Jeremy Seekings

Jeremy Seekings (born 3 January 1962) is a British-born academic who is professor of political studies and sociology at the University of Cape Town. He is the director of the university's Centre for Social Science Research.

Jeremy Seekings
Born (1962-01-03) 3 January 1962
London, England
OccupationProfessor at the University of Cape Town
SpouseNicoli Nattrass
Academic background
Alma materUniversity of Oxford
ThesisQuiescence and the Transition to Confrontation in South African Townships, 1978–1984 (1990)
Academic work
DisciplineSociology, political studies
Main interestsInequality, social protection and poverty reduction, political parties
Notable worksThe UDF: The United Democratic Front in South Africa, 1983–1991 (2000)
Class, Race, and Inequality in South Africa (2005)

Academic background

Born on 3 January 1962 in London, England, Seekings completed his bachelor's degree in philosophy, politics, and economics at the University of Oxford and an honours degree in political studies at the University of the Witwatersrand. He completed his doctorate in politics at Oxford in 1990.[1] At Oxford, he met his wife, Nicoli Nattrass, who was a South African on a Rhodes Scholarship.[2]

He is professor of political studies and sociology at the University of Cape Town (UCT) where he has been director of the Centre for Social Science Research since 2012.[3] He is a member of the Afrobarometer advisory team[4] and a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.[5] He is also a former director of UCT's Institute for Democracy, Citizenship and Public Policy in Africa and was a longstanding visiting professor at the Yale MacMillan Center.[3][6] He is a member of the UCT Senate, in which capacity he was an outspoken critic of former vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng[7][8] and laid a formal bullying complaint against her in 2021.[9][10]

Scholarship

Seekings's first major monograph was The UDF: The United Democratic Front in South Africa, 1983–1991 (2000) on the history and politics of the United Democratic Front, a popular front against apartheid.[11] It won the 2004 Bill Venter/Altron Award for academic literature[12] and a 2003 book prize from UCT.[13]

He won the Alan Pifer Award for his work with Nattrass on inequality in South Africa.[14] In Class, Race, and Inequality in South Africa (2005), Seekings and Nattrass argued that class had superseded race as the primary basis of inequality in South Africa. Seekings has also published extensively on social welfare reform and the politics of social protection, primarily in Southern Africa.[3]

References
  1. "Jeremy Seekings" (PDF). African Centre of Excellence for Studies in Public and Non-motorised Transport. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  2. "Nicoli Nattrass Profile". The Rhodes Project. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  3. "Professor Jeremy Seekings". Centre for Social Science Research. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  4. "Jeremy Seekings". Afrobarometer. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  5. "Members". ASSAf. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  6. "Jeremy Seekings". Yale Macmillan Center. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  7. "Embattled UCT head refuses exit package". IOL. 19 February 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  8. "'It won't be surprising' if VC Phakeng encounters face-saving exit: UCT prof". Sunday Times. 13 February 2023. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  9. "UCT crisis: Black academics and staff want Minister Blade Nzimande to intervene". The Mail & Guardian. 31 October 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  10. "UCT's VC Phakeng cleared on bullying allegations". IOL. 26 October 2022. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  11. Barrell, Howard (11 August 2000). "Viva the spirit of the UDF". The Mail & Guardian. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  12. "UDF chronicle wins prestigious prize". University of Cape Town. 26 April 2004. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  13. "Award-winning books". University of Cape Town. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
  14. "Nicoli Nattrass and Jeremy Seekings: unemployment and public policy". University of Cape Town. 8 March 2016. Retrieved 16 May 2023.
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