Exploring the political communication dynamics in South Africa’s platinum industry: the case of Marikana

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dc.contributor.advisorSaleh, Ibrahimen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorMcbride, Sindi-Leigh Tenielleen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-08-15T05:32:42Z
dc.date.available2015-08-15T05:32:42Z
dc.date.issued2015en_ZA
dc.description.abstractAfter two decades of democracy, poverty and inequality remain at the heart of the development malaise in South Africa. Despite investor-friendly environments and economic growth forged during the previous administration, recent unrest in the platinum industry highlighted the strained relationship between labour and business, State and society, and the macabre consequences of not paying attention to these tensions. With the strife between labour and business appearing intractable, political and economic challenges evinced by Marikana and consequent events should be seen as the canary in the South African mine, the bedrock of the political economy. This MA thesis of political communication starts from three premises: one, the complex set of social, political and economic processes communicated via the news media invite analysis of national development and can be explored using qualitative analysis of mediated products. As skeins of connectivity, mediated political information structures social imaginaries within a nation, and thus contributes to development trajectories. Two, within political communication processes there exists potential for a ‘Social Justice of Communication’, as theorized by Jurgen Habermas. Three, the growing convergence between the previously separable areas of politics and communication demonstrates the urgent need to address not only conventional media effects, but also the implications of nationwide social exclusion, particularly in the context of the public sphere. Thus, the remit of this thesis is the study of political communication dynamics and the roles and nature of mediated content within the process of national development. This thesis studies media coverage of the Marikana massacre in 2012 and the wage strike led by the Association for Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) in 2014. Political communication in the context of the platinum industry, and how this relates to theories and practices of democracy in South Africa, is analysed using qualitative analysis of online news articles from four national newspapers: The Times Live; The Daily Maverick; The Mail & Guardian and; The Business Day. Using protest event analysis as a prism for exploring political communication, this research investigates indicators of the status quo in South Africa’s democracy, as communicated via the news media.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationMcbride, S. T. (2015). <i>Exploring the political communication dynamics in South Africa’s platinum industry: the case of Marikana</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13767en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationMcbride, Sindi-Leigh Tenielle. <i>"Exploring the political communication dynamics in South Africa’s platinum industry: the case of Marikana."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies, 2015. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13767en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationMcbride, S. 2015. Exploring the political communication dynamics in South Africa’s platinum industry: the case of Marikana. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Mcbride, Sindi-Leigh Tenielle AB - After two decades of democracy, poverty and inequality remain at the heart of the development malaise in South Africa. Despite investor-friendly environments and economic growth forged during the previous administration, recent unrest in the platinum industry highlighted the strained relationship between labour and business, State and society, and the macabre consequences of not paying attention to these tensions. With the strife between labour and business appearing intractable, political and economic challenges evinced by Marikana and consequent events should be seen as the canary in the South African mine, the bedrock of the political economy. This MA thesis of political communication starts from three premises: one, the complex set of social, political and economic processes communicated via the news media invite analysis of national development and can be explored using qualitative analysis of mediated products. As skeins of connectivity, mediated political information structures social imaginaries within a nation, and thus contributes to development trajectories. Two, within political communication processes there exists potential for a ‘Social Justice of Communication’, as theorized by Jurgen Habermas. Three, the growing convergence between the previously separable areas of politics and communication demonstrates the urgent need to address not only conventional media effects, but also the implications of nationwide social exclusion, particularly in the context of the public sphere. Thus, the remit of this thesis is the study of political communication dynamics and the roles and nature of mediated content within the process of national development. This thesis studies media coverage of the Marikana massacre in 2012 and the wage strike led by the Association for Mineworkers and Construction Union (AMCU) in 2014. Political communication in the context of the platinum industry, and how this relates to theories and practices of democracy in South Africa, is analysed using qualitative analysis of online news articles from four national newspapers: The Times Live; The Daily Maverick; The Mail & Guardian and; The Business Day. Using protest event analysis as a prism for exploring political communication, this research investigates indicators of the status quo in South Africa’s democracy, as communicated via the news media. DA - 2015 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2015 T1 - Exploring the political communication dynamics in South Africa’s platinum industry: the case of Marikana TI - Exploring the political communication dynamics in South Africa’s platinum industry: the case of Marikana UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13767 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/13767
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationMcbride ST. Exploring the political communication dynamics in South Africa’s platinum industry: the case of Marikana. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Centre for Film and Media Studies, 2015 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13767en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentCentre for Film and Media Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherPolitical Communicationen_ZA
dc.titleExploring the political communication dynamics in South Africa’s platinum industry: the case of Marikanaen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMAen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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