Moving from crisis to critical praxis: Geography in South Africa

In this short commentary, I explore some recent shifts in the landscape of South African higher education, from the vantage point of my particular location within Geography at the University of Cape Town. Although those of us working in this context have experienced multiple challenges in recent years, I argue here that we could usefully re-frame the ongoing state of crisis as a moment of opportunity in which we might both revitalise critical geographical work and engender more just cultures of academic praxis, premised on relationships of care. In particular, Geography could productively engage more directly, in both its theory and its praxis, with Southern and decolonial scholarship as well as postcolonial and feminist thought. Such a move would deepen our understanding of where we are, how we got here, and how we might build more equitable relationships. It would help us to see the world more clearly and imagine alternatives more effectively, from our diverse locations on the African continent.