8 - Pursuing Excellence in a ‘World-Class African University’: The Mamdani Affair and the Politics of Global Higher Education
Corresponding Author(s) : Isaac A. Kamola
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 9 No. 1-2 (2011): Journal of Higher Education in Africa: Special Issue on Academic Freedom in Africa
Abstract
Four years after the end of apartheid, the administrators of the University of Cape Town (UCT) suspended Mahmood Mamdani, then chair of the Centre of African Studies, from his teaching obligations because they deemed his course – ‘Problematizing Africa’ – too theoretically difficult for incoming students. The ensuing showdown between Mamdani and the university administration culminated in a spirited public debate over how to best ‘trans- form’ the historically segregated university to achieve racial integration. Less commented upon, however, is the fact that this debate coincided with UCT’s efforts to brand itself as a ‘World Class African University,’ attract greater funding from foreign institutions, privatise its campus services, and adopt National Qualifications Framework (NQF) standards. In other words, UCT – like many post-apartheid universities – was busy remaking itself into a ‘global’ university. Taken in this context, Mamdani’s argument for the importance of ‘teaching Africa in an African university’ takes on a new resonance. This article re-reads the 1998 curriculum debates as also a struggle for academic autonomy within a neoliberal university. Doing so offers the op- portunity to think about the political strategies of pedagogy, while pro- viding students and faculty a compelling model for how they might resist the neo-liberalisation of higher education within their own institutions.
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- Altbach, P.G., 2007, ‘Globalization and the University: Realities in an Unequal World’, in Forest, J.J.F. and Altbach, P.G.,. Eds., International Handbook of Higher Education, Springer.
- Anderson, G.M., 2002, Building a People’s University in South Africa: Race, Compensatory Education, and the Limits of Democratic Reform, New York: Lang P.
- Bennett, J., 2011, ‘Another World? Let’s Talk’, Mail and Guardian, April 18.
- Bertelsen, E., 1998, ‘The Real Transformation: The Marketisation of Higher Education’, Social Dynamics 24 (2), pp. 130-58.
- Bond, P., 2005, Elite Transition: From Apartheid to Neoliberalism in South Africa, Scottsville: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
- Davies, J., 1996, ‘The State and the South African University System under Apartheid’, Comparative Education 32 (3), pp. 319-32.
- Duffy, A., 1998, ‘Race-Charged Row at UCT’, Mail and Guardian, 17 April.
- Ensor, P., 1998, ‘Access, Coherence and Relevance: Debating Curriculum in Higher Educa- tion’, Social Dynamics 24 (2), pp. 93-105.
- File, J., 1993, The Transformation of the University of Cape Town: The Pursuit of Equity, Excellence and Equal Opportunity. Rondebosch: University of Cape Town.
- File, J., 1994, The Transformation of the University of Cape Town, 1984-1994: A Decade of Change and Development. Rondebosch: University of Cape Town.
- Gibbons, M., Camille L., Helga N., Simon S., and Scott, P., 1994, The New Production of Knowledge: The Dynamics of Social Science Research in Contemporary Societies, London: Sage.
- Goosen, G. and Hall, M., 1989, ‘Africanisation and the University of Cape Town’, in Goosen, G.; Hall, M. and White, C., eds., Rethinking UCT: The Debate Over Africanisation and the Position of Women, Rondebosch: Centre for African Studies, UCT.
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- Hall, M., 1998, ‘Teaching Africa at the Post-Apartheid University of Cape Town: A Re- sponse’, in Mamdani, M., ed., Teaching Africa at the Post-Apartheid University of Cape Town: A Critical View of the ‘Introduction to Africa’ Course in the Social Science and Humanities Faculty Foundation Semester, Rondebosch, SA: Centre for African Studies (UCT).
- Hartman, N., 1998, ‘Discussion of Mamdani’s Paper’, in Mamdani, M., ed., Teaching Africa at the Post-Apartheid University of Cape Town: A Critical View of the ‘Introduc- tion to Africa’ Course in the Social Science and Humanities Faculty Foundation Se- mester, Rondebosch, SA: Centre for African Studies (UCT).
- Jansen, J., 1991, ‘Knowledge and Power in the World System: The South African Case’, in Jansen J.D., ed., Knowledge and Power in South Africa: Critical Perspectives across the Disciplines, Bloemfontein: Skotaville Publishers.
