{"id":{"repo_id":"cape-town","oai_identifier":"oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13272"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/cape-town/oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/13272","repository":{"repo_id":"cape-town","name":"University of Cape Town","base_url":"https://open.uct.ac.za/oai/request"},"display":{"title":"The sociological imagination of S.E.K Mqhayi: towards an African Sociology","abstract":"What areas of social life do our existing social theories allow us to understand, and what areas of society leave us baffled, unsettled and unable to respond? This paper will argue that we are in need of new interpretive tools to allow us to understand the areas of our social world that have previously been excluded from academic view by our colonial and apartheid history, and even by progressive liberal and Marxist responses to apartheid. By first surveying the intellectual history of sociology’s emergence as a discipline and its formations in South Africa, I will argue that we are unable to effectively think about large areas of the African cultural and social world within our society. In search of alternatives this paper will explore the work of the prolific early 20th c. intellectual, S.E.K. Mqhayi. Mqhayi was a product of the complex social hybridity of his time, but oriented this hybridity towards amaXhosa and African people. By looking at his various mediums of writing I will argue that Mqhayi offers powerful insight into the complexities of the changing social world of his time and that his methodologies -- so different from those of academic sociology -- give us powerful insights into an African tradition which can revitalise contemporary social inquiry.","abstract_html":"What areas of social life do our existing social theories allow us to understand, and what areas of society leave us baffled, unsettled and unable to respond? This paper will argue that we are in need of new interpretive tools to allow us to understand the areas of our social world that have previously been excluded from academic view by our colonial and apartheid history, and even by progressive liberal and Marxist responses to apartheid. By first surveying the intellectual history of sociology’s emergence as a discipline and its formations in South Africa, I will argue that we are unable to effectively think about large areas of the African cultural and social world within our society. In search of alternatives this paper will explore the work of the prolific early 20th c. intellectual, S.E.K. Mqhayi. Mqhayi was a product of the complex social hybridity of his time, but oriented this hybridity towards amaXhosa and African people. By looking at his various mediums of writing I will argue that Mqhayi offers powerful insight into the complexities of the changing social world of his time and that his methodologies -- so different from those of academic sociology -- give us powerful insights into an African tradition which can revitalise contemporary social inquiry.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Schoots, Leo Jonathan"],"institution":"Department of Sociology","degree_name":null,"degree_level":null,"degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":["Mangcu, Xolela"],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2014,"date_issued":"2014","date_published":"2014","updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:58Z","subjects":[],"languages":["eng"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":"http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13272","outbound_label":"Handle","outbound_source":"dc:identifier.uri"},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:contributor.advisor","label":"Advisor","values":["Mangcu, Xolela"]},{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Schoots, Leo Jonathan"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date.accessioned","label":"Dc Date Accessioned","values":["2015-07-02T08:32:51Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.available","label":"Dc Date Available","values":["2015-07-02T08:32:51Z"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2014"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.department","label":"Dc Publisher Department","values":["Department of Sociology"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["University of Cape Town"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Master Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["Masters"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["MPhil"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language.iso","label":"Language (ISO)","values":["eng"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13272"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description","label":"Description","values":["Includes bibliographical references."]},{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["What areas of social life do our existing social theories allow us to understand, and what areas of society leave us baffled, unsettled and unable to respond? This paper will argue that we are in need of new interpretive tools to allow us to understand the areas of our social world that have previously been excluded from academic view by our colonial and apartheid history, and even by progressive liberal and Marxist responses to apartheid. By first surveying the intellectual history of sociology’s emergence as a discipline and its formations in South Africa, I will argue that we are unable to effectively think about large areas of the African cultural and social world within our society. In search of alternatives this paper will explore the work of the prolific early 20th c. intellectual, S.E.K. Mqhayi. Mqhayi was a product of the complex social hybridity of his time, but oriented this hybridity towards amaXhosa and African people. By looking at his various mediums of writing I will argue that Mqhayi offers powerful insight into the complexities of the changing social world of his time and that his methodologies -- so different from those of academic sociology -- give us powerful insights into an African tradition which can revitalise contemporary social inquiry."]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["The sociological imagination of S.E.K Mqhayi: towards an African Sociology"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:contributor.advisor":["Mangcu, Xolela"],"dc:creator":["Schoots, Leo Jonathan"],"dc:date.accessioned":["2015-07-02T08:32:51Z"],"dc:date.available":["2015-07-02T08:32:51Z"],"dc:date.issued":["2014"],"dc:description":["Includes bibliographical references."],"dc:description.abstract":["What areas of social life do our existing social theories allow us to understand, and what areas of society leave us baffled, unsettled and unable to respond? This paper will argue that we are in need of new interpretive tools to allow us to understand the areas of our social world that have previously been excluded from academic view by our colonial and apartheid history, and even by progressive liberal and Marxist responses to apartheid. By first surveying the intellectual history of sociology’s emergence as a discipline and its formations in South Africa, I will argue that we are unable to effectively think about large areas of the African cultural and social world within our society. In search of alternatives this paper will explore the work of the prolific early 20th c. intellectual, S.E.K. Mqhayi. Mqhayi was a product of the complex social hybridity of his time, but oriented this hybridity towards amaXhosa and African people. By looking at his various mediums of writing I will argue that Mqhayi offers powerful insight into the complexities of the changing social world of his time and that his methodologies -- so different from those of academic sociology -- give us powerful insights into an African tradition which can revitalise contemporary social inquiry."],"dc:identifier.uri":["http://hdl.handle.net/11427/13272"],"dc:language.iso":["eng"],"dc:publisher.department":["Department of Sociology"],"dc:publisher.institution":["University of Cape Town"],"dc:title":["The sociological imagination of S.E.K Mqhayi: towards an African Sociology"],"dc:type":["Master Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["Masters"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["MPhil"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-22T22:22:58Z"}