Using the rubric of ‘the first thousand days of life’, my new work explores how the child is formed as a social being in a matrix of sometimes contradictory institutions, relations and communications. I seek to understand the ways that life is understood in different disciplines as these shape public policy and everyday interactions in South Africa. Tensions between different notions of life constellate ideas and practices and create nodes of complexity that individual agents must navigate in their everyday worlds. The work builds on my earlier work that documents the effects of apartheid on everyday life and efforts to remedy past harm. Phone: +27216503718 Address: Anthropology School of African and Gender Studies, Anthropology and Linguistics University of Cape Town P. Bag Rondebosch 7701 South Africa
The book opens up a space of frank discussion about the often unsettling, messy realities of ethi... more The book opens up a space of frank discussion about the often unsettling, messy realities of ethical decision-making in the thick of social research. All the contributors write in the first person about personal experiences of research. They expose tensions within professional codes of ethics, as well as a range of dilemmas that arise when personal ethical convictions jostle with disciplinary and institutional ethical imperatives. The collection spans a range of research scenarios, qualitative and quantitative, across different disciplines, fields of study and institutional settings.
Centred on people's move from shacks to a residential estate, Raw Life New Hope traces the condit... more Centred on people's move from shacks to a residential estate, Raw Life New Hope traces the conditions of possibility of everyday life in South Africa's post-apartheid context. Understanding poverty and marginality as a form of exposure to what I call 'raw life', the book describes contexts in which one might be disenfranchised from living in accord with ideals, or indeed, from life itself. It traces the complex ways that structural violence and social possibility fold into the making of everyday worlds.
The book traces the emergence of 'women' as a category in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation... more The book traces the emergence of 'women' as a category in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.It draws from research conducted on the Commission's Human Rights Violations Hearings and in Zwelethemba, a small town in the Western Cape. It explores the production of gender difference in human rights work and examines the silences, gaps, elisions and possibilities that emerged from the Commission's process. It remains the only full length monograph on the topic and is widely cited.
By P Weinberg, D Posel and F. C. Ross.
In Ethical Quandaries: Conversations from the Field. D Po... more By P Weinberg, D Posel and F. C. Ross. In Ethical Quandaries: Conversations from the Field. D Posel and F Ross (eds).
In Localising Transitional Justice: Interventions and Priorities after Mass Violence. R. Shaw an... more In Localising Transitional Justice: Interventions and Priorities after Mass Violence. R. Shaw and L. Waldorf (eds).
Discourse and Human Rights Violations. C. Antonissen and J. Blommaert (eds).
Earlier published i... more Discourse and Human Rights Violations. C. Antonissen and J. Blommaert (eds).
Earlier published in a special number of Journal of Language and Politics
Challenges and Responsibilities of Social Research in Africa: Ethical Issues. A. Rwomire and F. N... more Challenges and Responsibilities of Social Research in Africa: Ethical Issues. A. Rwomire and F. Nyamnjoh (eds).
Pieces of the Puzzle: Notes on Reconciliation, Transitional Justice and the Politics of Peace-Mak... more Pieces of the Puzzle: Notes on Reconciliation, Transitional Justice and the Politics of Peace-Making. in C.Villa-Vicencio and E. Doxtader.
In Human Rights in Global Perspective: Anthropological Studies of Rights, Claims and Entitlements... more In Human Rights in Global Perspective: Anthropological Studies of Rights, Claims and Entitlements. R Wilson and J. Mitchell (eds).
By Grundlingh, G., P. Reynolds, F. Ross, with Amos Khomba, Charity Nana Khohlokoane, Edwin Rasma... more By Grundlingh, G., P. Reynolds, F. Ross, with Amos Khomba, Charity Nana Khohlokoane, Edwin Rasmani, Eric Ndoyisile Tshandu, Mawethu Bikane, Mzikhaya Mkhabile, Nokwanda Tani, Noluthando Qaba, Nomeite Mfengu, Nowi Khomba, Ntsoaki Phelane, Xolile Dyabooi and Zandesile Ntsomi
In After the TRC. W. James and L. van der Vywer (eds).
