5 - A Search for Post-apartheid Collective Identities: Ethnic Student Organisations at a South African University
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 6 No. 2-3 (2008): Journal of Higher Education in Africa
Abstract
Scholarship on higher education decries the levels of student activism in post- apartheid South Africa. It argues that student organisation is sporadic, fragmented and unrepresentative of broad student layers. Because of its emphasis on political identities as well as the failure to define activism broader than protests, this as- sessment fails to recognise the myriad of organisations such as cultural and reli- gious bodies in South African universities today. By ignoring these forms of or- ganisation, the literature that emphasises the decline in student activism after the demise of apartheid not only ignores initiatives where students are organising around their ‘new’ identities, but also fails to appreciate how historically these ‘hold-over’ organisations connected one wave of protest to the other. Using the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) as a research site, this article focuses on ethnic identities as a significant feature around which a section of the student population is organising. The paper looks at how the disappearance of legal apart- heid, the new political environment as well as the failure of traditional political student movements to organise around their constituency’s multiple identities, have provided space and impetus for new forms of organisation.
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- Adetula, V.A.O., 2005, ‘Ethnicity and Dynamics of City Politics: The Case of Jos’, in A. Simone and A. Abouhani, eds., Urban African: Changing Contours of Survival in the City, Dakar: CODESRIA, London: Zed Books, Pretoria: UNISA Press.
- Alence, R.; O’Donovan, M. and Ron, I., 2007, Experiences of Wits Institutional Culture: Staff Perceptions and Reflections, 2006.
- Alexander, N., 2002, An Ordinary Country: Issues in the Transition from Apart- heid to Democracy in South Africa, Scottsville: University of Natal Press.
- Alexander, P., 2006, ‘Globalisation and New Social Identities: A Jigsaw Puzzle from Johannesburg’, in P. Alexander, M. C. Dawson and M. Ichharam, eds., Globalisation & New Identities: A View from the Middle, Johannesburg: Jacana. Badat, S., 1999, Black Student Politics, Higher Education and Apartheid: From SASO to SANSCO, 1968-1990, Pretoria: Human Science Research Council.
- Bathily, A., Diouf , M. and Mbodj, M., 1995, ‘The Senegalese Student Movement from its Inception to 1989’, in M. Mamdani and E. Wamba-dia-Wamba, eds., African Studies in Social Movements and Democracy, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Beckman, B., 2006, ‘Student Radicalism and the National Project: the Nigerian Student Movement’, in B. Beckman and G. Adeoti, eds., Intellectuals and African development: Pretensions and resistance in African Politics, Dakar: CODESRIA.
- Castells, M., 2000, ‘Globalisation, Identity and the State’, Social Dynamics, Vol. 26, No.1, pp.5-17.
- Chabal, P., 1996, ‘The African Crisis: Context and Interpretation’, in R. Werbner and T. Ranger, eds., Postcolonial Identities in Africa, London and New Jersey: Zed Books.
- Cruise O’Brien, D. B., 1996, ‘A Lost Generation? Youth Identity and State Decay in West Africa’, in R. Werbner, and T. Ranger, eds., Postcolonial Identities in Africa, London and New Jersey: Zed Books.
- Dawson, M. C., 2006, ‘Students, Activism and Identity, in P. Alexander, M. C. Dawson and M. Ichharam, eds., Globalisation & New Identities: A View from the Middle, Johannesburg: Jacana.
- Ekhaya Cultural Union of Students (ECUS), 2001, Constitution. Fenton, S., 2003, Ethnicity, Cambridge: Polity.
- Fessha, Y., 2007, ‘SA’s Mazy Route Through the Province of Ethnicity’, Business Day, 6 December.
- Gaidzanwa, R. B., 1993, ‘The Politics of the Body and the Politics of Control: An Analysis of Class Gender and Cultural Issues in Student Politics at the Univer- sity of Zimbabwe’, Zambezia, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp.15-33.
- Gevisser, M, 2007, Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred, Jeppestown: Jonathan Ball.
- Grossberg, A.; Struwig, J and Pillay, U., 2006, ‘Multicultural National Identity and Pride’, in U. Pillay, B. Roberts and S. Rule, eds., South African Social Attitudes: Changing Times, Diverse Voices, Cape Town: HSRC Press.
- Harvey, D., 1990, The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change, Oxford: Blackwell.
- Kaufert, J. M., 1977, ‘Situational Identity and Ethnicity among Ghanaian Stu- dents’, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol.15, No.1, pp.126-135.
