Seminar 2009
Seminar 2009
UJ Sociology, Anthropology & Development Studies Wednesday Seminar – 2009
Dear colleagues and guests
You are cordially invited to attend the UJ Sociology, Anthropology & Development StudiesWednesday Seminar. The weekly seminar is co-hosted by the UJ Department of Sociology and the Department of Anthropology & Development Studies.The seminar meets in UJ’s Anthropology and Development Studies Seminar Room at DRing 506, at 15h30 on every Wednesday afternoon during term time, unless otherwise indicated. When possible, please arrive by 15:25. A written paper is usually distributed on this website, to allow participants to read this in advance of the seminar. Please find the programme below.
Those coming from outside the UJ are advised to enter the campus through Gate 2 on the corner of Ditton and Ripley Streets and to park in Car Park B. It may be helpful to show an invitation to the guard on duty. Confirmed presenters are asked to email their papers to Liela Groenewald by 10 days prior to the presentation. Should you be interested in presenting a paper, please contact the conveners,
Liela Groenewald, Letitia Smuts or Prof Sakhela Buhlungu.
Tina Uys (Professor of Sociology) and Thea de Wet (Professor of Anthropology & Development Studies)
First term 2009
4 Feb: ‘2009 – Election year’. Panel discussion with Prof Adam Habib (Deputy Vice-Chancellor, UJ), Christi van der Westhuizen (Analyst, author and award-winning journalist) and Prof Sakhela Buhlungu (UJ Department of Sociology). This first seminar of 2009 will take place in the Humanities faculty Common Room at CRing 3.
11 Feb: Prof Thea de Wet (Vice-dean: Research, UJ Faculty of Humanities) on ‘Settlement types and their impact on health and wellbeing’ (research report). Discussant: Prof Marie Huchzermeyer (Wits School of Architecture and Planning).
18 Feb: Prof Steven Friedman (Director: Centre for Democracy) on ‘A sympathetic kind of colonisation? The culture of democracy’ – a chapter from his forthcoming book on democratic theory, involving a critique of current anthropological writing on specifically African understandings of democracy. Discussant: Dr Mcebisi Ndletyana (Human Sciences Research Council).
25 Feb: Zahraa McDonald (Doctoral student, UJ Department of Sociology) on ‘A sociologist’s experience of the pilgrimage to Makkah from South Africa’. Discussant: Na’eem Jeenah (Director: Afro-Middle East Centre and coordinator: Masjidul Islam in Johannesburg) (earlier article).
4 March: Karen Nortjé (Council for Scientific and Industrial Research) and Nikki Funke(CSIR) on ‘Resilience thinking on the natural and social science knowledge schism’ (paper by Sherwood, Funke, Nortjé and Van Wyk). Discussant: Dr Colin Menter (UJ Department of Anthropology & Development Studies) and Prof Nico Kotzé (UJ Department of Geography).
11 March: Dr Lephophotho Mashike (UJ Department of Sociology) on ‘ “The programme is the property of the community”: An appraisal of the National Peace Accord Trust’s approaches to community interventions, 1994 – 2000’. Discussant: Dr Ashwin Desai (UJ Centre for Sociological Research).
Thu 12 March, special lunchtime seminar, 13h00 – 14h00: Dr Edith Phaswana (UJ Department of Anthropology & Development Studies) on ‘Youth participation in South Africa: experiences of settings’. Discussant: Bernice Hlagala (Director and Senior Policy Analyst, Youth Desk: Policy and Advisory Unit (PCAS) in The Presidency).
18 March: Prof Deborah Posel (Director: Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research) on ‘Races to consume: The politics of consumption in South Africa’ (no paper). Discussant: Prof Sakhela Buhlungu (UJ Department of Sociology).
25 March: Screening of ‘Scorched earth’, a film by Regardt van den Bergh that takes account of the impact of the South African war on members of the black community. Discussion led by Prof Jonathan Hyslop (Institute for Advanced Studies and Deputy Director: Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research) with reference to the paper ‘The invention of the concentration camp: 1896 – 1907’. The first of our new, regular series of term-end film screenings.
Second term 2009
15 April: Prof Simon Bekker (Department of Sociology, Stellenbosch University) on ‘Xenophobia and violence in South Africa: a desktop study of the trends and a scan of explanations offered’ (paper by Bekker, Eigelaar-Meets, Eva and Poole). Discussants: Nomfundo Mogapi (Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation) and Dr Noor Nieftagodien (History Workshop, University of the Witwatersrand).
22 April: No seminar due to elections.
Tue 28 April, special lunchtime seminar, 13h00 – 14h00: ‘2009 Election results’ with Prof David Moore (UJ Department of Anthropology & Development Studies), Ebrahim Fakir(Electoral Institute of Southern Africa) and Aubrey Matshiqi (Centre for Policy Studies). This event hosted together with the CSR and Development Studies seminar.
29 April: Dr Fraser McNeill (Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science) on ‘ “Condoms cause Aids”: Poison, prevention and denial in Venda’. Discussant: Prof Robert Thornton (Department of Anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand).
