Postdoctoral Fellows
Dr Brittany Kesselman
Postdoctoral Fellow
Brittany Kesselman joined SWOP in June 2017 as a Life in the City postdoctoral research fellow. Her current research project looks at the potential for community food institutions to contribute to food justice in Johannesburg. Grounded in a commitment to social justice, the project seeks to use feminist, decolonial research methodology to contribute to food system transformation.
Brittany’s doctoral research (at UKZN) focused on the contribution of community food gardens to food sovereignty in Johannesburg. It explored the actual benefits of urban agriculture, as experienced by participants and their surrounding communities, as well as the challenges and obstacles that limited its transformative potential.
Outside of academia, Brittany has over 10 years of practical experience in policy research, analysis and advocacy in the fields of development and peace and security.
Select Publications & Presentations
Kesselman, B. (2017). Urban agriculture’s potential to be part of an alternative food system: some lessons from Johannesburg. Paper presented at ‘Food Politics and Cultures Festival’, 10-12 November. Cape Town, South Africa.
Kesselman, B. (2015). The contribution of community food gardens to food sovereignty in Johannesburg, South Africa: a look at access and empowerment. Paper presented at the ‘Second International Conference on Agriculture in an Urbanizing Society: Reconnecting Agriculture and Food Chains to Societal Needs,’ 14-17 September. Rome, Italy.
Kesselman, B. (2015). The contribution of community food gardens to food sovereignty in Johannesburg, South Africa: a look at localisation and democratisation. Paper presented at ‘Envisioning a Future without Food Waste and Food Poverty,’ 17-18 November. Bilbao, Spain.
Kesselman, B. (2015). Cultivating the right to food? The contribution of urban community food gardens to food sovereignty in Johannesburg, South Africa. Paper presented at ‘University of Vermont (UVM) Food Systems Summit,’ 16-17 June. Burlington, VT.
Dr Eddie Cottle
Postdoctoral Fellow
Dr Eddie Cottle specialises in labour strike theory, labour history, strike statistics and comparative studies in social conflict. As a former trade unionist, Dr Cottle brings 14 years of research, education, policy advocacy and campaigning experience. In his former capacity as head of Collective Bargaining Support, Labour Research Service he worked directly with trade unions, federations and Global Union Federations providing research and information on economic sectors and the labour market; also providing capacity building for collective bargaining and organising strategies. Dr Cottle was the coordinator of the Building & Wood Workers International (BWI) “Campaign for Decent Work: Towards and Beyond 2010” and is editor of the book, South Africa’s World Cup: A Legacy for Whom? At BWI he also served as the Policy & Campaigns Coordinator for the Africa and Middle East region.
Recent publications
Cottle, E., 2021. ‘Lenin and Trotsky on the quantitative dynamics of Strikes and
Revolution’. Forthcoming in, Workers of the World Journal, N.10. 2021.
Cottle, E., 2019, ‘Competing Marxist Theories on the Temporal Aspects of Strike
Waves: Silver’s Product Cycle Theory and Mandel’s Long Wave Theory’. Global
Labour Journal. Vol 10 No 1, 37-50.
