Benjamin Roberts
Biographic Data
| ID | 3923003 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Benjamin Roberts |
| GIVEN NAMES | Benjamin |
| FAMILY NAME | Roberts |
| SIGNATURE | ROBERTS B |
| AFFILIATIONS | Human Sciences Research Council |
| ORCID | 0000-0002-0607-5447 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 44 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 146 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 44 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 1996 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 5 |
Beliefs About Inequality Around the Globe: Results from the ISSP Social Inequality Survey
Covid-19 Vaccine Hesitancy and Barriers to Vaccination in South Africa
The COVID-19 pandemic created significant social, economic and health-related challenges. The rapid development of vaccines that could help curb transmission and mortality from the virus was vital. The University of Johannesburg/Human Sciences Research Council (UJ/HSRC) COVID-19 Democracy survey was established as a cross-sectional online and telephone survey designed to provide rapid response data to inform the pandemic response. Between Decembe…
Ubuntu and the Willingness to Sacrifice Human Rights during the Covid-19 Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic and the government-imposed lockdown measures temporarily restricted several constitutionally protected rights, and as such, the rights of all of those living in South Africa experienced unprecedented limitations to some of their human rights. These restrictions had significant socioeconomic and psychosocial consequences. Yet, despite this, data from the UJ/HSRC COVID-19 Democracy survey, a cross-sectional online survey condu…
The Hidden Struggle: Mental Health during the Covid-19 Pandemic in South Africa
The COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdown had a profound impact on mental health in South Africa, particularly among marginalised groups. The University of Johannesburg / Human Sciences Research Council (UJ/HSRC) COVID-19 Democracy survey was a cross-sectional online survey conducted in five rounds covering a 20-month period from mid-April 2020 to November 2021 and involving nearly 45,000 participants. Our findings show that stress, depressio…
The Pandemic of Poverty: Analysing the Economic Legacies of the Pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic brought unprecedented disruption to South African livelihoods. However, this disruption was unequally felt. During the height of the pandemic lockdown, most could not work, while many lost their employment. In a labour force that was already characterised by a myriad of poorly paid and precarious work, this disruption exacerbated poverty in the country. This study explores the economic impacts of the pandemic using quantitat…
Exploring Environmentalism Across Nations: Understanding the Influence of Societal Social Progress on Environmental Values, Norms, and Behaviour
A post-2024 general elections reflection: Evaluating South Africans’ views on the prospects of implementing e-voting
The brick in the ballot box: The relative influence of democratic discontent and identity politics in the 2024 elections in South Africa
I see you: A Chaplain case study on existential distress and transdisciplinary support
In the setting of major disease progression coupled with active pain, hospitalized patients may become disconnected from their metanarratives and personal grounding. Transdisciplinary palliative care teams are poised to foster patients' connection with their metanarratives by collaborating across areas of expertise to establish goals of care and manage total pain. This case study demonstrates: (1) the unique value of the palliative Chaplain in jo…
Heterogeneity in Covid-19 infection among older persons in South Africa: Evidence from national surveillance data
Background: The 2021 World Health Organization study on the impact of COVID-19 on older people (≥60 years) in the African region highlighted the difficulties they faced as the virus spread across borders and dominated the way of life. These difficulties included disruptions to both essential health care services and social support, as well as disconnections from family and friends. Among those who contracted COVID-19, the risks of severe illness,…
Generation of change? South African attitudes towards climate change in comparative perspective
The risks posed by climate change have become increasingly apparent. In response, the South African government has introduced various policy measures, reflecting a commitment to transitioning to a low-carbon economy. Successfully navigating this transition requires policy processes to take account of individual preferences, concerns, and lived realities. Yet a significant knowledge gap remains. Data from the South African Social Attitudes Survey …
A Note from the Convener of the Drafting Group of the 2019 ISSP Social Inequality Module
This short note introduces the second special issue focusing on the analysis of comparative data from the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) Social Inequality (SI) module. In addition to expressing our appreciation for our colleagues on the drafting group for sharing their time and expertise to shape the content of the 2019 module, we provide a summary of the three empirical articles featured in this second special issue. These articles…
The ISSP 2019 Social Inequality Module: Country-Comparative Individual-Level Data on Public Beliefs about Inequality and Socioeconomic Conditions Over Three Decades
