Education Policy and Social Justice in Higher

DOCTORAL THESIS


EDUCATION POLICY AND SOCIAL JUSTICE IN HIGHER
EDUCATION:
A SOUTH AFRICAN CASE STUDY

by

MASEBALA TJABANE

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the
degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Education Policy

in the

Department of Education Management and Policy Studies

Faculty of Education

University of Pretoria


Supervisor: Prof V Pillay

JANUARY 2010
© © U Un ni iv ve er rs si it ty y o of f P Pr re et to or ri ia a




i
ABSTRACT
The study is a critical investigation of social justice concerns in higher education policy
in emerging democracies such as South Africa. The study focuses on three initiatives at
the University of Pretoria as exemplary projects that address social justice concerns in
order to redress the situation in post-apartheid South Africa. These initiatives are the
Institute of Women and Gender Studies, IGWS, which attempts to achieve gender
equality, eliminate patriarchal tendencies and unleash women‘s potentialities within the
University of Pretoria; The Centre for the Study of HIV/AIDS which seeks to eliminate
any discriminatory tendencies against University of Pretoria members who are living
with HIV/AIDS and contribute meaningfully in reducing the scourge of the pandemic;
and The University of Pretoria Foundation Year Programme, UPFY, which attempts to
increase the participation rates of the previously disadvantaged in areas of scarce skills
such as mathematics and science.
The study seeks to share new insights into the limits of grand policy frameworks that
promise much by way of social justice but deliver very little in real terms. This policy
gap trajectory between intent and practice begins and ends at the University of Pretoria
as a case study that provides important lessons for cognate institutions and other social
structures. The study is further likely to contribute insights into how higher education
can implement programmes so as to purportedly address and redress social injustices
and inequalities when in essence; these programmes achieve little more than a public
relations objective.
The intent of this case study is to illuminate attempts, through various programmes, by
higher education to address social justice concerns such as inequality and
discrimination, and reflects the inadequacy of such efforts that are not developed within
an institution‘s capacity in order to affect the existing institutional culture.
In reflecting on the persistent policy challenges and the marginalisation of social justice
agenda, the study points to the dominance of the neo-liberal discourse on a global and
local scale and its manifestation in higher education in the form of commodification and
marketisation. As a result, the study proposes the revival of a radical social justice



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agenda so as to mainstream social justice concerns in higher education and promote its
emancipatory possibilities.
KEYWORDS: Social justice, Higher education policy challenges, Gender equality,
Access into higher education, HIV/AIDS, Neo-liberalism,
Commodification of education, Emancipatory possibilities, Radical
social justice agenda



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DECLARATION
I declare that this thesis is my own unaided work. It is being submitted for the degree of
Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Pretoria. It has not been submitted before for
any degree or examination in any other university, nor has it been prepared under the
aegis of / with the assistance of any other body or organisation or person outside the
University of Pretoria.


M TJABANE DATE



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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
My sincere and deepest gratitude goes to all the people who proved to be helpful and
supported me throughout my studies. I am sincerely indebted to the following people for
moral support, encouragement and good will.
Prof V Pillay, my supervisor, for her guidance and diligent supervisory skills.
Prof J D Jansen, my initial supervisor during the proposal writing phase of the
PhD programme. Your constructive criticism has been very valuable in shaping
my proposal.
My colleagues in Learning Development whose voice of encouragement, vibrant
and critical comments proved helpful during the writing up of the thesis.
My fellow PhD colleagues – the class of 2003 in Education Policy Studies. Your
presence and lively discussion during the taught modules assisted me in
broadening and deepening my knowledge with respect to policy concerns.
The participants at the three research sites at the University of Pretoria. Your
willingness to make yourself available for the interview sessions was greatly
appreciated.
My family – my extended family and children, for their unfailing support,
patience and unceasing prayers during the long journey towards completing the
thesis.
Last but not least to my Creator, whose words, inspiration and love for all
humankind helped me shape the thesis.






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INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY
Higher education, globally, has operated in a context in which the powerful determine
mainstream policies and define appropriate strategies to be followed. The powerful,
today, are informed by a neo-liberal ideology that has resulted in the commodification
and marketisation of higher education. The rationale behind the trend is that higher
education plays an important role in economic development for the global economy.
While the economic role of higher education is not in dispute, its role in promoting
democracy and social justice is being marginalised. This has become a global trend that
is gaining ground in emerging democracies such as South Africa and has continued to
perpetuate socio-economic injustice and inequalities. It is against this background that
the study investigated how higher education has responded to societal challenges
through its mandate of promoting social justice.
This study focuses on the persisting inequalities in terms of the participation rates of the
previously disadvantaged groups in higher education in South Africa, with the focus
being placed on one historically advantaged higher education institution amidst the
rhetorical ―hype‖ regarding social justice as the discourse of choice in educational
policy. The study focuses on three initiatives that claim to address social justice
concerns in order to redress the situation in post-apartheid South Africa and threaten the
human rights culture that South Africa is attempting to establish. These initiatives are
the Institute of Women and Gender Studies, IWGS, which attempts to achieve gender
equality, eliminate patriarchal tendencies and unleash women‘s potentialities within the
University of Pretoria; the Centre for the Study of HIV/AIDS which seeks to eliminate
any discriminatory tendencies against University of Pretoria members who are living
with HIV/AIDS and to contribute meaningfully in reducing the scourge of the
pandemic; and the University of Pretoria Foundation Year Programme, UPFY, which
attempts to increase the participation rates of the previously disadvantaged in areas of
scarce skills such as mathematics and science.
These initiatives have become necessary post-apartheid initiatives, especially since the
adoption of the renowned South African Constitution that protects, and attempts to
create, a culture of human rights and dignity. It is my contention that the South African
constitution is strongly shaped by social justice discourses and that within the



