Paddington Mutekwe is a sociologist whose research examines migration, platform labour, state–society relations, and emerging forms of resistance in Southern Africa. Paddington completed his PhD in Sociology at the University of Johannesburg. His doctoral research analysed resistance and repression among civil society organisations in Zimbabwe (2000–2022), with a focus on protest mobilisation, authoritarian governance, and the politics of “patriotic history.” His current research explores how migrant webcam models in South Africa build and exercise worker power within conditions shaped by platform capitalism, racial capitalism, migration precarity, and the criminalisation of sex work.
He has published in leading regional and international journals, including Review of African Political Economy (ROAPE), The African Review, African Studies, and African Human Mobility Review, and is the recipient of the 2019 Ruth First Prize for the best article published by an African author in ROAPE. He is also a co-editor of the volume Unveiling Identities: Navigating the Spectrum of LGBT+ Experiences in Southern Africa (Emerald Publishing 2026), which advances critical conversations on sexuality, identity, and social justice in the region.
Paddington has extensive teaching experience at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, having lectured and supervised students at the University of Johannesburg and the University of Fort Hare across courses in social theory, sociology of work, globalisation, and inequality. He is an active participant in regional and international conferences such as the South African Sociological Association (SASA) congresses and other scholarly forums. Beyond academia, Paddington is committed to public scholarship and knowledge engagement. He has appeared on national television and radio platforms to discuss migration, civic unrest, and the experiences of foreign nationals in South Africa. He serves as a peer reviewer for several accredited journals in sociology and African studies.