Mzulungile Gaqa

Fellow: Department of Anthropology, PhD

I am a doctoral fellow at the Centre for Humanities Research from the department of Anthropology in the University of the Western Cape. I am also an undergraduate academic tutor for department of anthropology. I obtained my B.A, B.A. Honours in Anthropology and M.A (Cum Laude) in Anthropology at the University of the Western Cape.

My research interests range from anthropological theory, protests, life in the informal settlements, citizenship, and Being in the world. It is mainly through these themes that I am committed to traverse the scholarly realm.

Since Honours degree I have been exploring the intersection between protests and life in the informal settlements. Located in the discipline of anthropology, this is the project I intend to pursue further in my doctoral research. I am currently particularly interested in how citizenship as a notion can help, or not, grasp an understanding of what it is and what it means to be an informal settlement resident. I approach this by mainly employing Ethnography as a methodological tool to make sense of informal settlement life. My study is based in the outskirts of Cape Town, South Africa.