vi
educational policy framework, these social justice discourses assume, and are preceded
by, the People‘s Education Movement that was prevalent during the ant-apartheid era.
The said policy framework is currently at the heart of intense national debate since
historically Afrikaner universities such as the University of Pretoria are struggling to
achieve gender equality, to reduce discriminatory tendencies and racial inequality in
areas such as mathematics and science.
The study seeks to share new insights into the limits of grand policy frameworks that
promise much by way of social justice but deliver very little in real terms. This policy
gap trajectory between intent and practice begins and ends at the University of Pretoria
as a case study that provides important lessons for cognate institutions and other social
structures. The study is further likely to contribute insights into how higher education
can implement programmes so as to actually address and redress social injustices and
inequalities when in essence these programmes achieve little more than a public
relations objective.
The intent of this case study is to illuminate attempts, through various programmes, by
higher education institutions to address social justice concerns such as inequality and
discrimination, and reflects the inadequacy of such efforts that are not developed within
an institution‘s capacity in order to affect the existing institutional culture. While the
University of Pretoria is the focus of the present study, its selection may reflect similar
treatment of social justice in former Afrikaner institutions. A discussion of social justice
in terms of the achievement of gender equality, increased participation rates of
previously disadvantaged groups such as blacks, women and the disabled, in subjects
such as those mentioned, and other discriminatory tendencies, is attempted by assessing
higher education policy as regards the presence of a social justice discourse and its
implementation in three programmes at the University of Pretoria.
At this stage in the present research, social justice is conceptualised as the significant
and meaningful reduction and total elimination (ideally) of gender and racial inequality
as well as of other discriminatory tendencies or of the use of artificial social
categorisation to perpetuate unfair distribution and social inequality.



vii
The first chapter offers an introduction to the research with a description of the main
research questions, the purpose and significance of the study, the conceptual framework
and the research methodology used in the study being discussed. The study employed
the qualitative research paradigm and the case study approach in order to study
experiences of the implementers of initiatives with respect to social justice.
Chapter two focuses on a review of literature related to social justice and education in
higher education. This includes research carried out internationally and locally with
regards to the status of social justice in various areas. The purpose of this chapter is to
present a review of literature on key issues related to the central research problem. This
analysis informs the study of that which is already known from research on social
justice.
Chapter three provides a literature review of the transformation movement of higher
education in South Africa. It focuses on the transformation pillars of increased access
and broadened participation to higher education, and responsiveness to societal needs,
research and cooperative governance. This chapter illustrates how South African higher
education has performed with reference to the three pillars of transformation.
Chapter four deals with the University of Pretoria during the democratic dispensation. It
provides a brief background of the transition from a conservative university to one that
has embraced the transformation agenda of the current government. The Innovation
Generation Document is also analysed with regards to how it meets the transformation
agenda and social justice mandate. In addition to this, some transformation indicators
are discussed to illustrate how the university has transformed with a focus on the social
justice imperative.
Chapter five provides a consideration of access to higher education as a transformation
imperative and part of the social justice agenda. Furthermore, it examines certain
elements of social justice education and how they facilitate access and success in higher
education. Finally, the UPFY is critically discussed regarding the role it plays in
fulfilling the higher education social justice mandate of access.



viii
Chapter six considers the gender aspects of social justice in the global and local
contexts. The women‘s movement agendas ranging from that of the Women in
Development to that in gender mainstreaming are discussed from a global perspective
while, locally, the present author critically considers how the IWGS fulfils the higher
education mandate of promoting gender justice.
Chapter seven investigates HIV/AIDS as a global emergency and social justice
imperative globally and locally. It discusses how HIV/AIDS has been conceptualised
and the responses to the phenomenon at state and Institutional level. The CSA is
critically examined as a case study of the University of Pretoria‘s response to
HIV/AIDS as a social justice imperative.
The final chapter provides an analysis and discussion of the main findings and contains
the conclusion. The researcher suggests that the social justice agenda is under siege
globally and is marginalised, and in order for it to be a lived experience for everyone,
radical scholars and activists need to pursue the liberatory and emancipatory
possibilities of education inherent in radical social justice.



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TABLE OF CONTENTS
ABSTRACT ...................................................................................................................... i
DECLARATION ............................................................................................................. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ............................................................................................ iv
INTRODUCTION AND SUMMARY ............................................................................. v
TABLE OF CONTENTS ................................................................................................ ix
LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABREVIATIONS .......................................................... xii
LIST OF TABLES ........................................................................................................ xiv
LIST OF FIGURES ....................................................................................................... xiv
CHAPTER 1 – BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY ....................................................... 1
1.1 Introduction and Statement of the Problem ..................................................... 1
1.2 Research Questions ......................................................................................... 3
1.3 Rationale for this Study ................................................................................... 4
1.4 Conceptual Framework.................................................................................... 9
1.5 Methodology – The Methods of Inquiry Informed by Critical Theory ......... 18
1.6 Qualitative Critical Research – Social Science for Emancipatory Change ... 20
1.7 Data Collection and Analysis ........................................................................ 24
1.8 Themes from Data Analysis .......................................................................... 26
1.9 Strategies to Ensure Rigour - Validation Strategies ...................................... 28
1.10 Limitations ..................................................................................................... 30
1.10.1 Post research activities as a means to reinforcing validity .......................... 31
1.11 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 31
CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS ON SOCIAL
JUSTICE ......................................................................................................................... 32
2.1 Introduction: Some Positions on Social Justice ............................................. 32
2.2 The Conservative Tradition of Social justice ................................................ 32
2.3 The Liberal Tradition of Social Justice ......................................................... 34
2.4 The Radical Tradition of Social Justice ......................................................... 40
2.4.1 Justice as Mutuality ....................................................................................... 43
2.4.2 Justice as Recognition ................................................................................... 44
2.4.3 Justice as Freedom from Five Faces of Oppression ...................................... 46
2.4.4 Radical Social Justice Agenda for the 21
st
Century ...................................... 48
2.5 South Africa and Radical Social Justice ........................................................ 57
2.6 Criticisms of Radical Social Justice .............................................................. 63
2.7 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 64
CHAPTER 3 – SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION AND
TRANSFORMATION PILLARS – FOCUS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE .......................... 66
3.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 66
3.2 The South African Higher Education System After 1994 ............................. 66
3.3 Social Justice as an Element of a Transformed Higher Education System –
Contributions and Contradictions .................................................................. 68
3.4 South African Higher Education Performance in Terms of Three Pillars of
Transformation .............................................................................................. 72



