Jeremy Seekings
{{Short description|South African academic}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=May 2023}}
{{Infobox academic
| name = Jeremy Seekings
| birth_date = {{birth date and age|1962|01|03|df=yes}}
| birth_place = London, England
| spouse = Nicoli Nattrass
| thesis_title = Quiescence and the Transition to Confrontation in South African Townships, 1978–1984
| thesis_year = 1990
| alma_mater = University of Oxford
| notable_works = The UDF: The United Democratic Front in South Africa, 1983–1991 (2000)
Class, Race, and Inequality in South Africa (2005)
| occupation = Professor at the University of Cape Town
| discipline = Sociology, political studies
| main_interests = Inequality, social protection and poverty reduction, political parties
}}
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.
Academic background
Born on 3 January 1962 in London, England. After being educated at Leighton Park School he 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.{{Cite web |title=Jeremy Seekings |url=http://www.acet.uct.ac.za/sites/default/files/image_tool/images/208/cv%20seekings%202017%20short.pdf |access-date=16 May 2023 |website=African Centre of Excellence for Studies in Public and Non-motorised Transport}} At Oxford, he met his wife, Nicoli Nattrass, who was a South African on a Rhodes Scholarship.{{Cite web |title=Nicoli Nattrass Profile |url=https://rhodesproject.com/nicoli-nattrass-profile |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=The Rhodes Project |language=en-US}}
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.{{Cite web |title=Professor Jeremy Seekings |url=https://humanities.uct.ac.za/cssr/staff-and-director |access-date=16 May 2023 |website=Centre for Social Science Research}} He is a member of the Afrobarometer advisory team{{Cite web |title=Jeremy Seekings |url=https://www.afrobarometer.org/person/jeremy-seekings/ |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=Afrobarometer |language=en-GB}} and a member of the Academy of Science of South Africa.{{Cite web |title=Members |url=https://www.assaf.org.za/members-directory/ |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=ASSAf |language=en-US}} 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.{{Cite web |title=Jeremy Seekings |url=https://ovef.macmillan.yale.edu/people/jeremy-seekings |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=Yale Macmillan Center |language=en}} He is a member of the UCT Senate, in which capacity he was an outspoken critic of former vice-chancellor Mamokgethi Phakeng{{Cite news |date=19 February 2023 |title=Embattled UCT head refuses exit package |work=IOL |url=https://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/news/embattled-uct-head-refuses-exit-package-bbda31d2-5251-4614-84a8-4123d390aaad |access-date=16 May 2023}}{{Cite web |date=13 February 2023 |title=‘It won’t be surprising’ if VC Phakeng encounters face-saving exit: UCT prof |url=https://www.timeslive.co.za/sunday-times-daily/news/2023-02-13-it-wont-be-surprising-if-vc-phakeng-encounters-face-saving-exit-uct-prof/ |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=Sunday Times |language=en-ZA}} and laid a formal bullying complaint against her in 2021.{{Cite web |date=2022-10-31 |title=UCT crisis: Black academics and staff want Minister Blade Nzimande to intervene |url=https://mg.co.za/education/2022-10-31-uct-crisis-black-academics-and-staff-want-minister-blade-nzimande-to-intervene/ |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}}{{Cite news |date=26 October 2022 |title=UCT’s VC Phakeng cleared on bullying allegations |work=IOL |url=https://www.iol.co.za/sundayindependent/news/ucts-vc-phakeng-cleared-on-bullying-allegations-920b8e57-3023-4ba9-b8b7-ae3b10688133 |access-date=16 May 2023}}
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.{{Cite web |last=Barrell |first=Howard |date=2000-08-11 |title=Viva the spirit of the UDF |url=https://mg.co.za/article/2000-08-11-viva-the-spirit-of-the-udf/ |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=The Mail & Guardian |language=en-ZA}} It won the 2004 Bill Venter/Altron Award for academic literature{{Cite web |date=26 April 2004 |title=UDF chronicle wins prestigious prize |url=http://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2004-04-26-udf-chronicle-wins-prestigious-prize |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=University of Cape Town |language=en}} and a 2003 book prize from UCT.{{Cite web |title=Award-winning books |url=https://uct.ac.za/explore-uct-awards-achievements/award-winning-books |access-date=16 May 2023 |website=University of Cape Town}}
He won the Alan Pifer Award for his work with Nattrass on inequality in South Africa.{{Cite web |date=8 March 2016 |title=Nicoli Nattrass and Jeremy Seekings: unemployment and public policy |url=http://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2016-03-08-nicoli-nattrass-and-jeremy-seekings-unemployment-and-public-policy |access-date=2023-05-16 |website=University of Cape Town |language=en}} 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.
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- {{Google Scholar ID|id=xODDpvgAAAAJ|name=Jeremy Seekings}}
- [https://www.dailymaverick.co.za/author/jeremyseekings/ Articles by Jeremy Seekings] at Daily Maverick
{{Authority control}}
{{DEFAULTSORT:Seekings, Jeremy}}
Category:Academics from London
Category:Alumni of the University of Oxford
Category:University of the Witwatersrand alumni
Category:Academic staff of the University of Cape Town
Category:Members of the Academy of Science of South Africa