Coinciding with a trend of rising economic divides within many countries, scholarly interest in the subject of inequality has grown significantly in the twenty first century. Since its creation in 1987, the Social Inequality module of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) has evolved into an exceptionally comprehensive country-comparative individual-level database on public beliefs about inequality and socioeconomic conditions. The mod…
Promise or precarity? South African attitudes towards the automation revolution
Rapid technological advancement has prompted growing debate about the promise and challenges of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) for societies. Some believe it will improve efficiency, productivity and quality of life, while others emphasise the risk of job loss, inequality and social exclusion. Despite the salience of these changes for human development, public opinion research on these issues remains limited in South Africa. Using data fr…
Beyond the binary: Examining dynamic youth voter behaviour in South Africa
The 2021 South African local government elections continued a trend of dissipating turnout among young voters. The youth, aged 18–34, constitute nearly a third of SA's adult population, and their voting decisions could have a decisive influence on electoral politics. Youth voter behaviour - including that of the 'born-free' generation - has been an area of critical interest. However, this interest has mostly yielded an image of young people as di…
Africa at War and Peace
Rise of Metallurgy in Eurasia: Evolution, Organisation and Consumption of Early Metal in the Balkans
The ‘sacrifice’ of human rights during an unprecedented pandemic: Reflections on survey-based evidence
Twenty-five years into our constitutional democracy the Covid-19 pandemic led President Ramaphosa to declare a state of national disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 (DMA). Strict lockdown regulations promulgated under the DMA had a clear bearing on human rights, such as the rights of religious observance, assembly and demonstration, association, movement, trade, and education. In the case of De Beer v Minister of Cooperati…
Minding the Just Gap: Perceptions of the Legitimacy of Income Inequality from the South African Social Attitudes Survey
This article explores perceptions of the legitimacy of income inequality in South Africa, looking at the 'just income gap': salaries considered to be fair for occupations at opposite ends of the status continuum. Data from the 2009 and 2016 waves of the South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS) were analysed. Findings on perceived actual and ethical wages for five occupations indicated that, although South Africans feel that those on the low …
Providing Evidence and “Voice” During the Covid-19 Pandemic Using Online Rapid Response Surveys: Lessons from the UJ/HSRC Covid-19 Democracy Survey
COVID-19 presents significant challenges to society and to social scientists in their attempts to understand the unfolding consequences of the pandemic. This article examines how the UJ/HSRC COVID-19 Democracy survey responded to these challenges by conducting a series of rapid-response non-probabilistic surveys using a mass membership online data-free platform, known as the Moya messenger app. While not without its limitations, we argue that the…
Dark Cloud with a Silver Lining’? The Prospect of a Rise in Material Values or a Post-Material Turn in Post-Pandemic South Africa
The quarter century following the historic 1994 elections in South Africa and the establishment of a democratic dispensation was a period of transformative change. During this time, nation-building efforts were undertaken as a means of promoting redress, overcoming the country’s colonial, segregationist and apartheid past, and challenging traditions of racialised citizenship. Progressive legislation was adopted that challenged traditional aparthe…
The ‘Fuck White People’ Phenomenon in South Africa: A Discursive and Statistical Analysis
During the recent student protests in South Africa 'fuck white people' appeared on T-shirts and walls. When understood only as anti-white sentiments, these words could cause panic and fear. However, we need to determine the extent to which these opinions are shared, by whom, and what should be done to people who propagated these views. To address these questions, an item was inserted in the 2016 nationally representative South African Social Atti…
Truth Be in the Field: Conducting Comparative Survey Research in a Multicultural Society such as South Africa
Set against growing interest and advances in relation to multinational, multiregional, and multicultural (3MC) survey research, this paper will reflect on some of the survey challenges that inevitably confront the survey scientist in South Africa. South Africa is a heterogeneous, multicultural society with a variety of socio-economic problems and large inequalities and endeavors to collect data involves appreciable challenges. This paper will use…
The Unconvinced Vote: The Nature and Determinants of Voting Intentions and the Changing Character of South African Electoral Politics
In the lead up to South Africa's sixth National and Provincial Elections in May 2019, the recent performance and leadership dynamics within the country's major political parties raised fundamental concerns about the potential impact on voter turnout. These concerns were not unfounded, given that the 2019 General Elections recorded the lowest voter turnout since 1994, with only 49% of the voting age public participating. Despite this, relatively l…
The Best and Worst Times of Life for South Africans: Evidence of Universal Reference Standards in Evaluations of Personal Well-Being Using Bernheim's Acsa
