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How healthy is democracy in southern Africa? Not very, argues Henning Melber. Regular elections shouldn’t be confused with strongly entrenched democratic traditions, particularly when opposition parties are failing to provide citizens with viable alternatives.
Activists turn to boycotts and divestment campaigns to shame and punish companies involved in unethical behaviour. In an increasingly globalised world activists need to think much harder about what happens once shaming has succeeded, writes Gay Seidman.
What makes us wise? A common answer these days from English-speaking philosophers is that wisdom is a matter of knowing what is fundamental, and then living well in the light of that. But, argues Thaddeus Metz, to become wise is actually much harder than that.
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A woman votes in Zambia. Beyond multi-party systems and regular elections, many countries resemble very little of true democracies.
GovernmentZA/Flickr
Henning Melber, University of Pretoria
Democracy is in a parlous state in many countries in southern Africa. Autocrats hold onto power, while electorates have little to choose from at the polls.
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Arts + Culture
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Thaddeus Metz, University of Johannesburg
It is a tall order to try to become wise. And the bad news is that it appears harder than at least many philosophers have thought.
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Business + Economy
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Gay Seidman, University of Wisconsin-Madison
"Shaming campaigns" have been successful in attracting attention to transnational issues like inhumane working conditions and environmental degradation. But shaming guilty corporations is only the first step.
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Education
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Nuraan Davids, Stellenbosch University; Yusef Waghid, Stellenbosch University
Assessment should be a part of teaching and learning at universities. It's important because it will subvert exclusion and allow all students to take responsibility for their work.
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London Bridge attack coverage from The Conversation UK
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Kris Christmann, University of Huddersfield
It's practically impossible to protect sites like London Bridge without affecting public life.
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Bill Durodie, University of Bath
Tightening security, impact of foreign wars – Britons have heard it before. The UK now has to dig beyond rhetoric to ask why some care so little of their own lives to take those of others.
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From our international editions
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Heather Ann Thompson, University of Michigan
The University of Michigan's Pulitzer Prize-winning historian Heather Ann Thompson explains why Americans must demand better access to the nation's prisons.
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Robert H. Scott III, Monmouth University
Economic forces – alongside a moral imperative – are driving cities, states and companies to make changes to forestall climate change, regardless of the whims of the White House.
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