SA UK Bilateral Research Chair in Political Theory

The SA UK Bilateral Research Chair in Political Theory has four central purposes: a) to enable Wits and Cambridge to build on their excellence in political theory through a vigorous exchange of ideas from different contexts; b) to use this collaboration to increase the prominence and promise of political theory in South Africa by transforming the discipline and promoting South Africa's transformation agenda; c) to manage a vibrant exchange programme for graduate students and colleagues between the two institutions (WITSPOLIS) International Students Witwatersrand/Cambridge Exchange Programme; and d) to supervise and mentor graduate students, postdoctoral and bilateral research fellows at both institutions.

Professor Lawrence Hamilton, the Chair holder, currently supervises 6 masters and 9 doctoral students and mentors 3 postdoctoral fellows and 1 bilateral fellow at both institutions. The Chair enables growth and excellence in political theory by offering scholarships at various levels.

Prof Hamilton helps rethink political theory from and for the global South. He is the author and editor of several books including The Political Philosophy of Needs (Cambridge University Press 2003); Are South Africans Free? (Bloomsbury 2014); Freedom is Power: Liberty Through Political Representation (Cambridge University Press 2014); Amartya Sen (Polity 2019); and How To Read Amartya Sen (Penguin 2020). He is an elected member of the Academy of Science of South Africa (ASSAf), editor-in-chief of Theoria: A Journal of Social and Political Theory, and Life Member and Associate of Clare Hall, Cambridge. He has received more than ten awards for research excellence, including the National Research Foundation (NRF) President's Award (2007-11) and, recently, an A-rating from the NRF (the first A-rated political scientist in South Africa).

Prof Lawrence Hamilton co-founded and co-directs the Association for Political Theory in Africa (APTA).