Jean Comaroff facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Jean Comaroff
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Prof. Jean Comaroff in Cape Town, South Africa, February 2009
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| Born | 22 July 1946 |
| Alma mater | University of Cape Town London School of Economics |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Anthropology |
| Institutions | University of Chicago Harvard University |
Jean Comaroff (born 22 July 1946) is a well-known professor who studies people and cultures. She teaches at Harvard University and is an expert on Africa.
Professor Comaroff focuses on how colonialism affected people in Southern Africa. Colonialism is when one country takes control of another area, often changing its culture and way of life. Before joining Harvard, she was a professor at the University of Chicago. She also taught at the University of Cape Town.
Learning and Research
Jean Comaroff earned her first degree in 1966 from the University of Cape Town. Later, she received her Ph.D. in 1974 from the London School of Economics. She has been a university professor since 1978.
She has written many books and articles. Much of her work is about colonialism and how powerful groups influence others. She often works with her husband, John Comaroff. They have done a lot of research in Southern Africa and Great Britain.
Comaroff is also part of the team that edits the journal Public Culture. One important book she wrote with John Comaroff is Theory from the South. This book explores how ideas from places like Africa might influence Europe and America.
Her Early Life
Jean Comaroff was born in Edinburgh, Scotland, in 1946. This was shortly after World War II ended. Her father was a doctor from South Africa. He joined the British Army Medical Corps while studying to become a specialist in women's health.
Her mother was born into a German family that moved to South Africa. Jean's parents returned to South Africa when she was less than a year old. They settled in Port Elizabeth, an industrial town.
Her family cared deeply about fairness for everyone. Her father ran a local clinic. Her mother was very involved in helping the community. She helped with soup kitchens, night schools, and supported the elderly.
In the late 1960s, Jean and her husband, John Comaroff, moved to Great Britain. They both studied anthropology there. Later, both Jean and John Comaroff taught at the University of Chicago for many years, from 1979 to 2012.
Awards and Recognition
Jean Comaroff has received several important awards for her research and writings:
- Gordon Laing Prize: This award is for the best book written by a faculty member and published by the University of Chicago Press. She won this with John L. Comaroff.
- Harry J. Kalven, Jr. Prize: This prize is given for making important advancements in research about law and society.
- Anders Retzius Gold Medal: This special medal comes from the Swedish Society for Anthropology and Geography.
- Best Special Issue award: She received this from the Council of Editors of Learned Journals. It was for a special issue of Public Culture called "Millennial Capitalism and the Culture of Neoliberalism."
Books with John Comaroff
Jean Comaroff has written many influential books and articles with her husband, John Comaroff. Here are some of their joint works:
- 1991 Of Revelation and Revolution Vol I: Christianity, Colonialism, and Consciousness in South Africa. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- 1992 Ethnography and the Historical Imagination. Boulder: Westview Press.
- 1997 Of Revelation and Revolution Vol II: The Dialectics of Modernity on a South African Frontier. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
- 2000 "Millennial Capitalism: First Thoughts on a Second Coming". Public Culture, 12(2): 291–343.
- 2006 Law and Disorder in the Postcolony (editors). University of Chicago Press.
- 2009 Ethnicity, Inc. University of Chicago Press.
- 2012 Theory from the South: Or, How Euro-America is Evolving Toward Africa. Paradigm Publishers.
