Sociologist · Stellenbosch University · Robertson, Western Cape
Dr Anne Hilda Wiltshire studies labour, care and neglect — the kind of sociology that starts with an interview in a worker's home and ends up shaping policy.
01 — About
Robertson, Western Cape
Anne is a sociologist and Director & Co-Founder of Cohere Solutions, focused on labour, care and neglect — research that moves from interviews and focus groups to the desks of policymakers. She was awarded the Rector's Award for Academic Excellence and Research Excellence recognition from AgriSETA.
Her work asks a deceptively simple question — why do people work, and what happens at home while they do? — and follows it through case studies, matched comparisons and large surveys into South African worker communities, public works schemes and municipal policy. She uses a dialectical materialist methodology and mixed methods to inform research, discourse, theory, policy and solutions.
She is Editor of the South African Review of Sociology, Council Member (Ex-Officio) of the South African Sociological Association, a member of the International Sociological Association, and Director & Co-Founder of Cohere Solutions, the research consultancy through which she translates social science into policy.
02 — Research
Peer-reviewed work on why people work, why they leave, and what it costs the children left at home.
An empirical critique of Social Reproduction Theory
The neglect of townhome children during employment hours — examining South African farmworker homes and the mismatch between school and work schedules that structures a social care deficit.
Intl. Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 38, No. 13/14, pp. 73–91Temporary Farm Workers in South Africa
Temporary worker reasons for remaining in and leaving employment — the insecurity that drives turnover, and the training gaps that certified almost none of them.
Intl. Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 38, No. 1/2, pp. 2–25In South Africa
Unemployed people's reasons for working in a government work programme — how participants understand and value work itself, beyond the wage.
Intl. Journal of Sociology and Social Policy, Vol. 36, No. 1/2, pp. 2–17
Editor
Anne serves as Editor of the South African Review of Sociology, the journal of the South African Sociological Association.
03 — Impact
Fieldwork undertaken through Cohere Solutions, built to move from study to institutional and legislative outcome.
Finding — 95% of temporary farmworkers received no certified training from the state, due to a conceptual gap in legislation.
Outcome — Informed AgriSETA's reconceptualisation of employee education and training to include temporary workers.
Finding — Town-dwelling homes receive no state after-school childcare, due to a nexus of theoretical, policy and state gaps.
Outcome — Informs social theory, policy and practical responses to social insecurity and child neglect.
The State of Child Neglect — by the numbers
Younger children (<13) average 25 unsupervised hours weekly [20–30]; older children (≥13) average 18 [13–20]. Associated social risk spans education, accidents, pregnancy, crime, abuse and kidnapping.
04 — Affiliations
Member, ISA Research Committees
05 — Work Together
Social research projects, designs, implementation, monitoring, evaluations, corporate training, reports, presentations and talks — scoped and delivered through Cohere Solutions, where Anne is Director & Co-Founder.
Flagship Report
Built on peer-reviewed research into temporary and informal workers' reasons for entering, remaining in and exiting employment. Commissioned as a bespoke diagnostic for your workforce or sector — the same methodology extends beyond South Africa to informal labour markets globally.
Engage via Cohere Solutions
A training session, a research report, a programme evaluation, a keynote — or a multi-disciplinary engagement pairing sociology with economics, biochemistry and systems design. All scoped and delivered through Cohere Solutions, built to move from field study to institutional and legislative outcome.
06 — Contact
Available now for new engagements via Cohere Solutions.
drannewiltshire@cohere.solutions
