Brazilian Postdocs Present Seminar at UWC

The Department of Sociology at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) hosted Dr Guilherme Borges (CEBRAP) and Dr Morgane Reina (CEBRAP) for a seminar on 23 October 2025, titled “Living Together Well: Possibilities for ‘Deep Equality’ Amid Religious Diversity”. The Social Repair research group co-hosted the seminar, which was opened by Prof Christi van der Westhuizen (UWC).

Dr Borges outlined the theoretical foundations of Lori Beaman’s notion of deep equality and discussed how it can contribute to understanding social realities in the Global South. Dr Reina presented the research she has been conducting in a Brazilian public school and explained how the concept has guided her analysis.

Sociology lecturer Qawekazi Maqabuka, as well as Profs Bheki Mngomezulu (NMU) and Paula Montero (CEBRAP), contributed questions and comments focusing on contrasts and similarities between the South African and Brazilian contexts. The contributions centred on how to think about deep equality in national settings marked by stark social inequalities — as is the case in both countries. These are precisely the kinds of concerns our research group has been working to address.