Journal ArticleDOI
Quality of life in South Africa – The First Ten Years of Democracy
TLDR
A special issue of Social Indicators Research (SIR) as mentioned in this paper reviewed developments that have impacted on the quality of life of ordinary South Africans during the transition period and highlighted the major achievements of and setbacks for the new democracy and the challenges facing it in future.Abstract:
South Africa celebrated ten years of democracy in 2004. This special issue of Social Indicators Research (SIR) reviews developments that have impacted on the quality of life of ordinary South Africans during the transition period. The issue updates an earlier volume of SIR (Volume 41) published in 1997 and as a stand-alone volume. The earlier volume was initiated following SIR editor Alex Michalos’ first visit to South Africa. This update on quality of life in South Africa follows on his return visit to the country in 2004 to see firsthand the changes that had occured in the meantime. This introductory article outlines major achievements of and setbacks for the new democracy and the challenges facing it in future. It provides the backround for the evaluations of a range of quality of life domains and issues including poverty and inequality, crime, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, migration and housing, religiosity, reconciliation, and optimism for the future which are covered in the eleven articles that follow. The introduction divides the articles under the headings of challenges, achievements, monitoring quality of life, and social capital for the future. The overview article concludes that improvements in quality of life have been uneven but goodwill and a positive outlook bode well for South African quality of life in future.read more
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Book ChapterDOI
Apparent quality-of-life in nations : how long and happy people live
TL;DR: In this paper, the authors measured the quality of life in nations by how long and happy people live and found that people live longer and happier in nations characterized by economic affluence, freedom and justice.
Journal ArticleDOI
Variability of Quality of Life at Small Scales: Addis Ababa, Kirkos Sub-City
TL;DR: In this article, the authors present a case study where the urban quality of life at small scale is measured and its variability is evaluated for Kirkos sub-city of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
Journal ArticleDOI
Moving beyond xenophobia: Structural violence, conflict and encounters with the ‘other’ Africans
TL;DR: The authors examines conflict and cooperation between South Africans and Somali spaza shop owners in townships and informal settlements in the context of post-apartheid structural inequities and concludes that violence against migrants is rooted in South Africa's continuing structural violence and communal crisis, a condition characterised by tensions with compatriots as well as with newcomers.
BookDOI
Quality of Life and the Millennium Challenge
Valerie Møller,Denis Huschka +1 more
TL;DR: The International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies (ISQoS) held its 7th annual conference for the first time in Africa and a developing country in July 2006.
References
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Book
The pattern of human concerns
TL;DR: The Pattern of human concerns as discussed by the authors, the pattern of human concern, is a pattern for human concerns and human concerns are related to the patterns of human interest in the world, e.g.
A history of inequality in South Africa 1652-2002 / Sampie Terreblanche
TL;DR: The transition and the new South Africa (1990-2002) as discussed by the authors is divided into four parts: power, land, and labour, and an incomplete transformation: what's to be done?
Book
A history of inequality in South Africa, 1652-2002
TL;DR: Sampie Terreblanche as discussed by the authors analyzed the work of numerous historians on inequality and exploitation in South Africa around a single theme: the systematic and progressive economic exploitation of indigenous people by settler groups.
Book
Beyond the Miracle: Inside the New South Africa
TL;DR: Beyond the Miracle as discussed by the authors offers a comprehensive and moving account of the years in South Africa since the 1994 election of a democratic government, a defining moment in twentieth-century political life.
Related Papers (5)
What is the structure of South African happiness equations? Evidence from quality of life surveys
Timothy Hinks,Carola Gruen +1 more