The University of Johannesburg鈥檚 (UJ) Centre for Social Change and South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) Chair in Social Change are dedicated towards the study of social change from below in pursuit of building socially just and democratic societies. They form an integral part of UJ and represent the University鈥檚 very philosophy 鈥� one which has been grounded in transformation 鈥� having resulted in a change occurring from the amalgamation of three higher education institutions (one of which was the Rand Afrikaans University, exclusively reserved for white students during apartheid). UJ was officially established on 1 January 2005. Today, UJ鈥檚 cohort represents the truly diverse demographic makeup of the Republic of South Africa and draws students from across the African continent.听

Figure 1:听The Centre for Social Change and the SARChI Chair in Social Change are located in House no. 5 on the University of Johannesburg鈥檚 Bunting Road Campus in Auckland Park, Johannesburg

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South Africa鈥檚 National Research Foundation has a limited number of Research Chairs at public universities across the country. Professor Ashwin Desai holds the prestigious SARChI Chair position in Social Change at UJ.

The SARChI Chair in Social Change is housed with the Centre for Social Change. The two entities exist within a mutual and highly collaborative environment. The Director of the Centre is Distinguished Professor Patrick Bond, whose work on the political economy of Africa and social movements has profoundly influenced the academic space and social change.

The Centre and the Chair collaboratively strive to conduct research that focuses on the needs of civil society in a changing regional and global context and they aim to expand knowledge through cutting edge multi-disciplinary research. Presently, the Centre and the Chair are home to a diverse set of research interests such as: sport and transformation; justice movements, such as political ecology and eco-social justice, social movements, and service delivery protests; political riskscapes; social polarisation; corruption; state capture; whistleblowing; and the intersection of the Fourth Industrial Revolution in all of the aforementioned.

Figure 2:听Professor Desai, along with key members of the team.

The two entities have been involved in collaborative efforts with many other organisations. Most notably, in late 2023, they hosted a two-day water colloquium with prominent researchers and civil听activists regarding the access to, and sustainability of adequate water for indigent communities.听Recently, on 18 and 19 July 2024, the SARChI Chair in Social Change hosted a two-day colloquium on corruption, whistleblowing and social development. The colloquium brought experts (academic, policy makers whistleblowers and civil activists) from all over the world.听. The colloquium was overwhelmingly well received and and centred UJ as the foremost whistleblowing research institute in Africa.听

Figure 3:听The panel of prominent participants from the first day of the whistleblowing colloquium, 18 July 2024.

On 26 August 2024, the SARChI Chair in Social Change will host a seminar that explores the complex reality of transgender and non-binary identities within African contexts.

The Centre and Chair also house a technological wing which has made incredible progress in innovative research, particularly the development of service delivery applications, and interactive graphic novels and video games that raise awareness about corruption and the plight of whistleblowers in Africa. The research outputs of both entities continue to mark the research landscape with groundbreaking contributions concerning political economy, sport and change, protest action, and the role of 4IR in a rapidly changing social world. With several projects underway, and others under development, the two entities will continue to strive for not only research on social change but also in the actual advancement of social change.

More information can be found at , or by emailing agdesai [at] uj.ac.za and pbond [at] uj.ac.za.

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