UKZN Academic Contingent Part of Care in Context HSRC Book

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Honorary Associate Professors within the College of Humanities, Professor Vasu Reddy and former Director of the UKZN Gender Studies programme Professor Thenjiwe Meyiwa recently launched their book Care in Context: Transnational gender perspectives with the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Press at Ike’s Books and Collectables.

The book was edited by Professor Vasu Reddy, Lecturer at the Centre for Gender Studies at the University of Basel, Switzerland; Mr Stephan Meyer, Deputy Dean of Teaching and Learning at the University of the Western Cape’s Faculty of Arts; Professor Tamara Shefer and Durban University of Technology Registrar, Professor Thenjiwe Meyiwa. The foreword was written by former Deputy President Mrs Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka and the preface by Professor Joan Tront.

Care in context is a thought-provoking book that looks at gender inequalities in the context of care. Drawing in part from unique transnational perspectives and gripping interviews, this book focuses on key questions that intellectuals, policy makers and all of us who care and need care have to ask, such as: What is good care? Who should be involved in providing it? And how should care be arranged and organised so that the interests of both care givers and care recipients are equally provided for?

Deputy Vice-Chancellors and Head of the College of Humanities Professor Cheryl Potgieter and Professor Vishanthie Sewpaul of the School of Applied Human Sciences were also in attendance and lent their support to the book.

At the event, both Shefer and Meyiwa talked to their personal journey on completing the book and thanked everyone who was involved in getting the book to print.

Reddy also added, ‘It was a long laborious four years in putting this book together and the work was pain-staking but we worked passionately on it. Within the book, we look at the challenges and unpack the complexities and make it fairly simplistic to understand. We feel the book is reflective of care and we believe that care is a form of social justice and democracy and we break down stereotypes within the book too.’

Current UKZN academics also contributed chapters in the book; Professor Pearl Sithole of the School of Built Environment and Development Studies (BEDS) looked at “Care and social cohesion in South Africa: Political engineering versus dealing with social discordance” and Dr Nomvuyo Nkani of the School of Education who tackled “Early motherhood, education and childcare: Experiences of social and institutional support among young mothers at school in Inanda, KwaZulu-Natal”.

The book is available for purchase at R290 at Ike’s Books and Collectables and online at Kalahari.

Melissa Mungroo