Duke University Center for African and African American Research

    Anne-Maria Makhulu
  • Anne-Maria Makhulu

  • Associate Professor in the Department of Cultural Anthropology
  • Overview

    Anne-Maria Makhulu is an Associate Professor of Cultural Anthropology and African and African American Studies at Duke University. Her research interests cover: Africa and more specifically South Africa, cities , space, globalization, political economy, neoliberalism, the anthropology of finance and corporations, as well as questions of aesthetics, including the literature of South Africa. Makhulu is co-editor of Hard Work, Hard Times: Global Volatility and African Subjectivities (2010) and the author of Making Freedom: Apartheid, Squatter Politics and the Struggle for Home (2015). She is a contributor to Producing African Futures: Ritual and Reproduction in a Neoliberal Age (2004), New Ethnographies of Neoliberalism (2010), author of articles in Anthropological Quarterly and PMLA , special issue guest editor for South Atlantic Quarterly (115(1)) and special theme section guest editor of Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa, and the Middle East (36(2)). A new project, “Black and Bourgeois: Defining Race and Class After Apartheid,” examines the relationship between race and mobility in post-apartheid South Africa.

  • Education

    • Ph.D., University of Chicago 2003
    • M.A., University of Chicago 1996
    • B.A., Columbia University 1994
  • Awards and Honors

    • Arts and Sciences Committee on Faculty Research Summer Grant. Arts and Sciences Committee on Faculty Research., 2016
    • Josiah Trent Memorial Foundation Grant. Trent Foundation., 2015
    • Vice-Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies Grant . Vice-Provost for Interdisciplinary Studies., 2015
    • Mellon Humanities Funding. Andrew Mellon Foundation., 2014
    • Social Sciences Division Funding. Trinity Arts & Sciences., 2014
    • Africa Initiative Grant. Africa Initiative., 2013
    • Josiah Trent Memorial Foundation Grant. Josiah Trent Memorial Foundation., 2011
    • Duke University Arts and Sciences Committee on Faculty Research Travel Grant. Duke University Arts and Sciences Committee on Faculty Research., 2008
    • Duke University Center for International Studies Research Grant. Duke University., 2008
    • Provost Common Fund. Duke University., 2008
    • Duke University Arts and Sciences Committee on Faculty Research Travel Grant. Duke University Arts and Sciences Committee on Faculty Research., 2006
    • Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies Fellowship. Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies, Princeton., 2006
    • Shelby Cullom Davis Center for Historical Studies Research Fellowship. Princeton University., 2006
    • Princeton University Committee on Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences Travel Grant. Princeton University., 2005
    • Princeton University Committee on Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences Travel Grant. Princeton University., 2005
    • Princeton University Committee on Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences Travel Grant. Princeton University., 2004
    • Princeton Institute for International and Regional Studies Course Development Grant for “Rethinking Globalization” . Princeton University., 2004
    • Princeton University Committee on Research in the Humanities and Social Sciences Travel Grant. Princeton University., 2004
    • Princeton Society of Fellows in the Liberal Arts. Council on the Humanities, Princeton University., 2003
    • Harry Frank Guggenheim Dissertation Fellowship. University of Chicago., 2000
    • Josephine de Kármán Fellowship. University of Chicago., 2000
    • Spencer Foundation Mentor Grant. University of Chicago., 1998
    • Spencer Foundation Travel Grant. University of Chicago., 1996
    • Edith Heller Juda Fellowship. University of Chicago., 1995
    • Unendowed Fellowship. University of Chicago., 1994
    • Helena Rubinstein Scholarship for Women in Science. Columbia University., 1993
  • Professional Activities