What price fairness when security is at stake? Police legitimacy in South Africa
The legitimacy of legal authorities – particularly the police – is central to the state's ability to function in a normatively justifiable and effective manner. Studies, mostly conducted in the US and UK, regularly find that procedural justice is the most important antecedent of police legitimacy, with judgments about other aspects of police behavior – notably, about effectiveness – appearing less relevant. But this idea has received only sporadi…
Small Area Indices of Multiple Deprivation in South Africa
Your Place or Mine? Beliefs About Inequality and Redress Preferences in South Africa
South African Hopes and Fears Twenty Years into Democracy: A Replication of Hadley Cantril's Pattern of Human Concerns
Chronic and Transitory Poverty in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Evidence from KwaZulu-Natal
This article examines the rationale for a dynamic perspective of poverty in South Africa and analyses the magnitude and characteristics of those in chronic versus transitory poverty using data from the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study. The results show that the incidence and depth of poverty have increased steadily between 1993 and 1998, a trend that is pronounced in rural localities and for female-headed households. Though the majority of hou…
The ISSP 2019 Social Inequality Module: Country-Comparative Individual-Level Data on Public Beliefs about Inequality and Socioeconomic Conditions Over Three Decades
Coinciding with a trend of rising economic divides within many countries, scholarly interest in the subject of inequality has grown significantly in the twenty first century. Since its creation in 1987, the Social Inequality module of the International Social Survey Programme (ISSP) has evolved into an exceptionally comprehensive country-comparative individual-level database on public beliefs about inequality and socioeconomic conditions. The mod…
What Drives Citizen Participation in Political Gatherings in Modern South Africa? A Quantitative Analysis of Self-Reported Behaviour
The Hot, the Cold and the Lukewarm: Exploring the Depth and Determinants of Public Closeness to the African National Congress
South African politics has been dominated by the African National Congress (ANC) since the country's successful transition to democracy. But what is the degree of ANC support in South Africa at the micro-level? This paper will examine individual party closeness to the ANC for the period 2008–2014. We will use data from the nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey. Multivariate tests will be employed to identify the determin…
Beyond the binary: Examining dynamic youth voter behaviour in South Africa
The 2021 South African local government elections continued a trend of dissipating turnout among young voters. The youth, aged 18–34, constitute nearly a third of SA's adult population, and their voting decisions could have a decisive influence on electoral politics. Youth voter behaviour - including that of the 'born-free' generation - has been an area of critical interest. However, this interest has mostly yielded an image of young people as di…
The Unconvinced Vote: The Nature and Determinants of Voting Intentions and the Changing Character of South African Electoral Politics
In the lead up to South Africa's sixth National and Provincial Elections in May 2019, the recent performance and leadership dynamics within the country's major political parties raised fundamental concerns about the potential impact on voter turnout. These concerns were not unfounded, given that the 2019 General Elections recorded the lowest voter turnout since 1994, with only 49% of the voting age public participating. Despite this, relatively l…
The Personal Wellbeing Index in the South African IsiXhosa Translation: A Qualitative Focus Group Study
Panel data and policy analysis in South Africa: Taking a long view
Marchés électroniques et hiérarchies électroniques
Electronic links are becoming increasingly important in the inter-and intra-firm spheres. The present article develops an analytical frame for defining this evolution. The growing use of electronic interconnections can be considered as the combination of three forces : the effect of electronic communication, the effect of electronic brokerage and the effect of electronic integration. The nature of these interconnections - electronic hierarchy or …
Fatherhood in Eighteenth-Century Holland: The Van Der Muelen Brothers
Until recently, fatherhood in the Early Modern period has been largely unknown terrain. Books of advice on the physical upbringing of children were addressed to mothers, implying that fathers were not involved in the process. However, iconog raphic evidence presented by Simon Schama suggests that fathers did indeed partici pate in bringing up their children. This research note uses personal documents-the correspondence of two brothers, Jan André …
The brick in the ballot box: The relative influence of democratic discontent and identity politics in the 2024 elections in South Africa
The ‘sacrifice’ of human rights during an unprecedented pandemic: Reflections on survey-based evidence
Twenty-five years into our constitutional democracy the Covid-19 pandemic led President Ramaphosa to declare a state of national disaster in terms of the Disaster Management Act 57 of 2002 (DMA). Strict lockdown regulations promulgated under the DMA had a clear bearing on human rights, such as the rights of religious observance, assembly and demonstration, association, movement, trade, and education. In the case of De Beer v Minister of Cooperati…
