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Department of Geography

Staff Profile

Dr Cheryl McEwan, BSc (Loughborough), PhD (Loughborough)

Telephone: +44 (0) 191 33 41941
Fax: +44 (0)191 33 41801
Room number: 210

Contact Dr Cheryl McEwan (email at cheryl.mcewan@durham.ac.uk)

Biography

Born and brought up in Yorkshire, I completed my first degree and PhD in Geography at Loughborough University, then worked as a Lecturer in Geography at University of Wales, Swansea and Birmingham University before moving to Durham in 2003.

My research interests are focused around the intersections between cultural, political and development geographies. At a conceptual level, my work has sought to explore the productive tensions between postcolonial and feminist approaches within geography. These theoretical concerns are also grounded in empirical research in South Africa and the UK.

My research is organised in three particular sub-themes. First it investigates geographies of citizenship, democracy and transformation in South Africa. This has involved an ESRC project on “Gendered spaces of democracy in South Africa”, which examined the understandings and lived experiences of citizenship of black women in South Africa, and (with David Bek) two research projects on ethical trade and empowerment in South Africa’s wine industry (funded by Nuffield Foundation and British Academy). I am currently (2010-2012) working on a Leverhulme Trust funded project (with Alex Hughes at Newcastle and David Bek at Durham), which investigates ethical production, cultural economy and politics of place in rural South Africa.  I am also interested in the role of material cultures in post-apartheid nation-building and broader issues of social justice. Related to this, I am currently collaborating with Dr Lilian Nabulime, a Ugandan artist who uses sculpture to help change attitudes towards AIDS. A second strand of research explores the lived experiences of postcoloniality and transnationalism in both global North and South. Recent research examines the contribution of Birmingham’s diverse minority ethnic communities to urban and economic development (with Jane Pollard and Nick Henry, Newcastle University). Finally, I am interested in the significance of postcolonial theory within the discipline of geography. This is explored in my recent book on Postcolonialism and Development (Routledge 2009).

I am currently Editor of Geography Compass (Development Section) and a member of the Editorial Board of the RGS-IBG/Blackwell Book Series. I teach on the undergraduate and masters programmes and currently supervise seven postgraduate researchers. I am currently President of Durham UCU and Trustee and Secretary of the Ruth First Educational Trust at Durham University. My fundraising work for the latter means that I am often to be found training for long distance runs in the hills of Northumberland.

Grants Awarded:

‘Ethical production in South Africa: Advancing a cultural economy approach’ Leverhulme Trust (F/00 128/BE) (02/01/10 – 30/06/12) [PI with Dr Alex Hughes, Newcastle University and Dr David Bek, Durham University] £180,722

‘Tackling ignorance through Fine Art: the role of sculpture in relation to gender and HIV/AIDS in Uganda’ British Academy (07/09/09 - 07/12/09) [with Dr Lilian Nabulime, Makerere University]  £7470

Evaluating ethical trade in the South African winelands: ‘jewel in the crown’ or ‘poisoned chalice’?’ British Academy (SG-43017), £7459

New beginnings and old identities: An evaluation of worker empowerment schemes in South Africa. Nuffield Foundation (SGS/00909/G), £5,949

Engendering citizenship: gendered spaces of democracy in South Africa. ESRC. (R000223286), £41,896.99

Research Groups

Research Projects

Research Interests

  • Alternative economies and ethical trade
  • Citizenship and transformation
  • Cultural and development geographies
  • Feminist and postcolonial theory
  • Memory and social justice
  • Postcoloniality
  • Qualitative methods
  • Transnationalism

Selected Publications

Journal papers: academic

Books: authored

Books: edited

  • Pollard, J., McEwan, C. & Hughes, A. Postcolonial Economies. Zed; 2011.
  • Blunt, A. & McEwan, C. Postcolonial Geographies. Continuum; 2002.

