for students researching the societies of Sub-Saharan Africa
The Africa Thesis Award for 2010 has been won by Michal Singer (University
of Witwatersrand) for her thesis entitled Changing conceptions of
South African coal-based pollution, with special reference to the
Witbank coalfield, 1906-1978.
Jury report
The jury of the Africa Thesis Award was particularly impressed with the
quality of the thesis of Michal Singer. Michal sketches a historically
informed picture of how perspectives of coal and coalmining in
particular have changed over the years, from a source of wealth and
comfort to a major polluter. At the beginning of the twentieth century
opencast coal mining experienced a tremendous growth in South Africa,
particularly around the Witbank area (then Eastern Transvaal, now
Mpumalanga Province). At the beginning of the third millennium plans for
opening up new coalfields in South Africa usually spark strong
resentments among the general public in general and from local
communities concerned in particular because of the pollution coming with
it. Of all fossil fuels, coal releases the most carbon dioxide emission
per unit of energy. The release of carbons from fossil fuels, are
considered one of the major causes of global warming. Still the demand
for coal continues to grow worldwide.
Interesting in Michal’s approach is that she tries to locate and
contextualise the concept of ‘pollution’ both in domain of the general
public as well as in the domain of the production of scientific
knowledge on pollution. The perspectives of the general public were
particularly informed by literally seeing, smelling, hearing the
physical evidence of air pollution, destruction of land, and underground
fires. They saw it happening before their very eyes, ears and noses.
This basically paved the way for trying to scientifically understand the
pollution in the air, land and water that coal mining instigated and
particularly pollution caused as a result of coal combustion.
The thesis would become near perfect with a little more theoretical and
methodological persistence and explicit elaboration throughout the
thesis, but this observation is not detrimental to the overall view of
this beautiful and original thesis.
The jury of the Africa Thesis Award was unanimous in their opinion that
Michal Singer’s thesis is of the utmost societal relevance, not only in
South Africa, but actually worldwide. It is therefore a thesis that can
be read as learning about coal mining and pollution in South Africa, but
also as an approach-to-follow in other countries around the world where
pollution as a result of fossil fuels are reasons for major concerns.
To conclude: the thesis is solidly structured, well-written, lavishly
referenced, and has a clear scientific point to make as the above makes
clear. On this basis the jury was unanimous in its decision to award
Michal Singer the Africa Thesis Award 2010.
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