Haley McEwen

Dr. Haley McEwen is a Research Fellow at the Wits Centre for Diversity Studies (University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa). Her work focuses on gender and sexuality diversity, coloniality of knowledge, and social justice in post-apartheid contexts.

• Education: PhD and MPhil from University of the Witwatersrand

Her research interrogates the geopolitics of gender/sexuality discourse, including critiques of transnational Christian Right activism, pro-family rhetoric in Africa, and decolonial approaches to family ideology. She employs interdisciplinary frameworks from critical race theory, queer studies, and postcolonial theory.

Key publication trends include analyses of colonial knowledge systems, spatial power dynamics, LGBTIQ+ exclusion in education, and decolonizing art practices. Her 2023 book with Palgrave Macmillan examines U.S. Christian Right influence in Africa.

Dr. McEwen contributes to critical race and whiteness studies, focusing on apartheid legacies and contemporary racialized relationships in South African urban spaces. She uses qualitative methods and archival analysis in her research.