Angelique Olivia Michaels

Emailangelique.michaelsmanchester.acuk

Overview

I am a postgraduate researcher exploring the intersections of visibility, urban governance, and placemaking in post-apartheid Cape Town.

My doctoral research considers how unhoused persons navigate the shifting landscape of governance, security and social interventions geared to address homelessness in the city centre and along the Voortrekker Road Central Improvement District. I examine surveillance regimes, infrastructures of shelter, and informal placemaking practices with a focus on how visibility is mobilised as both a tool of governance, and a strategy of resistance among the city’s unhoused population.

Supervisors: Penny Harvey, Constance Smith

Research interests

urban governance & visibility
infrastructures of shelter, care and control
surveillance & biometrics
ethnographies of homelessness and placemaking practices
post-apartheid spatial politics

Social responsibility

The Haven Night Shelter: Committee Member & Secretary, Cape Town (2021–present)

Return to Origin (NPO): Outreach Coordinator & Facilitator of Community Development Projects, Cape Town (2016–present)

Education/Academic qualification

Master of Arts, Society and Change, University of Helsinki

2020 → 2021

Master of Arts, Social Anthropology, University of Stellenbosch

2019 → 2021

Honours Social Anthropology, University of Stellenbosch

2018

Bachelor of Arts, Humanities: Majoring in Psychology and English Literature, University of Stellenbosch

2016 → 2017

Keywords

Anthropology of Infrastructure
Urban Ethnography
Visibility
Governance
Care
Homelessness
Spatial Politics
Cape Town

Expertise related to UN Sustainable Development Goals

In 2015, UN member states agreed to 17 global Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, protect the planet and ensure prosperity for all. This person’s work contributes towards the following SDG(s):

SDG 11 Sustainable Cities and Communities

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1 Similar Profiles

"We’re Making the Town Dirty”: The disruptive potential of ‘matter out of place’ in a post-apartheid politics of visibility
Michaels, A. O., 5 Dec 2024, (Accepted/In press) In: Social Dynamics.
Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review

Africa Thesis Award (Runner Up) for MA Thesis titled "Critiquing prescriptions of place and belonging in neoliberal post-apartheid Cape Town: An ethnography on the politics of abjection in language, policy, and practice"
Michaels, A. O. (Recipient), 2023
Prize: National/international honour
Erasmus Mundus + Scholarship
Michaels, A. O. (Recipient), 2020
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
Indexing Transformation Mellon Foundation Scholarship
Michaels, A. O. (Recipient), 2021
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
Indexing Transformation Scholarship
Michaels, A. O. (Recipient), 2018
Prize: Fellowship awarded competitively
President's Doctoral Scholar Award
Michaels, A. O. (Recipient), 2022
Prize: Prize (including medals and awards)

Architecture Sans Frontières (ASF-UK): Change by Design Workshop
Michaels, A. O. (Participant)
19 Jan 2025
Activity: Participating in or organising event(s) › Participating in a conference, workshop, exhibition, performance, inquiry, course etc › Research
Indexing Transformation Closing Conference
Michaels, A. O. (Participant)
24 Aug 2023
Activity: Participating in or organising event(s) › Participating in a conference, workshop, exhibition, performance, inquiry, course etc › Research

Angelique Olivia Michaels

Personal profile