Wessel van den Berg

ACADEMIC PROFILE:

Wessel van den Berg is the father of two young children, and he sees fatherhood as his main job. His curiosity about men and care led him to work as a kindergarten teacher, counsellor, activist, and researcher. He contributed to the establishment of the MenCare Global Fatherhood Campaign and the State of South Africa’s Fathers report series. His research is combined with advocacy campaigns, where he has worked on topics such as the prohibition of corporal punishment of children, the promotion of gender equal parenting leave, gender equal and violence free workplaces, and gender-transformative sexual and reproductive health and rights. His doctoral study, completed in Sociology in 2022 at Stellenbosch University, centers on the distribution of care work and engaging South African men in a feminist ethic of care.

Select publications include:

Van den Berg, W. (2022) “South African men’s engagement in a feminist ethic of care: an extended case study.” PhD Thesis. Stellenbosch University. Available at: http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/125005
Van den Berg, W.,Ratele, K., & Makusha, T. (2021). “State of South Africa’s Fathers 2021”, Cape Town: Sonke Gender Justice, Stellenbosch University & Human Sciences Research Council.
Van den Berg, W., and Makusha, T. (2018). “State of South Africa’s Fathers 2018.” (2018). Cape Town: Sonke Gender Justice, Stellenbosch University & Human Sciences Research Council.
Van den Berg, W.J., Brittain, K., Peacock, D., Mercer, G., Janson, H., & Dubula, V. (2014). Improving men’s participation in PMTCT as a maternal, neonatal and child health imperative in South Africa. PLOS Medicine.
Van den Berg, W.J., Hendricks, L., Hatcher, A., Peacock, D., Godana, P., & Dworkin, S. (2013). ‘One Man Can’: shifts in fatherhood beliefs and parenting practices following a gender-transformative programme in Eastern Cape, South Africa., Gender & Development, 21:1, 111-125, DOI: 10.1080/13552074.2013.769775

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