ON THE POLITICS OF TIME AND PLACE IN A TRANSFORMING SOUTH AFRICAN RESEARCH ENVIRONMENT: NEW CHALLENGES FOR RESEARCH STUDENTS

ABSTRACT

South Africa has experienced a series of fundamental changes in its institutional structures over the past decade. The paper suggests that these changes underpin a “new” research environment for research students, the dynamics of which have not been commented upon in South African geographical debates. Drawing on research experiences of South African local government, the paper first considers the importance of political-temporal contingency in framing the research process, illuminating the impact of research focus vis à vis the political and temporal context of the research and informants. Second, the impact of researcher positionality is illustrated, demonstrating the dynamic ways in which identities and attendant power relations are created and transformed in variable multi-cultural settings. The paper concludes by suggesting that we consider these observations on a broader canvas, reflecting on the challenges these factors present research students.