The book opens up a space of frank discussion about the often unsettling, messy realities of ethi... more The book opens up a space of frank discussion about the often unsettling, messy realities of ethical decision-making in the thick of social research. All the contributors write in the first person about personal experiences of research. They expose tensions within professional codes of ethics, as well as a range of dilemmas that arise when personal ethical convictions jostle with disciplinary and institutional ethical imperatives. The collection spans a range of research scenarios, qualitative and quantitative, across different disciplines, fields of study and institutional settings.
Centred on people's move from shacks to a residential estate, Raw Life New Hope traces the condit... more Centred on people's move from shacks to a residential estate, Raw Life New Hope traces the conditions of possibility of everyday life in South Africa's post-apartheid context. Understanding poverty and marginality as a form of exposure to what I call 'raw life', the book describes contexts in which one might be disenfranchised from living in accord with ideals, or indeed, from life itself. It traces the complex ways that structural violence and social possibility fold into the making of everyday worlds.
The book traces the emergence of 'women' as a category in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation... more The book traces the emergence of 'women' as a category in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.It draws from research conducted on the Commission's Human Rights Violations Hearings and in Zwelethemba, a small town in the Western Cape. It explores the production of gender difference in human rights work and examines the silences, gaps, elisions and possibilities that emerged from the Commission's process. It remains the only full length monograph on the topic and is widely cited.
By P Weinberg, D Posel and F. C. Ross.
In Ethical Quandaries: Conversations from the Field. D Po... more By P Weinberg, D Posel and F. C. Ross. In Ethical Quandaries: Conversations from the Field. D Posel and F Ross (eds).
In Localising Transitional Justice: Interventions and Priorities after Mass Violence. R. Shaw an... more In Localising Transitional Justice: Interventions and Priorities after Mass Violence. R. Shaw and L. Waldorf (eds).
Discourse and Human Rights Violations. C. Antonissen and J. Blommaert (eds).
Earlier published i... more Discourse and Human Rights Violations. C. Antonissen and J. Blommaert (eds).
Earlier published in a special number of Journal of Language and Politics
Challenges and Responsibilities of Social Research in Africa: Ethical Issues. A. Rwomire and F. N... more Challenges and Responsibilities of Social Research in Africa: Ethical Issues. A. Rwomire and F. Nyamnjoh (eds).
Pieces of the Puzzle: Notes on Reconciliation, Transitional Justice and the Politics of Peace-Mak... more Pieces of the Puzzle: Notes on Reconciliation, Transitional Justice and the Politics of Peace-Making. in C.Villa-Vicencio and E. Doxtader.
In Human Rights in Global Perspective: Anthropological Studies of Rights, Claims and Entitlements... more In Human Rights in Global Perspective: Anthropological Studies of Rights, Claims and Entitlements. R Wilson and J. Mitchell (eds).
By Grundlingh, G., P. Reynolds, F. Ross, with Amos Khomba, Charity Nana Khohlokoane, Edwin Rasma... more By Grundlingh, G., P. Reynolds, F. Ross, with Amos Khomba, Charity Nana Khohlokoane, Edwin Rasmani, Eric Ndoyisile Tshandu, Mawethu Bikane, Mzikhaya Mkhabile, Nokwanda Tani, Noluthando Qaba, Nomeite Mfengu, Nowi Khomba, Ntsoaki Phelane, Xolile Dyabooi and Zandesile Ntsomi
In After the TRC. W. James and L. van der Vywer (eds).
In Violence and Family Life in South Africa: Research and Policy Issues. L. Glanz and A.D. Spieg... more In Violence and Family Life in South Africa: Research and Policy Issues. L. Glanz and A.D. Spiegel (eds.)
The book traces the emergence of 'women' as a category in South Africa's Truth and... more The book traces the emergence of 'women' as a category in South Africa's Truth and Reconciliation Commission.It draws from research conducted on the Commission's Human Rights Violations Hearings and in Zwelethemba, a small town in the Western Cape. It explores the production of gender difference in human rights work and examines the silences, gaps, elisions and possibilities that emerged from the Commission's process. It remains the only full length monograph on the topic and is widely cited.
