Ndzozi Pofela - Academia.edu (original) (raw)

Books by Ndzozi Pofela

A Student's Eye: Perspectives On Campus Culture, 2017

This short story anthology, published on the sidelines of the 2017 edition of the HYD Collective ... more This short story anthology, published on the sidelines of the 2017 edition of the HYD Collective Student’s Summit is an attempt to pave an active starting point in discussing struggles that are facing students in Zimbabwean tertiary education campuses. It therefore establishes what is termed, ‘Campus Culture’ , from the lens of those that experience it. It also triggers the need for rethinking a new line of debate and ideologies that architecture the status quo. Specifically, it notes the lack of national tertiary institution’s policies that respond to identity, sexuality and financial hurdles, as they affect the full potential of student’s prime goal of attaining academic qualifications.
In editing this book, much creativity, shown principally through prose form, style and diction, is left to convey the informality, yet formidable experiences of students within campuses. We hope that you find informative joy in read- ing the stories, but more importantly, trace the journey that eventually nurtures those that become the ‘learned’. This publication does not however entail that the reader considers it as a full and complete account of all exertions that af- fect students on campus, however, the authors highlight most important issues, through their eyes.

Emerging discourses of sex work POLITICS OF SEXUALITY & GENDER IN ZIMBABWE, 2018

Legitimised by Cultural underpinnings, the tormenting of sex workers is often justified and celeb... more Legitimised by Cultural underpinnings, the tormenting of sex workers is often justified and celebrated as cultural defiance to a practice that is threatening the very existence of society. Despite the existence of laws like the human rights charter which stipulates that people should have autonomy over their bodies, these monstrous assaults still persist. On the contrary, despite this ruthless onslaught on sex workers, young people continue to consider it as a lucrative occupational avenue. In the interests of justice, the contributions in this volume unmask the challenges confronting sex workers in Zimbabwe, locating the systematic and systemic flaws that continue to gravitate violent clashes between conservative and progressiveness.
Liberalism and its transcendent effects to the benchmarking of humanity is considered radical and deviant. In the process, this gives legitimacy to ‘what is acceptable and what is not acceptable’ to conservative hardliners. As such, individual persuasions and preferences and, eventually individual freedom is narrowed to visit into what is perceived right by the majority.
In the context of socio-political theory (which motivates this research project), Alexis de Tocqueville and Stuart Mill1 have conceptualised this as the tyranny of the majority. When located in the framework of our immediate social interactions underpinned on less fluid and liberating social norms, which influence policy, one has to grapple with the reality of this tyranny.
With regards to sexuality and identity there is still stalemate on the liberties of the individual which are incriminated by written and unwritten social laws. Consequently, due to linear hard-line views, some sectorial rights in citizen-interest-policy- making initiatives have been marginalised. For instance, sex workers do not exist ontologically in policy-making initiatives in social and political institutions; sex workers only exist as a deviant object deserving the wrath of being social exclusion. Assuch, their representation in policy-making tends to be thin – if not narrow. As such, this motivates a structural analysis to issues relating to marginality of this particular social group – whom through structured systems of conscious and unconscious marginalisation is a threat to individual freedom and human rights at large.
In Zimbabwe, sex work is still illegal and public opinion often condescendingly stigmatises sex workers, which arguably leads to some of the risk factors they face in their daily work. Policy initiatives that respond to their plights are particularly of essence at a time when the world is fighting against health related poverty through the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs). In that regard, this volume intrigues emerging discourses on sex work, stretching within the realms of culture, political economy, public policy and a different genre of sex work. It is inexhaustible in offering solutions, but is sufficient in evoking intellectual meditation and discussions.
The style used by some authors in the volume diverts from orthodox academic writing to a fusion of academic and orthopraxis presentation. Alfred Majani offers a fresh perspective on sex work by illuminating a predominantly silent discourse on sex work which is the plight of LGTT sex workers. Natalie Zimunya focuses on how sexuality has been an omitted factor in the manifesto of all political parties in the run-up to the 2018 elections. Micheal Mhlanga gives a perspective on the need to shift public policy to incorporate emerging dynamics in social and political understandings. Pofela Ndzozi critically focuses on the repositioning of cultural democracy towards a fourth wave of democracy, with nuances that pivot on freedom in sex and power. Richard R. Mahomva critically engages the emerging democratic transitional space in Zimbabwe with a specific bias on policy commitments to “sexual democracy”. The contributions in this volume provoke an informatively radical perspective on the old subject of sex work. Readers may wish to take the ideas as starting thinking points.

