Jacques Rousseau
Jacques Rousseau teaches critical thinking and ethics at the University of Cape Town, South Africa.
The JSC hearings on Mogoeng Mogoeng
The nomination of Mogoeng Mogoeng as Chief Justice (an appointment now confirmed by President Zuma) – in the context of our society’s ills – symbolises a lack of concern for gender equality, poverty, and freedom of sexual preference.
Redistribution of wealth
Apologies for the silence here – I didn’t get around to writing a column for the Daily Maverick this week, and also haven’t blogged, mosly because it’s quite difficult to do these things when bloody agents have entered your home – twice in the space of two weeks – and taken all your stuff. There’s [...]
#SlutWalk and the politics of re-appropriating words
The important message of the SlutWalk campaign – that victim-blaming is not okay, and that women should not be free to behave and dress as they please without fear of certain judgements, raises a deeper issue about the meaning of words and whether they can be “re-appropriated”.
Allowing yourself to be wrong
Beyond issues of tone and the politics of productive engagement, fruitful conversations also require all parties to admit to the possibility of error. If you don’t embrace the possibility of being wrong, there’s no chance of discovering that you might be.
Opinions on opinions on opinions
Allowing for reader feedback tends towards democratising opinion, and perhaps shifts responsibility for figuring out what’s worthwhile to read away from the reader herself – but it also provides for a useful corrective. Do current models for reader feedback do the job most efficiently?