The ‘Fuck White People’ Phenomenon in South Africa: A Discursive and Statistical Analysis
During the recent student protests in South Africa 'fuck white people' appeared on T-shirts and walls. When understood only as anti-white sentiments, these words could cause panic and fear. However, we need to determine the extent to which these opinions are shared, by whom, and what should be done to people who propagated these views. To address these questions, an item was inserted in the 2016 nationally representative South African Social Atti…
Truth Be in the Field: Conducting Comparative Survey Research in a Multicultural Society such as South Africa
Set against growing interest and advances in relation to multinational, multiregional, and multicultural (3MC) survey research, this paper will reflect on some of the survey challenges that inevitably confront the survey scientist in South Africa. South Africa is a heterogeneous, multicultural society with a variety of socio-economic problems and large inequalities and endeavors to collect data involves appreciable challenges. This paper will use…
The Best and Worst Times of Life for South Africans: Evidence of Universal Reference Standards in Evaluations of Personal Well-Being Using Bernheim's Acsa
Het schoolschrift van Pieter Teding van Berkhout. Vergezicht op het gymnasiaal onderwijs in de zeventiende‐eeuwse Nederlanden
Drinking Like a Man: The Paradox of Excessive Drinking for Seventeenth-Century Dutch Youths
In the early modern period, drinking alcohol was an integral part of Dutch social and cultural life. Toasts were made to the health of unborn babies, for job nominations, and at funerals. Young people started to consume alcohol at an early age. However, within this culture they had to learn how to drink in moderation. Excessive drinking was not only a cardinal sin, it was also a paradox in the realm of gender. For males, the act of getting drunk …
Fatherhood in Eighteenth-Century Holland: The Van Der Muelen Brothers
Until recently, fatherhood in the Early Modern period has been largely unknown terrain. Books of advice on the physical upbringing of children were addressed to mothers, implying that fathers were not involved in the process. However, iconog raphic evidence presented by Simon Schama suggests that fathers did indeed partici pate in bringing up their children. This research note uses personal documents-the correspondence of two brothers, Jan André …
Marchés électroniques et hiérarchies électroniques
Electronic links are becoming increasingly important in the inter-and intra-firm spheres. The present article develops an analytical frame for defining this evolution. The growing use of electronic interconnections can be considered as the combination of three forces : the effect of electronic communication, the effect of electronic brokerage and the effect of electronic integration. The nature of these interconnections - electronic hierarchy or …
Chronic and Transitory Poverty in Post-Apartheid South Africa: Evidence from KwaZulu-Natal
This article examines the rationale for a dynamic perspective of poverty in South Africa and analyses the magnitude and characteristics of those in chronic versus transitory poverty using data from the KwaZulu-Natal Income Dynamics Study. The results show that the incidence and depth of poverty have increased steadily between 1993 and 1998, a trend that is pronounced in rural localities and for female-headed households. Though the majority of hou…
Panel data and policy analysis in South Africa: Taking a long view
Edifying Youths. The Chambers of Rhetoric in Seventeenth-Century Holland
For the early modern period, historians have primarily looked at institutional forms of education when investigating the intellectual molding of youths. With the exception of the wealthy, their conclusions have often been one-sided. However, youths of the middling sort in the Dutch Republic were more resourceful. Youths that could not afford a formal education at a Latin school or a university resorted to alternative resources such as chambers of…
Drinking Like a Man: The Paradox of Excessive Drinking for Seventeenth-Century Dutch Youths
In the early modern period, drinking alcohol was an integral part of Dutch social and cultural life. Toasts were made to the health of unborn babies, for job nominations, and at funerals. Young people started to consume alcohol at an early age. However, within this culture they had to learn how to drink in moderation. Excessive drinking was not only a cardinal sin, it was also a paradox in the realm of gender. For males, the act of getting drunk …
Poverty Diagnostics Using Poor Data: Strengthening the Evidence Base for Pro-Poor Policy Making in Lesotho
Het schoolschrift van Pieter Teding van Berkhout. Vergezicht op het gymnasiaal onderwijs in de zeventiende‐eeuwse Nederlanden
Small Area Indices of Multiple Deprivation in South Africa
A renaissance education: Schooling in Bergamo and the Venetian Republic, 1500–1650
by Christopher Carlsmith, Toronto, University of Toronto Press, 2010, 435 pp., illustrated, £48.00/US$75.00, ISBN 978-0-8020-9254-0 In his 1990 review article “Schooling in Western Europe” publishe
The Personal Wellbeing Index in the South African IsiXhosa Translation: A Qualitative Focus Group Study
What price fairness when security is at stake? Police legitimacy in South Africa
