2012 Conferences
REWORK Summer School
The international research centre IGK Work and Human Lifecycle in Global History (Humboldt-University in Berlin) and the History Workshop at Witwatersrand University organized an International Summer Academy entitled “Work, Generation and Life Course“. The event took place from 1-8 December in Magaliesburg near Johannesburg. The Summer Academy focused on the connections between work and life course in various regional contexts and from a historical angle.
The need for an intensive engagement with these issues arises from a fundamental redefinition of work and generation/ life course that has emerged along with rapid globalisation. Therefore the Summer Academy focused methodologically on historical perspectives that investigate global interconnections and entanglements and employ methodologies of comparison. The critical reflection of general comparative notions such as ‘work and labour,’ ‘generation,’ ‘life course,’ ‘intergenerational changes’ and ‘labour process’ were part of the individual projects presented at the Summer Academy.
In this context, 16 young researchers at the doctoral level from European as well as non-European countries were invited to spend a week together and to present their work as well as to comment on a project of a peer. Moreover it was obligatory that all participants hand in an essay on specific topics related to the summer schools theme prior to the event. In addition to that, they had the opportunity to discuss key questions that this specific field entails with regards to content and method with senior scholars, e.g. Philip Bonner, Fred Cooper, Andreas Eckert.
The idea was to give the students input on their papers, their research, their fieldwork conducted so far and theoretical texts that could help them make sense of the data they have found so far. Further they had the chance to receive input on other students' papers and to have theoretical text debates.
The seniors came from different parts of the world, different disciplines and different outlooks as well as different theoretical groundings. Their impact played a crucial role in the discussions and the students appreciated their comments on the individual papers very much. They found it encouraging for the progress on their own work in general. Each presentation was followed by an intensive long discussion which usually even didn't end after the respective session. All presentations were a way of opening up the floor and it remained open until the very last day.
Also the informal part of the Summer School was positive. Informal contact periods, during tea breaks, dinner and lunch times as well as on excursions were academically and socially important. The excursions to Johannesburg, the Apartheid Museum, Soweto and the Diamond Mine in Cullinan were organised to show different sides of South Africa.
OLD LAND AND NEW PRACTICES CONFERENCE
Old Land – New Practices (OLNP) was organised as a joint initiative between Rhodes University, University of the Free State and University of the Witwatersrand. It was inspired by conversations amongst attendees of the Nature Inc. conference, held at the Institute for Social Sciences (ISS) at The Hague in June 2011, regarding the complex issues surrounding land, conservation, and ‘security’ within an African context. OLNP was therefore conceptualised around these issues, and sought to contribute to development and sharing of knowledge and expertise with an explicitly pan-African focus. It engaged with the nexus between post-colonial land use changes and conservation initiatives across the continent at both the theoretical and practical level.
An important outcome of the OLNP was a special issue in the Journal of Contemporary African Studies (JCAS), which includes articles based on papers that were presented at the conference. The best student paper, entitledRasTafari Bossiedokters and the Challenges of Transforming Nature Conservation in the Boland Area, was awarded to Lennox Olivier from Stellenbosch University and is included in the JCAS special issue. It can be downloaded from
http://www.tandfonline.com/toc/cjca20/current#.UeZZPI03Bb4
The organising committee, consisting of George Barrett (Rhodes), Jenny Josefsson (UFS), Nqobile Zulu (Wits) and Shirley Brooks (formerly UFS, now UWC) would like to thank all the participants as well as our respective institutions for their support and contributions. We would also like to thank our guest speakers, Saliem Fakir from WWF, Prof. Cherryl Walker from Stellenbosch University, Mrs Luzaan Isaacs from the City of Cape Town’s Biodiversity Management Branch, and Prof. Sam Moyo from AIAS. Prof Bram Büscher (ISS) and Prof Maano Ramutsindela (UCT) also provided invaluable advice and support throughout the entire process.
For more information about the OLNP initiative, the programme, or the papers presented, please e-mail Jenny Josefsson josefsson.jenny@gmail.com; George Barrett g.barrett@ru.ac.za; or Nqobile Zulu zulunqobile@gmail.com
SWITZERLAND AND SOUTH AFRICA: NEGOTIATED DEMOCRACIES
The conference was held in Johannesburg on 18 and 19 June 2012. Key note address were given by Professor Lungisile Ntsebeza (University of Cape Town) on “Democracy and Chieftainship” and Professor Georg Kreis (University of Basel) on “Challenges to Democracy in Switzerland”. Members of the project team presented papers based upon their research contributions. Scholars from South Africa and Switzerland participated in the debates. They were Professor Daryl Glaser and Professor Alan Mabin, from Wits University; Professor Susie Newton King from the University of the Western Cape; Professor Nigel Penn from the University of the Western Cape; Professor Brigitte Schnegg from the University of Berne and Professors Elham Manea and Regula Ludi both from the University of Zurich. Debate focused on the ways democracy is negotiated in both countries, and the challenges to democracy that the entanglement of history, memory, identity, diversity, forms of exclusion and globalization produce on local, national and global levels in a context where both countries consider themselves the best democracies in the world. Proceedings of the conference will be published.
INTERNATIONAL MINING HISTORY CONFERENCE
Prof Bonner was a co-organiser with Prof Alexander for the International Mining History Conference held from 17 – 20 April 2012. The conference was a huge success and the opening address was given by Deputy President, Kgalema Motlanthe. Prof Bonner’s paper was entitled “Migrant or Mobile? White Workers on the Witwatersrand Gold Mines 1902 – 1922”
www.imhc.co.za