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3.5 South African Higher Education: Persistent Policy Challenges .................... 80
3.6 Conclusion ..................................................................................................... 85
CHAPTER 4 – UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA AND TRANSFORMATION ............. 86
4.1 Introduction ................................................................................................... 86
4.2 University of Pretoria before 1994 - The Conservative Tradition and
Ideological Outlook ....................................................................................... 86
4.3 The University of Pretoria during the Democratic Dispensation .................. 89
4.4 University of Pretoria as an ―Innovation Generation‖ Institution ................. 91
4.5 The Organisational Culture of the University of Pretoria ............................. 93
4.6 Competing Discourses at the University of Pretoria ..................................... 97
4.7 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 100
CHAPTER 5 − ACCESS AS SOCIAL JUSTICE: THE CASE OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA FOUNDATION YEAR PROGRAMME −UPFY .... 101
5.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 101
5.2 Access to Higher Education as a Social Justice Agenda ............................. 102
5.3 The Elements of Social Justice Education Related to Access to Education 104
5.4 University of Pretoria Foundation Year Programme − UPFY .................... 110
5.5 Policy Implementation ................................................................................. 115
5.6 Role of Project Managers ............................................................................ 116
5.7 Conceptualisation of Social Justice ............................................................. 119
5.8 Intended Outcomes of the UPFY................................................................. 122
5.9 Research....................................................................................................... 123
5.10 Challenges ................................................................................................... 125
5.11 Addressing Challenges ................................................................................ 127
5.12 The Uniqueness of the UPFY – Other Emergent Factors ........................... 129
5.13 Critical Appraisal of the UPFY ................................................................... 130
5.14 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 132
CHAPTER 6 − IGWS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ......................................................... 134
6.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 134
6.2 Gender Equality in the Global Debate ......................................................... 134
6.3 The Women in Development Agenda – WID ............................................. 135
6.4 The Women and Development – WAD Agenda ......................................... 137
6.5 Gender and Development – GAD ............................................................... 138
6.6 Gender Mainstreaming ................................................................................ 139
6.7 Gender Mainstreaming Strategy in South Africa ........................................ 141
6.8 Evaluating South African Performance in Gender Equality ....................... 146
6.9 Women‘s Studies Programmes in the Global Debate ................................. 150
6.10 Background to the Institute of Gender and Women Studies ....................... 151
6.10.1 The Mandate ............................................................................................. 152
6.10.2 Vision 152
6.10.3 The objectives of the institute are: ............................................................ 152
6.11 Implementation of Gender Equality at the University of Pretoria............... 157
6.12 The Role of Facilitators at IGWS ................................................................ 162
6.13 Conceptualisation of Social Justice ............................................................. 162
6.14 Conceptualisation of Gender ....................................................................... 165
6.15 IGWS External Programmes and Linkages ................................................. 167
6.16 Challenges Facing IGWS ............................................................................ 168



xi
6.17 Dealing with Challenges .............................................................................. 170
6.18 Other Emergent Factors ............................................................................... 171
6.19 The Potency of the Oppositional Voice ....................................................... 172
6.20 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 173
CHAPTER 7 − THE CASE OF CSA AND SOCIAL JUSTICE ................................. 174
7.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 174
7.2 Overview of HIV/AIDS .............................................................................. 174
7.3 The South African State‘s HIV/AIDS Agenda ........................................... 178
7.4 The South African Higher Education HIV/AIDS Agenda .......................... 181
7.5 HIV/AIDS Reviews by the CSA ................................................................. 187
7.6 Conceptualisation of Social Justice ............................................................. 190
7.7 The CSA‘s Conceptualisation of HIV/AIDS............................................... 195
7.8 Leadership in HIV/AIDS ............................................................................. 195
7.9 The Role of Project Managers ..................................................................... 198
7.10 Outcomes of the Programmes ..................................................................... 199
7.11 Challenges of the CSA ................................................................................ 200
7.12 Dealing with the Challenges ........................................................................ 202
7.13 Critical Policy Engagement ......................................................................... 204
7.14 Conclusion ................................................................................................... 207
CHAPTER 8 − SOCIAL JUSTICE MANDATE UNDER SIEGE .............................. 208
8.1 Introduction ................................................................................................. 208
8.2 Conceptualisation of Transformation .......................................................... 209
8.3 Conceptualisation of Social Justice ............................................................. 212
8.4 The Dilemmas and Possibilities of Transformation .................................... 216
8.5 The University of Pretoria and Neo-Conservative and Neo-Liberal Ideology
..................................................................................................................... 217
8.6 Policy, Implications and Lessons ................................................................ 221
REFERENCES ............................................................................................................. 223
APPENDIX A - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS .............................................................. 254
APPENDIX B - LIST OF PARTICIPANTS ................................................................ 256
APPENDIX C - LETTER OF INFORMED CONSENT ............................................. 257
APPENDIX D - ETHICS CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE .......................................... 258




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LIST OF ACRONYMS AND ABREVIATIONS
Acronym Description
ADEA African Development Education Association
ANC African National Congress
ART Anti-Retroviral Treatment
CEDAW Convention on the Elimination of all forms of Discrimination against
Women
CGE Commission on Gender Equality
CHE Commission on Higher Education
CHET Centre for Higher Education Transformation
CHR Centre for Human Rights
CSA Centre for the Study of AIDS
DAAD German Academic Exchange Service
DFiD Department of International Development
DOE Department of Education
EFA Education For All
ERS Education Renewal Strategy
GEAR Growth and Employment and Redistribution: A Macroeconomic
Strategy
GETT Gender Equity Task Team
GENNET Gender Network
HIV/AIDS Human Immunodeficiency Virus / Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome
HSRC Human Sciences Research Council
IDASA Institute for Democratic Alternatives in Southern Africa
IWGS Institute for Women and Gender Studies
MDG Millennium Development Goals



xiii
NACOSA National AIDS Coordination Committee of South Africa
NCHE National Commission on Higher Education
NEPI National Education Policy Initiative
NPHE National Plan on Higher Education
POWA People Opposed to Women Abuse
RDP Reconstruction and Development Programme
SADCC Southern African Development Coordinating Committee
SANAC South African National AIDS Commission
TAC Treatment Action Campaign
UK United Kingdom
UNAIDS United Nations HIV/AIDS Programme
UNESCO United Nations Educational and Scientific Council
UPFY University of Pretoria Foundation Year Programme
USA United States of America
VTC Voluntary Testing and Counselling
WAD Women and Development