Papers by Ndzozi Pofela

Public Policy and Sex Work in Zimbabwe: Towards a Policy Alternative

SSRN Electronic Journal

A Student's Eye: Perspectives On Campus Culture, 2017

This short story anthology, published on the sidelines of the 2017 edition of the HYD Collective ... more This short story anthology, published on the sidelines of the 2017 edition of the HYD Collective Student’s Summit is an attempt to pave an active starting point in discussing struggles that are facing students in Zimbabwean tertiary education campuses. It therefore establishes what is termed, ‘Campus Culture’ , from the lens of those that experience it. It also triggers the need for rethinking a new line of debate and ideologies that architecture the status quo. Specifically, it notes the lack of national tertiary institution’s policies that respond to identity, sexuality and financial hurdles, as they affect the full potential of student’s prime goal of attaining academic qualifications.
In editing this book, much creativity, shown principally through prose form, style and diction, is left to convey the informality, yet formidable experiences of students within campuses. We hope that you find informative joy in read- ing the stories, but more importantly, trace the journey that eventually nurtures those that become the ‘learned’. This publication does not however entail that the reader considers it as a full and complete account of all exertions that af- fect students on campus, however, the authors highlight most important issues, through their eyes.

Emerging discourses of sex work POLITICS OF SEXUALITY & GENDER IN ZIMBABWE, 2018

Legitimised by Cultural underpinnings, the tormenting of sex workers is often justified and celeb... more Legitimised by Cultural underpinnings, the tormenting of sex workers is often justified and celebrated as cultural defiance to a practice that is threatening the very existence of society. Despite the existence of laws like the human rights charter which stipulates that people should have autonomy over their bodies, these monstrous assaults still persist. On the contrary, despite this ruthless onslaught on sex workers, young people continue to consider it as a lucrative occupational avenue. In the interests of justice, the contributions in this volume unmask the challenges confronting sex workers in Zimbabwe, locating the systematic and systemic flaws that continue to gravitate violent clashes between conservative and progressiveness.
Liberalism and its transcendent effects to the benchmarking of humanity is considered radical and deviant. In the process, this gives legitimacy to ‘what is acceptable and what is not acceptable’ to conservative hardliners. As such, individual persuasions and preferences and, eventually individual freedom is narrowed to visit into what is perceived right by the majority.
In the context of socio-political theory (which motivates this research project), Alexis de Tocqueville and Stuart Mill1 have conceptualised this as the tyranny of the majority. When located in the framework of our immediate social interactions underpinned on less fluid and liberating social norms, which influence policy, one has to grapple with the reality of this tyranny.
With regards to sexuality and identity there is still stalemate on the liberties of the individual which are incriminated by written and unwritten social laws. Consequently, due to linear hard-line views, some sectorial rights in citizen-interest-policy- making initiatives have been marginalised. For instance, sex workers do not exist ontologically in policy-making initiatives in social and political institutions; sex workers only exist as a deviant object deserving the wrath of being social exclusion. Assuch, their representation in policy-making tends to be thin – if not narrow. As such, this motivates a structural analysis to issues relating to marginality of this particular social group – whom through structured systems of conscious and unconscious marginalisation is a threat to individual freedom and human rights at large.
In Zimbabwe, sex work is still illegal and public opinion often condescendingly stigmatises sex workers, which arguably leads to some of the risk factors they face in their daily work. Policy initiatives that respond to their plights are particularly of essence at a time when the world is fighting against health related poverty through the Sustainable Developmental Goals (SDGs). In that regard, this volume intrigues emerging discourses on sex work, stretching within the realms of culture, political economy, public policy and a different genre of sex work. It is inexhaustible in offering solutions, but is sufficient in evoking intellectual meditation and discussions.
The style used by some authors in the volume diverts from orthodox academic writing to a fusion of academic and orthopraxis presentation. Alfred Majani offers a fresh perspective on sex work by illuminating a predominantly silent discourse on sex work which is the plight of LGTT sex workers. Natalie Zimunya focuses on how sexuality has been an omitted factor in the manifesto of all political parties in the run-up to the 2018 elections. Micheal Mhlanga gives a perspective on the need to shift public policy to incorporate emerging dynamics in social and political understandings. Pofela Ndzozi critically focuses on the repositioning of cultural democracy towards a fourth wave of democracy, with nuances that pivot on freedom in sex and power. Richard R. Mahomva critically engages the emerging democratic transitional space in Zimbabwe with a specific bias on policy commitments to “sexual democracy”. The contributions in this volume provoke an informatively radical perspective on the old subject of sex work. Readers may wish to take the ideas as starting thinking points.

Public Policy and Sex Work in Zimbabwe: Towards a Policy Alternative

SSRN Electronic Journal