Action through Aesthetics: Philanthropic Art Initiatives in South Africa during the Apartheid
South African artists played an expansive philanthropic role throughout the stages of the apartheid movement. Their artwork ranged from reflective to pro-active and reconciliatory. Although many scholars argue that South African artists were agents of social change, scholars have not drawn a connection between South African art history and philanthropy. Philanthropy is a platform from which artists can serve as catalysts within society. This thesis argues that South African artists acted philanthropically through their work to challenge the destructive social mores enforced by apartheid. INDEX WORDS: South Africa, Apartheid, Philanthropy, Agency, Social mores, Relief, Improvement, Reform, Art ACTION THROUGH AESTHETICS: PHILANTHROPIC ART INITIATIVES IN SOUTH AFRICA DURING THE APARTHEID
Light on a hill : building the Constitutional Court of South Africa, Bronwyn Law-Viljoen (Ed.) : book review
Light on a hill : Building the Constitutional Court of South Africa is a visually elegant book that claims to 'reflect the spirit of the Court and be a beautiful object in its own right' (p. 8). Certainly this book is striking, with its rich photographs by Angela Buckland, its fresh, breathable design by Adele Prins, and its broad format with lavish centerfolds. Reading the text is in many ways an enlightening process of understanding the conceptual underpinnings of the buildings that make up the Constitutional Court complex, but this process of reading takes a few twists and turns along the way.
William Graham Sumner as an Anti-Social Darwinist
This article argues that the traditional portrayal of William Graham Sumner as a social Darwinist is inaccurate. Based mainly on two of Sumner's unpublished essays just recently discovered at the Yale University Library, it shows that Sumner's mature views on social change were quite different from those of his student Albert G. Keller and from those found within The Science of Society (which was published 17 years after his death, yet which lists him as a coauthor). Unlike Keller and The Science of Society, Sumner clearly rejected social Darwinism during the final decade of his career.