The legitimacy of legal authorities – particularly the police – is central to the state's ability to function in a normatively justifiable and effective manner. Studies, mostly conducted in the US and UK, regularly find that procedural justice is the most important antecedent of police legitimacy, with judgments about other aspects of police behavior – notably, about effectiveness – appearing less relevant. But this idea has received only sporadi…
Your Place or Mine? Beliefs About Inequality and Redress Preferences in South Africa
A Tale of Two Funerals: Civic Ritual, Public Mourning and Community Participation in Late Nineteenth-Century Middlesbrough
In the late nineteenth century, British funerals became increasingly rational as they began to strip away the excesses of Victorian custom. Yet imposing public funerals for well-known figures continued to take place. Historians have previously underestimated the entertainment value which a public funeral could offer. As this article demonstrates, attendance at such funerals could only be guaranteed if the occasion held particular emotional resona…
The National Wellbeing Index in the IsiXhosa Translation: Focus Group Discussions on How South Africans View the Quality of Their Society
Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll in the Dutch Golden Age
Binge drinking and illicit sex were just as common in the Dutch Golden Age as they are today, if not more so. Sex, Drugs and Rock 'n' Roll in the Dutch Golden Age is a compelling narrative about the generation of young men that came of age in the Dutch Republic during the economic boom of the early seventeenth century. Contrary to their parents' wishes, the younger generation grew up in luxury and wore extravagant clothing, grew their hair long, …
South African Hopes and Fears Twenty Years into Democracy: A Replication of Hadley Cantril's Pattern of Human Concerns
The Hot, the Cold and the Lukewarm: Exploring the Depth and Determinants of Public Closeness to the African National Congress
South African politics has been dominated by the African National Congress (ANC) since the country's successful transition to democracy. But what is the degree of ANC support in South Africa at the micro-level? This paper will examine individual party closeness to the ANC for the period 2008–2014. We will use data from the nationally representative South African Social Attitudes Survey. Multivariate tests will be employed to identify the determin…
Truth Be in the Field: Conducting Comparative Survey Research in a Multicultural Society such as South Africa
Set against growing interest and advances in relation to multinational, multiregional, and multicultural (3MC) survey research, this paper will reflect on some of the survey challenges that inevitably confront the survey scientist in South Africa. South Africa is a heterogeneous, multicultural society with a variety of socio-economic problems and large inequalities and endeavors to collect data involves appreciable challenges. This paper will use…
The Unconvinced Vote: The Nature and Determinants of Voting Intentions and the Changing Character of South African Electoral Politics
In the lead up to South Africa's sixth National and Provincial Elections in May 2019, the recent performance and leadership dynamics within the country's major political parties raised fundamental concerns about the potential impact on voter turnout. These concerns were not unfounded, given that the 2019 General Elections recorded the lowest voter turnout since 1994, with only 49% of the voting age public participating. Despite this, relatively l…
The Best and Worst Times of Life for South Africans: Evidence of Universal Reference Standards in Evaluations of Personal Well-Being Using Bernheim's Acsa
What Drives Citizen Participation in Political Gatherings in Modern South Africa? A Quantitative Analysis of Self-Reported Behaviour
Providing Evidence and “Voice” During the Covid-19 Pandemic Using Online Rapid Response Surveys: Lessons from the UJ/HSRC Covid-19 Democracy Survey
COVID-19 presents significant challenges to society and to social scientists in their attempts to understand the unfolding consequences of the pandemic. This article examines how the UJ/HSRC COVID-19 Democracy survey responded to these challenges by conducting a series of rapid-response non-probabilistic surveys using a mass membership online data-free platform, known as the Moya messenger app. While not without its limitations, we argue that the…
Dark Cloud with a Silver Lining’? The Prospect of a Rise in Material Values or a Post-Material Turn in Post-Pandemic South Africa
The quarter century following the historic 1994 elections in South Africa and the establishment of a democratic dispensation was a period of transformative change. During this time, nation-building efforts were undertaken as a means of promoting redress, overcoming the country’s colonial, segregationist and apartheid past, and challenging traditions of racialised citizenship. Progressive legislation was adopted that challenged traditional aparthe…
The ‘Fuck White People’ Phenomenon in South Africa: A Discursive and Statistical Analysis
During the recent student protests in South Africa 'fuck white people' appeared on T-shirts and walls. When understood only as anti-white sentiments, these words could cause panic and fear. However, we need to determine the extent to which these opinions are shared, by whom, and what should be done to people who propagated these views. To address these questions, an item was inserted in the 2016 nationally representative South African Social Atti…
Sociology (29 works) · Political science (28 works) · Politics (17 works) · Law (16 works) · Psychology (16 works) · Economics (12 works) · Law (12 works) · Demography (10 works) · Income, Poverty, and Inequality (10 works) · Social Psychology (9 works)