Thembela Kepe
University of Toronto,Professor
Thembela KepeB
Email:
(416) 287-7281
(UTSC)




PhD:
University of the Western Cape

Other Degrees:
MSc University of Guelph
Bagric University of Fort Hare

Research Interests:
  • People-environment interactions
  • Land rights
  • Politics of development
  • Africa/Southern Africa

Selected Publications:
  • Kepe, T and Hall, R. 2017. Creating Learning and Action Space in South Africa’s Post-apartheid Land Redistribution Program. Action Research. DOI: 10.1177/1476750317705966
  • Hall, R and Kepe, T. 2017. Elite Capture and State Neglect: New Evidence on South Africa’s Land Reform. Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 44, No.151:122–130.
  • *Tonda, N and Kepe, T. 2016. Spaces of Contention: Tensions around Street Vendors’ Struggle for Livelihoods and Spatial Justice in Lilongwe, Malawi. Urban Forum, Vol. 27, No. 3: 297-309.
  • Kepe, T. 2016. Rural Geography Research in Post-apartheid South Africa: Patterns and Opportunities of Rural Research. South African Geographical Journal, Vol.98. No.3: 495-504.
  • Ainslie, A and Kepe, T. 2016. Understanding the Resurgence of Traditional Authorities in Post-apartheid South Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies, Vol.42, No.1:19-33.
  • Thondhlana, G., Cundill, G and Kepe, T. 2016. Co-management, Land rights and Conflicts around South Africa’s Silaka Nature Reserve. Society and Natural Resources, Vol. 29, No.4:403-417.
  • *Irvine, P., Kepe, T., *De Wet, D and *Hamunime, N. 2016. Whose Mecca? Post-productivism, tourism and sense of community in Nieu Bethesda, South Africa. South African Geographical Journal, Vol.98, No.2: 386-401.
  • Kepe, T., McGregor, G and *Irvine, P. 2015. Rights of ‘Passage’ and Contested Land Use: Gendered Conflict over Urban Space during Ritual Performance in South Africa. Applied Geography, Vol.57: 91-99.
  • Bersaglio, B., Enns, C and Kepe, T. 2015. Youth under Construction: The United Nations’ Representations of Youth in the Global Conversation on the Post-2015 Development Agenda. Canadian Journal of Development Studies, Vol.36, No.1:57-71.
  • Forbes, B and Kepe, T. 2015. Smallholder Farmers’ Attitudes towards the Provision of Drinking Water for Dairy Cows in Kagera, Tanzania. Tropical  Animal Health and Production, Vol.47, No.2:415-421.
  • Tessaro, D. and Kepe, T.  (2014). ‘Development’ at the Crossroads: Biodiversity and Land Use Tensions on South Africa’s Wild Coast. International Journal of Sustainable Development and World Ecology. Vol. 21, No. 5, 471–479.
  • Kepe, T. 2014. Globalization, Science and the Making of an Environmental Discourse on the Wild Coast, South Africa. Environment and Planning A.
  • Bersaglio, B and Kepe, T. 2014. Farmers at the Edge: Property Formalisation and Urban Agriculture in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Urban Forum. Vol. 25, No.3: DOI 10.1007/s12132-013-9214-0.
  • Enns,C., Bersaglio, B and Kepe. T. 2014. Indigenous Voices and the Making of the Post-2015 Development Agenda: The Recurring Tyranny of Participation. Third World Quarterly, Vol.35, No.3: 358–375.
  • Kepe, T. and Tessaro, D. 2014. Trading-off: Rural Food Security and Land Rights in South Africa. Land Use Policy. Vol.36:267-274.
  • Cadger, K. and Kepe, T. 2013. Contextualizing Development Projects among the San of Botswana: Challenges of Community Gardening in the Okavango Delta. Development in Practice. Vol.23, No.7:811-825.
  • Kepe, T. 2012. Land and Justice in South Africa: Exploring the Ambiguous Role of the State in the Land Claims Process. African and Asian Studies, Vol.11, No.4:391-409.
  • Kepe, T., Lewison, E., Ramasra, R and Butt, S. 2011. The Elusive ‘Fair Deal’ in South Africa’s Land Reform. Forum for Development Studies. Vol.38, No.3:371-378.
  • Ferguson, H and Kepe, T. 2011. Smallholder Farmer Participation in Local and Regional Food Aid Procurement: Assessing the Benefits and Challenges in southwestern Uganda. International Development Planning Review, Vol.33, No.1: 27-48.
  • Ferguson, H and Kepe, T. 2011. Agricultural Cooperatives and Social Empowerment of Women: a Ugandan Case Study. Development in Practice, Vol.21, No.3: 401-409.
  • Ntshona, Z., Kraai, M., Kepe, T and Saliwa, P. 2010. From Land Rights to Environmental Entitlements: Community Discontent in the ‘Successful’ Dwesa-Cwebe Land Claim in South Africa?  Development Southern Africa, Vol.27, No.3:353-361.
  • Strutt, C and Kepe, T. 2010. Implementing Education for All – Whose Agenda, Whose Change? The Case Study of the Ghana National Education Campaign Coalition. International Journal of Educational Development,Vol.30, No.4:369-376.
