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UFS Reflection Series webinar: The quality of our democracies under COVID-19

04 August 2020 | Story Dr Nitha Ramnath

Apart from its devastating impact on people’s lives and livelihoods, the COVID-19 pandemic has also affected the nature and quality of our democracies – democracy read in its widest sense here as collective and individual self-determination. Formal, institutional democracy has beencurtailed through the imposition of states of emergency or disaster and the logistical difficulties associated with social distancing. Extra-institutional democratic work, such as protest and social-movement activity, has suffered from prohibitions imposed by law and through state suppression related to ‘lockdown’. The nature (and perhaps democratic quality) of public conversation has changed – for better or worse – from increasing reliance on ‘science’ and ‘scientists’ to justify public choices. The crisis has brought to the fore already existing characteristics of our democracies, such as the prevalence and power of special-interest bargaining, the extreme inequality of our societies, and chauvinist nationalisms that force us to ask whether we have ever had democracy at all. What will be the long-term effects of these impacts of the crisis on our democracies? What will democracy look like post-COVID? What does the crisis teach us about what our democracies have always been?

Join us for a discussion of these and other democracy-related issues in these troubled times by a panel of four hailing from Colombia, India, South Africa, and the USA.

Date: Thursday, 13 August

Time: 14:00-16:00 (South African Standard Time – GMT +2)

Please RSVP to Mamello Serasengwe at serasengwemsm@ufs.ac.za no later than 12 August 2020 upon which you will receive a Skype for Business meeting invite and link to access the webinar

Panel

Prof Natalia Angel Cabo (University of Los Andes, Bogota, Colombia)

Dr Quaraysha Ismail-Sooliman (University of Pretoria, Pretoria, South Africa)

Dr Usha Ramanathan Independent Law Researcher (Delhi, India)

Prof Katie Young (Boston College, Boston, USA)

Moderator

Prof Danie Brand (Free State Centre for Human Rights, University of the Free State, Bloemfontein, South Africa)

News Archive

Die Dokumente, 26,27 June 2009

2009-06-26

Production: Die Dokumente
Text: Prof. Hennie van Coller
Director: Prof. Nico Luwes
Venue: Wynand Mouton Theatre

Dates & times:
26 June 2009 - 18h00
27 June 2009 - 19h30

Tickets:
R 30.00 Adults
R 25.00 Pensioners, scholars & students
R 25.00 Block bookings 10+
R 15.00 Club Theatron members

Die dokumente is a new satirical university comedy (related to the Campus, that makes use of farcical moments and include stereotyping, caricatures over intensification and the sometimes ridiculous. The production is in the styles of Dario Fo, Wyk Louw’s comedy, Nie vir geleerdes, the Commedia del Arte and Moliére.

Die dokumente focuses on a typical South African university in the times of transformation. The rector is married to the daughter of a famous poet and still feels a bit intimidated by her late father, Chairman of the S.A. Academy, famous academic and poet He is involved with his sexy assistant, while his own wife is more interested in the abilities of a young tennis player. The rector wants to get rid of her fathers old documents, but a serious academic wants to publicise the documents. This academic picks up a quarrel with a feminine professor in Afrikaans and Nederlands he gave a bad criticism on her debut as a poet

The rector wants to become the new Chair of the Academy and tries to force through transformation, must confront the institutional audit and keep his mistress happy. Come experience the power politics of a typical university while having some fun!

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