- Jansen, J.D., 1998, ‘But Our Natives Are Different! Race, Knowledge and Power in the Academy’, Social Dynamics 24 (2), pp. 106-16.
- Jansen, J.D., 2009, Knowledge in the Blood: Confronting Race and the Apartheid Past.
- Stanford: Stanford University Press.
- Kamola, I., 2012, ‘Reading “the Global” in the Absence of Africa’ in Tickner, A. B. and Blaney, D.L., eds., Thinking International Relations Differently, London: Routledge.
- Khan, F., 2006, ‘The Struggle for a Better Education for All-UDW, 1995-2003’, in Pithouse, R., ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Trenton & Asmara: African World Press.
- Kraak, A., ed., 2000, Changing Modes: New Knowledge Production and its Implications for Higher Education in South Africa, Pretoria: Human Science Research Council.
- London, L., 2011. ‘Taking Cheap Shots at UCT’, Mail and Guardian, May 13.
- Macfarlane, D., 2011, ‘UCT in War over “Bantu Education”’, Mail and Guardian, 11 March.
- Makgoba, M.W., 1997, Mokoko: The Makgoba Affair: A Reflection on Transformation, Lea Glen, FL: Vivlia Publishers.
- Mamdani, M., 1995, ‘A Reflection on Higher Education in Equatorial Africa: Some Lessons for South Africa’, South African Journal of Higher Education (9), p. 2.
- Mamdani, M., ed., 1998, Teaching Africa at the Post-Apartheid University of Cape Town: A Critical View of the ‘Introduction to Africa’ Course in the Social Science and Humani- ties Faculty Foundation Semester, Rondebosch, SA: Centre for African Studies (UCT).
- Ministry of Education, 2001, ‘National Plan for Higher Education’, Pretoria. Muller, J., 1998, ‘Editorial Introduction’, Social Dynamics 24 (2), pp. iii-vi.
- Naidoo, P., 2006, ‘Constituting the Class: Neoliberalism and the Student Movement in South Africa’, in Pithouse, R., ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Trenton & Asmara: Africa World Press.
- Ndebele, N.S., 2001, ‘Vision 2001 and Beyond: The Way Forward for the University of Cape Town’, University of Cape Town.
- Nuttall, J., 1999, ‘Taking Stock of Transformation at the University of Cape Town: 1996- 1999’, Rondebosch: University of Cape Town.
- O’Connell, S., and Natasha, H., 2011, ‘Lessons in Continued Oppression’, Mail and Guardian, 29 April.
- Phillips, H., 1993, The University of Cape Town 1918-1948: The Formative Years, Cape Town: Creda Press.
- Pillay, S., 1998, ‘Affirmation of Academic Colonialism’, Mail and Guardian, 1 May.
- Plessis, M., 2011, ‘Superschool Will Not Do Justice to African Languages’, Mail and Guardian, 25 March.
- Reuters, 2010, ‘Police Use Force Against Protesting S. Africa Students’, Reuters.
- Price, M., 2011, ‘No Threat to African Centre’, Mail and Guardian, 18 March.
- Ravjee, N., 2002, ‘Neither Ivory Towers nor Corporate Universities: Moving Public Universities Beyond the ‘Mode 2’ Logic’, South African Journal of Higher Education 16 (3), pp.82-87.
- Ross, A., 2008, ‘Global U’, in Krause, M., Nolan, M., Palm, M. and Ross, A. eds., The University against Itself: The NYU Strike and the Future of the Academic Workplace, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
- News24, 2010, ‘Student Hurt in DUT Protest’, 23 March.
- Subotzky, G., 1997, ‘Pursuing both Global Competitiveness and National Redistributive Development: Implications and Opportunities for South Africa’s Historically Black Universities’, Social Dynamics 23 (1), pp.102-38.
- Taylor, Y., and Taylor, R., 2010, ‘Academic Freedom and Racial Injustice: South Africa’s Former “Open Universities”’, South African Journal of Higher Education 24 (6), pp. 897-913.
- Toit, A., 2000, ‘From Autonomy to Accountability: Academic Freedom under Threat in South Africa?’, Social Dynamics 26 (1), pp.76-133.
- UCT, 1997, ‘Strategic Planning Framework 1997-2000’, Rondebosh, Cape Town: Univer- sity of Cape Town.
