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Archeology and Decoloniality by Nick Shepherd, Cristobal Gnecco and Alejandro Haber "The discipline of archeology has been generally absent from the contemporary discussion about decoloniality and critiques of colonialism and modernity. This book aims to correct that situation. Our intention is that the three essays that make up the book should be an opening statement in the engagement between archeology and decoloniality. On the one hand, we offer a specifically archaeological perspective on decolonial thought and practice. On the other hand, we present a decolonial perspective on archaeological guiding ideas and forms of practice, as a transformative project in an undisciplined archeology." |
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The Mendi Centenary Project 2017 Through the arts and the academy, this project commemorates the sinking of the SS Mendi that occurred on 21 February 1917, during the First World War. It seeks to pay tribute to the South African Native Labour Contingent, and the men on the Mendi who died en route to fight for their dignity and human rights through service to the war effort. |
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JM Coetzee, winner of the 2003 Nobel Prize for Literature, comments: “Human archaeology in southern Africa has since its beginnings been implicated in the projects of evolutionism and biological racism. Nick Shepherd’s delvings into the underground of the discipline are part of an honourable effort to save archaeology from its past, an effort that starts with recognizing dig sites for what they have always been: the sacred ground of the dispossessed. The Mirror in the Ground offers us a fresh way of looking at the photographic archive, with a commentary as moving and compassionate as it is unsettling” (April 2014). |
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| Beyond Parliament: Human Rights and the Politics of Social Change in the Global South by Horman Chitonge |  |
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| In Beyond Parliament Horman Chitonge offers a unique combination of the conceptual dimensions with the practical examples of human rights discourse deployed as an instrument for social change in the global south. He uses the right to water and the right to food to illustrate that human rights are never given on a silver platter; giving effect to human rights is always an outcome of a continuous struggle to protect human dignity and value. To implement this view of human rights, the book argues, requires going beyond the parliamentary politics of recognising and acknowledging human rights in statutes and bill of rights to the radical democratic politics of giving effect to the recognised rights, especially among the poor and marginalised. | |||
| Economic Growth and Development in Africa: Understanding trends and prospects by Horman Chitonge |  |
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| Horman Chitonge, University of Cape Town, South Africa; Series: Routledge Studies in African Development This book analyses the accounts of Africa’s economic growth and development experiences, including the current Africa Rising Narrative, from multidisciplinary perspectives. It is a critical assessment of the explanations given for the widely acknowledged poor economic growth and development performance in Africa, prior to the 2000s. It uniquely tries to locate African intellectuals and scholars in the construction of Africa’s economic growth and development portraits over the years. It also provides a detailed analysis of how the World Bank and the IMF have interpreted and dealt with the African development challenges and experiences. |
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| Papers from the Pre-Colonial Catalytic Project vol. 1 Edited by Lungisile Ntsebeza & Chris Saunders |  |
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| As part of the new Humanities Initiative of the Department of Higher Education and Training, the University of Cape Town (UCT)’s Centre for African Studies (CAS) was given a grant in 2012 ‘to coordinate a network of researchers from at least three institutions (other than UCT) located in different provinces in order to construct a history of broader South Africa from the 11th – 16th centuries’. The Director of CAS, Professor Lungisile Ntsebeza, communicated with a range of scholars from various universities and research institutions in South Africa to elicit their interest in this project. | |||
| African Studies In The Post-Colonial University, Edited by Thandabantu Nhlapo and Harry Garuba |  |
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| Universities always are, and always have been, complex institutions, with many purposes, interests and constituencies that do not seamlessly align. In the case of African universities, these institutions must play key roles in the provision of the skills and expertise that drive economic and social advancement, as well as global competitiveness. In addition, we must confront the damage done by centuries of colonial exploitation of minds and bodies, and the racism that undergirded it. | |||
| Land Use and Rural Livelihood in Africa Project (LURLAP) Update February 2014 |  |
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| LURLAP which is a collaborative research project, currently involving researchers from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Zambia (UNZA), was initiated in 2011, following the exchange visits between project team members from the two institutions in 2010. For details about this project please refer to the project brief. | |||
| The AC Jordan Chair |  |
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| The AC Jordan Chair in the field of African Studies was established at the University of Cape Town (UCT) in 1993 and is named after Archibald Campbell Mzolisa Jordan who was a pioneer in the field of African Studies under Apartheid.
According to Professor Lungisile Ntsebeza, the holder of the Chair and Director of the Centre for African Studies, Africans (in particular South Africans) do not know enough about their own continent and have yet to prioritise a meaningful study of African issues. The AC Jordan Chair aims to address this challenge by championing the integration of African Studies into teaching and learning at undergraduate and postgraduate level within the various Faculties at UCT. |
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