​Seminar 2015

Home » Faculties of Humanities » Departments » Sociology » Seminar » ​Seminar 2015

Dear Colleagues and Members of the Public

You are cordially invited to attend the UJ Sociology, Anthropology & Development Studies Wednesday Seminar. The weekly seminar has been hosted by the Department of Sociology since 2000. It is supported by the UJ Faculty of Humanities and the UJ Department of Anthropology & Development Studies. Meetings are held on UJ’s Auckland Park Kingsway campus, at 15h30 on every Wednesday afternoon during term time, unless otherwise indicated.

Prospective presenters are encouraged to contact Dr Tapiwa Chagonda at tchagonda@uj.ac.za.

Please find the current programme below. A written paper is usually distributed on this website, to allow participants to read this in advance of the seminar. Confirmed presenters should please copy their written papers in electronic format to Dr Liela Groenewald by two weeks prior to presentation, using e-mail address lielagr@uj.ac.za. Those who wish to be added to the mailing list are welcome to send a request to the same e-mail address.

Guests are asked to arrive at the venue by 15:25. 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 (scroll down for map). It may be helpful to show an invitation to the guard on duty.

Best wishes
Dr Kezia Batisai, Dr Tapiwa Chagonda, Prof Kammila Naidoo, and Prof Tina Uys
Convenors: Wednesday Seminar

First term 2015: Repertoires of Violence

4 Feb: Prof Ashwin Desai (UJ Dept of Sociology): ‘An Aerotropol​is Lands in Durban: Exploring the “Satanic Geographies” of Fast Capitalism​’. Discussant: Prof Patrick Bond (Centre for Civil Society, University of Kwa-Zulu-Natal). (1/2015)

11 Feb: Dr Suzanne Graham (UJ Dept of Politics): ‘World of the Wars: Reflections on International Conflict’. Discussant: Dr i Hlatswayo (UJ Centre for Education Rights and Transformation). (2/2015)

18 Feb: Gareth Newham (Institute for Security Studies): ‘What Can Be Done to Improve Policing and Reduce Crime in South Africa?​’. (Background piece.) Discussant: Prof Anton Senekal (UJ Dept of Sociology). (3/2015)

25 Feb: Dr Anna Hedlund (UJ / SARCHI Chair in Social Change): ‘ “We’re Just Simple Soldiers: Victim and Perpetrator Identities among Hutu Rebels in the Eastern Congo’. Discussant: Dr Fritz Nganje (UJ / SARCHI Chair in African Diplomacy and Foreign Policy). (4/2015)

4 March: Prof Liz Gunner (UJ C-FAR / Centre for Anthropological Research): ‘Violence, the Occult, and the Everyday: A Radio Zulu Drama of the 1980s​’. Discussant: Prof Brenda Mhlambi (Wits Department of African Languages). (5/2015)

11 March: Prof Brian Raftopoulos (Centre for Humanities Research, University of the Western Cape) and Prof David Moore​ (UJ Department of Anthropology & Development Studies): ‘The Dialectics of Coercion and Consent in Zimbabwe’. Discussant: Dr Tapiwa Chagonda (UJ Department of Sociology). (6/2015)

18 March: Term-end film screening. Discussant: Claire Ceruti (SARCHI Chair in Social Change). *Venue: Faculty of Humanities Common Room, C-Ring 319. (7/2015)

Second Term 2015: Migration and Xenophobia

25 March: Dr Sally Peberdy (Gauteng City Region Observatory): ‘Migrant Entrepreneurs in Johannesburg’. Discussant: Dr Tanya Zack (Urban Planner). (8/2015)

15 April: Dr Reason Beremauro (Centre for the Study of Governance Innovation (GovInn), University of Pretoria): ‘ “Victimising the victims?” Migration narrative and xenophobic violence in South Africa’. Discussant: Dr Shepherd Mpofu (UJ Department of Communication). (9/2015)

22 April: Dr Godfrey Tawodzerwa (Department of Geography and Environmental Studies, University of Limpopo): ‘The Third Wave: Mixed Migration from Zimbabwe to South Africa’. Discussant: Dr Obvious Katsaura (Department of Sociology, University of the Witwatersrand). (10/2015)

29 April: Ms Pragna Rugunanan (UJ Department of Sociology): Historical overview of Migration in Fordsburg. Discussant: Dr Midas Chiawane (UJ Department of Historical Studies). (11/2015)

6 May: Elina Hankela (Research Institute of Theology and Religion, UNISA, and Department of Theology, University of Helsinki): ‘Young migrants and belonging in Johannesburg: A liberation theological exploration’. Discussant: Dr Maria Frahm-Arp (UJ Department of Religion Studies). (12/2015)

