Appointment
Appointment Dr Khayaat Fakier
From 1 September 2021 Dr Khayaat Fakier will hold the Prince Claus Chair (PCC) for a period of two years at the International Institute of Social Studies (ISS), part of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Her thematic focus will be ‘Putting care at the center of equity and development: challenges for gender aware economies based on an ethics of care for people and the environment’.
As holder of the Prince Claus Chair, Dr Fakier will examine the issue of care in relation to equity and development policies. The two-year research project will examine how to build an ethics of care not only for people, but also for the environment. The intent of the research will be to see in what ways care work is ‘the alternative’ value to growth. Working in collaboration with Dutch and international networks her research will seek to define how we can build equitable economies where care work and care-ful relationships with society and nature are central to social and cultural life. The analysis will specifically take into account local communities’ responses to the pandemic.
Dr Fakier is a sociologist with a focus on research in women’s care for others and the environment. Dr Fakier gained her PhD from the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg. She is currently senior lecturer at Stellenbosch University and teaches modules on sociology of work, feminisms and women’s engagement in the South African economy. She supervises students on a wide range of feminist topics, including ecofeminism, fatherhood, women in the legal profession, and women in prisons.
Dr Fakier’s research examines the value of social reproduction in a global society where the unpaid work and care conducted by women is not recognised. Her research on the impact of social and industrial policy on the lives of women suggests that working class and underemployed women shoulder the burden of care for the young, the elderly, the frail and the environment, which most state and corporate policies ignore. Her work has featured in renowned international journals such as Antipode: Journal of Radical Geography, the International Journal of Feminist Politics, and Capitalism Nature Socialism. Her most recent publication is a co-edited book titled, Marxist-Feminist Theories and Struggles Today: Essential writings on Intersectionality, Labour and Ecofeminism published by Zed Books.
Dr Fakier’s writing draws on her work with women working in communities affected by mining, on farms, and women on public works programmes.
Prince Claus Chair
The Prince Claus Chair is a rotating chair. Appointments are made alternately at ISS in The Hague and Utrecht University. Both institutions use the chair to promote research and education in the field of development cooperation, in accordance with the views and ideas of the late Prince Claus of The Netherlands. The curatorium of the Prince Claus Chair is chaired by Professor Louise Gunning. Her Majesty Queen Máxima of The Netherlands is the patron of the Prince Claus Chair.
International Institute of Social Studies (ISS)
ISS is an international institute for research and education in the field of development studies. ISS is located in The Hague and is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam. Between 300 and 400 graduate students, mainly from the ‘Global South’, study at ISS each year. ISS is also home to a large community of PhD researchers.
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Note for the press
For more information about the Prince Claus Chair, please contact Ms R.L. Giethoorn, Executive Secretary, princeclauschair@uu.nl
For more information about the content of the 2021-3 term of the Prince Claus Chair, please contact Professor dr Wendy Harcourt Professor of Gender, Diversity and Sustainable Development, harcourt@iss.nl