SJ Cooper-Knock

SJ's research focuses on the politics of urban in life in South Africa. The current focus of her work includes: everyday policing and punishment; being and belonging in the city; the politics of crisis; and concepts of urban justice. It includes:

• Everyday Policing and Punishment, exploring different forms of policing and punishment and their consequences in South Africa with a range of collaborators including Dr Gail Super and Kamau Wairuri.
• Off-grid Cities, exploring elite off-grid decisions around energy and their broader consequences for sustainability and justice with Gauteng City Regional Observatory, University of Cambridge, University of the Western Cape, and University of the Witwatersrand.
• Magistrates Courts in South Africa and Uganda with Dr Anna Macdonald (University of East Anglia).
• Moving Words Project exploring migration, being, and belonging in Johannesburg with Dr Duduzile Ndlovu (ACMS, Wits).
• The Lockdown Diary Project exploring the experience of 70 residents across Cape Town from occupied buildings, informal settlements, townships and suburbs with Dr Fiona Anciano, Mmeli Dube, Mfundo Majola, and Boitumelo Papane (University of the Western Cape).
• The Politics of Fire Project exploring informal settlement fire in the Western Cape with the IRIS Fire Team (University of Edinburgh, University of the Western Cape, University of Stellenbosch).