490 research outputs found
Variations on Birkhoff's theorem
The relation between the expanding universe and local vacuum solutions, such
as that for the Solar System, is crucially mediated by Birkhoff's theorem. Here
we consider how that relation works, and give generalizations of Birkhoff's
theorem when there are geometric and matter and perturbations. The issue of to
what degree dark matter might influence the solar system emerges as a
significant question.Comment: Conference proceeding for ERE 2012, submitted to GRG for ERE2012
special issue, based on arXiv:1005.1809, arXiv:1101.4520 and arXiv:1202.024
The South Africa-Angola talks, 1976-1984: a little-known cold war thread
Published versionThat South Africa invaded Angola in 1975, in an abortive attempt to prevent a Marxist government coming to power there, and that the South African Defence Force then repeatedly attacked Angola from 1978, is relatively well known. That representatives of the South African and Angolan governments met on many occasions from 1976 is a largely untold story. This article uses documentation from the archives of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, along with other sources, to analyse these talks and the Cold War context in which they took place.Department of HE and Training approved lis
Demanding satisfaction: Violence, masculinity and honour in late eighteenth century Cape Town
This article analyses two separate cases of public violence which took place in
Cape Town in the summer of 1772/3. At surface level they appear to be very different
in character. One was a scrap among low-ranking soldiers who were playing
cards at a shoreline outpost. The other was a formalised challenge between
two captains of the VOC return fleet as they were lunching with the Governor,
which resulted in a death and the flight of the murderer. Yet closer analysis suggests common ritualised codes of behaviour that intriguingly reveal how violence,
masculinity and notions of honour operated at all social levels within the town.
Both cases were complex and coded social conflicts, rooted in northern
European early modern social beliefs and practices as transferred to a colonial
context. However, none of these perpetrators of violence was viewed sympathetically
by the VOC authorities at the Cape. By contrast, the assailant Captain who
had escaped back to Europe was able to successfully appeal to the VOC directors
in the Netherlands
Family law and "the great moral public interests" in Victorian Cape Town
In the wake of the mineral revolution, and the Cape Colony’s attainment of
responsible government, Cape Town’s population doubled in the nineteenth century’s
latter years. Its largely British ruling class, seeing opportunities for wealth
and a greater significance in empire and world, sought to construct a social
order conducive to those goals. Faced with increasing ethnic heterogeneity, gender
imbalance due to the numbers of male immigrants, and frustration in combating
the endemic poverty and slums, city fathers and their closest colleagues
– doctors, clergy – perceived the way forward in terms not of extending rights
but of moral reform. This article carries the ongoing investigation of family life
and law in Cape Town through the Victorian period. It examines legal enactments
and social developments where they impacted on marriage, divorce, concubinage
and related matters, with particular reference to the welfare of children and those
born out of wedlock
Survey of Infections Transmissible Between Baboons and Humans, Cape Town, South Africa
Baboons on South Africa’s Cape Peninsula come in frequent contact with humans. To determine potential health risks for both species, we screened 27 baboons from 5 troops for 10 infections. Most (56%) baboons had antibodies reactive or cross-reactive to human viruses. Spatial overlap between these species poses low but potential health risks
“You know that's a rip-off”: policies and practices surrounding micro-enterprises and poverty alleviation in South African township tourism
Supporting the development of small tourism businesses has been seen by policy-makers as a valuable means of alleviating poverty in South African townships. This perspective has been endorsed by several ‘responsible’ tourism businesses and academics. Following a review of the literature, this paper reports the findings of an empirical study that examined the practices of micro-business owners and the factors that shape their behaviour in two South African townships. In spite of significant visitor numbers, it finds that their narrow social networks and the imbalances of power between them and intermediaries such as travel agencies and tour operators prevent them from developing their businesses and sharing in the material gains that become available because of tourism. This analysis has important implications for local policy-makers and those advocating responsible tourism. For the former, it suggests a cessation of current initiatives in favour of greater regulation and alternative forms of investment. For the latter, it implies the need to reassess the utility of advocating responsible tourism to consumers in a context where they do not understand the dynamics which fashion what is on offer or the full implications of their choices
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