Thursday, June 09, 2016
Opening Remarks at a Commemorative Symposium on Prof. H. Odera Oruka
["The written word does not forget" ~ MY]
This symposium, dedicated as it is to the Father of Philosophic Sagacity, makes pertinent the question: What is the overriding problem of method in Philosophy today? In his research on Sage Philosophy, Odera Oruka appears to abandon his discipline's patent method (or is it patent tool?): the armchair -- or, if you prefer, introspection/contemplation. He immerses himself, with little time for apologies, in a method which in an earlier time might have been called ethnographic, but which is more trendily labeled, nowadays, qualitative research.
But is this an abandonment or in reality an enriching departure from the very norm which creates false boundaries of intellectual space? And if an enrichment, are field interviews, such as Odera Oruka conducted, to be seen as a form of dialogue -- or as observation? Or are they, from another view, a necessary component of what now passes for scholastic interrogation? And if interrogation, is that, as practice, a throwback to subconsciously remembered/emulated encounters with agents of the police state? [As an aside: the other day I encountered one thinker's sardonic (or was that sadistic) commentary on numbers, which went something like this: "if you torture numbers long enough, they will tell you anything you want".]
CLICK HERE TO READ THE FULL TEXT OF THE OPENING REMARKS
FURTHER READING
Azenabor, Godwin (2009) "Odera Oruka's Philosophic Sagacity: Problems and Challenges of Conversation Method in African Philosophy" Thought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophic Association of Kenya. Premier Issue, New Series, Vol. 1 No. 1, June 2009, pp. 69-86
Hapanyengwi-Chemhuru, Oswell (2003) "Odera Oruka's Four Trends in African Philosophy and their Implications for Education in Africa" Thought and Practice: A Journal of the Philosophical Association of Kenya. New Series, Vol. 5 No. 2, December 2013, pp. 39-55.
NOTE: I made these opening remarks on December 10, 1999 during my tenure as Dean, Faculty of Arts, UoN
Tuesday, June 07, 2016
POVERTY ERADICATION AND EMPLOYMENT CREATION IN KENYA: Conceptual Challenges, Policy Articulation and Plan Targets
ABSTRACT*
The main objective of this paper is to study the extent to which the goals of employment creation and poverty eradication have been achieved in Kenya. A conceptual framework is proposed, which suggests that there is an underlying logical chain of action which programme designers do or should follow, and which observers should track. It is problem-oriented and binary in character. Its starting point is the basic development problems common to the SDD (Social Dimensions of Development) and SED (Small Enterprise Development) programmes, and to successive National Development Plans and related Sessional Papers. These problems are, specifically: Poverty and Unemployment.
The latest development plan shows that about eleven million Kenyans live in absolute poverty in 1997, mostly in rural areas. Some 53% of female-headed households are poor, and female-headed households represent 30% of all households in the country. UNDP's 1997 Human Development Report ranks Kenya 32nd among 78 developing countries in terms of the new Human Poverty Index (HPI), and 134th among 175 developed and developing countries in terms of the older Human Development Index (HDI). Some 26.1% of Kenyans suffer from "human poverty". In contrast, 50% of Kenyans suffered income poverty in 1989-94, earning less than $1 (PPP$) per day. In terms of the national poverty line, however, the number of Kenyans in poverty was 37% of the total during that period.
Kenya's 1997 HPI ranking suggests that income poverty is a greater problem for Kenyans than "human poverty". This is still a matter of concern, for it is likely that households will not long preserve gains made against "human poverty" if their income poverty persists. The centrality of employment in assured poverty reduction thus needs to be re-emphasized, particularly where inroads against "human poverty" are increasingly being made.
It is argued here that there is at present a deficit of 260,000 employment opportunities in Kenya per year. An Employment Parity Plan is proposed for the period 1999 to 2009, at the end of which there will be a parity between new employment opportunities and new labour market entrants each year. This plan also features in a set of 18 national targets which are specified to address the problems of poverty and unemployment. Indicated as well are the resources required to realize most targets, and a method for determining the required resource levels for the rest is suggested. Finally, ways of obtaining the required resources are suggested.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE PAPER
*Note: This paper, written in 1997, is a condensed version of a paper I wrote in the same year.
The main objective of this paper is to study the extent to which the goals of employment creation and poverty eradication have been achieved in Kenya. A conceptual framework is proposed, which suggests that there is an underlying logical chain of action which programme designers do or should follow, and which observers should track. It is problem-oriented and binary in character. Its starting point is the basic development problems common to the SDD (Social Dimensions of Development) and SED (Small Enterprise Development) programmes, and to successive National Development Plans and related Sessional Papers. These problems are, specifically: Poverty and Unemployment.
The latest development plan shows that about eleven million Kenyans live in absolute poverty in 1997, mostly in rural areas. Some 53% of female-headed households are poor, and female-headed households represent 30% of all households in the country. UNDP's 1997 Human Development Report ranks Kenya 32nd among 78 developing countries in terms of the new Human Poverty Index (HPI), and 134th among 175 developed and developing countries in terms of the older Human Development Index (HDI). Some 26.1% of Kenyans suffer from "human poverty". In contrast, 50% of Kenyans suffered income poverty in 1989-94, earning less than $1 (PPP$) per day. In terms of the national poverty line, however, the number of Kenyans in poverty was 37% of the total during that period.
Kenya's 1997 HPI ranking suggests that income poverty is a greater problem for Kenyans than "human poverty". This is still a matter of concern, for it is likely that households will not long preserve gains made against "human poverty" if their income poverty persists. The centrality of employment in assured poverty reduction thus needs to be re-emphasized, particularly where inroads against "human poverty" are increasingly being made.
It is argued here that there is at present a deficit of 260,000 employment opportunities in Kenya per year. An Employment Parity Plan is proposed for the period 1999 to 2009, at the end of which there will be a parity between new employment opportunities and new labour market entrants each year. This plan also features in a set of 18 national targets which are specified to address the problems of poverty and unemployment. Indicated as well are the resources required to realize most targets, and a method for determining the required resource levels for the rest is suggested. Finally, ways of obtaining the required resources are suggested.
CLICK HERE TO READ THE WHOLE PAPER
*Note: This paper, written in 1997, is a condensed version of a paper I wrote in the same year.
Monday, June 06, 2016
CSO 405: Sociology of Work and Industry, Course Outline and Reading List, May-August 2016 Semester, Mod I and II
COURSE OBJECTIVE
To construct a detailed understanding of the nature of work in social life, the industrialization process in time and space, and the interface between work and industry.
COURSE DESCRIPTION/CONTENT
Key concepts in the field: labour, working class, socialization into work-roles, the quality of working life (QWL), de-skilling, alienation, motivation, hi-tech, industry, industrialization, work versus employment, and work versus leisure. Models and theories: Human resource theory, the labour process, the theory of value, socialization theory, import substitution industrialization (ISI), export-oriented industrialization (EOI), labour market segmentation theory, social stratification, the division of labour, articulation of modes of production, de-industrialization, convergence and post-industrial society. Industrial policies of selected countries in terms of, inter alia, employment, technological change, scale and diversity of production, the role of the informal/Jua Kali sector, ownership, quality of life and implications for the social structure. The impact of science and technology on society, and vice versa, in terms of the past, the present and future. Selected aspects of industrial psychology, labour law and migration.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FULL TEXT
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)