The Futures of Care: Community Responses to Extraction in South Africa and Canada Project at the University of the Witwatersrand is now accepting applications from MA students for scholarships for the 2025 academic year.
In countries such as South Africa and Canada, resource extraction is often viewed as an unavoidable reality. It is central to what is considered economic development, and it shapes the political imaginary in both countries. However, an emphasis on extraction-as-development obscures the diverse impacts of mining on the land, environment, climate change, land-based livelihoods, and how these affect women and youth.
Futures of Care: Community Responses to Extraction in South Africa and Canada uses a gendered approach to examine how communities respond to mining activities. The project centres on Indigenous and black/African women’s and youths’ distinct experiences in mining regimes and their caring labours that both sustain their communities through/within extractivism and offer an alternative pathway beyond it. In Canada, students affiliated with Queen’s University are studying responses to extraction in the Northwest Territories and Nunavut, while applicants from South Africa, enrolled at Wits University, will have the opportunity to research in Lephalale, situated in the Limpopo Province.
We welcome applications from MA students interested in conducting research in any field within the Humanities and Social Sciences. The scholarship will be awarded to two Masters by Research candidates. Successful applicants will immerse themselves in a robust, supportive, collaborative, interdisciplinary, and transnational research setting. Students who are intrigued by questions related to the following topics are encouraged to apply:
- Care work in extractive economies
- Understanding the everyday experiences of women or the youth in coal-affected areas
- Work, resilience, and imagined futures by the youth or women
- The impacts of climate change or energy transitions on women or the youth
- Alternative community development strategies in extractive regimes
- Meanings and relations to the land in coal-mined areas
The value of the scholarship:
MA scholarships @ R120 000 per annum
Eligibility and requirements:
Excellent Honours results
A research project that focuses on the core themes
Application process:
Your application should include:
- A detailed and up to date CV.
- Names and contact details (including email addresses), of two academic references.
- Certified copies of degrees.
- An academic transcript.
Please submit your application to Lucinda.Becorny@wits.ac.za by the 28 February 2025
