Periscope articles and content
Should scholars and scientists concentrate on being useful, or should they be guided primarily by curiosity? This stark choice — between usefulness and curiosity — has been mobilised implicitly by the Higher Education Funding Council for England (HEFCE) in recent … Continue reading “The Curious and the Useful”
On May 10, 2010, the management of Middlesex University in England shut down its Philosophy Department. This act provoked a spate of letters in the newspapers. Now, while the general attack on the Humanities in the United Kingdom has been going … Continue reading “'Creative' Functionalism and Continental Philosophy at Middlesex”
The simple fact that we are discussing “impact” proposals on the humanities and social sciences indicates a depressing failure of “impact” itself. Long after the contemporary academy has become bored with Foucauldian critiques of social control through assessment and quantitative … Continue reading “Deepwater Impact”
When I left Britain in the 1970s to pursue a doctorate in the US, it was an item of faith that US universities were far more corporatized than their UK counterparts, in the social sciences as well as the natural … Continue reading “Academic Free Fall”
Paula’s Story: In October 2009 I ran (with the help of local researchers) a dissemination workshop in the basement of a community library in the informal settlement of Cato Crest, Durban, South Africa. I was feeding back to project participants, … Continue reading “Researching the Global South in an Age of Impact”
Recently RCUK, the umbrella body for the seven UK research councils, had a discussion about the language of impact. As many will know, all councils require statements about impact on grant applications. We discussed whether these should be called ‘plans’ … Continue reading “The Impact Effect ”
In this dossier, a series of football enthusiasts (who also happen to be social and cultural critics), offer their reflections upon the meaning and significance of the 2010 World Cup in South Africa. Much commentary and controversy has already … Continue reading “World Cup 2010”
Soweto, South Africa – Fans on a train in Soccer City. Korogwe, Tanzania – Watching the Game. Maputo, Mozambique – City Streets. Lusaka, Zambia – Street Dancer. Johannesburg, South Africa – Standton City Mall Marionettes Quissico, Mozambique – Footballers and … Continue reading “The World Cup in Pictures”
In the run-up to the World Cup, countless advertisements from around the globe began to build the hype for the 2010 tournament in South Africa. The vast majority of these ads – including some mentioned elsewhere in this dossier – … Continue reading “Critiquing What We Love”
“…I can see that you are here in the millions and my last warning to you is that you are to stand firm behind us so that we can prove to the world that when the African is given a … Continue reading “The Pan-African Journey”
There is something utterly farcical about the social drama that accompanied the French national soccer team’s decided under-performance at the World Cup in South Africa — what American soccer journalists comically dubbed le meltdown and French media, the “fiasco” … Continue reading “The Tragedy and Farce of French Football Politics”
There have been numerous milestones in South Africa’s journey from a pariah state characterized by the most brutal form of settler colonialism and white supremacy to a young democracy struggling to find its rightful place in a the post … Continue reading “A World Cup of a 'Special Type'”
Let me begin with this: I am a Bama: literally, from Alabama. Before I am an intellectual, a diasporic subject, a celebrator of transatlantic blacknesses who carefully sidesteps essentialism and embraces all of humanity, I am a Bama. Granted, these … Continue reading “Starry Eyed Black 'Bama”
Locals who had hoped that the rest of the world would take away some useful knowledge about South Africa’s current affairs could hardly be faulted for cursing the existence of the vuvuzela. Zealous opinion about the ubiquitous plastic horns … Continue reading “Vuvuzela: A Loud, Blank Cipher”
With ESPN’s broadcast of the World Cup’s opening match, my fellow tweeters began to crack jokes about The Lion King. We imagined Rafiki calling the matches, or Mufasa, and half expected the referees to lift up the Jabulani to announce … Continue reading “Listening to the World Cup”
