The Department of Political and International Studies and
the School of Journalism and Media Studies at Rhodes University invite you to
attend the following lecture:
Title: Steven Friedman on Phrases We Often Hear
and Use Which
Undermine Democracy
Venue: Boardroom,
Africa Media Matrix
Date: 20 August
2013
Time: 6pm
Rhodes University Professor Steven Friedman will examine
familiar phrases in our public debate, phrases which are frequently found in
discussions in the news media.
Expressions such as "the failed state", "service
delivery", "social cohesion" and "leadership", he
argues, are deeply undemocratic and also cause us to misdiagnose our problems.
Professor Friedman is Director of the Centre for the Study
of Democracy, a joint initiative of Rhodes University and the University of
Johannesburg.
He is a political scientist who has specialised in the study
of democracy.
He researched and wrote widely on the South African
transition to democracy both before and after the elections of 1994 and has,
over the past decade, largely written on the relationship between democracy on
the one hand, and social inequality and economic growth on the other. In
particular, he has stressed the role of citizen voice in strengthening
democracy and promoting equality.
He is the author of Building Tomorrow Today, a study of the
South African trade union movement and the implications of its growth for
democracy, and the editor of The Long Journey and The Small Miracle (with
Doreen Atkinson), which presented the outcome of two research projects on the
South African transition. He is currently studying the role of citizen action
in strengthening and sustaining democracy.
