1 - Continuity and Change in Students’Account of Race and Class Relations at a South African University
Corresponding Author(s) : Deevia Bhana
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 11 No. 1-2 (2013): Journal of Higher Education in Africa
Abstract
This article draws from an interview-based study of students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal highlighting the ways in which they give meaning to race. Racist practices at universities in South Africa have received widespread condemnation and universities are at the forefront in confronting and dealing with the persistence of racism. In this context, the article seeks to develop an understanding of the contextually specific ways through which race is given content and the possibilities that they may present for change. The data shows that the specific configurations of race as described by African and Indian students at the university where the study was conducted suggest constrictions and continuities of separateness as they demonstrate change. Rejecting an analysis that is based on fixed meanings of race, the article theorises that race is complicated by broader social structures, and class remains an important variable in race relations. Race continues to be salient in the everyday lives of students but race and student life must be understood through class. The article analyses further the ways in which students point to possibilities to enhance change working creatively within the university to bring about racial mixing. The article concludes with some recommendations for change.
Keywords
Download Citation
Endnote/Zotero/Mendeley (RIS)BibTeX
- Department of Education, 2008, Report of the Ministerial Committee on Transformation and Social Cohesion and the Elimination of Discrimination in Public Higher Education Institutions.
- Dolby, N., 2001, Constructing Race. Youth, Identity and Popular Culture in South Africa, Albany: SUNY Press. Education: Pretoria.
- Donaldson, R. and Kotze, N., 2006, ‘Residential Desegration Dynamics in the South African City of Polokwane’ in Tijdschrift voor Econimische en Sociale Geografie 97, 567-582.
- Durrheim, K., Trotter, K., Piper, L. and Manicom, D., 2004, ‘From Exclusion to Informal Segregation: The Limits to Racial Transformation at the University of Natal’, Social Dynamics 30, 1: 141-169.
- Durrheim, K., Mtose, X. and Brown, L., 2011, Race Trouble: Race, Identity and Inequality in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
- Hunter, M., 2010, ‘Racial Desegregation and Schooling in South Africa: Contested Geographies ofClass Formation’, Environment and Planning, 42: 2640-2657.
- Ozler, B., 2007, ‘Not Separate, Not Equal: Poverty and Inequality in Post apartheid South Africa’, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 55, 3: 487-529.
- Pattman, R., 2010, ‘Investigating “Race” and Social Cohesion at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’, South African Journal of Higher Education, 24, 6, 953–97.1.
- Pattman, Rob., 2007‚ Student Identities, and Researching These, in a Newly ‘Racially’ Merged University in South Africa’, Race Ethnicity and Education, 10, 4: 473 – 492. Soudien, C., 2008, ‘The Intersection of Race and Class in the South African University: Student Experiences’, South African Journal of Higher Education, 22, 3: 662–78.
- Walker, M., 2005, ‘Race is Nowhere and Race is Everywhere: Narratives from Black and White South African University Students in Post Apartheid South Africa’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26, 1: 41-54.
References
Department of Education, 2008, Report of the Ministerial Committee on Transformation and Social Cohesion and the Elimination of Discrimination in Public Higher Education Institutions.
Dolby, N., 2001, Constructing Race. Youth, Identity and Popular Culture in South Africa, Albany: SUNY Press. Education: Pretoria.
Donaldson, R. and Kotze, N., 2006, ‘Residential Desegration Dynamics in the South African City of Polokwane’ in Tijdschrift voor Econimische en Sociale Geografie 97, 567-582.
Durrheim, K., Trotter, K., Piper, L. and Manicom, D., 2004, ‘From Exclusion to Informal Segregation: The Limits to Racial Transformation at the University of Natal’, Social Dynamics 30, 1: 141-169.
Durrheim, K., Mtose, X. and Brown, L., 2011, Race Trouble: Race, Identity and Inequality in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Pietermaritzburg: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
Hunter, M., 2010, ‘Racial Desegregation and Schooling in South Africa: Contested Geographies ofClass Formation’, Environment and Planning, 42: 2640-2657.
Ozler, B., 2007, ‘Not Separate, Not Equal: Poverty and Inequality in Post apartheid South Africa’, Economic Development and Cultural Change, 55, 3: 487-529.
Pattman, R., 2010, ‘Investigating “Race” and Social Cohesion at the University of KwaZulu-Natal’, South African Journal of Higher Education, 24, 6, 953–97.1.
Pattman, Rob., 2007‚ Student Identities, and Researching These, in a Newly ‘Racially’ Merged University in South Africa’, Race Ethnicity and Education, 10, 4: 473 – 492. Soudien, C., 2008, ‘The Intersection of Race and Class in the South African University: Student Experiences’, South African Journal of Higher Education, 22, 3: 662–78.
Walker, M., 2005, ‘Race is Nowhere and Race is Everywhere: Narratives from Black and White South African University Students in Post Apartheid South Africa’, British Journal of Sociology of Education, 26, 1: 41-54.