- World Bank, 2002, Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary Education, Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
- Wildavsky, B., 2010, The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities are Reshaping the World, Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press.
- Wilhelm, I., 2011, ‘Carnegie Mellon U. to Open Campus in Rwanda, a Milestone for Africa’.
- The Chronicle of Higher Education, 26 September.
- Wolpe, H., 1995, ‘The Debate on University Transformation in South Africa’, Comparative Education 31 (2), pp. 275-92.
References
Altbach, P.G., 2007, ‘Globalization and the University: Realities in an Unequal World’, in Forest, J.J.F. and Altbach, P.G.,. Eds., International Handbook of Higher Education, Springer.
Anderson, G.M., 2002, Building a People’s University in South Africa: Race, Compensatory Education, and the Limits of Democratic Reform, New York: Lang P.
Bennett, J., 2011, ‘Another World? Let’s Talk’, Mail and Guardian, April 18.
Bertelsen, E., 1998, ‘The Real Transformation: The Marketisation of Higher Education’, Social Dynamics 24 (2), pp. 130-58.
Bond, P., 2005, Elite Transition: From Apartheid to Neoliberalism in South Africa, Scottsville: University of KwaZulu-Natal Press.
Davies, J., 1996, ‘The State and the South African University System under Apartheid’, Comparative Education 32 (3), pp. 319-32.
Duffy, A., 1998, ‘Race-Charged Row at UCT’, Mail and Guardian, 17 April.
Ensor, P., 1998, ‘Access, Coherence and Relevance: Debating Curriculum in Higher Educa- tion’, Social Dynamics 24 (2), pp. 93-105.
File, J., 1993, The Transformation of the University of Cape Town: The Pursuit of Equity, Excellence and Equal Opportunity. Rondebosch: University of Cape Town.
File, J., 1994, The Transformation of the University of Cape Town, 1984-1994: A Decade of Change and Development. Rondebosch: University of Cape Town.
Gibbons, M., Camille L., Helga N., Simon S., and Scott, P., 1994, The New Production of Knowledge: The Dynamics of Social Science Research in Contemporary Societies, London: Sage.
Goosen, G. and Hall, M., 1989, ‘Africanisation and the University of Cape Town’, in Goosen, G.; Hall, M. and White, C., eds., Rethinking UCT: The Debate Over Africanisation and the Position of Women, Rondebosch: Centre for African Studies, UCT.
Graff, J., 1998, ‘Pandering to Pedagogy or Consumed by Content: Brief Thoughts on Mahmood Mamdani’s ‘Teaching Africa at the Post-Apartheid University of Cape Town’, in Mamdani, M., ed., Teaching Africa at the Post-Apartheid University of Cape Town: A Critical View of the ‘Introduction to Africa’ Course in the Social Science and Humanities Faculty Foundation Semester, Rondebosch, SA: Centre for African Stud- ies (UCT).
Hall, M., 1998, ‘Teaching Africa at the Post-Apartheid University of Cape Town: A Re- sponse’, in Mamdani, M., ed., Teaching Africa at the Post-Apartheid University of Cape Town: A Critical View of the ‘Introduction to Africa’ Course in the Social Science and Humanities Faculty Foundation Semester, Rondebosch, SA: Centre for African Studies (UCT).
Hartman, N., 1998, ‘Discussion of Mamdani’s Paper’, in Mamdani, M., ed., Teaching Africa at the Post-Apartheid University of Cape Town: A Critical View of the ‘Introduc- tion to Africa’ Course in the Social Science and Humanities Faculty Foundation Se- mester, Rondebosch, SA: Centre for African Studies (UCT).
Jansen, J., 1991, ‘Knowledge and Power in the World System: The South African Case’, in Jansen J.D., ed., Knowledge and Power in South Africa: Critical Perspectives across the Disciplines, Bloemfontein: Skotaville Publishers.
Jansen, J.D., 1998, ‘But Our Natives Are Different! Race, Knowledge and Power in the Academy’, Social Dynamics 24 (2), pp. 106-16.
Jansen, J.D., 2009, Knowledge in the Blood: Confronting Race and the Apartheid Past.
Stanford: Stanford University Press.
Kamola, I., 2012, ‘Reading “the Global” in the Absence of Africa’ in Tickner, A. B. and Blaney, D.L., eds., Thinking International Relations Differently, London: Routledge.
