Series Editors: John Brewer, Queen’s University, Belfast, North Ireland and Neil McLaughlin, McMaster University, Canada
The Public Sociology series addresses not only what sociologists do, but what sociology is for, and focuses on the commitment to materially improving people’s lives through understanding of the social condition. It showcases the wide diversity of sociological research that addresses the many global challenges that threaten the future of humankind.
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The Public Sociology of Waste
Myra J. Hird
The Public and Their Platforms
Public Sociology in an Era of Social Media
Mark Carrigan and Fatsis Lambros
Public Sociology As Educational Practice
Challenges, Dialogues and Counter-Publics
Edited by Eurig Scandrett
Michael Burawoy, University of California, Berkeley, US
John Brown Childs, University of California Santa Cruz, US
Craig Calhoun, London School of Economics, UK
Frances Fox Pivan, City University of New York, US
John H. Hall, McGill University, Canada
Katie Hughes, Victoria University, Australia
Linda McKie, Durham University, UK
Ann Nilsen, University of Bergen, Norway
Elisa P. Reis, International Panel on Social Progress, Brazil
John Scott, Exeter University, UK
Ari Sitas, University of Cape Town, South Africa
Linda Woodhead, Lancaster University, UK
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A Perspective from the Global South
Edited by
Andries Bezuidenhout, Sonwabile Mnwana and Karl von Holdt
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ISBN 978-1-5292-2114-5 hardcover
ISBN 978-1-5292-2116-9 ePub
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List of Figures and Table vii
Notes on Contributors viii
Acknowledgements x
Series Editors’ Preface xi
Typographical Note xvi
- 1Introduction: Critical Engagement in South Africa and the Global South
Andries Bezuidenhout, Sonwabile Mnwana and Karl von Holdt 1
- 2Critical Engagement and SWOP’s Changing Research Tradition
Andries Bezuidenhout and Karl von Holdt 19
- 3Choosing Sides: The Promise and Pitfalls of a Critically Engaged Sociology in Apartheid South Africa
Edward Webster 44
- 4The Decline of Labour Studies and the Democratic Transition
Sakhela Buhlungu 61
- 5From ‘Critical Engagement’ to ‘Public Sociology’ and Back: A Critique from the South
Karl von Holdt 78
- 6The Antinomies and Opportunities of Critical Engagement in South Africa’s Rural Mining Frontier
Sonwabile Mnwana 106
- 7Sociological Engagement with the Struggle for a Just Transition in South Africa
Jacklyn Cock 123
- 8Feminist Participatory Action Research in African Sex Work Studies
Ntokozo Yingwana 144
- 9Participatory Action Research for Food Justice in Johannesburg: Seeking a More Immediate Impact for Engaged Research
Brittany Kesselman 171
- 10
Dilemmas and Issues Confronting Socially Engaged Research within Universities Aninka Claassens and Nokwanda Sihlali 192
- 11Experiences of Meetings and Cooperation between Academics and Unions: The Work Studies Group from the South (GETSUR)
Dasten Julián Vejar 215
- 12Critically Engaged Sociology in Turkey and ‘Sociology across the South’
Ercüment Çelik 235
- 13Reflections on Critical Engagement
Michael Burawoy 256
- 14Conclusion: Towards a Southern Sociology
Karl von Holdt 265
Index 280
Figures
Table
- 7.1Summary of the differences between the two approaches 139
Andries Bezuidenhout is Professor of Development Studies at the University of Fort Hare, South Africa.
Sakhela Buhlungu is Vice Chancellor of the University of Fort Hare, South Africa.
Michael Burawoy is Professor of Sociology at the University of California, Berkeley, US.
Ercüment Çelik is with the Institut für Soziologie, Albert-Ludwigs-Universität Freiburg (Institute for Sociology, Albert Ludwigs University, Freiburg), Germany.
Aninka Claassens founded the Land and Accountability Research Centre, University of Cape Town in South Africa and is now retired.
Jacklyn Cock is Professor Emerita in the Department of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand and an associate of the Society, Work and Politics Institute, South Africa.
Brittany Kesselman is Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Society, Work and Politics Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Sonwabile Mnwana is Professor of Development Studies in the Department of Sociology at Rhodes University, South Africa.
Nokwanda Sihlali is Researcher at the Land and Accountability Research Centre, University of Cape Town, South Africa.
Dasten Julián Vejar is with the Instituto de Historia y Ciencias Sociales, Universidad Austral de Chile (Institute of History and Social Sciences, Austral
University of Chile). He is also an associate of the Society, Work and Politics Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa. Karl von Holdt is Professor and former Director of the Society, Work and Politics Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Edward Webster is Professor Emeritus and the founder of the Society, Work and Politics Institute at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
Ntokozo Yingwana is Researcher and PhD candidate with the African Centre for Migration and Society (ACMS) at the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa.
We would like to thank the Ford Foundation for funding a programme on Research and Social Justice, matched by the University of the Witwatersrand Research Office, that allowed a number of postdoctoral fellows to join the Society, Work and Politics Institute (SWOP). One of them was Alberto Arribas Lozano, who shook up our thinking on ‘public sociology’ and ‘critical engagement’ with his article ‘Reframing the public sociology debate: Towards collaborative and decolonial praxis’, quoted in many of the chapters of this book. Alberto started out with us on the project of producing this volume before his travels took him elsewhere. We would like to thank him for his critical engagement, his belief in the importance of producing this volume and his friendship. We would also like to thank the Friedrich-Ebert-Stiftung, South Africa, for funding the initial workshop in 2018, which led to the production of this book. Sonwabile Mnwana wants to thank the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study (STIAS) for dedicated time to concentrate on writing. We would like to thank the editors of this series, John Brewer and Neil McLaughlin, as well as Shannon Kneis at Bristol University Press, who guided us through the review and revision process. We also thank the two anonymous reviewers for their recommendations. Then, we give our appreciation to Sakhela Buhlungu for agreeing to reproduce his article on South African labour studies in this volume. The book would have been incomplete without his voice. We would like to thank Eddie Webster for his contribution not just to this book but to shaping and theorizing the South African tradition of critically engaged research. We would like to acknowledge Michael Burawoy, a long-standing inspiration and partner in sociology as combat sport, and thank him for his contribution to this volume. Finally, we would like to thank Prishani Naidoo, the current director of SWOP, for her support for this project.