- King, K. L., 2001, ‘Stumbling Toward Racial Inclusion: The Story of Transfor- mation at the University of Witwatersrand’, in R. O. Maboleka and K. L. King, eds., Apartheid No More: Case Studies of Southern African Universities in the Process of Transformation, Wesport: Bergin & Garvey.
- Koen, C., Cele, M. and Libhaber, A., 2006, ‘Student Activism and Student Exclu- sions in South Africa’, International Journal of Educational Development, Vol. 26, No.4, pp. 404-414.
- Makgoba, M. W., 1977, Mokoko: The Makgoba Affair – A reflection on Transfor- mation, Florida: Vivlia.
- Massey, D., 1995, ‘The Conceptualization of Place’, in D. Massey and P. Jess, eds., A Place in the World? Places, Cultures and Globalization, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
- Moodie, G. M., 1994, ‘The State and the Liberal Universities in South Africa: 1948–1990’, Higher Education, Vol.27, No.1, pp.1-40.
- Nkoli, M. I. P., 2003, A Sociological Analysis of Restructuring at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits): 1999-2001. M.A Dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand.
- Nongxa, L., 2007, The Vice-Chancellor’s State of the University Address 2007. Pattman, R., 2001, ‘The Beer Drinkers say I had a Nice Prostitute, but the Church Goers Talk about Things Spiritual’ – Learning to be Men at a Teachers College in Zimbabwe’, in R.Morrell, ed., Changing Men in Southern Africa, Scottsville: UKZN Press and London: Zed Books.
- Pattman, R., 2005, ‘“Ugandans”, “Cats” and Others: Constructing Masculinities at the University of Botswana’, in L. Oozgane and R Morrell, eds., African Masculinities: Men in Africa from the Late Nineteenth Century to the Present, New York: Palgrave MacMillan and Scottsville: UKZN Press.
- Perry, T., n.d., Language Rights, Ethnic Politics: A Critique of the Pan South Afri- can Language Board.
- Peters, M., 2004, ‘Higher Education, Globalization and the Knowledge Economy’, in M. Walker and J. Nixon, eds., Reclaiming Universities from a Runaway World, Berkshire: Open University Press, pp.67-82.
- Ranger, T., 1996, ‘Colonial and Postcolonial Identities, in R. Werbner and T. Ranger, eds., Postcolonial Identities in Africa, London and New Jersey: Zed Books.
- Rashid, I., 2000, ‘Subaltern Reactions: Lumpens, Students and the Left (in Sierra Leone)’ in O. Nnoli, ed., Government and Politics in Africa: A Reader, Harare: AAPS Books.
- Roefs, M., 2006, ‘Identity and Race Relations”, in U. Pillay, B. Roberts and S. Rule, eds., South African Social Attitudes: Changing Times, Diverse Voices. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
- Seddon, D. and Zeilig, L., 2005, ‘Class & Protest in Africa: New Waves’, Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 32, No.103, pp. 9-27.
- Shear, M., 1996, Wits: A University in the Apartheid Era, Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
- Simeon, R. and Murray, C., 2004, ‘Multi-Level Governance in South Africa’, in B. Berman, D. Eyoh and W. Kymlicka, eds., Ethnicity and Democracy, Ox- ford: James Currey and Athens: Ohio University Press.
- Tötemeyer, G., 1984, ‘Ethnicity and National Identification Within (South) Africa context’, Politikon, Vol.11, No.1, pp.43-54.
- University of the Witwatersrand, 2003, Language Policy, Johannesburg: Univer- sity of Witswatersrand.
- University of the Witwatersrand, 2005, A University to call our own: Wits from 2005 to 2010, Johannesburg: University of Witswatersrand.
- University of the Witwatersrand, n.d., Second Employment Equity, (for the period June 2003 to May 2006).
- Waetjen, T. and Maré, G., 2001, ‘Men amongst Men’: Masculinity and Zulu Na- tionalism in the 1980s’, in R. Morrel, ed., Changing Men in Southern Africa, Scottsville: UKZN Press and London: Zed Books.
- Werbner, R., 1996, ‘Introduction: Multiple identities, Plural Arenas’, in R. Werbner and T. Ranger, eds., Postcolonial Identities in Africa. London and New Jersey: Zed Books.
- Van Dyke, N., 1998, ‘Hotbeds of Activism: Locations of Student Protests’, Social Problems, Vol..45, No.2, pp.205-220.
- Van Zyl. M.; Steyn M. and Orr, W., 2003, ‘This is Where I Want to Belong’: Insti- tutional Culture at Wits – Staff Perceptions and Experiences , 2002.
