Suchergebnisse

This collection is the result of an exciting approach to the study of creative writing by an academic institution. The opportunity to obtain a Masters Degree for the writing of poetry helped to energise my efforts to put together fifty-three new and unpublished poems. The poems are universal in their outreach, despite the fact that I have a particular life experience as a Black person in South Africa and the world of oppression and exploitation. Love in its various forms is a dominant theme in the writing: love for life, love for humanity, love for beauty, love as an expression of the need to oppose injustice and to strive for human freedom. Love at an intimate and personal level is also given a place of honour in the writing. Issues of political intrigue and concerns about the emergence of new strands of oppression form the sub-text of many of the poems. The need for democratic expression finds a voice in the writing and there is also support for a regenerative energy to strengthen the pillars of human freedom. This diverse collection mirrors the beauty of nature and the personal anguish of the poet. It also seeks to pose questions, about the nature of life and living and our presence, in the cosmos of a greater universe of meaning. I hope the poems succeed in their intention to inspire others.

The Citizen'a Charter characterised citizenship primarily in terms of consumer rights, and in doing so failed to take account of the complexity of the issue. Further over‐simplification occurred when this limited conception of citizenship was extended to victims of crime. The Victim's Charter attempts to define crime victims as consumers of criminal justice service, and in the process conceals some of the choices which are open to them and guides them away from collective action. The Charter has instead promoted the pursuit of managerialist objectives such as increased regulation of the criminal justice professions by their service users, for example by raising victims' expectations of services without negotiating this with service providers or providing the necessary resources. In the process, services to offenders have had to be cut, and central government has been able to dissociate itself from the consequences.