Colonial Traces – Time, Space, Place & The University
n the aftermath of the fanfare of the Wits centenary celebrations, SWOP is continuing to reflect on the moments of challenge, contestation and contradiction that have shaped the university over time. The ‘100 Years of the Colonial University in Africa’ programme aims to cultivate a space for critical reflections on the different ways in which the university has functioned, been experienced, and been responded to in a changing society.
Whites and Democracy in South Africa
SWOP and the Department of Sociology at the University of the Witwatersrand invite you to the launch of a new book by Roger Southall, Whites and Democracy in South Africa.
Critical Engagement with Public Sociology
SWOP in partnership with Rhodes University invites you to the Critical Engagement with Public Sociology Book Launch. Join us for a conversation with the editors and contributors.
The Forgotten Rural Series with MADEYOULOOK
SWOP and Madeyoulook hosted a series of talks, workshops, screenings and listening sessions about land.
100 Years of the Colonial University in Africa? Reflections on #Oct6
As we celebrate Wits in its centenary year, it is also important to reflect on the moments of challenge, contestation, and contradiction that have shaped it over time. SWOP has, therefore, come together with others to cultivate a space for critical reflections on the different ways in which the university has functioned, been experienced, and been responded to in a changing society.
Discussion with the authors of ‘Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World’s Economy’
A discussion with the authors of Shutdown: How Covid Shook the World’s Economy and After the Virus: Lessons from the Past for a Better Future — Adam Tooze, Hilary Cooper and Simon Szreter.
Maternar. Perspectivas críticas desde el arte
SWOP co-hosted an online conference with the Institute for Research in Aesthetic Practices (IIE) and the Museum of Contemporary Art (MUAC) at the Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM). The conference comes out of an exhibition entitled, ‘Mothering. Between Stockholm Syndrome and Acts of Production’.
Inaugural Lecture of Professor Karl Von Holdt: The making and unmaking of social order
We are living in a society which is continuously being made and unmade, made and remade, in a dynamic, contested set of processes that generate confusions, disorder and confrontations – frequently violent. Thinking about this poses problems for sociology (and the social sciences more generally). We are trained to see the pattern in things, to try and discern their underlying structures and forces. We tend to be more comfortable with thinking through a frame of social structure and social order rather than rupture, confrontation, breakdown. Perhaps we need to rethink our categories and concepts, to destabilise them and remake them as well so that they are adequate to the task of understanding the world.
Rojava Revolution Youth Tour
A public forum with a youth delegation from Rojava who will be sharing their experiences of the revolution, democratic confederalism, building a communal economy, and the youth movement.
Living with Uncertainty. Reflections from Mexico and South Africa
A conversation between Helena Chávez and Prishani Naidoo, moderated by Arturo Mendoza. Hosted by UNAM-Sudafrica, UNAM Internacional, The Society, Work and Politics Institute and the Wits School of Arts. Date: 10 June 2022 Time: 11h00 – 12h30 Venue: Seminar Room, Humanities Grad Centre, Ground Floor, South West Engineering Building, Wits University.