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LIST OF TABLES
Table 1.1 − Themes from data analysis .......................................................................... 27
Table 2.1 − The 5 faces of oppression ............................................................................ 47
Table 3.1 − Higher education transformation pillars ...................................................... 67
Table 3.2 − Indicators of transformation goals for higher education in South Africa ... 72
Table 5.1 − The UFPY programme .............................................................................. 113
Table 6.2 − Summary of South African gender statistics ............................................. 147
Table 7.1 − The Consequences of the Pandemic: Projections to 2010 ........................ 179
Table 7.2 − The Tirisano (Working Together) Programme ......................................... 180
Table 7.3 − Goals and Results of the Higher Education HIV/AIDS Programme. ....... 182
Table 7.4 − HIV/AIDS and Institutional Profile of the University of Pretoria ............ 183
Table 7.5 − Framework for a comprehensive Pretoria University response to
HIV/AIDS ..................................................................................................................... 184
Table 7.6 − HIV/AIDS Reviews Summarised ............................................................. 188


LIST OF FIGURES
Figure 1.1 − Mapping the World of Concepts and Theories .......................................... 21
Figure 5.1 − Social justice and related educational theories ........................................ 107







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CHAPTER 1 – BACKGROUND TO THE STUDY
1.1 Introduction and Statement of the Problem
The introduction of a democratic government in South Africa in the mid-1990s played a
significant role in foregrounding a social justice discourse in all aspects of public life.
Indeed, the newly established government attempted to imbue most of its public
policies, and especially education policies, with the language of social justice; many of
these rhetorical commitments could be found in earlier discourses such as the People‘s
Education (1) movement of the 1980s and the broad democratic movement in the 1990s
(National Education Policy Investigation , NEPI, 1992). Social justice has always
constituted a major political commitment in the long history of education struggles in
South Africa. With widespread celebrations of ―ten years of democracy‖ (CHE: 2004)
there seems to have ensued a paralysis in the debate regarding issues of social justice,
especially in the context of the public policy. It appears to be accepted that social justice
has been substantially addressed and reflected in the education policies of the new
government because of the euphoria of the democratic dispensation in the country that
seems to promise more progressive possibilities than the past dispensation. While social
justice might well be contained within new education policies, it is not at all clear that
such commitments have been achieved in education practice. The present study
consequently presents a critical investigation of the practice of social justice at the
University of Pretoria, measured against the policy expectations for justice of this type
in higher education contexts.
At the level of rhetoric, I sought to determine the nature, claims and expectations for
social justice as reflected in higher education policy. At the implementation level, I set
out to determine the ways in which the University of Pretoria has responded to social
justice demands in policy, and the extent to which such responses are effective within
higher education contexts. A working hypothesis in this study is that while institutions
might formally reflect programmatic responses to social justice demands in the policy
environment, in practice such responses might remain marginal within the mainstream
higher education environment.



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Research shows that in official government circles, there is a tendency to assume that
formal commitments to social justice imply practical commitments to its realisation in
educational contexts: a symbolic policy (Cloete and Massen, 2001: 449). Such an
approach to social justice fails to take account of the myriad ways in which social
justice claims on institutions can be limited, subverted, ignored or even resisted in
institutional contexts.
Globally, social justice is under challenge, marginalised as it is by powerful counter-
discourses associated with neo-liberalism and its expression through new managerialism
and the changing academic workplace within higher education (Altbach, 2000; Jansen,
2000). Under these new global conditions, social justice cannot be assumed to enjoy
prominence in higher education policies; even less certain is the assumption that (social
justice) policy pronounced in theory is attained within the practices of universities.
Social justice, in the context of the study, refers to the extent to which higher education
institutions reflect and pursue commitments to equity, democracy and redress in their
institutional policies, plans, programmes and practices. This study therefore proceeds
from the assumption that the practices of social justice are a reaction to policy demands
for greater institutional responsiveness regarding complex issues including increasing
access of disadvantaged students (such as that of black students to science and
engineering), broadening the participation of marginalised groups (such as disabled or
women students) and creating services and support for stigmatised communities (such
as HIV/AIDS sufferers).
In pursuit of this objective, the current research consisted of comparative case studies of
institutional-level initiatives designed to respond to and reflect commitments to social
justice. These three initiatives are the University of Pretoria Foundation Year
Programme (or UPFY), the Institute for Women‘s and Gender Studies (IWGS) and the
Centre of the Study of AIDS (CSA) — all are responsive initiatives of the same
institution, the University of Pretoria (see the motivation for sampling in the
Methodology section).



3

1.2 Research Questions
The fundamental question explored in this study concerns how institutions of higher
learning respond to the national mandate of social justice. This study is guided by four
research questions, with the fourth question constituting a working hypothesis to be
tested through data generated in the earlier segments of the study.
What are the claims and expectations for social justice embedded in South
Africa‘s new higher education policies?
What are the modes of institutional responsiveness to social justice claims in
higher education policy?
How do these responsive modes or initiatives understand their roles and status
within the broader institution with respect to the broader quest of social justice?
Why do initiatives responding to the social justice commitment of institutions
find themselves at the margins of institutional life?
The first research question was addressed by means of an extensive analysis of relevant
policy documents in higher education. These documents included printed resources on
higher education, publications of the National Education Policy Investigation‘s Oxford
Series; the National Commission on Higher Education discussion documents; the Green
Paper on Higher Education; and the White Paper on Higher Education Transformation
(White Paper 3). The documented claims and emphases over the lifespan of higher
education policy development were identified only as they relate to social justice
concerns. In addition to the analysis of key policy documents, this question was pursued
by means of further critical scrutiny of publications of key policymakers and policy
authors who authored successive documents in order to elaborate and probe the
underlying thinking (and shifts in thinking) behind the social justice claims made in
each policy position.
The second research question was pursued by means of a critical description of the
three sampled projects as illustrative cases of social justice commitments of the
institution. The data was extracted largely from extensive documentation on each project
and intensive interviews with senior managers and facilitators responsible for each of



