Prof. Joleen Steyn Kotze is a senior research specialist in Democracy and Citizenship within the Developmental, Capable and Ethical State Research Programme. He holds D.Litt et Phil (African Politics) from the University of South Africa (2011). Her research specialism is political dynamics of development, transformation, and democratization, substantive democratisation and inequality, the politics of belonging and citizenship, transformative gender dynamics, and Global South political development.
Experience and special projects: Prof. Joleen Steyn Kotze is a Senior Research Specialist in Democracy and Citizenship at the Human Science Research Council and a Research Fellow at the Centre for Gender and African Studies, University of the Free State. She is a former Associate Professor of Political Studies at the Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University. Her research specialism is political dynamics of development, transformation, and democratization, substantive democratisation and inequality, the politics of belonging with a focus on gender dynamics, and South African democratic development. She holds a D.Litt et Phil in African Politics from the University of South Africa. She is a C2 NRF Rated Researcher and was awarded the Award for Research Excellence in Interdisciplinary Social Sciences by the Commonground Publishing in 2009 and selected as one of the Nelson Mandela Bay Business Chambers? Top 40 Under 40 in 2014. She is the former President of the South African Association of Political Studies (2014-2016) and the former Editor of Politikon: South African Journal of Political Studies (2015 - 2019). She is currently the South Africa country expert for the Varieties of Democracy Index (Sweden) and is a member of the National Research Foundation?s Politics and Philosophy Expert Panel.
Publications: Prof. Steyn Kotze has published 20 scientific articles in both local and international peer-reviewed academic journals, 14 book chapters, and one book. She co-edited a book entitled Reflections on the 2019 South African General Elections: Quo Vadis? which was published by Routledge Press (2020) and is the author of the book Delivering an Elusive Dream of Democracy: Lessons from Nelson Mandela Bay (2018), which is nominated for the 2020 Academy of Science of South Africa Humanities Book Award.
