phormium tenax), otherwise called New Zealand flax is used as reinforcement in PLA composites. The fibre properties were modified to facilitate processability, improve its compatibility with PLA, and to enhance its reinforcing ability by removing components such as lignin and hemicellulose which are detrimental to the mechanical and thermal performance of the composite. Different methods such as chemical treatment with alkali solutions, mechanical processing, and enzymatic treatment were explored to modify the harakeke fibre. In addition, polybutylene succinate (PBS) was blended with PLA, followed by reactive compatibilization of the reinforced PLA/PBS blend with dicumyl peroxide (DCP), with the aim of improving the toughness of the composite. 

The results show that harakeke fibre is a good reinforcement for PLA, as it increased the composite strength from 62±1.02 MPa to 82±0.98 MPa. In addition, it was found that PLA/PBS blends can be reactively compatibilized and reinforced concurrently, thereby supporting the production of composites with improved mechanical, thermal, and thermomechanical performance. Generally, the results show that enzymatic treatment could serve as a more sustainable environmentally friendly route to fibre treatment as it obviates a chemical processing route and supports recyclability and reusability. Likewise, the combination of mechanical processing with enzymatic treatment has great potential for producing large scale environmentally friendly and good quality fibres, suitable for composites.

year: 2025

title: Contextualising Māori writing: a study of prose fiction written in English by Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff

authors: Calvert, Julia Helen

abstract: All prose fiction written in English by Māori is political on one level or another. The authors considered in this thesis, Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff, choose to identify as Māori, but for each writer exactly what this entails implies something different. The diverse range of Māori characters represented in their work illustrates the heterogeneity of contemporary Māori identity. Whilst bearing in mind that there is no fixed Māori identity, this thesis proposes that all fiction written in English by Māori is motivated by a belief that Māori are a disadvantaged group within New Zealand society. 

Three of the four writers, Ihimaera, Grace and Hulme, write against a background of colonisation. Their fiction confronts grievances based on perceived injustices committed against Māori in the past by European colonists and is concerned with the restoration of Māori rights pertaining to land, language, identity and political voice. While all three engage with these issues in their fiction, this thesis specifically considers the way in which Ihimaera treats the theme of land, Grace focuses on issues of education and Hulme explores Māori mythology.

Alan Duff stands apart from the other three writers in his belief that colonisation is not to blame for contemporary Māori disadvantage. Rather, Duff considers the situation to be the result of inherent flaws within Māori society. Through his often didactic writing he proposes that improved Māori socioeconomic levels can only be achieved through a radical structural and economic re-evaluation of Māori culture.

This thesis contextualises the work of the four authors and explores the ways in which their fiction engages with historical and contemporary issues of “race relations” and cultural identity in New Zealand. A sociological approach has been applied to the texts. This approach derives from the Māori writers’ own insistent reading of contemporary Māori identity as the product of historical encounter between Māori and Pākehā. The authors work in a dialectical relationship to previous Pākehā representations of Māori in literature, are historically revisionist, and are frequently adversarial. 

Despite the differences in personal and political perspectives held by the authors, their fictions share a common goal in their search for Māori pathways to empowerment. This thesis argues that prose fiction written in English by Māori writers contributes to the political activism of the Māori people and helps to foster an environment in which new perspectives on Māori culture and bicultural relations can be articulated.

text: Contextualising Māori writing: a study of prose fiction written in English by Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff All prose fiction written in English by Māori is political on one level or another. The authors considered in this thesis, Witi Ihimaera, Patricia Grace, Keri Hulme and Alan Duff, choose to identify as Māori, but for each writer exactly what this entails implies something different. The diverse range of Māori characters represented in their work illustrates the heterogeneity of contemporary Māori identity. Whilst bearing in mind that there is no fixed Māori identity, this thesis proposes that all fiction written in English by Māori is motivated by a belief that Māori are a disadvantaged group within New Zealand society. 

Three of the four writers, Ihimaera, Grace and Hulme, write against a background of colonisation. Their fiction confronts grievances based on perceived injustices committed against Māori in the past by European colonists and is concerned with the restoration of Māori rights pertaining to land, language, identity and political voice. While all three engage with these issues in their fiction, this thesis specifically considers the way in which Ihimaera treats the theme of land, Grace focuses on issues of education and Hulme explores Māori mythology.

Alan Duff stands apart from the other three writers in his belief that colonisation is not to blame for contemporary Māori disadvantage. Rather, Duff considers the situation to be the result of inherent flaws within Māori society. Through his often didactic writing he proposes that improved Māori socioeconomic levels can only be achieved through a radical structural and economic re-evaluation of Māori culture.

This thesis contextualises the work of the four authors and explores the ways in which their fiction engages with historical and contemporary issues of “race relations” and cultural identity in New Zealand. A sociological approach has been applied to the texts. This approach derives from the Māori writers’ own insistent reading of contemporary Māori identity as the product of historical encounter between Māori and Pākehā. The authors work in a dialectical relationship to previous Pākehā representations of Māori in literature, are historically revisionist, and are frequently adversarial. 

Despite the differences in personal and political perspectives held by the authors, their fictions share a common goal in their search for Māori pathways to empowerment. This thesis argues that prose fiction written in English by Māori writers contributes to the political activism of the Māori people and helps to foster an environment in which new perspectives on Māori culture and bicultural relations can be articulated.

year: 2002