    • Presentation
      • The Politics of Black Resistance at Universities. Black Academic Caucus. April 29, 2016
      • Black Affluence: A Brief Outline for Future Work. New Social Forms Seminar. April 28, 2016
      • Black Affluence: A Brief Outline for Future Work. Contemporary History and Humanities Seminar. April 26, 2016
      • Black Affluence: A Brief Outline for Future Work. Sociology Seminar. April 25, 2016
      • Debt, Finance, and Securitization: The Economics, Politics, and Policing of #FeesMustFall,” “Race, Property, Debt. Race, Property, Debt Symposium. Institute for Research in the Humanities. March 11, 2016 - March 12, 2016
      • Making Freedom: Apartheid, Squatter Politics, and the Struggle for Home. Left of Black. December 8, 2015
      • #FeesMustFall, #StudentBlackOut Day, and the New Student Movements. Concilium on Southern Africa. December 3, 2015
      • The Postcolonial Contemporary. October 9, 2015
      • The Fantastic and the Ordinary. Fantastic Contemporary Symposium. Michaelis School of Fine Art. September 16, 2015
      • Urban Poverty Workshop. Sanford School of Public Policy. December 4, 2014 - December 5, 2014
      • Guest Lectures in International Comparative Studies on Johannesburg. Duke University. November 17, 2014 - November 19, 2014
      • Screening and Discussion of film “The Battle for Johannesburg” . Global Cities. Duke University. September 29, 2014
      • South African Cities. Global Cities Seminar. Duke University. September 18, 2014
      • The Debt Economy: Credit and Capture in South Africa. University of Sussex. September 9, 2014 - September 11, 2014
      • Reckoning. Ends of Work Conference. Society of Cultural Anthropology. May 9, 2014
      • Reckoning. Diasporic Circuits Reconsidered conference. University of Pennsylvania. April 17, 2014 - April 18, 2014
      • City of Extremes: The Spatial Politics of Johannesburg. Shelter University Course. April 14, 2014
      • The New South African Debt Economy. “Beyond 'Marxism versus Postcolonialism' Symposium. Committee on Globalization and Social Change. April 4, 2014
      • Prison, Lights, Action: Carceral Space on ‘The Wire’. North Carolina Central University. March 20, 2014
      • The City in Theory. November 11, 2013
      • After Work. Department of Anthropology, University of the Witwatersrand. March 7, 2013
      • After Work: South Africa’s Contingent Classes. November 17, 2012
      • Marikana and “Violence at a Time of Liberation”. November 8, 2012
      • Gaining Ground: Squatters and the Right to the City. October 10, 2012
      • The Right to the City Across the South African “Transition”. April 27, 2012
      • Enchantings: Modernity, Culture, and the State in Postcolonial Africa conference . Department of African Languages and Literatures, University of Wisconsin. April 26, 2012 - April 28, 2012
      • Precarious Liberation: Workers, the State, and Contested Social Citizenship in Post-apartheid South Africa. March 13, 2012
      • Politics of Prejudice: a conversation with Gyan Pandey. South Asia Center Workshop. Duke University. February 17, 2012
      • Surface, Edge, Underneath: South Africa’s Cultural Contemporary. November 1, 2011
      • Teaching "The Wire,” a conversation with Mark Anthony Neal. October 10, 2011
      • Workshop on Area Studies in a Neoliberal Age. May 2, 2011
      • The Consequences of Speculation: A View from South Africa. April 16, 2011
      • Pop Culture and Pedagogy: Teaching "The Wire". February 17, 2011
      • The Geography of Freedom. September 28, 2010
      • John Allen Life History. April 5, 2010
      • Anthropology of Finance. March 31, 2010
      • Performing Truth and Reconciliation: Aeschylus’s “Oresteia” in South Africa,. March 17, 2010
      • The Geography of Freedom. March 9, 2010
      • The Geography of Freedom. March 4, 2010
      • The Genealogy of Freedom. February 26, 2010
      • District 9: ‘Alien-Nation’, Sci-Fi and the Making of Ethno-Space. November 11, 2009
      • Unplanned Community: The Struggle for the South African City. October 23, 2009
      • Unplanned Community: The Struggle for the South African City. October 9, 2009
      • African Ubuntu and South African Constitutionalism: Constructing a New Legal Culture. April 17, 2009
      • The Search for Economic Sovereignty. March 3, 2009
      • The Search for Economic Sovereignty. February 23, 2009
      • The Search for Economic Sovereignty. February 4, 2009
      • Africa’s-Place-in-the-World: A Conversation with James Ferguson and Achille Mbembe. November 18, 2008
      • The Social Coordinates of Illness in Postcolonial Africa. October 3, 2008
      • Africa and the African Diaspora: Traditions, Revolutions and Innovations. SUNY, Purchase. May 10, 2008
      • The Micro-Finance of Everyday Life: Family Economy in Neoliberal South Africa. Department of Anthropology, University of Pennsylvania. April 14, 2008
      • The Micro-Finance of Everyday Life: Family Economy in Neoliberal South Africa. Mellon-Sawyer Seminar Series, “Portents and Dilemmas: Environmental Politics and Public Health in India and China.". April 12, 2008
      • Neoliberalism and Social Death in South Africa. SUNY, Purchase. February 4, 2008
    • Service to the University
      • Faculty Director. MasterCard Foundation Scholars Program. 2016
      • Provostial Masters Program Committee. 2015 - 2016
      • Duke University. Social Sciences Research Institute Faculty Governing Board. 2015 - 2016
      • Graduate Admissions. December 10, 2013 - January 8, 2014
      • Member. Concilium on Southern Africa. October 1, 2013 - October 1, 2013
      • International Comparative Studies Search. January 1, 2013 - April 1, 2013
      • Co-Organizer. Speaker Series in Cultural Anthropology. November 30, 2012 - July 1, 2013
      • Departmental Representative. November 30, 2012 - July 1, 2013
      • Organizer. Curriculum Innovations. November 30, 2012
      • Organizer. Curriculum Innovations. December 15, 2011 - December 15, 2011
      • Organizer. Curriculum Innovations. November 30, 2010 - November 30, 2010
      • Organizer. Curriculum Innovations. December 16, 2009 - December 16, 2009
      • Co-Organizer. AAAS Speaker Series. December 16, 2009
      • Concilium on Southern Africa. December 16, 2009
      • Concilium on Southern Africa. December 16, 2009
      • Global South Synergy Group. December 16, 2009
      • Global South Synergy Group. December 16, 2009
      • Graduate Committee. December 16, 2009
      • Speaker Series in African and African American Studies. December 16, 2009
      • Graduate Committee - Cultural Anthropology. December 16, 2008
      • Graduate Committee. August 1, 2008
      • Preliminary Search. August 1, 2008
    • Service to the Profession
      • Co-organizer. “Race and Rurality” conference. Duke University. March 26, 2015 - March 28, 2015
      • Co-organizer. The Haunted Present: Reckoning After Apartheid conference. Concilium on Southern Africa. April 10, 2014 - April 11, 2014
      • Organizer. Meth Labs and the Ontologies of Making and Unmaking. Duke University. February 19, 2014
      • Organizer : Concilium on Southern Africa. July 2013 - April 2014
      • Conference Organizer : The Social Coordinates of Illness in Postcolonial Africa. October 3, 2008 - October 4, 2008
  • Selected Publications

