Future Events

Beyond the "post": Theorising South Africa now

1pm - 5pm, Friday 27 April 2012
252 Main Building, Birkbeck College 

In her 2004 Journal of Southern African Studies article, Sarah Nuttall invited us to 'theorise the now' in South Africa, starting from the experiences and cultural politics of city life. This panel will take three further starting points for thinking South Africa in its present condition, rather than being attached to the formulation of the transition, or the condition of "post" - apartheid. Jeremy Seekings will discuss the value of critiques of neo-liberalism in explaining the coexistence of povery and social democracy in South Africa; Tim Gibbs will consider the character and increasing reach of the state in rural areas through a focus on ANC notables; Owen Crankshaw will place an analysis of Johannesburg's labour markets in a comparative international perspective through a critical engagement with global city hypotheses and Jenny Robinson will draw on the example of city-wide strategic policy in Johannesburg to consider the ways in which South African cities now need to be understood in relation to both wider debates in urban studies as well as their extensive empirical engagements with policy ideas from elsewhere. Jonny Steinberg will provide a reflective overview of the issues and ideas that arise from the papers.

Speakers: 
Professor Jeremy Seekings (University of Cape Town and Yale University) 
'Neoliberalism, social democracy and the persistence of poverty in post-apartheid South Africa'
 
Dr Timothy Gibbs (University of Cambridge) 
'Rural South Africa after the collapse of the labour migration system'
 
Professor Jenny Robinson (University College London)
'Johannesburg in a World of Cities: traces of elsewhere in the making of urban policies'

Professor Owen Crankshaw (University of Cape Town) 
'Theorising Racial Inequality in Post-Apartheid South Africa' 

Discussant:  
Dr Jonny Steinberg (Oxford) 
 
 
Tea and coffee will be provided, but please bring your own sandwiches!

Beyond the post_poster 

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