Transformation as social drama
Stories about merging at North West University, South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2186672 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Frans Kamsteeg (0000-0003-2165-2844, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, corresponding author), F H Kamsteeg (VU University Amsterdam, De Boelelaan 1081, 1081 HV Amsterdam, The Netherlands) |
| Year | 2011 |
| Volume | 34 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 51-61 |
| Publication date | 2011-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropology Southern Africa (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2332-3264 • E-ISSN: 2332-3256 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/23323256.2011.11500008 |
| OpenAlex | W2264163829 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 3 |
| References cited | 29 |
South African higher education is going through a transitional phase of transformation in which existing cultures and identities are strongly contested. The ambiguity and insecurity that come along with such a process are demonstrated in this article through presentation of two rival ‘narratives of change’ that can be found packed into a number of reports concerning the merger of universities that now form the North West University. Following Victor Turner's vocabulary, this transitional phase of social, political, and organisational restructuring is labelled a social drama. This is because the changes in the higher education sector starting in 2004 have meant a breach in the normative order at various higher education institutions, a breach that has caused feelings of insecurity and crisis which the South African government has tried to deal with through a series of redressive actions. The different narratives dealing with the particular institutional transformation, the outcome of which is North West University, are a clear demonstration of what Turner refers to as the liminal and indeterminate aspects of social drama
Drama · Government (linguistics · Higher education · Liminality · Literature · Narrative · Normative · Political science · Politics · Restructuring · Social change · Social transformation · Sociology · Anthropology · Education, Leadership, and Health Research · Gender Studies · Human Behavior and Motivation · Law · Transactional Analysis in Psychotherapy
The ritual process
Knowledge in the Blood
Storytelling Organizations
Storytelling in Organizations
Narratives of Organizational Identity and Identification
Ethnography, Reality, and Truth: The Vital Need for Studies of ‘How Things Work’ in Organizations and Management
Tales of the Field
The Trauma of Transformation
Whatever Happened to Organizational Anthropology? A Review of the Field of Organizational Ethnography and Anthropological Studies
Intervention research
Making Sense of a Transnational Merger
Mergers in South African higher education
Victor Turner and Contemporary Cultural Performance
Dramas, Fields, and Metaphors
The Ritual Process
In search of a merged identity
Exploring the Work of Victor Turner
Social Dramas and Stories about Them
A return to Turner
| Unique citing works | 3 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,2 |
| Citation span | 2011 - 2017 (7) |
| Citation velocity | historical |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 3 |