6 May: Joanna Vearey (Forced Migration Studies Programme, University of the Witwatersrand) on ‘Non-citizen access to antiretroviral treatment in Johannesburg’. Discussant: Marlise Richter (Steven Biko Centre for Bioethics, University of the Witwatersrand).
13 May: Prof Natasha Erlank (UJ Centre for Culture and Language in Africa) on ‘The link between Christianity and the rise of African nationalism’. Discussant: Annie Leatt (Doctoral candidate, Wits Institute for Social and Economic Research).
Thu 14 May, special lunchtime seminar, 13h00 – 14h00: Pragna Rugunanan (UJ Department of Sociology) on ‘Human smuggling activities at South African ports of entries’.
20 May: Screening of ‘Tapologo’, a film by Gabriela & Sally Gutierrez Dewar (88 minutes) that takes account of the impact of mining migrancy on women in surrounding communities. Discussant: Dr David Dickinson (Wits Business School).
Third term anniversary programme
– Celebrating 10 years and 250 seminars in the UJ Department of Sociology seminar series –
15 July: Prof Lungisile Ntsebeza (Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town) on ‘Land rights of rural women in South Africa’s former Bantustans: then and now’. [Suggested background reading: ‘Land, Power and Custom’ (2008) edited by Aninka Claassens and Ben Cousins.] Discussant: Andile Mngxitama (New Frank Talk).
22 July: Dr Yvonne Muthien (The Dinokeng Scenarios and 2002 recipient of the presidential award, The Order of the Grand Councelor of the Boabab in Silver) on ‘Three futures for South Africa’. Discussant: Prof Alan Mabin (Head: Wits School of Architecture and Planning). The venue for this event will be the Faculty of Humanities Common Roomat CRing 2 on the Kingsway campus.
29 July: Dr Wilbert Sadombo (UJ Department of Anthropology & Development Studies) on ‘A decade of war veterans-led occupations, 1998-2009: Politics, state and land in Zimbabwe’. Discussant: Prof David Moore (UJ Department of Anthropology & Development Studies).
5 Aug: Water seminar. Discussant: Carina van Rooyen (UJ Department of Anthropology & Development Studies). To be confirmed.
12 Aug: Surviving Darwin: a panel discussion to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the publication of ‘The Origins of the Species’. Panelists: Prof Trefor Jenkins (Prof Emeritus: Human Genetics, University of the Witwatersrand), Dr Andrew Gallagher (UJ Department of Anthropolgy and Development Studies) and Dr Katharine Vincent (School of Geography, Archaeology and Environmental Sciences, University of the Witwatersrand).
Fri 14 Aug at 15:00: Special seminar to celebrate 10 years (in 2009) and 250 meetings (during this third term) of the seminar series. Dr Bonginkosi ‘Blade’ Nzimande, minister of higher education, will speak on ‘Dilemmas facing higher education and the social sciences in South Africa’. Discussant: Prof Angina Parekh (UJ Deputy vice chancellor: Academic). This meeting will take place in the Protea Auditorium at the School of Tourism and Hospitality on the Bunting Rd campus. Please join us in toasting this milestone.
19 Aug: Dr Bram Buscher (Institute of Social Studies, The Hague and UJ Department of Geography) on ‘Derivitave nature: Interrogating the value of speculative conservation in a time of capitalist crises’. Discussant: Dr Wilson Akpan (Department of Sociology, Fort Hare University).
26 Aug: Screening of ‘1000 Days and a Dream’, a film by P Baburaj and C Saratchandran (60 minutes). Discussion led by Dr Laïla Smith (Mvula Water Trust).
Fourth term 2009
9 Sept: Prof Robert Thornton (Department of Anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand) on ‘Sexual networks as social capital’. Discussant: Prof Tina Uys (UJ Department of Sociology).
16 Sept: Tessa Dooms (North West University) on ‘Let’s talk about sex, religion and adolescent sexuality’. Discussant: Prof Natasha Erlank (UJ Centre for Culture and Languages in Africa).
23 Sept: To be confirmed: no seminar due to public holiday on 24th.
30 Sept: Letitia Smuts (UJ Department of Sociology) on ‘Living the L-word: Black and white lesbians in Johannesburg’. Discussant: Dr Jessica Murray (UJ CCLA).
7 Oct: Bronwyn Dworzanowski (UJ Department of Sociology) on ‘“Well in our culture a man does not like to be told by a woman to this and this and this … We were men nursing men”: Reflections on masculine care, professionalisation and colonial reinventions in South Africa’. Discussant: Prof Catherine Burns ( Reproductive Health and HIV Research Unit) – to be confirmed.
14 Oct: Prof Max Bergman (University of Basel and UJ) on ‘Conceptual mapping of social exclusion and poverty’. Discussant: Dr Chris Malikane (Wits School of Business and Economic Sciences).
21 Oct: Screening of ‘Gathering the scattered cousins’, a film by Akin Omotoso that takes account of migration and identity (48 minutes). Discussion led by Akin Omotoso (T.O.M. Pictures). (32/2009)