  • Silva, S and Kepe, T.2010. An examination of ‘Participation’ and ‘Sustainability’ in a Food Security Project among the Rural Poor in Northwestern Tanzania. African and Asian Studies, Vol.9, No.1-2:31-54.
  • Kepe, T. 2010. ‘Secrets’ that kill: Crisis, custodianship and responsibility in ritual male circumcision in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Social Science & Medicine, Vol.70, No.5:729-735.
  • Kepe, T. 2009. Unjustified Optimism: Why the World Bank’s 2008 ‘Agriculture for Development’ Report Misses the Point for South Africa. Journal of Peasant Studies, Vol.36, No.3:637-643.
  • Kepe, T.  2009.  Shaped by Race: Why ‘race’ still matters in the challenges facing biodiversity conservation in Africa. Local Environment, Vol.14, No.9:871-878.
  • Kepe, T.  2008.  Social Dynamics of the Value of Wild Edible Leaves (Imifino) in a South African Rural Area.  Ecology of Food and Nutrition, Vol.47, No.6:531-558.
  • Kepe, T., Bissonnette, JF and Roberts, D.J. 2008.  Why are Students Attracted to Political Ecology?  Environment and Planning A, Vol.40, No.11:2539-2543.
  • Kepe, T.  2008.  Land Claims and Co-management of Protected Areas in South Africa: Exploring the Challenges. Environmental Management, Vol.41, No.3:311-321.
  • Kepe, T.  2008.  Beyond the Numbers: Understanding the Value of Vegetation to Rural Livelihoods in Africa.  Geoforum, Vol.39, No.2:958-968.
  • Williams, S & Kepe, T.  2008.  Discordant Harvest: Debating the Harvesting and Commercialization of Wild Buchu (Agathosma betulina) in Elandskloof, South Africa.  Mountain Research and Development, Vol. 28, No.1: 58-64.
  • Benjaminsen, TA, Kepe, T & Brathen, S.  2008.  Between Global Interests and Local Needs:  Conservation and Land Reform in Namaqualand, South Africa.  Africa, Vol. 78, No.2:223-243.
  • Metcalfe, S & Kepe, T.  2008.  “Your Elephant on Our Land” The Struggle to Manage Wildlife Mobility on Zambian Communal Land in the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area.  Journal of Environment and Development, Vol. 17, No.2:99-117.
  • Metcalfe, S and Kepe, T.  2008.  Dealing Land in the Midst of Poverty: Commercial Access to Communal Land in Zambia.  African and Asian Studies, Vol.7, No.2:235-257.
  • Kepe, T.  2007.  Medicinal Plants and Rural Livelihoods in Pondoland, South Africa: Towards an Understanding of Resource Value.  International Journal of Biodiversity Science and Management, Vol.3, No.3:170-183.
  • Makhado, Z & Kepe, T.  2006.  Crafting a Livelihood: Local-level Trade in Mats and Baskets in Pondoland South Africa.  Development Southern Africa, Vol.23, No.4:497-509.
  • Kepe, T.  2005.  Magwa Tea Venture in South Africa: Politics, Land and Economics.  Social Dynamics, Vol.31, No.1: 261-279.
  • Kepe, T.,Wynberg, R & Ellis, W.  2005.  Land Reform and Biodiversity Conservation in South Africa: Complementary or in Conflict?  International Journal of Biodiversity Science and Management, Vol.1, No.1: 3-16.
  • Kepe, T.  2005.  Grasslands Ablaze: Vegetation Burning by Rural People in Pondoland, South Africa.  South African Geographical Journal, Vol.87, No.1: 10-17.
  • Kepe, T.  2004.  Land Restitution and Biodiversity Conservation in South Africa: The Case of Mkambati, Eastern Cape Province.  Canadian Journal of African Studies, Vol.38, No.3: 688-704.
  • Cousins, B & Kepe, T.  2004.  Decentralisation when Land and Resource Rights are Deeply Contested: A Case Study of the Mkambati Eco-tourism Project on the Wild Coast of South Africa.  European Journal of Development Research, Vol.16, No.1: 41-54.
  • Kepe, T., Saruchera, M & Whande, W.  2004.  Poverty Alleviation and Biodiversity Conservation: A South African Perspective.  Oryx: the International Journal of Conservation, Vol.38, No.2: 143-145. (editor invited)
  • Kepe, T.  2003.  Use, Control and Value of Craft Material – Cyperus textilis: Perspectives from a Mpondo Village, South Africa.  South African Geographical Journal, Vol.85, No.2:152-157.
  • Kepe, T.  2003.  Cannabis sativa and Rural Livelihoods in South Africa: Politics of Cultivation, Trade and Value in Pondoland.  Development Southern Africa,  Vol.20, No.5: 603-613.
  • Kepe, T., Cousins, B & Turner, S.  2001.  Resource Tenure and Power Relations in Community Wildlife: The Case of Mkambati Area, South Africa.  Society & Natural Resources, Vol. 14, No.10:911-925.