13 May: Prof Philip Harrison (Wits / NRF SA Research Chair in Development Planning and Modeling): ‘Strategy and Tactics: Chinese Immigrants and Diasporic Spaces in Johannesburg, South Africa’. Discussant: Prof Grace Khunou (UJ Department of Sociology). (13/2015)

20 May: Term-end film screening. Discussant: Rutendo Hadebe (Department of Sociology, University of Cape Town) *Venue: Faculty of Humanities Common Room (C-Ring 3). (14/2015)

Third term 2015: Re-Imagining and Re-Thinking ‘Freedom’ 60 Years after the Freedom Charter

15 July: Presenter: Prof Jan Fritz (University of Cincinnati, USA): ‘Moving Past Hard Times: Improving the Status of Women and Girls’. Discussant: Dr Bronwyn Dworzanowski-Venter (Research Associate, UJ). (15/2015)

22 July: Presenter: Dr Ibrahim Steyn (Post-Doc, UCT): ‘Putting Social Movement Research in its Place: A Review of the Debate on Intellectuals and Social Movements in South Africa​’. Discussant: Bandile Mdlalose (Research Assistant, UKZN). (16/2015)

29 July: Presenter: Terblanche Delport (Philosophy, UNISA): ‘Robert Mangaliso Sobukwe’s Social Imaginary: The Ethical Implications of an Africanist Critique’. Discussant: Dr Mondli Hlatshwayo (Education Rights & Transformation, UJ). (17/2015)

5 August: Presenter: Prof John Saul (York University, Canada): ‘South Africa’s Freedom Charter and Its Legacy: Reflections on Anti-Colonial Programmes, Post-Colonial Practices, And Possibilities for the Future’. Discussants: Prof Ben Turok (Institute for African Alternatives (IFAA), Cape Town); Judge Albie Sachs (Cape Town). Introduction​ by Prof David Moore (UJ Departmnet of Anthropology & Development Studies. *Co-hosted with Chair for Social Change, and Departments of Politics and History at UJ. *Venue: Auckland Park Kingsway (APK) Campus Library Auditorium. (18/2015)

12 August: Presenter: Prof Michael Yarbrough (Politics​, John Jay College of Criminal Justice (CUNY, USA). ‘By the Authority Vested: The Sociolegal Production of Marital Status in South Africa and Beyond’. Discussant: Dr Kezia Batisai (Sociology, UJ). (19/2015)

19 August: Presenter: Prof Raymond Suttner (Emeritus Prof, UNISA & Rhodes): ‘Re-Thinking Freedom: Re-Reading the Freedom Charter @60’. Discussant: Prof Michael Neocosmos (UHURU, Rhodes University). (20/2015)

26 August: Screening of ‘What Happened to Mbuyisa?’ [Mbuyisa is the young man carrying Hector Pieterson in the famous image of June 16]. Discussant: Feizel Mamdoo (Filmmaker). *Venue: Faculty of Humanities Common Room. (21/2015)

Fourth term 2015: Transformation in South African Higher Education

9 September: Prof Adam Habib (Vice Chancellor, Wits University): ‘Transcending the Past and Reimagining the Future of the South African University’. Discussant: Prof Thad Metz (UJ Faculty of Humanities). *Venue: C-Ring3 near Common Room. (22/2015)

16 September: Dr Sikhumbuzo Mngadi (UJ Dept of English): ‘Means and Ends, or How (not) To Talk About Transformation in Higher Education?​’. Discussant: Prof Liz Gunner (UJ C-FAR / Centre for Anthropological Research). (23/2015)

23 September: Dr Kezia Batisai (UJ Dept of Sociology): ‘The Place and Voice of Black (Non-South) African Academics in the Transformation Discourse’. Discussant: Dr Irma du Plessis (Department of Sociology, University of Pretoria). (24/2015)

30 September: Prof Pedro Tabensky ( Allan Gray Centre for Leadership Ethics, Rhodes University): ‘IiNtetho Zo​Bomi: Pedagogy for a Better World’. Discussant: Pura Mgolombane (Manager: Diversity, Ethics & Social Justice, Wits University). (25/2015)

7 October: Prof Salim Vally (UJ Centre for Education Rights and Transformation): ‘Key Issues in the Transformation / Decolonisation of Post-School Education’. Discussant: Dr Mondli Hlatswayo (UJ Centre for Education Rights and Transformation). (26/2015)

14 October: Prof Colin Chasi (UJ School of Communication / Faculty of Humanities): ‘Transformation, Renaissance, Metamorphosis or Resurrection: Some Questions for African Scholars’. Discussant: Dr Nyasha Mboti (UJ Dept of Communication Studies). (27/2015)

21 October: Term-end film screening: Luister, a documentary by Open Stellenbosch. Discussant: Prof Rob Pattman (Dept of Sociology, Stellenbosch University). Cancelled.