South African anthropologist and activist (1936–2007)
Archie Mafeje
FAAS
Archie Mafeje in 1968
Born
Archibald Boyce Monwabisi Mafeje
(1936-03-30)30 March 1936
Gubenxa, Ngcobo (Thembuland), Cape Province, Union of South Africa
Died
28 March 2007(2007-03-28) (aged 70)
Pretoria, Gauteng, South Africa
Resting place
Ncambele, Tsolo, South Africa
Citizenship
South African
Dutch
Education
Nqabara Secondary School Healdtown Comprehensive School University of Cape Town (BA, MA) King's College, University of Cambridge (PhD)
Known for
Mafeje Affair Anti-apartheid movement Decolonisation of African anthropology
Spouse
Shahida El Baz
Scientific career
Fields
Social anthropology Political Anthropology Urban Sociology African history
Institutions
University of Dar Es Salaam Institute of Social Studies CODESRIA University of Namibia American University in Cairo
Thesis
Social and Economic Mobility in a Peasant Society: A Study of Commercial Farmers in Buganda (1968)
Doctoral advisor
Audrey Richards
Other academic advisors
Monica Wilson (MA)
Archibald Boyce Monwabisi Mafeje (30 March 1936 – 28 March 2007), commonly known as Archie Mafeje, was a South African anthropologist and activist. Born in what is now the Eastern Cape, he received degrees from the University of Cape Town (UCT) and the University of Cambridge. He became a professor at various universities in Europe, North America, and Africa. He spent most of his career away from apartheid South Africa after he was blocked from teaching at UCT in 1968.
In exile, Mafeje participated in anti-apartheid activism. His work in anthropology was closely tied to his political activism, and he used his scholarship as a tool to critique the social and economic structures that underpinned the apartheid system in South Africa. He was particularly interested in land ownership and resource allocation issues, and argued that apartheid was built on a foundation of unjust land distribution and exploitation.
A Marxist, Mafeje as a social theorist was known for his critiques of colonialism, apartheid, and other forms of oppression in Africa. A prominent member of the African left, he was critical of Western academic traditions and argued for developing an African-centered approach to social theory and anthropology. Mafeje's Marxist perspective and his contributions to African social theory have impacted scholarship and activism in Africa and beyond. His work has influenced debates about African identity, autonomy, and independence.
Archibald Boyce Monwabisi Mafeje (30 March 1936 – 28 March 2007), commonly known as ArchieMafeje, was a South African anthropologist and activist. Born...
council of the University of Cape Town (UCT) to rescind anthropologist ArchieMafeje's job offer for a senior lecturer position due to pressure from the South...
discourse. He engaged in academic disagreements with scholars like ArchieMafeje and Ruth First on the Soweto uprising, emphasising the complexity of...
(2013), Bank, Andrew; Bank, Leslie J. (eds.), "'Speaking from Inside': ArchieMafeje, Monica Wilson and the Co-Production ofLanga: A Study of Social Groups...
1968. In 1968, he was directly involved in the Mafeje affair as he opposed the hirring of ArchieMafeje as a senior lecturer to University of Cape Town...
founded the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC) Raymond Mhlaba, ANC leader ArchieMafeje, South African anthropologist and activist. Bank, Andrew; Swana, Vuyiswa...
Willowvale. In 1951 and 1952, ArchieMafeje completed his Junior Certificate at Nqabara Secondary School. There, Honono introduced Mafeje and other pupils to the...
over former colonies. In the 1990s, African writers Ali Mazrui and ArchieMafeje held an intense debate regarding the usage of the term recolonization...
and gender. University of Cape Town Council's decision to rescind ArchieMafeje's (black) offer for a senior lecturer position due to pressure from the...
Francis Wilson Scientific career Fields Social Anthropology Institutions University of Cape Town Thesis Reaction to Conquest Notable students ArchieMafeje...
(white-only) University of Cape Town (UCT) Council's decision to rescind ArchieMafeje's (black) offer for a senior lecturer position due to pressure from the...
2014) p43 "The Legitimacy of the Uganda Government in Buganda", by ArchieMafeje, in Government and Rural Development in East Africa: Essays on Political...
Strand Street Stuttafords department store on Adderley Street, 1957 ArchieMafeje (right) with Welsh Makanda in August 1961 Slave Lodge Company's Garden...
University of South Africa, working as a consultant on the launch of the ArchieMafeje Research Institute on Applied Social Policy. Meanwhile, she embarked...
Studies, Interdisciplinary Anthropology Scientific career Fields Social anthropology Doctoral advisor Bronisław Malinowski Doctoral students ArchieMafeje...
Petrus van Wyk Louw, Afrikaans-language poet, playwright and scholar ArchieMafeje, anthropologist and activist who significantly contributed to the decolonization...
that resolution to exclude non-white members. Kiloh, Margaret; Sibeko, Archie (2000). A Fighting Union. Randburg: Ravan Press. p. 11. ISBN 0869755277...
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