4

these three projects in order to gain a nuanced sense of how and to what extent these
projects are regarded as responses to social justice commitments of the institution.
In terms of the third research question data was sought on the functions, roles and status
of each project in its institutional setting. This segment drew its data from extensive and
intensive interviews with the first-order participants (project staff) in these three
projects, with the objective of describing their understandings of the roles and status of
each initiative within the broader institution.
The fourth research question tested the emergent data against the principles of critical
theory in order to explain the status (assumed to be marginal) of each project in
institutional life. This segment of the study developed the position that initiatives
responsive to social justice concerns remain in the margins of institutional life as a
result of factors such as the lack of funding and institutional support.
1.3 Rationale for this Study
While much has been written on the subject of social justice in schools (see Adams et.
al., 1997), available literature regarding the meaning and achievement of social justice
in higher education contexts is relatively sparse. Yet higher education policies,
especially in new democracies, are often invested with enormous expectations for
achieving social justice on and off the university campus (see Department of Education,
2001) Department for Education and Skills, 2003). However, the questions that arise
are: What kind of ―take-up‖ occurs within higher education institutions, given the policy
pressure for social justice, especially in newly emerging democracies? How do
universities engage with social justice in their day-to-day operations? What does the
institutional culture tell us about the social justice claims of the state as the primary
resource of funding in public higher education? These are the puzzles that have led to
this inquiry into the context of South African higher education institutions.
Universally, higher education systems are under pressure to be socially responsive to
changes in society by addressing social justice concerns such as equity, access, success
and the creation of a democratic culture. In South Africa, this has been a priority item in
policy formulation and implementation. The policy documents formulated post1994



5

were informed by a democratic culture that advanced the transformation of the higher
education system. The intellectual climate was fuelled by great optimism and
celebration because the legacy of apartheid injustices had been overthrown and South
Africa embraced the promise of democracy ready for the 21
st
century. However, ten
years later in 2004, the optimism had faded and the bright anticipation had evaporated –
almost to a point of paralysis. Currently, there appears to be a transformation paralysis
regarding issues of social justice in the sense that the noble calls to address social justice
concerns have remained at symbolic and rhetorical levels with limited substantial
implementation. Even those aspects that have been implemented fall short of portraying
a complete social justice agenda. It would appear that the current democratic
dispensation in the country seems to possess all the answers to address social justice and
therefore that this society has reached a state of stagnation and cannot think of any other
alternatives. For social justice to be elevated to the level of significance it deserves,
there needs to be a revival of debate so that its worth and relevance can be evaluated
and subjected to critical analysis. This is an important exercise that holds higher
education institutions accountable for meeting the social justice imperatives and being
socially responsive.
The transformation paralysis currently affecting higher education is detrimental to an
important function of higher education: the creation of a democratic culture. This study
will contribute to the steps being taken to shift higher education from such a paralysis to
a transformational dynamics. This entails the resuscitation of the social justice agenda.
In addressing the stagnation of debate, the study begins the optimistic task mentioned by
critical educators like Giroux (2003): that of doing the impossible in counteracting the
mainstream discourse of neo-liberalism. The social significance of this study lies in the
fact that this research opens up terrain for an inquiry into social justice against the grain
of neo-liberal policies and managerial cultures infecting higher education environments.
The intellectual significance of the study is that it seeks to understand the complex ways
in which social justice is programmatically encoded in institutional scripts for
transformation and democratic culture.
Since neo-liberalism is the policy framework that has an overarching impact on the
context of higher education in the 21
st
century, a brief explanation is furnished to



6

highlight its influence. Neo-liberalism is an invention of the Enlightenment and this is
seen in the concept ―liberal‖ that has been hybridised over time. It contains a set of
economic policies that reflect some elements of classical liberalism. The genesis of the
term is found in the writings of the Freiberg school of Germany which used the term to
refer to a moderate alternative to classical liberalism that infused humanistic ideals with
economic policy as opposed to strict free market policy (Boas and Gans-Morse,
2007:9). In this manner, neo-liberalism contained more positive connotations. However,
in the 1980s, the term has come to mean the opposite of its original position in that it
came to be used by opponents of liberalism to critique features of advanced modern
capitalist socio-economic policies of the western countries (Larner, 2000).
According to Larner, a leftist social scientist,
The most common conceptualization of neo-liberalism as a policy
framework is marked by a shift from Keynesian welfare towards a
political agenda favouring the relatively unfettered operations of the
markets. Often this renewed emphasis on markets is understood to be
directly associated with the so-called globalization of capital… New
forms of globalised production relations and financial systems forcing
governments to abandon their commitments to the welfare state. Rather
than formulating policies to ensure full employment and an inclusive
welfare system, governments are now focused on enhancing economic
efficiency and international competitiveness (Larner, 2000:5).
In its current state, neo-liberalism is identified by the following values:
Individual freedom
Freedom of choice
Market security
Minimal government
Laissez faire policies (Larner, 2000:5, Martinez and Garcia, 2007:1, Bundy,
2005:86).
In the current century, neo-liberalism involves the paradigm shift in policy and ideology
from welfare policies informed by Keynesian macro economics to a free market,



