Amber Reed
Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Anthropology
Drexel University
United States of America
Biography
Amber Reed is a cultural anthropologist who specializes in South Africa. In particular, she is interested in issues of youth, democracy, education, race and the politics of culture. She is currently working on a manuscript, tentatively titled "Nostalgia of the Oppressed: Youth, Democracy and Disenchantment in Post-Apartheid South Africa", that examines how rural Xhosa youth (an ethnic group) learn about democracy and human rights through both state education and Non-Governmental Organization interventions, and how this intersects with adults’ nostalgic recollections of elements of apartheid vis-à -vis the democratic state. Her next project will examine the suburbs of Johannesburg, looking at racial politics, real estate and television.
Research Interest
South Africa, youth, democracy, apartheid, nostalgia, education, NGOs, suburbia, race
Publications
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2011 - “Creating New Leaders: Youth Activism in South Africa." Ufahamu: A Journal of African Studies. 36(2).
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2015 - "Democracy in Sub-Saharan Africa." Oxford Bibliographies in Anthropology. Ed. John Jackson. New York: Oxford University Press
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2016 - “Nostalgia in the Post-Apartheid State.†Anthropology Southern Africa. 39(2):97-109.
