The developmental state, the dysfunctional state

Research has been conducted into the dysfunctionality and service delivery failures of public hospitals, and from 2009 it has been expanded into other sectors of the state in a joint project with the Presidency. The intention is to run a series of seminars bringing together front-line workers, technical workers and policy experts to explore service delivery blockages in different sectors of the national, provincial and local state, and produce an edited volume comprising these case studies. A paper was presented at the HSRC Conference on the Developmental State, and will be published as a book chapter in 2009. Research continues on this project, towards the writing of a book length manuscript on the relationship between hospital dysfunctionality and precarious society, the attempt to transform the functioning of Chris Hani Baragwanath Hospital, and the implications of this for the developmental state. This project is led by Dr Karl von Holdt.