  • Kepe, T.  2001. Clearing the Ground in the Spatial Development Initiatives (SDIs): Analysing ‘Process’ on South Africa’s Wild Coast.  Development Southern Africa, Vol. 18, No. 3: 279-293.
  • Kepe, T.  2001.  Tourism, Protected Areas and Development in South Africa: Views of Visitors to Mkambati Nature Reserve.  South African Journal of Wildlife Research, Vol. 31, No. 3&4:155-159.
  • Kepe, T. & Scoones, I.   1999.  Creating Grasslands: Social Institutions and Environmental Change in Mkambati Area, South Africa.  Human Ecology, Vol. 27, No.1: 29-53.
  • Kepe, T.  1999.  The Problem of Defining “Community”: Challenges for the Land Reform Programme in Rural South Africa.  Development Southern Africa, Vol.16, No. 3:415-433.
  • Kepe, T. & Filson, G.C.  1993.  Perceived levels of farming skills and problems of small-scale commercial farmers in Ciskei.  Development Southern Africa:  Vol. 10, No. 3:427-435.
Book Chapters
  • Kepe, T and Ntsebeza, L. 2012. Introduction. In (Eds) Kepe, T and Ntsebeza, L. 2011. Rural Resistance in South Africa: The Mpondo Revolts after Fifty Years. Leiden: Brill Academic Publisher; Cape Town:UCT Press.
  • Kepe. 2011. Discontent and Apathy: Post-apartheid Rural Land Reform in the Context of the Mpondo Revolts. In (Eds) Kepe, T and Ntsebeza, L. 2011. Rural Resistance in South Africa: The Mpondo Revolts after Fifty Years. Leiden: Brill Academic Publisher; Cape Town:UCT Press.
  • Kepe, T. 2011. “Not my Happy Ending”:A Family Struggle to Define Roles in a Challenging Time. In (Eds) Sev’er, A and Trost, J. Skeletons in the Closet: A Sociological Analysis of Family Conflicts. Waterloo: Wilfrid Laurier University Press.
  • Kepe, T. 2010. Environment  and Development. In Warf, B (Ed). Encyclopedia of Human Geography. London: Sage Publications. (3000, editor invited).
  • Kepe, T. 2010. Land Claims and Co-management of Protected Areas in South Africa: Exploring the Challenges.  In (Eds) Walker,C., Bohlin, A.,  Hall, R and Kepe, T..  Land, Memory, Reconstruction and Justice: Perspectives on Land Claims in South Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press.
  • Walker, C., Bohlin, A, Hall, R. and Kepe, T. 2010. Introduction. In (Eds) Walker,C., Bohlin, A.,  Hall, R and Kepe, T.  Land, Memory, Reconstruction and Justice: Perspectives on Land Claims in South Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press.
  • Kepe, T.  2008.  ‘Land Restitution and Biodiversity Conservation in South Africa:The Case of Mkambati, Eastern Cape Province’.  In (eds) Jeeves, A.  and Cuthbertson, G. Fragile Freedom: South African  Democracy 1994-2004. Leiden: Brill Academic Publisher and Pretoria: University of South Africa Press.
  • Kepe, T., Hall, R. & Cousins, B. 2008. ‘Land’.  In (eds) Sheppard, N. & Robins, S. The New South African Key Words. Athens: Ohio University Press and Johannesburg: Jacana Media.
  • Ntsebeza, L., Wotshela, L., Kepe, T., Matoti, S and Ainslie, A.  2006.  Resistance and Repression in the Bantustans: Part 1: Transkei and Ciskei in (Ed) SADET, The Road To Democracy in South Africa, Vol.II (1970-1980).  Pretoria: University of South Africa Press, pp 755-782.
  • Cousins, B and Kepe, T.  2005.  Decentralisation when Land and Resource Rights are Deeply Contested: A Case Study of the Mkambati Eco-tourism Project on the Wild Coast of South Africa.  In J.C. Ribot and A.M. Larson (Eds).  Democratic Decentralisation through a Natural Resource Lens: Experiences from Africa, Asia and Latin America.  London: Routledge, pp 41-54.
  • Kepe, T. and Wynberg, R.P.  2002.  No Quick Fix.  Designing Agreements to Suit Complex and Diverse Social Circumstances.  In S.A. Laird (Ed.).  Biodiversity and Traditional Knowledge: Equitable Partnerships in Practice.  London: Earthscan Publications, pp 195-200.
Books
  • Kepe, T, Levin, M and von Lieres, B (Eds). 2016. Domains of Freedom: Justice, Citizenship and Social Change in South Africa. Cape Town: University of Cape Town Press. 320 pages.
  • Kepe, T and Ntsebeza, L (Eds).  2012. Rural Resistance in South Africa: The Mpondo Revolts after Fifty Years. Leiden: Brill Academic Publisher and Cape Town: UCT Press. 290 pages.
  • Walker,C., Bohlin, A.,  Hall, R and Kepe, T (Eds) 2010.  Land, Memory, Reconstruction and Justice: Perspectives on Land Claims in South Africa. Athens: Ohio University Press. 352 pages.
Research Clusters:
Nature, Society and Environmental Change, Political Spaces
Source:» Thembela Kepe (utoronto.ca) Retrieved May,16,2021