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Exploring the Barriers Facing the Adoption of Building Automation Systems for Energy Efficiency in a Developing Economy
Get PDFBuilding automation systems (BAS) play a crucial role in the operations and management of modern buildings, affecting energy efficiency for a better living. Despite the numerous benefits that BAS technology can contribute to the economic landscape of society, its adoption is still significantly low. This study explores the barriers facing the adoption of BAS for energy efficiency in a developing economy such as South Africa (SA). The study adopted a quantitative research approach with data gathered from the respondents saddled in the affairs of sustainable construction practices, such as construction managers, building energy managers, facility managers, contractors, etc. Mean item score (MIS) and factor analysis (FA) served as the method of data analysis. The findings revealed the most significant barriers facing the adoption of BAS for energy efficiency to be power supply issues, high initial costs, resistance to change, and regulation challenges; also revealed from the factor analysis that three significant constructs that serve as the major barriers facing the adoption of BAS technologies are digital divide barriers, access barriers, and compliance barriers. Conclusively, the study outlined the weight and strength of the barriers facing BAS adoption and a viable approach to mitigate such limitations in favour of socio-economic development. This guarantees energy optimisation in developing economies such as SA and contributes to the sustainable construction practices domain
Thinking against Coloniality from the Malay World: A Personal Reflection
Get PDFMy thinking against coloniality began from the earliest days of my childhood when I was in elementary school in Singapore. This started in 1968, the year after my family moved from Malaysia to Singapore. My father, Syed Hussein Alatas (1928–2007) was a University of Amsterdam-trained sociologist who was to found the Department of Malay Studies at the University of Singapore in 1967, now the National University of Singapore (see Alatas 2024)
Theorising Decolonial Silences in the Neoliberal University
Get PDFDuring the summer of 2020, several universities and academics made highly radical and progressive statements about their positionality and progressive aims in the context of the Black Lives Matter Protests. The same was observed in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and in the UK, several universities even offered admissions and fellowships to Ukrainian students and academics. This culture of ‘radical politics’ and protection of academic freedom was soon to change
Mapping and excavation of the Plaatberg Mission Precinct, Free State, South Africa
Get PDFThis paper presents the results of an investigation into three structures situated at the centre of the 19th-century Plaatberg Mission Station, in the Free State province, South Africa. First, we locate the study site within the larger Mission Station. Second, excavated data are presented according to spatial context, and then variations within the midden dataset are used to suggest different periods of occupation and missionary presence. Lastly, these findings are interpreted against the broader context of historical events
Kenya’s Infrastructural Question: Examining the Renegotiation of the SGR Debt with China
Get PDFKenya’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), the country’s largest infrastructure project since its 1963 independence, was initially seen as a mutually advantageous endeavour for both Kenya and China. For China, the SGR complemented its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), while President Uhuru Kenyatta viewed it as a monumental infrastructure development that would solidify his legacy. This article critically assesses Kenyatta’s infrastructure legacy, with a particular focus on the parliamentary transport committee’s proposal to renegotiate the SGR loan terms with China. Drawing on both secondary and primary sources, including the SGR loan agreements, the analysis indicates that the project was driven more by political interests than by genuine developmental needs. Kenyatta kept the SGR deal’s details confidential and bypassed important oversight institutions. The leaked Auditor General’s letter claiming that Mombasa Port had been used as collateral for the railway, raised concerns about a potential debt trap scenario with China. The article concludes that the SGR was primarily a Kenyan initiative, with the ensuing debt distress attributable to poor decision-making processes within the president’s executive office, thereby necessitating calls for renegotiation of the loan terms
Los nodos socio-psíquicos del Burnout docente en Brasil
No full textThe literature indicates that teachers are among the professional groups most susceptible to developing burnout syndrome. To deepen understand this phenomenon, we analyze data collected in Brazil between 2020 and 2022, specifically through 16 socio-clinical interviews conducted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Using the framework of Clinical Sociology, our objective is to examine the socio-psychic knots of burnout in order to address it in all its complexity. We argue that burnout serves as a Dominant Social Symptom of contemporary teaching work, particularly as a consequence of the erosion of meaning in professional activities. This symptomatic exhaustion reflects the intensification of managerial frameworks within the educational field. Our conceptual approach seeks to challenge the prevailing narrative that tends to individualize teacher burnout, often by attributing it to psychological factors while overlooking the structural contradictions and conflicts inherent in teachers\u27 work. Indeed, our data suggest that teacher burnout is fundamentally a collective and institutional phenomenon—an expression of a broader socio-historical process marked by the flexibilization and precarization of labor relations.