The life of Monica Wilson is a story of groundbreaking scholarship, passionate creativity and per... more The life of Monica Wilson is a story of groundbreaking scholarship, passionate creativity and personal tragedy during South Africa's bitter and divided twentieth century. As a young anthropologist in the 1930s, Monica immersed herself in the lives, work and beliefs of African communities in southern and East Africa, while carefully observing the effects of historical change. At the core of her existence was her intellectual collaboration and intense personal relationship with her husband, the brilliant but clinically depressive Godfrey Wilson, who took his own life in 1944. After Godfrey's death, Monica raised their two children and built a career as a leading academic, at Fort Hare, Rhodes University College and the University of Cape Town. In a political environment where black academics were under constant threat and ideas were censored, she outspokenly advocated racial equality and freedom of speech, her publications emphasising a common South African identity and implicitly challenging apartheid ?separate development'. This fascinating biography moves between the Eastern Cape, Cambridge, Tanganyika, Nyasaland, Northern Rhodesia and Cape Town. It explores the relationship between anthropology and history, and the tensions between liberalism, Christianity, Marxism and apartheid ideology. Drawing on the letters and diaries left by Monica and Godfrey Wilson, this is a powerful story about politics, race, war, faith, love and loss.
Drawing on debates in southern African anthropology, I suggest that where knowledge claims themse... more Drawing on debates in southern African anthropology, I suggest that where knowledge claims themselves are in question, comparison, uncertainty, and play may be critical in reframing debates about the relation between anthropology and moral worlds, including anthropology’s own.
Localizing Transitional Justice: Interventions and Priorities after Mass , 2010
Reflects on the TRC's failure adequately to account for women's experiences of harm through the l... more Reflects on the TRC's failure adequately to account for women's experiences of harm through the lens of the trial of Jacob Zuma on rape charges. The paper tracks out the ways that women's experiences of sexual and other violence are silenced and offers a theory of silence to account for this.
Journal of Developmental Origins of Health and Disease, 2017
Pregnant women, children under 2 and the first thousand days of life have been principal targets ... more Pregnant women, children under 2 and the first thousand days of life have been principal targets for Developmental Origins of Health and Disease interventions. This paradigm has been criticized for laying responsibility for health outcomes on pregnant women and mothers and through the thousand days focus inadvertently deflecting attention from other windows for intervention. Drawing on insights from the South African context, this commentary argues for integrated and inclusive interventions that encompass broader social framings. First, future interventions should include a wider range of actors. Second, broader action frameworks should encompass life-course approaches that identify multiple windows of opportunity for intervention. Using two examples – the inclusion of men, and engagement with adolescents – this commentary offers strategies for producing more inclusive interventions by using a broader social framework.
Donated human milk’s status comes into question as it leaves the mother-child relationship and is... more Donated human milk’s status comes into question as it leaves the mother-child relationship and is reconfigured through practices and discursive structures that seek to stabilise it as a specific kind of object. Based on research conducted in Cape Town, South Africa, we examine the crucial role of technologies in aiding the milk’s transformation as milk moves from donors’ homes into the clinical setting where it is received by preterm, low-birth weight newborns. We show that the milk shifts back and forth between being a bodily fluid, food, and medicine in the course of this trajectory. Different techniques foreground milk’s diverse properties as a set of moral decisions converges around saving, securing, and sustaining life, and materialising relationships.
The book opens up a space of frank discussion about the often unsettling, messy realities of ethi... more The book opens up a space of frank discussion about the often unsettling, messy realities of ethical decision-making in the thick of social research. All the contributors write in the first person about personal experiences of research. They expose tensions within professional codes of ethics, as well as a range of dilemmas that arise when personal ethical convictions jostle with disciplinary and institutional ethical imperatives. The collection spans a range of research scenarios, qualitative and quantitative, across different disciplines, fields of study and institutional settings.
Humanities and Social Sciences Communications, 2020
Despite successful clinical interventions and maternal and child health monitoring for over a cen... more Despite successful clinical interventions and maternal and child health monitoring for over a century, low and middle-income countries, including South Africa, continue to experience the quadruple burden of disease of high maternal mortality rates and poor infant and child health, non-communicable diseases, infectious diseases, and violence and injury. In this article, we focus on how different kinds of technologies in South Africa are implemented in the ‘first 1000 days’ from conception to early childhood. Some of these interventions, as we discuss, are lifesaving; others are conceptualised as preventing early and longer-term health problems, including cardiometabolic conditions into adulthood and in future generations. Here, we consider the use of routine and specialist technologies in reproduction and early life: scanning and monitoring in pregnancy, caesarean section, extracorporeal membrane oxygenation (ECMO) for very low birth weight infants, and the Road to Health Booklet. Th...
