Summer School Spaces for Future: Processes of Rural and Urban Transformation in Southern Africa

Förderung: Volkswagen Stiftung

Laufzeit: Jan 2021 - März 2022

Projektleitung: Prof. Dr. Reimer Gronemeyer

Projektkoordination: Dr. Jonas metzger

Kooperationspartner: Prof. Dr. Mutjinde Katjiua (Department of Land and Property Science, Namibia University of Science and Technology); Dr. Lameck Mwewa (Department of Agricultural and Natural Resources Sciences (NUST); Prof. Dr. Kirsten Rüther (African Studies Department, University of Vienna); Dr. Antje Daniel (Institut of Development Science, University of Vienna);

Mitarbeiter*innen: Dr. Fabian Pindus, Kristina Fein

The summer school seeks to interrogate the dynamics of change of rural and urban areas in Southern Africa. The focus is on Southern Africa due to two reasons: First, countries in Southern Africa are in the process of a major transition from rural to urban-based societies. Second, land reforms to overcome the strains of apartheid and colonialism and to address its spatial structures of inequality remain one of the most pressing issues in Southern Africa. Furthermore, conflicts over land are accelerated by processes of land acquisition dominated by foreign investors. The land question in Southern Africa cannot be reduced to agrarian change or production as it is politically re-formulated as a question of belonging, citizenship and indigeneity.