(Essay)
  • Makhulu, A-M. (2016). Gaining Ground: Squatters and the Right to the City (Accepted). In T Olaniyan (Ed.), Enchantings: Modernity, Culture, and the State in Postcolonial Africa Indiana University Press.
  • (Chapter)
  • Makhulu, AM. (2011, December 1). The question of freedom: Post-emancipation South Africa in a neoliberal age. In Ethnographies of Neoliberalism (pp. 131-145).
  • Makhulu, A-M. (2010). The Search for Economic Sovereignty. In A-MB Makhulu, BA Buggenhagen & S Jackson (Eds.), Hard Work, Hard Times: Global Volatility and African Subjectivities (pp. 28-47).
  • University of California Press. (Chapter)
  • Makhulu, A-M. (2004). Poetic Justice: Xhosa Idioms and Moral Breach in Post-Apartheid South Africa. In B Weiss (Ed.), Producing African Futures: Ritual and Reproduction in a Neoliberal Age (pp. 229-261).
  • Brill Press. (Chapter)
  • Academic Article
  • Makhulu, AMB. (2016, January 1). Introduction: Reckoning with apartheid the conundrum of working through the past. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East , 36 (2), 256-262.
  • Makhulu, A-M. (2016, January). A Brief History of the Social Wage: Welfare before and after Racial Fordism. South Atlantic Quarterly , 115 (1), 113-124.
  • Makhulu, A-M. (2016). Reckoning With Apartheid: The Conundrum of Working Through the Past, An Introduction. Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East , 36 (2), 256-262.
  • Makhulu, A-M. (2016). Labour, Insecurity and Violence in South Africa: An Afterword. M Bolt and D Rajak (Eds.). Journal of Southern African Studies , 42 (5), 999-1003.
  • Makhulu, A-M. (2016). Introduction. SAQ: The South Atlantic Quarterly , 115 (1), 1-7.
  • MAKHULU, ANNE-MARIA. (2012, November). Violence in a Time of Liberation: Murder and Ethnicity at a South African Gold Mine, 1994 by Donald L. Donham. American Ethnologist , 39 (4), 843-844.
  • Makhulu, A-M. (2012, October). The Conditions for after Work: Financialization and Informalization in Posttransition South Africa. PMLA , 127 (4), 782-799.
  • Anne-Maria Makhulu, . (2010). The "Dialectics of Toil": Reflections on the Politics of Space after Apartheid. Anthropological Quarterly , 83 (3), 551-580.
  • Journal Issue
  • (Special issue)
  • Counihan, C, Graham, LV, Hoad, N, Makhubu, N, Makhulu, A-M, & Turner, RL. (2016). Reckoning With Apartheid: The Conundrum of Working Through the Past (In preparation). C Counihan and A-M Makhulu (Eds.). Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East , 36 (2).
  • (Special issue)
  • Makhulu, A-M, Allison, A, Amrute, S, Barchiesi, F, Bauer, A, Bhan, M, Fennell, C, Peterson, M, & Rajak, D. (2016). Welfare (Accepted). A-M Makhulu (Ed.). SAQ: The South Atlantic Quarterly , 115 (1).
  • (Special issue)
  • Counihan, C, Graham, LV, Hoad, N, Makhubu, N, Makhulu, A-M, & Turner, RL. (2016). Reckoning With Apartheid: The Conundrum of Working Through the Past (In preparation). C Counihan and A-M Makhulu (Eds.). Comparative Studies of South Asia, Africa and the Middle East , 36 (2).
  • (Special issue)
  • Book
  • (Monograph)
  • Makhulu, A-M, Buggenhagen, BA, & Jackson, S. (2010). Hard Work, Hard Times: Global Volatility and African Subjectivities. University of California Press.
  • (Edited Book)
  • Selected Grants

    • JHFYS Program 2010
    • jhfys immersion 1