7

privatisation, deregulation and decreasing public spending. Some of the notable
proponents of neo-liberal economic policies are western governments such as the
United Kingdom and the United States of America who have in turn influenced
international organisations, for instance the World Bank and International Monetary
Fund, to adopt policies informed by neo-liberalism (Levidow, 2002:1-6). An equally
important feature of neo-liberalism is the discourse of globalisation which entails the
centrality of concepts like the information society and the knowledge economy
(Levidow, 2002:2).
This study is premised on the observation that although in neo-liberalism there are some
positive elements contained in the liberal ideals, such as freedom, the concept in theory
and practice has come to display illiberal tendencies that compromised the ideal of
social justice as conceptualised in this study. Against this background and in the context
of increasing global inequalities and injustices, it is fitting to scrutinise the suitability of
policies informed by neo-liberalism in advancing the ideals of social justice.
The neo-liberal policy context manifests itself in higher education through the following
changes:
The transition from elite provision to mass provision. This entails increasing and
opening access into higher education and emphasising its role in contributing to
national economic competitiveness (Bundy, 2005:86).
An accelerated penetration of market relations in academic life. This involves
the entrenchment of new market discourse characterised by dwindling public
funding and focus on private funding, an increasing academic industrial agenda
and the general commodificaion of intellectual labour. This has been translated
into doing more with less (Bundy, 2005:87).
The introduction of the corporate culture into higher education. This process is
evidenced by the infusion of business practices and values in higher education.
This is seen in the introduction of decentralisation to increase efficiency,
performance targets, the audit culture borrowed from the finance field and
quality assurance mechanisms (Bundy, 2005: 88).



8

In the African educational context the impact of neo-liberalism and its accompanying
globalisation is an issue of great concern. According to Jansen,
The most dangerous consequence of globalisation is that it has
established a broad consensus not only about what kind of economy is
desirable, but about what education is for. This consensus holds that
education is for economic productivity, for technological advancement,
for greater competition and market share, for institutional and learner
performance management, and for regulation and accountability to
ensure that performance-driven economies and pedagogies are not only
achieved, but sustained… in terms of education globalisation has
redefined how we teach, what we teach, where, who we teach – and even
whether we teach (2007:25).
The study is in alignment with the position that neo-liberal theories of economic
rationalisation have adversely affected society in general and higher education in
particular. In higher education, neo-liberalism‘s entrenchment is described as academic
capitalism, a phenomenon described by Slaughter and Leslie as ―the market like
behaviours on the part of universities and faculty. Market-like behaviour refers to
institutional and faculty competition for monies… from external resource providers‖
(2001; 154). These changes have become visible in most higher education institutions in
the west and in South Africa and they generally indicate that the neo-liberal university
functions along similar lines to the corporate world with an obsession to maximise
profit and with limited concern regarding the role of higher education in advancing the
social justice agenda and democracy in general (Cloete, Fehnel, Massen , Moja, Perold
and Gibbon 2002).
There is a growing and enduring tension with respect to the dynamics of neo-liberalism
in higher education around the world. Proponents and exponents are in constant conflict
over the potential benefits and dangers of neo-liberalism. For instance the feature of
massification in seen in a positive light in as far as it increases access into higher
education for people who have been denied access due to exclusionary policies, but it
also has a negative implication in that it may continue to increase inequality if higher
education continues to be informed by elitist policies.( Currie 2004:42)



9

I take the view that the neo-liberal project is anti-social justice and that radical and
socialist alternatives to educational problems and their solutions are worth pursuing
more fully than before so as to defend the contribution of higher education to the public
good and the promotion of the democratic culture informed by principles of radical
social justice.
The democratic culture forms part and parcel of the quest for social justice which is
being relegated to the periphery because of the dominant paradigm of neo-liberalism
that is propelling global and market capitalism The language of neo-liberalism informs
most organisations and universities and has been described as inhuman and devoid of
any human provenance or possibility because of the increasing level of injustice that
exists uncurbed across the globe (Davies, 2005:1). In this light, the present study
concurs with, and advances, the position of radical scholars that the struggle for the
advancement of democracy and social justice needs to be pioneered in and through
higher education and other progressive spheres:
Another challenge that needs to be addressed in order to ―take back‖
higher education is the threat that neo-liberalism and corporate values
pose to higher education and the necessity to once again remind us that
those democratic rather than commercial values should be the concerns
of the university. While the university should equip people to enter the
workplace it should also educate them to contest workplace inequalities,
imagine democratically organized forms of work, and identify and
challenge those injustices that contradict and undercut the most
fundamental principles of freedom, equality and respect for all people
who constitute the global public sphere (Giroux, 2003:4).
In the context of a hostile neo-liberal environment and discourse, it might appear to be
impossible to further social justice; however, this study takes its cue from radical
scholarship in advocating what appears to be impossible in either theory or praxis.
1.4 Conceptual Framework
This research is informed by critical theory, which stands in opposition to conventional
or traditional theory. According to Shalin (1992),
The term critical theory is commonly used in connection with the
Frankfurt school, and in the broadest sense, it refers to the project of



10

emancipation which seeks to open up society by subjecting it to a
critique through standards set up by reason. Across between the French
Enlightenment and German idealism, critical theory combines the
former‘s determination to purge society from oppression with the latter‘s
liberating insight that obsolete practices are due in large measure to
reason‘s own unreflexivity (Shalin, 1992: 252) .
In line with the above, critical theory has been described as a Marxist critique of
capitalist society (figure 1 by Paulston, 1999 reproduced on page 21). It is a form of
opposition to bourgeois society and traditional conventional theory which sought to
reproduce the relations of domination and subordination of a capitalist society (Peters,
Lankshear and Osslen, 2003:2). The connoisseurs of critical theory are located in the
New Left movement and argue that positivist traditional theory does not address the
historical, cultural and situatedness of research and also fails to offer transformative
possibilities to the domination and oppression of capitalism (Kincheloe & McLaren,
2002: 87-88). The founders and first generation scholars of critical theory, such as
Horkheimer, intended to develop it as a philosophical orientation with the goal of
leading to the development of society without injustices by subverting or undermining
relations of a capitalist society (ibid).
In the contemporary context, critical theory is associated with second generation
theorists, such as Habermas and Freire. Habermas is regarded as the most influential
theorist as regards his concern with the revival of the Enlightenment project and the
defence of democracy and freedom that is being continually threatened by the
development of late capitalism and globalisation in the 20
th
and 21
st
centuries.
Habermas advances the view that in order to free society from the crisis of oppressive
and exploitative modern capitalism, the theory of communicative action is the solution.
The solution lies in reasoned, rational and democratic communication that allows
human beings to understand and make common plans that will gradually transform
capitalist society into a more radically democratic one. Thus the injustices of modern
society will be addressed (Morrow and Torres, 2003:47). Critical theory according to
the perspective of Habermas forms part of a wider radical tradition of politically
engaged analysis that stands in direct opposition to various forms of leftist and rightist
dogma and tyranny. This implies that while being critical of other forms of oppression,
it is also self-critical of itself, continuously practising reflectivity (Willmott, nd: 1).



