After being invited to present at a recent conference/ workshop on global racisms at the University of Cambridge in the UK, he has now been invited to facilitate a racial equity training workshop for staff of the W.K. Kellogg Foundation in Michigan, USA, in October. These invitations reflect the growing global interest in UFS-led research, and the university’s commitment to producing scholarship with international impact.
Shaping a new field of global scholarship
Apartheid Studies is a new field that uses the notion of apartheid as a theoretical framework, methodology, and lens for studying the persistence of oppression, injustice, racism, and inequality. It addresses a gap in both South African and global scholarship, from which the systematic study of apartheid as a structured academic field has been largely absent. “If there is Holocaust Studies, for example, why is there no Apartheid Studies?” asks Prof Mboti, whose 2023 book, Apartheid Studies: A Manifesto, lays the foundation for the discipline. By formalising apartheid as an analytical framework, the field provides scholars and practitioners worldwide with tools and methodologies to better understand and address systemic inequality.
At the recent Cambridge conference, hosted by renowned sociologist Prof Mónica Moreno Figueroa, Prof Mboti was the sole representative from Africa. He joined scholars from South America, Europe, the United States, and Asia to discuss the establishment of the Global Racisms Institute for Social Transformation (GRIST), a global centre for cutting-edge antiracism scholarship to be based at the University of Cambridge from the beginning of 2026.
The conference, themed ‘Relational Racisms in a Global Perspective’, explored new intellectual approaches to the persistent challenges of racism, caste, oppression, and inequality. Prof Mboti presented his work on Apartheid Studies, which was well received and contributed to his subsequent invitation to facilitate the W.K. Kellogg Foundation workshop, reinforcing UFS’s reputation for research-led contributions to global debates.
Prof Mboti founded Apartheid Studies following the Marikana Massacre in 2012, with the goal of creating an academic framework to study apartheid systematically. “There is not a single centre, chair, course, or institute of Apartheid Studies at any of South Africa’s 25 public universities, or anywhere else in the world,” he notes, emphasising the need for international recognition and academic development of the field. In addition to his publications, Prof Mboti supervises three doctoral and two master’s students at UFS and Harvard University, all researching topics within Apartheid Studies, demonstrating the university’s role in nurturing the next generation of globally engaged scholars.
The upcoming October workshop in Michigan will allow Prof Mboti to share practical, globally informed lessons on racial equity with the W.K. Kellogg Foundation staff. He is also completing the manuscript of his second book, a follow-up to Apartheid Studies: A Manifesto, further cementing his position as a leading scholar in this new and impactful field.
By supporting innovative scholarship like Apartheid Studies, the UFS demonstrates its commitment to research-led education and its engagement in global conversations on social justice, inequality, and human rights. Prof Mboti’s achievements are a testament to the expertise and international impact that UFS researchers continue to deliver.