Books: sections

  • McEwan, C. Mary Kingsley. In: Gates, H.L. & Akyeampong, E.K. Dictionary of African Biography. Oxford: OUP; 2012.
  • McEwan, C., Bek, D. & Binns, T. The South African wine industry: meeting the challenges of structural and social transformation. In: Douglas, P. Geography of Wine. Berlin: Springer; 2010.
  • McEwan, C. Development: Postcolonialism/Postcolonial Geographies. In: Kitchin, R. & Thrift, N. International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. London: Elsevier; 2009:327-333.
  • McEwan, C. Social and Cultural Geography: Subaltern. In: Kitchin, R. & Thurift, N. International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. London: Elsevier; 2009:59-64.
  • McEwan, C. Geography, Culture and Global Change. In: Daniels, P., Bradshaw, M., Shaw, D. & Sidaway, J. Human Geography, Issues for the 21st Century. London: Pearson; 2008:273-289.
  • McEwan, C. Postcolonialism. In: Potter, R. & Desai, V. The Arnold Companion to Development Studies. London: Arnold; 2007:124-129.
  • McEwan, C., Pollard, J, & Henry, N. The non-'Global City' of Birmingham, UK: a gateway through time. In: Benton-Short, L. & Price, M. Migrants to the Metropolis: The Rise of Immigrant Gateway Cities. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press; 2007:191-224.
  • McEwan, C. Mobilizing culture for social justice and development: South Africa’s Amazwi Abesifazane memory cloths program. In: Radcliffe, S. Culture and Development in a Globalising World: Geographies, Actors and Paradigms. London: Routledge; 2006:203-227.
  • McEwan, C. Using Images, Films and Photography. In: Desai, V. & Potter, R. Doing Development Research. London: Sage; 2006:231-240.
  • McEwan, C. Gendered Citizenship in South Africa: Rights and Beyond. In: Gouwns, A. (Un) Thinking Citizenship, Feminist Debates in Contemporary South Africa. Aldershot/Cape Town: Ashgate/UCT Press; 2005:177-198.
  • McEwan, C. Geography, Culture and Global Change. In: Daniels, P., Bradshaw, M., Shaw, D. & Sidaway, J. Human Geography, Issues for the 21st Century. Pearson; 2005:265-283.
  • McEwan, C. Transnationalism. In: Johnson, N., Schein, R. & Duncan, J. Companion of Cultural Geography. Blackwell; 2004:499-512.
  • McEwan, C. The West and Other Feminisms. In: Anderson, K., Domosh, M., Pile, S. & Thrift, N. Handbook of Cultural Geography. Sage; 2003:405-419.
  • Blunt, A. & McEwan, C. Introducing postcolonial geographies. In: Blunt, A. & McEwan, C. Postcolonial Geographies. Continuum; 2002:1-6.
  • McEwan, C. Postcolonialism. In: Potter, R. & Desai, V. The Arnold Companion to Development Studies. Arnold; 2002:127-131.
  • McEwan, C. Geography, culture and global change. In: Daniels, P., Bradshaw, M., Shaw, D. & Sidaway, J. Human Geography Issues for the 21st Century. 2001:154-179.

Journal papers: online

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Related Links

Grants Awarded

  • 2010: ETHICAL PRODUCTION IN SOUTH AFRICA (£165524.84 from The Leverhulme Trust)
  • 2009: TACKLING IGNORANCE THROUGH FINE ART (£7470.00 from The British Academy)
  • 2006: "Evaluating Ethical Trade in the South African Winelands: ‘Jewel in the Crown’ or Poisoned Chalice?", British Academy, £7459 (with David Bek)
  • 2006: EVALUATING ETHICAL TRADE (£7459.00 from The British Academy)
  • 2006: Economic Geographies. An ESRC-funded Seminar Series, hosted by Durham, Newcastle and Manchester. For more details, see http://www.ncl.ac.uk/geps/research/geography/pcseminars/
  • 2003: NEW BEGINNINGS AND OLD IDENTITIES (£5949.00 from The Nuffield Foundation)

Supervises