Title: Fees must fall : student revolt, decolonisation and governance in South Africa /
Authors: Booysen, Susan,
Year: 2016
Subjects: Universities and colleges South Africa.; Universities and colleges South Africa Admission.; Student movements South Africa.; Universities and colleges South Africa Finance.; Education, Higher South Africa; Education, Higher South Africa Finance.; Educational change South Africa; Educational equalization South Africa.; Universities and colleges South Africa Employees.; Educational leadership South Africa.; Education, Higher; Education, Higher Finance; Educational change; Educational equalization; Educational leadership; Student movements; Universities and colleges; Universities and colleges Admission; Universities and colleges Employees; Universities and colleges Finance; South Africa
Abstract: #FeesMustFall, the student revolt that began in October 2015, was an uprising against lack of access to, and financial exclusion from, higher education in South Africa. More broadly, it radically questioned the socio-political dispensation resulting from the 1994 social pact between big business, the ruling elite and the liberation movement. The 2015 revolt links to national and international youth struggles of the recent past and is informed by Black Consciousness politics and social movements of the international Left. Yet, its objectives are more complex than those of earlier struggles. The student movement has challenged the hierarchical, top-down leadership system of university management and it's 'double speak' of professing to act in workers' and students' interests yet enforce a regressive system for control and governance. University managements, while on one level amenable to change, have also co-opted students into their ranks to create co-responsibility for the highly bureaucratised university financial aid that stand in the way of their social revolution. This book maps the contours of student discontent a year after the start of the #FeesMustFall revolt. Student voices dissect coloniality, improper compromises by the founders of democratic South Africa, feminism, worker rights and meaningful education. In-depth assessments by prominent scholars reflect on the complexities of student activism, its impact on national and university governance, and offer provocative analyses of the power of the revolt -- Amazon.
Contents: Part one: Power redefined -- What happened to governance? 1. Two weeks in October -- changing governance in South Africa / Susan Booysen. Part two: Primary voices -- the roots of the revolution. 2. The roots of the revolution / Gillian Godsell and Rekgotsofetse Chikane -- 3. The game's the same: MustFall moves to Euro-America / Sizwe Mpofu-Walsh -- 4. #OutsourcingMustFall through the eyes of the workers / Omhle Ntshingila in conversation with Richard Ndebele and Virginia Monageng -- 5. Documenting the revolution / Gillian Godsell, Refiloe Lepere, Swankie Mafoko and Ayabonga Nase. Part three: The revolt -- Rising against the liberators, South Africa in Africa. 6. Standing on the shoulders of giants? Successive generation of youth sacrifice in South Africa / David Everatt -- 7. Learning from the student protests in sub-Saharan Africa / Lynn Hewlett, Nomagugu Mukadah, Koffi Kouakou and Horácio Zandamela -- 8. Unfinished revolutions: the North African uprisings and notes on South Africa / William Gumede. Part four: Power and class redefined -- Sit down and listen to us. 9. To win free education, fossilised neoliberalism must fall / Patrick Bond -- 10. Bringing class back in: Against outsourcing during #FeesMustFall at Wits / Vishwas Satgar -- 11. Between a rock and a hard place: University management and the #FeesMustFall campaign / Patrick FitzGerald and Oliver Seale -- 12. Financing of universities: promoting equity or reinforcing inequality / Punday Pillay. Part five. Justice identity, force and rights -- We came for the refund. 13. Excavating the vernacular: 'Ugly feminists', generational blues and matriarchal leadership / Darlene Miller -- 14. The South African student/worker protests in light of just war theory / Thaddeus Metz. Conclusion: Aluta continua! / Susan Booysen.