11

Freire as a contemporary of Habermas shares a similar concern in so far as addressing
oppression and emancipating people from the grips of modern capitalism are concerned.
However, Freire‘s significance lies in inserting the pedagogy in critical theory that
appears to have been glossed over by Habermas (Morrow and Torres, 2003:5). He has
also been influential in formulating critical pedagogy, an educational theory whose
object is to conscientise learners to transform the learning environment and relations of
power in the struggle for a socialist order (McLaren and Faramandpur, 2005:1).
Freire focuses on the role of consciousness, critique and a utopian
vision, the need to imagining a better future before it can be achieved,
and the critical role of education for social justice and the vital necessity
of leadership fully at one with the people should deepen practices of
movements for social change (Gibon, 2009: 4).
The positions of Freire and Habermas illustrate that critical theory furthers the
Enlightenment ideals. Its core concern is to develop more rational, enlightened social
relations that are aimed at transforming the status quo towards more socially just
futures.
Contemporary proponents of critical theory in the western world such as MacLaren and
Kincheloe relentlessly pursue the progressive and emancipatory project initiated by the
Enlightenment. They offer a reconceptualised interpretation of critical theory for the
new millennium:
Critical theory analyses competing power interests between groups and
individuals within a society – identifying who gains and who loses in
specific situations. Privileged groups, criticalists argue, often have an
interest in supporting the status quo to protect their advantages; the
dynamics of such efforts often become the central focus of critical
research. Such studies revolve around issues of race, class, gender and
sexuality (Kincheloe and McLaren, 2002:90).
Critical theory in addition to embracing the culture of critique creates a conducive
intellectual environment for the flourishing of human freedom or agency.
This study makes use of an interpretative research paradigm which is in contrast to a
traditional positivist paradigm. The particular element that the interpretative research



12

paradigm proposes to bring to the research process is the element of human agency
which is marginalized by the positivist paradigm. In the positivist paradigm, human
agency implies free will that is active in making sense of the social world. Agency
refers to the capability of individuals to act independently and make their own free
choices. In this tradition, human agency is seen as neutral individual freedom in a
laizess faire market orientated socio-economic system of capitalism. The notion of
human agency in the tradition of critical theory is re-conceptualised and has come to
entail the promise that men and women can determine their own history and existence
and they have in them the collective moral responsibility to advance emancipation from
capitalist exploitation. It offers new hope for the oppressed masses living in the neo-
liberal ―utopia of endless exploitation‖ to use Bourdieu‘s assessment of the essence of
neo-liberalism (Bourdieu 1998:1) This implies that the freedom in human agency from
the perspective of Bourdieu has the potential of fostering counter neo-liberal strategies
and bring about utopia of total human emancipation. In the same vein, the centrality of
human agency in counteracting a neo-liberal policy environment is shared by critical
scholars like Giroux (2003), and (1998), Mclaren and Kinecheloe (2005), Habermas
(1974), Freire (2005) Heron (2008) and Mfumadi (2008). These views are summarised
below. In the context of this study, reference will be made to elements an educational
and policy environment that is conducive for the fostering collective human agency that
is likely to counteract the neo-liberal policy environment.
At institutional level, the purpose of educating the youth for critical
empowerment rather than subjugation (Giroux, Maclaren and Kinecheloe, and
Freire,)
The centrality of teaching critical thinking as a constitutive feature of the
struggle for self-emancipation and social change (Giroux 2003: 28).
The fostering of the practice of self-reflection and self-criticism is essential
(Giroux 1998:35)
The development of collective critical consciousness. (Freier2005 , Mfumadi,
2008:,Waghid 2008)
The development of critical pedagogy. ( Cooper , Hill and Ross 2009:216)



13

The promotion of radical democracy through the theory of communicative
action (Habermas 1974).
The development of collective human agency based on non-western cultures that
is interdependent, interconnected and deflates the individual (Heron 2008:82)
So in the tradition of critical theory, the struggle against neo-liberalism is not just waged
by an individual constructed in the language of liberalism but by collective individuals
informed by the culture of critique and the relentless quest for socially just socio-
economic futures that facilitate utopia of human emancipation. In line with the type of
social justice advanced in this study, human agency needs to be couched in the language
of radical social justice for it to make a dent on neo-liberal educational and policy
environment.
While utilising the broad framework of critical theory, I will also explore the
applicability of this theory to analysing education in emerging new democracies such as
South Africa. Since critical theory is a broad field, the first step with regards to this
research is to indicate the limits of the scope of its usage. This project will not attempt
to trace its historical origins in detail, nor its detailed intellectual history. It will only be
used where it helps to illuminate the radical position of social justice as one of the
projects of this study. Within critical theory, social justice, as used in this study, is in
alignment with its (critical theory‘s) quest for the emancipation of humankind from the
prominent injustices in society in the form of maldistribution and misrecognition caused
by the traditional political, economic and cultural structures of modern society (Fraser,
2001:11).
According to Nel (1995:126), ―critical theory has a double meaning: it refers to a theory
that is critical of society, on the one hand, and on the other, a theory that is critical of
past theories of society, or, what one would call ‗traditional‘ theory‖. Scholars who
identify themselves with critical theory are leftist in persuasion and perceive the
oppositional stance of critical theory as offering much appeal in promoting the broad
agenda of social justice such as equity, inclusion and redistribution of socio-economic
benefits to all.



