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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 (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 into ethical trade and empowerment in South Africa’s wine industry (funded by Nuffield Foundation and British Academy). I am also interesting in the role of material cultures and memory in post-apartheid nation-building and social justice. 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 2008).

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 nine 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 and Grant Applications:

• 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 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

Books: authored

Books: edited

  • Blunt, A. & McEwan, C. Postcolonial Geographies. Continuum; 2002.

Books: sections

  • 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. Post-Colonialism. In: Kitchin, R. & Thrift, N. International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. London: Elsevier; 2008.
  • McEwan, C. Subaltern. In: Kitchin, R. & Thurift, N. International Encyclopedia of Human Geography. London: Elsevier; 2008.
  • McEwan, C. Postcolonialism. In: Potter, R. & Desai, V. The Arnold Companion to Development Studies. London: Arnold; 2007.
  • 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. 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: academic

  • Pollard, J.S., McEwan, C., Laurie, N. & Stennin, A. Economic Geography Under Postcolonial Scrutiny. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. 2009;34:137-142.
  • McEwan, C. & Bek, D. Placing ethical trade in context: WIETA and the South African wine industry. Third World Quarterly. 2009;30:723-742. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • McEwan, C. & Bek, D. The political economy of alternative trade: Social and environmental certification in the South African wine industry. Journal of Rural Studies. 2009;25:255-266. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • McEwan, C. Feminisme 'occidental' et autres feminismes: politique postcoloniale et transversale. Pensées Féministes. Special Issue: Diversité des Féminismes. 2008;4:133-152. (Additional information)
  • McEwan, C. & Butler, R. Disability and Development: Different Models, Different Places. Geography Compass. 2007;1:448-466. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Bek, D., McEwan, C. & Bek, K. Ethical trading and socio-economic transformation: critical reflections on the South African wine industry. Environment and Planning A. 2007;39:301-319.
  • Bek, D., McEwan, C. & Bek, K. Ethical trading and socioeconomic transformation: critical reflections on the South African wine industry. Environment and Planning A. 2007;39:301-319. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • McEwan, C. The 'West' and Other Feminisms: Postcolonial and Transversal Politics. Pensées Féministes. 2007;4.
  • McEwan, C. & Bek, D. (Re) Politicizing empowerment: Lessons from the South African wine industry. Geoforum. 2006;37:1021-1034. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • McEwan, C. New spaces of citizenship? Rethinking gendered participation and empowerment in South Africa. Political Geography. 2005;24:969-991. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • McEwan, C., Pollard, J. & Henry, N. The 'global' in the city economy: multicultural economic development in Birmingham. International Journal of Urban and Regional Studies. 2005;29:916-933. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • McEwan, C. 'Bringing government to the people': women, local governance and community participation in South Africa. Geoforum. 2003;34:469-481. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • McEwan, C. Building a Postcolonial Archive? Gender, Collective Memory and Citizenship in Post-apartheid South Africa. Journal of Southern African Studies. 2003;29:739-757. (Additional information)
  • McEwan, C. Critical theory and culture in the practice of historical geography: a British perspective. Historical Geography. 2003;31:99-103.
  • McEwan, C. Material geographies and postcolonialism. Singapore Journal of Tropical Geography. 2003;24:340-355. (Additional information) (View publication online)
  • Henry, N., McEwan, C. & Pollard, J. S. Globalization from below: Birmingham - postcolonial workshop of the world? Area. 2002;34:117-127.
  • McEwan, C. Gender and citizenship: learning from South Africa. Agenda. 2001;47:47-59.
  • McEwan, C. Postcolonialism, feminism and development: intersections and dilemmas. Progress in Development Studies. 2001;1:93-111.

Journal papers: online

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Related Links

Grants Awarded and Grant Applications

  • 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)

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