A periodised case study is offered of a number of engagements undertaken by the Centre for
Communication, Media and Society, University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, between 1985 and
2012, in facilitating resistance, policy, development and analysis. How cultural and media
studies travelled to South Africa and how the centre negotiated the intersections between
the humanities and social sciences, health and the physical sciences, is examined in terms
of the epistemological alliances and conflicts that emerged. New paradigms ranging from
appropriations of African philosophy and critical indigenous methodologies are discussed
in an environment where new nationalisms are emerging. The story of the centre offers
the fulcrum around which to discuss specific paradigmatic shifts. A new imaginary for the
humanities and social sciences for a rapidly changing South Africa is then briefly proposed.
