Editor's note

Is it possible to use science to create a model for social justice and the restitution of dignity? That’s what a multidisciplinary team at the University of Cape Town in South Africa did when they discovered unethically obtained skeletal remains of Khoi and San people in their archive. Victoria Gibbon describes how she and her team traced the skeletons’ origins and began a series of consultations and ceremonies with their living descendants.

Charl Blignaut

Arts, Culture and Society Editor

Top Story
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Skeletons and closets: How one university reburied the dead

Victoria Gibbon, University of Cape Town

When the University of Cape Town discovered skeletons in its archive that had been unethically obtained and used, they set about restoring justice to the bones and the community they came from.

Politics

Party’s woes signify historical dilemma of South Africa’s liberals

Roger Southall, University of the Witwatersrand

The Democratic Alliance’s problems can be traced back to the politicisation of race, which has persisted even after the dawn of democracy in 1994.

How Ghanaian civil servants sought to resist political pressure

Justin Scott Schon, University of Florida; Elizabeth Baldwin, University of Arizona; Jennifer N. Brass, Indiana University; Lauren M. MacLean

Contrary to stereotypes of nepotism and corruption, African governments such as Ghana's work hard to respond to need over politics. They can mostly resist politics, but not entirely.

From our international editions

How a simple scan helped children suffering with hidden heart diseases in South Africa

Cameron Dockerill, University of Oxford

Hidden heart conditions, like rheumatic heart disease, can have deadly consequences if not treated properly – or not treated at all.

Where Brexit will leave the UK’s human rights diplomacy

Sean Molloy, Newcastle University; Conall Mallory, Newcastle University

A new study examined what the UK priorities – and sidelines – at the UN Human Rights Council.
 
 
 
 

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