is not unusual among the teenage parents themselves, as some of the other case studies suggest. T... more is not unusual among the teenage parents themselves, as some of the other case studies suggest. The image of the caring teen father is a foreign one, even to many academic pieces on fatherhood and teenage parenting. Alison Swartz’s piece “Saving Face” (Case Study 4.2) further explores how fatherhood is important to the masculine self-image of teenaged fathers through the tale of Luyanda, who found he could perform a masculinity based on his virility through the “proof” of his child and his responsibility towards her. He contrasted this with his earlier experiences of masculinity within a gang and partying. For him, his new experience of masculinity sat as comfortably within his connection to Xhosa masculinity as his performative male strength and power as a gang member, as this essential “maleness” now came through in the shouldering of responsibility towards his child and girlfriend as a provider. When his girlfriend, Andiswa, sought the company of other men because of his inability to provide the kind of life she wanted, it was not only his masculine pride that was injured but his emotional well-being too. However, he remained determined to be a father figure for his daughter, the essence of masculinity to him (given the death of his own father). These case studies, and the accompanying theorisation, work to destabilise stereotypes which flourish inside and outside of academia. The idea of masculinity is reconceived in the plural, as masculinities, a multiplicity of affective experiences held by men as varied as their understandings of what it is to be a man. It is worth noting that not all forms of masculinity, or even its forms in Southern Africa, have been charted here, and there are some obvious omissions (such as queer, trans and gay fatherhood, so-called “upper-class” experiences of masculinity and white, Indian and other apparent racialised or cultural experiences of maleness). This is a striking gap in a conversation about masculinities. As Mkhwanazi and Manderson acknowledge, the scope of this book does not allow for a more extensive interrogation of masculinity but does reveal spaces for further academic enquiry. Connected Lives is both fascinating and well written. It is an excellent source for academics and students in the social sciences and those members of the public who are concerned with issues of public and community health, anthropology and sociology, as well as demographic studies more broadly.
ABSTRACT Anthropological literature on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has burgeoned in th... more ABSTRACT Anthropological literature on Assisted Reproductive Technology (ART) has burgeoned in the forty years since IVF emerged as a potential solution to childlessness. A lexicon has consolidated, and key sets of debates have been identified. Chief among these are questions of kinship, the intersection of technologies and local moral worlds, and the circulation of gametes and technological know-how. The recent publication of five books in the Berghahn series on Fertility, Reproduction and Sexuality offers an opportunity to think about new affordances and futures for research. We review the texts and suggest several strands for research, concluding that anthropological objects do not become saturated by our knowledge of them and that ARTs will remain fertile ground for thought.
DOHaD and epigenetics have growing relevance to the health programs around the world and are a ke... more DOHaD and epigenetics have growing relevance to the health programs around the world and are a key platform in global health initiatives such as the World Health Organisation and United Nations. Issues of nutrition, living and working conditions, environmental exposures, poverty and inequality are key to conceptual understandings of health across the lifecourse and in postgenomic programs such as environmental epigenetics and microbiomics. This panel invites papers that interrogate the ways in which DOHaD and epigenetics intersect with local knowledge and local biologies in the Global South, and the broader politics of governance and biopower that such programs may entail. We envisage themes such as: how DOHaD and epigenetics are translated into cultural practices of reproduction, eating, care and kinship; the uptake of notions of biological plasticity; and how the politics of race, colonialism and violence are imbricated and negotiated in encounters between life science, history and daily lives, particularly in the Global South. These themes are not exhaustive and we welcome other contributions in this field. We are pleased to announce that the call for abstracts to the open panel:
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Books by Fiona C. Ross
Published Chapters in Books by Fiona C. Ross
In Ethical Quandaries: Conversations from the Field. D Posel and F Ross (eds).
Earlier published in a special number of Journal of Language and Politics
In To Repair the Irreparable: Reparation and Reconstruction in South Africa. E. Doxtader and C. Villa-Vicencio (eds)
In After the TRC.
W. James and L. van der Vywer (eds).
In Ethical Quandaries: Conversations from the Field. D Posel and F Ross (eds).
Earlier published in a special number of Journal of Language and Politics
In To Repair the Irreparable: Reparation and Reconstruction in South Africa. E. Doxtader and C. Villa-Vicencio (eds)
In After the TRC.
W. James and L. van der Vywer (eds).