Khan, F., 2006, ‘The Struggle for a Better Education for All-UDW, 1995-2003’, in Pithouse, R., ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Trenton & Asmara: African World Press.
Kraak, A., ed., 2000, Changing Modes: New Knowledge Production and its Implications for Higher Education in South Africa, Pretoria: Human Science Research Council.
London, L., 2011. ‘Taking Cheap Shots at UCT’, Mail and Guardian, May 13.
Macfarlane, D., 2011, ‘UCT in War over “Bantu Education”’, Mail and Guardian, 11 March.
Makgoba, M.W., 1997, Mokoko: The Makgoba Affair: A Reflection on Transformation, Lea Glen, FL: Vivlia Publishers.
Mamdani, M., 1995, ‘A Reflection on Higher Education in Equatorial Africa: Some Lessons for South Africa’, South African Journal of Higher Education (9), p. 2.
Mamdani, M., ed., 1998, Teaching Africa at the Post-Apartheid University of Cape Town: A Critical View of the ‘Introduction to Africa’ Course in the Social Science and Humani- ties Faculty Foundation Semester, Rondebosch, SA: Centre for African Studies (UCT).
Ministry of Education, 2001, ‘National Plan for Higher Education’, Pretoria. Muller, J., 1998, ‘Editorial Introduction’, Social Dynamics 24 (2), pp. iii-vi.
Naidoo, P., 2006, ‘Constituting the Class: Neoliberalism and the Student Movement in South Africa’, in Pithouse, R., ed., Asinamali: University Struggles in Post-Apartheid South Africa, Trenton & Asmara: Africa World Press.
Ndebele, N.S., 2001, ‘Vision 2001 and Beyond: The Way Forward for the University of Cape Town’, University of Cape Town.
Nuttall, J., 1999, ‘Taking Stock of Transformation at the University of Cape Town: 1996- 1999’, Rondebosch: University of Cape Town.
O’Connell, S., and Natasha, H., 2011, ‘Lessons in Continued Oppression’, Mail and Guardian, 29 April.
Phillips, H., 1993, The University of Cape Town 1918-1948: The Formative Years, Cape Town: Creda Press.
Pillay, S., 1998, ‘Affirmation of Academic Colonialism’, Mail and Guardian, 1 May.
Plessis, M., 2011, ‘Superschool Will Not Do Justice to African Languages’, Mail and Guardian, 25 March.
Reuters, 2010, ‘Police Use Force Against Protesting S. Africa Students’, Reuters.
Price, M., 2011, ‘No Threat to African Centre’, Mail and Guardian, 18 March.
Ravjee, N., 2002, ‘Neither Ivory Towers nor Corporate Universities: Moving Public Universities Beyond the ‘Mode 2’ Logic’, South African Journal of Higher Education 16 (3), pp.82-87.
Ross, A., 2008, ‘Global U’, in Krause, M., Nolan, M., Palm, M. and Ross, A. eds., The University against Itself: The NYU Strike and the Future of the Academic Workplace, Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
News24, 2010, ‘Student Hurt in DUT Protest’, 23 March.
Subotzky, G., 1997, ‘Pursuing both Global Competitiveness and National Redistributive Development: Implications and Opportunities for South Africa’s Historically Black Universities’, Social Dynamics 23 (1), pp.102-38.
Taylor, Y., and Taylor, R., 2010, ‘Academic Freedom and Racial Injustice: South Africa’s Former “Open Universities”’, South African Journal of Higher Education 24 (6), pp. 897-913.
Toit, A., 2000, ‘From Autonomy to Accountability: Academic Freedom under Threat in South Africa?’, Social Dynamics 26 (1), pp.76-133.
UCT, 1997, ‘Strategic Planning Framework 1997-2000’, Rondebosh, Cape Town: Univer- sity of Cape Town.
World Bank, 2002, Constructing Knowledge Societies: New Challenges for Tertiary Education, Washington, D.C.: World Bank.
Wildavsky, B., 2010, The Great Brain Race: How Global Universities are Reshaping the World, Princeton & Oxford: Princeton University Press.
Wilhelm, I., 2011, ‘Carnegie Mellon U. to Open Campus in Rwanda, a Milestone for Africa’.
The Chronicle of Higher Education, 26 September.
Wolpe, H., 1995, ‘The Debate on University Transformation in South Africa’, Comparative Education 31 (2), pp. 275-92.