- Viininkka, J., 2002., ‘There Shall Be No Property’: Trade Unions, Class and Poli- tics – Nigeria’, in L. Zeilig, ed., Class Struggle and Resistance in Africa, Chel- tenham: New Clarion.
- Zeilig, L., 2006, ‘“Increasing my Value Proposition to the Struggle”: Arthur Mutambara and Student Politics in Zimbabwe’, African Sociological Review, Vol.10, No.2, pp.94-115.
- Zulu Students Cultural Society (ZSCS), 2005 Constitution.
References
Adetula, V.A.O., 2005, ‘Ethnicity and Dynamics of City Politics: The Case of Jos’, in A. Simone and A. Abouhani, eds., Urban African: Changing Contours of Survival in the City, Dakar: CODESRIA, London: Zed Books, Pretoria: UNISA Press.
Alence, R.; O’Donovan, M. and Ron, I., 2007, Experiences of Wits Institutional Culture: Staff Perceptions and Reflections, 2006.
Alexander, N., 2002, An Ordinary Country: Issues in the Transition from Apart- heid to Democracy in South Africa, Scottsville: University of Natal Press.
Alexander, P., 2006, ‘Globalisation and New Social Identities: A Jigsaw Puzzle from Johannesburg’, in P. Alexander, M. C. Dawson and M. Ichharam, eds., Globalisation & New Identities: A View from the Middle, Johannesburg: Jacana. Badat, S., 1999, Black Student Politics, Higher Education and Apartheid: From SASO to SANSCO, 1968-1990, Pretoria: Human Science Research Council.
Bathily, A., Diouf , M. and Mbodj, M., 1995, ‘The Senegalese Student Movement from its Inception to 1989’, in M. Mamdani and E. Wamba-dia-Wamba, eds., African Studies in Social Movements and Democracy, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Beckman, B., 2006, ‘Student Radicalism and the National Project: the Nigerian Student Movement’, in B. Beckman and G. Adeoti, eds., Intellectuals and African development: Pretensions and resistance in African Politics, Dakar: CODESRIA.
Castells, M., 2000, ‘Globalisation, Identity and the State’, Social Dynamics, Vol. 26, No.1, pp.5-17.
Chabal, P., 1996, ‘The African Crisis: Context and Interpretation’, in R. Werbner and T. Ranger, eds., Postcolonial Identities in Africa, London and New Jersey: Zed Books.
Cruise O’Brien, D. B., 1996, ‘A Lost Generation? Youth Identity and State Decay in West Africa’, in R. Werbner, and T. Ranger, eds., Postcolonial Identities in Africa, London and New Jersey: Zed Books.
Dawson, M. C., 2006, ‘Students, Activism and Identity, in P. Alexander, M. C. Dawson and M. Ichharam, eds., Globalisation & New Identities: A View from the Middle, Johannesburg: Jacana.
Ekhaya Cultural Union of Students (ECUS), 2001, Constitution. Fenton, S., 2003, Ethnicity, Cambridge: Polity.
Fessha, Y., 2007, ‘SA’s Mazy Route Through the Province of Ethnicity’, Business Day, 6 December.
Gaidzanwa, R. B., 1993, ‘The Politics of the Body and the Politics of Control: An Analysis of Class Gender and Cultural Issues in Student Politics at the Univer- sity of Zimbabwe’, Zambezia, Vol. 20, No. 1, pp.15-33.
Gevisser, M, 2007, Thabo Mbeki: The Dream Deferred, Jeppestown: Jonathan Ball.
Grossberg, A.; Struwig, J and Pillay, U., 2006, ‘Multicultural National Identity and Pride’, in U. Pillay, B. Roberts and S. Rule, eds., South African Social Attitudes: Changing Times, Diverse Voices, Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Harvey, D., 1990, The Condition of Postmodernity: An Enquiry into the Origins of Cultural Change, Oxford: Blackwell.
Kaufert, J. M., 1977, ‘Situational Identity and Ethnicity among Ghanaian Stu- dents’, Journal of Modern African Studies, Vol.15, No.1, pp.126-135.
King, K. L., 2001, ‘Stumbling Toward Racial Inclusion: The Story of Transfor- mation at the University of Witwatersrand’, in R. O. Maboleka and K. L. King, eds., Apartheid No More: Case Studies of Southern African Universities in the Process of Transformation, Wesport: Bergin & Garvey.
Koen, C., Cele, M. and Libhaber, A., 2006, ‘Student Activism and Student Exclu- sions in South Africa’, International Journal of Educational Development, Vol. 26, No.4, pp. 404-414.
Makgoba, M. W., 1977, Mokoko: The Makgoba Affair – A reflection on Transfor- mation, Florida: Vivlia.
