My article "Collateral Damages: Cash Transfer and Debt Transfer in South Africa was just accepted by World Development! Thanks to Arun Agrawal and the anonymous reviewers for their generous support.
Workshop: reckless lending 23-24, 27-28 August 2019, South Africa
Lending Office Delft
We just finished up a fantastic four-day workshop with the London School of Economics, the University of the Western Cape, and the Black Sash on ongoing indebtedness and social grants. Stay tuned for our report on lending practices in nine cities!
In The Field: reckless lending research June - August 2019, South Africa
Net1 Office Botshabelo
Funded by the London School of Economics, research into ongoing reckless lending to social grant recipients. Even under the new Post Office bank account, predatory lending continues.
In The News: Woodrow Wilson Foundaton 8 January 2019
Woodrow Wilson Website
"I never thought my research would begin with receipts -- the small, mundane slips of paper that list the things we've purchased, routinely printed by shop clerks, operating cash registers, and carelessly crumpled in pockets or tossed in trashcans. But, when I started talking to people about the South African social grant program..." Read More Here
Fellowship Award: Charlotte Newcombe september 2018 - august 2019
Woodrow Wilson Website
Great News! I am thrilled to announce that I have been awarded the 2018 Charlotte Newcombe Doctoral Dissertation Fellowship from the Woodrow Wilson Foundation. The fellowship is designed to encourage original and significant study of ethical or religious values in all fields of the humanities and social sciences. This award will support the completion of my dissertation. Read More Here
Conference Presentation: Africa in the World May 25-29, 2018 Johannesburg
ASA Website
I am very pleased to present "Life on an Installment Plan: Social Grants and Debt in South Africa" as part of a panel on Transformative Technologies. Please join me on May 26 at 4:00 pm at the Crowne Plaza Rosebank. Read More Here
Research for the ConCourt: Panel of experts report February 2018 johannesburg
Mail and Guardian Website
My research with the Black Sash is now part of a report that has been submitted by the Panel of Experts to the Constitutional Court. This Panel was appointed by the ConCourt to develop a new national social grant payment system. Read the Panel's fullReport Here
Guest Lecture: Geography 10 November 14, 2017 UC Berkeley
Camilla Hawthorne
I just finished lecturing on debt and racial capitalism for our Introduction to Geography course. A big thank you to Jake Kosek who asked me to fill his very large shoes while he was away!
Invited Presentation: PLAAS Seminar Series June 16, 2017 University of the western Cape
PLAAS Seminar Announcement
“'It’s like the lotto,' said a Khayelitsha pensioner, 'sometimes I get little money and sometimes I get no money at all.' This conceptualization of the South African social grant system as a gamble — and not a reliable state entitlement — would be heretical in contemporary development literature, which touts cash transfers as the “solution” to global poverty..." Read MoreHere
COnference presentation: Intergenerational relations & social grants April 10, 2017 University of Cape Town
Families and Society Research Unit / UCT
Come hear me present a short paper on "Social Grants and the World Bank" at this workshop with UCT's Sociology Department, organized by Elena Moore. I am looking forward to sharing my work with other scholars researching inequality and intergenerational politics!
Radio interview: the daily maverick podcast CLIFF CENTRAL / March 2017
CliffCentral Studios Website
I am very excited to be interviewed by Kingsley Kipury on the Daily Maverick Podcast! Nomonde Nyembe from the Center for Applied Legal Studies at Wits and Koketso Moeti from Amandla.mobi are in the CliffCentral studio to offer their excellent analyses of SASSA and the Constitutional Court cases.
Newspaper Article: What we learn from "Concerning Violence" about Franz Fanon's Writings Africa is a country / 8 April 2015
Africa is a Country Website
Here is my first Africa is a Countrypiece for their series Movie Night. It was a lot of fun collaborating with Michael Watts, Camilla Hawthorne and Brittany Meche on a film review of Göran Olsson's "Concerning Violence: Nine Scenes from the Anti-Imperialistic Self-Defense."
Conference presentation: Rethinking Economics for Africa 6 September 2019, Wits University, Joburg
IEJ Invitation
Please join me at 11:45 pm this Friday for the panel Household Debt and Dispossession. We are Session 3 under the theme of Economics and Human Rights. Room assignment TBD.
Conference presentation: Association of American Geographers 5 april 2019, washington, DC
AAG Website
Stephen McIssac, Meredith Palmer and I organized two panels called: Health as "Fix": Geographies of the Biopolitical in Settler- and Post-Colonies. Please join us and our fantastic presenters on Friday afternoon! I will be giving a paper in the second session.
IN The FIELD: RECKLESS LENDING research july-AUGUST 2018 Port elizabeth & DeLFT
Black Sash Website
In July and August, I spent time with the Black Sash offices in PE and Cape Town. With the Black Sash team, we tracked down loan companies offering financial products to grant holders. We mapped their locations in relation to SASSA offices, grant distribution points and other social services. We wrote up case studies about how grants are being used as collateral for loans.
Expert Presentation: Panel of Experts, Constitutional Court March 16, 2018 Pretoria
Auditor General Website
Very excited to attend to this Meeting of the Panel of Experts with Lynette Maart and the Black Sash! We'll be discussing the creation of a recourse system for social grant beneficiaries, who experience abuses on their bank accounts.
Documentary: The Green Card March 13, 2018 South Africa
Erna Curry / Black Sash
I am absolutely thrilled to be a part of the documentary crew that created this short film for Cutting Edge. Tune in to SABC 1 on March 27th @ 9:30 to see our work with EasyPay card holders in Ceres. Sarina and Jacobus will tell us how indebtedness has become part and parcel of the South African social grant system.
IN The FIELD: EasyPay research for the Black Sash June-july 2017 Port elizabeth and limehill
Black Sash Website
In June and July, I spent time with the Black Sash offices in PE and KZN. With Alexa, Evashnee, Jerome, Nelly, and a group of grant holders, we tracked down Net1 offices to test whether or not it was possible to cancel EasyPay cards. We wrote up a dozen case studies about the difficulties of navigating this techno-financial system.
Newspaper Article: social grants: Has belamant answered his critics? GROUND UP / May 9, 2017
Ground Up Website
"Net1 CEO Serge Belamant has hit back at critics of the company’s management of its contract with the SA Social Security Agency (SASSA), accusing them of conspiracy theories and political agendas. He has referred investors in his company to a 37-page auditors’ report which according to Net1, “sets the record straight”. But does it?" Read MoreHere
Newspaper Article: The World Bank's Role in South Africa's Social Grant SysteM GROUND UP / March 23, 2017
Ground Up Website
"As the main South African investor in Cash Paymaster Services, Allan Gray has been under the spotlight over the social grants controversy. As a result, a bigger investor, the World Bank, has not received much attention..." Read MoreHere
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: Sophia's choice: Farmworker has to decide which child to feed Ground Up / March 16, 2017
Ground Up Website
"When loan repayments left Sophia destitute, she had to beg a little money from her cousin and make a terrible choice. Either she could feed herself ant her six-month-old baby, or she could feed her 8 and 13-year-old daughters..." Read MoreHere
NEWSPAPER ARTICLE: deductions from social grants: how it all works Ground up / MArch 3, 2017,
Fellowship Award: Wenner-Gren september 2015 - august 2016
Wenner-Gren Website
I am excited to announce that I am a 2015 Wenner Gren Dissertation Fieldwork Grantee. The fellowship is designed to support research that makes a solid contribution to the discipline of anthropology. This award will support my fieldwork in South Africa this year. Read MoreHere
