August, 20-22

The Cosmopolitan Karoo group convened a double panel titled Entangled Ecologies and Contradictory Trajectories of Green Energy, Conservation, Livelihoods, and Labour in the Karoo and Beyond at the Anthropology Southern Africa (ASnA) Conference at Rhodes University in Makhanda from 20–22 August 2025. The papers drew attention to the conundrums, contradictions, and trade-offs of ‘green’ initiatives which, in the name of ‘planetary salvation’ and the ‘just transition’, often result in the dispossession and further marginalization of vulnerable communities. Professor Thomas Cousins [Oxford University] joined as a discussant and the following students and researchers presented papers:

Professor Steven L. Robins [Stellenbosch University]: ‘Green dreams:’ Angora goats, mohair & ‘sustainable farming’ in the Karoo.

Professor Sonwabile Mnwana [Rhodes University]: ‘Live like it’s one farm’: wool commercialisation, and social differentiation in South Africa’s communal rangelands.

Daniëlle Cronjé [Stellenbosch University]: The “Miraculous Spekboom:”: An ethnographic study on dispossessed realities in spekboom restoration sites in the Karoo.

Robert Smith [Stellenbosch University]: Dreams of Green Hydrogen: Assembling Investible Futures in South Africa

Shannah Maree [Stellenbosch University]: “We cannot eat copper dust!”: An Ethnographic Study on the Resurgence of Copper Mining in Concordia.

Caitlyn Sadler [Stellenbosch University]: An Ethnographic Exploration of Contemporary Conservation: Contestations, Changing Models, and the Role of Private and Civil Society.

Faye Rahl-Botha [Stellenbosch University]: Plant Poaching and Conservation in the Succulent Karoo.

Katrina Lehmann-Grube [Stellenbosch University]: Agrarian political economies of renewable energy in the Karoo town of De Aar.

June, 25-28
Prof. Steven Robins, Dr Stephanie Borchardt and Rob Smith presented at the European Conference on African Studies (ECAS 2025), held at Charles University in Prague. Their panel, Green Dreams, Toxic Legacies: The Complexities of Green Energy Development in the Semi-Arid Region of South Africa, included Sam A. Matthews Boehmer (University of Cambridge, UK) and comprised the following presentations:

Prof. Steven Robins: Green dreams are made of this: Mohair, wool & ‘sustainable farming’ in the Karoo.
Dr Stephanie Borchardt: Energy Without Equity: Examining Local Disparities in South Africa’s Renewable Energy Programme.
Robert Smith: Dreams of Green Hydrogen: Constructing Investible Futures in South Africa’s Karoo.
Sam A. Matthews Boehmer: Green Extractivism?: Placing African Green Hydrogen in Historical Context.

Panel convenor, Stephanie Borchardt, explained that the aim was to ‘critically examine the rapid expansion of solar, wind, and green hydrogen projects in the semi-arid Northern Cape and Namibia. The core of our discussion was how these new energy futures are intersecting with historical patterns of land use, environmental degradation, and socio-political exclusion.’ Her reflective blog post is available here.

June, 23-26
Caitlin Rickerts recently presented at the South African Sociological Association (SASA) Conference, hosted by the University of Mpumalanga. Themed Colonial Legacies, Post-Colonial Realities: South Africa, 30 Years Later, the conference brought together leading voices in the field. Caitlin contributed significantly with her presentation titled Exploring Child and Youth Development: A Case Study of Development Projects Funded by Independent Power Producers (IPPs) in Sutherland, Northern Cape. Well done, Caitlin!

June, 5
Concluding the first semester’s forum programme on a high note, Caroline Wallington facilitated a workshop exploring social-ecological regime shifts in the Karoo. It encouraged interactive discussions on how key global events influence changes in local farming practices and livestock enterprises in South Africa. A complete overview of the semester programme is available here.

May, 29
Award-winning director and producer Joëlle Chesselet presented two of her films: My Mercury (2024) and Ochre and Water (2001). The event was co-hosted with the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology.

Dr Margaret Jacobsohn describes My Mercury (2024) as “stunningly beautiful, funny, shocking documentary. A courageous and ambitious film tackling, head-on, the massive conservation dilemma: when human-caused ecological imbalances pit one species against others, do we intervene? Conservationist Yves Chesselet made his decision and his eight years as an activist in the endangered birds vs the seals battle, cost him dearly. Nature’s brutality and beauty juxtaposed with one man’s courage and frailties leaves one reeling.”