Massey, D., 1995, ‘The Conceptualization of Place’, in D. Massey and P. Jess, eds., A Place in the World? Places, Cultures and Globalization, Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Moodie, G. M., 1994, ‘The State and the Liberal Universities in South Africa: 1948–1990’, Higher Education, Vol.27, No.1, pp.1-40.
Nkoli, M. I. P., 2003, A Sociological Analysis of Restructuring at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits): 1999-2001. M.A Dissertation, University of the Witwatersrand.
Nongxa, L., 2007, The Vice-Chancellor’s State of the University Address 2007. Pattman, R., 2001, ‘The Beer Drinkers say I had a Nice Prostitute, but the Church Goers Talk about Things Spiritual’ – Learning to be Men at a Teachers College in Zimbabwe’, in R.Morrell, ed., Changing Men in Southern Africa, Scottsville: UKZN Press and London: Zed Books.
Pattman, R., 2005, ‘“Ugandans”, “Cats” and Others: Constructing Masculinities at the University of Botswana’, in L. Oozgane and R Morrell, eds., African Masculinities: Men in Africa from the Late Nineteenth Century to the Present, New York: Palgrave MacMillan and Scottsville: UKZN Press.
Perry, T., n.d., Language Rights, Ethnic Politics: A Critique of the Pan South Afri- can Language Board.
Peters, M., 2004, ‘Higher Education, Globalization and the Knowledge Economy’, in M. Walker and J. Nixon, eds., Reclaiming Universities from a Runaway World, Berkshire: Open University Press, pp.67-82.
Ranger, T., 1996, ‘Colonial and Postcolonial Identities, in R. Werbner and T. Ranger, eds., Postcolonial Identities in Africa, London and New Jersey: Zed Books.
Rashid, I., 2000, ‘Subaltern Reactions: Lumpens, Students and the Left (in Sierra Leone)’ in O. Nnoli, ed., Government and Politics in Africa: A Reader, Harare: AAPS Books.
Roefs, M., 2006, ‘Identity and Race Relations”, in U. Pillay, B. Roberts and S. Rule, eds., South African Social Attitudes: Changing Times, Diverse Voices. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Seddon, D. and Zeilig, L., 2005, ‘Class & Protest in Africa: New Waves’, Review of African Political Economy, Vol. 32, No.103, pp. 9-27.
Shear, M., 1996, Wits: A University in the Apartheid Era, Johannesburg: Witwatersrand University Press.
Simeon, R. and Murray, C., 2004, ‘Multi-Level Governance in South Africa’, in B. Berman, D. Eyoh and W. Kymlicka, eds., Ethnicity and Democracy, Ox- ford: James Currey and Athens: Ohio University Press.
Tötemeyer, G., 1984, ‘Ethnicity and National Identification Within (South) Africa context’, Politikon, Vol.11, No.1, pp.43-54.
University of the Witwatersrand, 2003, Language Policy, Johannesburg: Univer- sity of Witswatersrand.
University of the Witwatersrand, 2005, A University to call our own: Wits from 2005 to 2010, Johannesburg: University of Witswatersrand.
University of the Witwatersrand, n.d., Second Employment Equity, (for the period June 2003 to May 2006).
Waetjen, T. and Maré, G., 2001, ‘Men amongst Men’: Masculinity and Zulu Na- tionalism in the 1980s’, in R. Morrel, ed., Changing Men in Southern Africa, Scottsville: UKZN Press and London: Zed Books.
Werbner, R., 1996, ‘Introduction: Multiple identities, Plural Arenas’, in R. Werbner and T. Ranger, eds., Postcolonial Identities in Africa. London and New Jersey: Zed Books.
Van Dyke, N., 1998, ‘Hotbeds of Activism: Locations of Student Protests’, Social Problems, Vol..45, No.2, pp.205-220.
Van Zyl. M.; Steyn M. and Orr, W., 2003, ‘This is Where I Want to Belong’: Insti- tutional Culture at Wits – Staff Perceptions and Experiences , 2002.
Viininkka, J., 2002., ‘There Shall Be No Property’: Trade Unions, Class and Poli- tics – Nigeria’, in L. Zeilig, ed., Class Struggle and Resistance in Africa, Chel- tenham: New Clarion.
Zeilig, L., 2006, ‘“Increasing my Value Proposition to the Struggle”: Arthur Mutambara and Student Politics in Zimbabwe’, African Sociological Review, Vol.10, No.2, pp.94-115.
Zulu Students Cultural Society (ZSCS), 2005 Constitution.