dr. L (Lerato) Thakholi

I am a lecturer at the Sociology of Development and Change Group and a senior researcher in the Living Landscapes in Action project at the Institute for Poverty Land and Agrarian Studies, University of the Western Cape, South Africa.

In 2016, I completed my MSc at the University of Cape Towns’ Environmental and Geographical Science Department. Shortly after this, I enrolled for a PhD at the WUR and graduated in 2021 with a thesis entitled Conserving Inequality: Subjugating black labour and hoarding property in South Africa’s private nature reserves.

My research investigates the historical development of property rights in land and environmental resources and how this has evolved in tandem with shifts in labour regimes. Empirically, I have studied this in southern Africa using ethnographic and archival methods which have enabled me to critically analyse the impacts of conservation land use on rural landscapes and waged and unwaged workers. Theoretically, I am inspired by critical geographers and thus begin my work from the premise that capital produces spaces and labour regimes that are integral for its expansion and intensification. Themes that have been central to my work include: racial capitalism, spatial justice, property and social reproduction.

Through my work in the Living Landscapes in Action project I have expanded my research focus to look beyond biodiversity conservation to incorporate a cross-border and landscape level analysis. This research, based in the Greater Mapungubwe World Heritage Site, has also allowed me to center questions of belonging, labour migration and cultural heritage.