April, 24-25

Two of our members presented at the Centre of African Studies’ (CAS) Annual Conference at the University of Edinburgh. It was co-hosted with the Centre for Business, Climate Change, and Sustainability (B-CCaS). This year’s conference explored the theme Climate Dynamics and the Politics of a Post-Carbon Africa.

Dr Stephanie Borchardt delivered a presentation titled Energy Without Equity: Examining Local Disparities in South Africa’s Renewable Energy Programme.

Katrina Lehmann-Grub, drawing on her research with SCIS (at Wits University) presented Social Protection for a Just Transition in South Africa.

April, 3-4

Nature-Cultures: Energies, Environments and Communications in Times of Socio-Ecological Crisis.

The SARChI Chair in the Sociology of Land, Environment and Sustainable Development (Cosmopolitan Karoo) co-hosted a joint colloquium with the Chair in Science Communication (SciCOM). The two-day Nature-Cultures Colloquium offered a packed programme of presentations where students from the two different Chairs were invited to draw inspiration from each other, exchange ideas, and engage in deep theoretical and methodological discussions that transcended disciplinary boundaries. Throughout the conference, speakers explored how research and theory in science communication and sustainable development can and should advance nuanced empirical and theoretical understandings of “Nature-Cultures.”

For more information on this event, click here

March, 2

Professor Steven Robins, Professor Cherryl Walker, Dr Stephanie Borchardt, Dr Daniel Rogei, Caitlin Rickerts and Professor Olaf Zenker (from Germany) met with local residents Arrie Hendriks, Gerrit Van Wyk, Jasmine Jonkers, and Nicole Majiedt to discuss the various challenges facing the Amandelboom community. These challenges include high levels of youth unemployment, substance abuse, gender-based violence, and the lack of facilities as well as broken and unfinished infrastructure.

In the meeting it was agreed that later this year Dr Stephanie Borchardt will lead an initiative that will involve focus-group discussions with Amandelboom youth about their lives and hopes. This initiative will also involve training youth in photovoice research methods, thereby allowing them to document and reflect upon the everyday conditions of life in their own community. The aim is to use this information to think through ways of changing the conditions and lives of youth living in Amandelboom.

February, 20

Dr Ilse Eigelaar-Meets presented her recently published book, Internal Migration and Development Planning in South Africa (2024), at Stellenbosch University’s Sociology and Social Anthropology departmental seminar. A free copy of the book is available here.

February, 17

Former Research Chair and founder of the SARChI Research Chair, Emeritus Professor Cherryl Walker, published a timely piece on misconceptions surrounding South Africa’s Expropriation Act in the Daily Maverick.The article is available here.
January, 31 – February, 4

The research team went on an inception field trip to Lainsburg, Graaff-Reinet, Aberdeen, Prince Albert and Beaufort West. For more information on the trip, click here.

December, 31
Four of our students graduated in 2024: Lizé Myburgh (M.A.), Jana Koorts (Hons), Megan Parkin (Hons) and Tessa Caygill (Hons).

November, 27
We held our year-end workshop, during which students presented their findings, reflections, and future leads. Afterwards, we went for a lovely dinner.

November, 18-19
The Research Chair, Prof. Steven Robins, presented a series of postgraduate lectures at the University of Bologna titled “Karoo Futures and the Cosmopolitan Karoo.”

November, 11-15
Dr Stephanie Borchardt presented her research at the World Anthropological Union (WAU) Inaugural Congress 2024.

November, 6-8
Prof. Steven L. Robins, Dr Stephanie Borchardt, Dr Daniel Salau Rogei, Robert Smith, Faye Rahl-Botha, Daniëlle Cronjé, Caitlin Rickerts, Caitlyn Sadler and Shannah Maree presented their research at the Anthropology of Southern Africa (ASnA) 2024 conference. Faye was nominated and appointed as the ASnA secretary.Click here for more information.

October, 8-10
Prof. Cherryl Walker, Prof. Steven L. Robins, Dr Ilse Eigelaar-Meets, Dr Stephanie Borchardt, Lizé Myburgh, Daniëlle Cronjé, Faye Rahl-Botha, Caitlyn Sadler and Tessa Caygill presented their work at the Arid Zone Ecology Forum (AZEF). They contributed towards critical discussions around climate change, economic development, and energy access in arid and semi-arid regions in South Africa. Click here for more information.