La literatura señala que el colectivo docente es uno de los más susceptibles al desarrollo del síndrome de burnout (SB). Para profundizar en la comprensión de este fenómeno, recurrimos a datos recolectados en Brasil con docentes entre los años 2020 y 2022, en particular a partir de 16 entrevistas socio-clínicas realizadas en el contexto de la pandemia de COVID-19. Desde el enfoque de la Sociología Clínica, nuestro objetivo es problematizar los nodos socio-psíquico del burnout, con el fin de abordarlo en toda su complejidad. Tomando como punto de anclaje analítico el contexto pandémico, sostenemos que el burnout se configura como un Síntoma Social Dominante del trabajo docente en la contemporaneidad. Como resultado de la degradación del sentido de la actividad profesional, la estructura sintomática del agotamiento refleja la radicalización de los supuestos gerencialistas en el ámbito educativo. Esta orientación conceptual busca cuestionar una lógica predominante que tiende a individualizar el burnout docente, psicologizando contradicciones y conflictos de carácter estructural presentes en su oficio. En efecto, los datos indican que el agotamiento profesional docente es, ante todo, un fenómeno colectivo e institucional, expresión de un proceso histórico-social en curso, marcado por la flexibilización y la precarización de las relaciones laborales.
Palabras clave: Agotamiento profesional; burnout docente; Síntoma Social Dominante; Sociología Clínica
Improving the Lives of Older Adults in South Korea: Addressing Mandatory and Involuntary Retirement
Get PDFThis article examines mandatory and involuntary retirement in South Korea. Information is first provided about Korea and the older adults who may have faced mandatory or involuntary retirement. This is followed by a human rights approach to employment and a brief discussion about ageism. The next section is about some attempts to improve the situation in Korea: a training program for middle-aged adults, the work of the national human rights organization, the national attention given to reform efforts and the initiatives of the organization of retired people. The conclusion includes 10 suggestions about what can be done to continue to improve the employment situation of older adults
Book Review: The Untold Story of Zama Zama Miners in South Africa: Unearthing Hope
Get PDFBester starts the telling of her story of South Africa’s Zama Zama miners at some miserable holes in the ground outside a dusty little town called Stilfontein. It was here, in 2025, that the issue of Zama Zama mining finally erupted forcefully into the consciousness of just about every South African, and indeed, many others the world over. Before this, the issue had kind of bubbled away just beneath the surface of popular consciousness, sometimes showing us a hint of its existence, but never really materialising fully. I return to this choice as an opening scene, the ‘scene of the crime’ to all but the most critical of observer, a little later in this reflection. But for now, the point I want to make about this is that, while this was where Bester chose to start telling the story, it is quite clear that her engagement with Zama Zama miners and mining started long before the Stilfontein frenzy. I emphasize this up front so that there can be no confusion that this book might have been an opportunistic response to the media frenzy that ‘went down’ outside Stilfontein.
Digital Literacy and Civic Agency: Youth-led Hashtag Movements in Nigeria’s #EndSARS Protest
Get PDFSocial media has transformed activism by facilitating the mobilisation of support, enabling challenges to power structures, and influencing public discourse. The #EndSARS movement in Nigeria, which protested police brutality and governance failures, demonstrated the efficacy of hashtag activism as a form of digital advocacy. This study examines the role of digital literacy in promoting engagement, mobilisation strategies, and participation in the #EndSARS protest. It specifically analyses the use of Twitter, Facebook, WhatsApp, and Instagram by digitally literate users for organising protests, disseminating real-time information, and countering misinformation. Employing qualitative content analysis of social media posts, digital campaign materials, and online discussions, this study investigates the role of digital literacy in message framing, audience engagement, and the overall sustainability of the movement. Individuals with higher digital literacy typically create mission-driven content that fosters significant engagement, using diverse media and algorithmic visibility to enhance content reach. However, the long-term success of the movement was hindered by challenges such as internet censorship, the digital divide, and state-sponsored misinformation campaigns. This research contributes to academic discussions on digital activism, online political participation, digital literacy, and social movements through its educational and community profile. It underscores the necessity of structured digital literacy curricula that enhance civic engagement and equip grassroots activists with essential digital skills
