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The three volumes before us comprise the second title in the “Elgar Reference Collection” of Critical Ideas in Economics, a new series which, we learn from the book cover, aims to provide “an essential reference source for students, researchers and lecturers in economics.” Each volume in the series will bring together a collection of previously-published articles and book-chapters which “focuses on [a] concept widely used in economics,” and will thereby “improve access to important areas of literature which will not be available in the archives of many of the newer libraries.” No one can deny that Professor Walker’s topic is ideally suited to this stated intent; is there a concept more “widely used in economics” than that of equilibrium? A collection of previously-published items cannot, of course, be appraised in terms of the originality of its content. Such a work offers a different sort of contribution. In addition to the publisher’s stated aim of an improved access to those key articles which, either because of their age or the location of their publication, are not widely available, a work such as this can perform a function not unlike that which Weintraub (1991, pp. 129–130) ascribes to the survey article. The act of selection (and, hence, of exclusion) serves to delineate the field for the non-specialist, and the ordering of the items in the collection can reveal instructive lines of intellectual development – a “filiation of scientific ideas” to adopt Schumpeter’s (1954, p. 6) felicitous phrase – that otherwise might be obscured.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the perceptions of university undergraduate students who originate from disadvantaged South African schools. The perceptions probed are those that relate to their material circumstances, learning and teaching environment and academic progress.

The paper draws on a theoretical framework that underscores the primacy of the environment blended with transition theory to explain environmental influences on disadvantaged students’ academic progression at university. Data were gathered through detailed face-to-face interviews with eight participants and from the open-ended section of a questionnaire administered to 41 students from which the 8 students were drawn.

The findings demonstrate that disadvantaged students require both physical and socio-psychological support in order to succeed at university.

A university in South Africa and the students from low quintile schools provide the case study for the explication of the findings of this study. Ethical issues such as seeking the informed consent of the participants to access their academic records weighed against the potency or robustness of the results of this study, because few of the participants allowed this researcher to access their results. Thus, this study focussed on potentially sensitive areas such as the academic records of students and poverty. As such it was extremely difficult to persuade disadvantaged students to participate in this study.

The study is thus useful for the school system, families and higher education institutions in the quest to provide the much-needed socio-psychological or “empathetic infrastructure” that acts as the cytoplasm for disadvantaged students’ academic progress at university.

By invoking the primacy of the environment under the rubrics of epigenetics, this study also sought to contribute to the debate around the human genome – a grand ambitious global scientific project launched in the late 1980s to generate a catalogue of all the genes present in humans. However, this was a smokescreen because there are simply not enough genes to account for the complexity of the human life or human disease. By invoking the theory of transition, this study sought to fathom how to promote a favourable teaching and learning environment for poor students at university in a holistic manner.

This study utilised an empirically supported definition of disadvantage: that of students coming from no fee schools, as classified by the Department of Education based on Household Expenditure statistics of 2002 using the quintile system. The quintile system is based on average measures of income, unemployment rates and educational levels. To date, there is no published research utilising the school quintile system to define disadvantaged students in higher education in South Africa. This paper, which investigates such a sample from a university, is therefore ground-breaking and novel.

DURING THE last two years nothing has appealed to the imagination of the students of the Day Continuation Department of the Walker Technical College more than improvised Drama — the creation of a play from a given situation, introduced as an experiment with the object of showing the students something of the recent developments in the Theatre inspired by Joan Littlewood and the Theatre Workshop, it provided a stimulating and satisfying educational experience for both students and lecturers. As an activity it proved to have considerable educational value and established a claim to be included in all courses of General Education.

The purpose of this paper is to contribute a broader understanding of the complexity in relationships of power and responsibility in employability in higher education contexts and posits a conceptual framework for employability as a process, something to be achieved.

This conceptual paper arises from experience of and research into placement practices and draws upon Joan Tronto’s feminist epistemology (1993, 2012) to argue for a critical understanding of employability.

There is little in the literature that discusses employability as a process involving moral and political work. The conceptual framework offers a process of five phases to provide a foundation for understanding employability that moves beyond a focus on skills and attributes.

The conceptual framework enables all employability professionals, including researchers, to think beyond skills and attributes for employment to explore the implications of the relations that shape the need for employability within and outside their sphere.

Developing a conceptual framework enables employability professionals to evaluate their practices and assess: if practices are inclusive or excluding; the implications of power and responsibility; the tensions arising from the diverse nature of need in employability work.

This paper posits a conceptual framework for understanding the process of employability work as something to be achieved.

Purpose – Ecological cohousing communities, or ecovillages, are emerging as contemporary housing models that attempt to recreate a sense of community and encourage an environmentally sustainable lifestyle. This chapter analyzes a rural ecovillage (Ecovillage at Ithaca – EVI) to find out how the community conceptualizes and practices sustainability. The chapter also examines whether and how the community incorporates issues of equity and social justice into its activities.

Design/methodology/approach – The chapter uses a multi-method approach. It is a case study; however, participant observation was conducted at the site. In addition, interviews with residents were conducted and archival materials from the community's newsletters as well city government documents were also used.

Findings – As practiced at EVI, the green lifestyle emphasizes comfortable living that is both esthetically appealing and good for the environment. In making the decision to focus on building a community for the middle class, residents have limited their engagement with social justice issues and have struggled with incorporating minorities and the poor into their community.

Originality/value – This is one of the first papers to analyze the ecovillages from an environmental justice perspective. It shows where there are overlaps between the ecovillage and environmental justice movements. The chapter also fits into a growing body of scholarship that examines the concept of sustainability from a social justice perspective also.