14

Critical theorists hold the position that past and current attempts at achieving social
justice have failed even in the context that continues to celebrate capitalism as a key to
social justice, and therefore propose a more radical position on the latter (McLaren,
2005:20). Critical pedagogues are concerned with the influences of educational
knowledge that legitimate an unjust status quo, resulting in inequitable, undemocratic
and oppressive institutions and social relations, and the persistent failure of reformist
policies in addressing radical social justice (Burbules & Berk, 1999:46). The most
commonly cited reason for the failure of past and current attempts at achieving social
justice is the neo-liberal paradigm‘s project of modernisation and its notion of social
consensus.
Critical theory challenges and seeks to change the neo-liberal paradigm which is
deemed to be socially unjust and politically undemocratic. With reference to social
justice, critical theory is associated with the radical position or the egalitarian paradigm
of social justice. Critical theory‘s quest is for social justice; it therefore displays a close
affinity to the latter‘s ideas such as the quest for utopia – a better life for everyone. It is
particularly this position that has led to a number of criticisms being leveled at critical
theory.
Torres and Morrow (2002) provide a succinct digest of the criticism of critical theory
from a variety of theoretical positions.
From the direction of positivist educational theory, it has been rejected
as impractical, romantic, and without any empirical basis; (2) from the
Marxist left, it has been condemned for idealism, subjectivism, and
romanticism, a perspective most common in Latin America; (3) from the
direction of a conservative hermeneutic and phenomenological
approach, it has been received with ambivalence because of its
―westernizing‖ politicization of education at the expense of the life
world and tradition; (4) in the name of radical environmental critique, it
has been charged with normative anthropomorphism; and (5) under the
labels of postmodernist, post-structuralism, and postcolonial theory, it
has been questioned for its modernist rationalist bias, normative
universalism, conception of an autonomous subject, and lack of attention
to questions of difference (Morrow and Torres, 2002 163 – 164).



15

Given the above criticism, this study is not dissuaded from defending the necessity of
critical theory and its advancement of a social justice agenda, particularly in the current
context and the growing hostility to issues of social justice. It is therefore prudent to
highlight those aspects of critical theory that are common social justice concerns. Since
this study does not claim to provide a fixed definition of social justice, the egalitarian
paradigm will be defined in terms of conditions that are deemed as socially just.
According to Feagin (2001):
Social justice requires resource equity, fairness and respect for diversity
as well as the eradication of existing forms of social oppression. Social
justice entails a redistribution of resources from those who have unjustly
gained them to those who justly deserve them. And it also means
creating and ensuring the process of truly democratic participatory
decision-making (p. 5).
These concerns also form part and parcel of the social justice agenda in the developing
world and developed world contexts. In this context, an additional emphasis on the
resuscitation of progressivism was exemplified by the 1960s civil rights movements,
while in the developing world the emphasis falls on counteracting the negative impacts
of neo-colonialism (Scrase, 1997: xi; Fillmore, 1997:121). Hence in essence, social
justice conditions are those that promote the full participation of all groups in society,
holding a vision of equal distribution of resources to all, the development and
enhancement of self-worth and respect for others, and tolerance of diversity (Bell,
1997:3).
These conditions of social justice and the positions of critical educational researchers
resonate with the agenda of critical theory: to make institutions into laboratories of
freedom and democracy as a lived experience. The resonance lies in the dissatisfaction
felt by critical theory researchers with the way the neo-liberal macro-economic policies
deal with injustices and contradictions in society and the inability of neo-liberal
informed strategies to challenge and transform these policies for the common good.
This has emerged as a dilemma or a paradox for democratic governments because the
market economy constitutes their driving force and it would be inappropriate for them
to challenge their life-line. In this context, critical theory provides an enhancement of
social justice because it has purposed to disrupt and challenge the status quo of modern



16

democratic countries, particularly their macro socio-economic and political policies
(Kincheloe & McLaren, 2002:279).
In the educational arena, a socially just condition for critical theory promotes political
emancipation. Critical theorists maintain that universities can become institutions where
forms of knowledge, values and social relations are taught for the purpose of educating
young people for critical empowerment rather than subjugation (Kincheloe & McLaren,
2002: 280).
The key features of critical theory that promote transformation and social justice are:
The interest in human emancipation;
The zeal for radical change and social justice on a global scale;
The establishment of positive humanism; and
Making students critically maladaptive to globalisation and its impact on
national and international destinies in favour of a humane social order
(McLaren, 2001:108 – 120).
The main agenda of critical theory is that of change. Proponents of progressive
pedagogy support this position because it is in harmony with their transformational
agenda and stands a chance of promoting liberating educational experiences. However,
the dilemma of critical theory lies in maintaining its credibility and existence in a world
that is intolerant of its agenda. All hope is not lost, though, as proponents of progressive
education continue to call for the renewal of social justice informed by critical theory,
with transformative intellectuals playing a key role as pressure groups in influencing
policy and research that will contribute to the creation of a socially just society (Muller,
1998207).
In addition to the above, other social justice conditions promote gender equity and non-
sexism, thus creating favourable conditions for the recognition and celebration of
women‘s contribution to socio-economic development in the long term (Weiler,



17

1993:223; Davies, 1997). Thus, it could be said that in modern democracies the
egalitarian paradigm of social justice is accommodative of all the agents in society.
These entail:
The participation of all members in making decisions that affect their lives;
The recognition of diversity of culture that marks the post-modern world; and
A conception of the social good, a commitment to the well-being of, and decent
lives for all citizens (Weiler, 1993:224).
Implicit in the three aspects of social justice is the concept of Ubuntu: the humanness
that illustrates the social justice condition is that of interrelatedness, interconnectedness
and interdependence among humans, and the living and non-living creation (Goduka
and Swandenar 2000:66-74).
In summary, the social justice condition informed by the egalitarian paradigm entails
broad principles of democracy, humanism, critical pedagogy and an education for
development. Although the scenarios depicted in these broad principles represent a
challenge to the neo-liberal discourse that informs new democracies and the higher
education scene, the proponents of social justice argue that while governments confront
the inequities of the market system on the one hand, on the other hand the supporters of
social justice need to continue to struggle for the realisation of the social justice agenda,
informed by the principles mentioned above (Graig, 2002:670). The struggle for the
egalitarian radical conception of social justice is not a simple one; it is complex and
multifaceted and, therefore, requires methodologies that seek to understand its dynamics
by focusing on the natural setting and the lived experiences of the participants, as
critical theory does. When applied to educational research, critical theory advances a
position that is critical of positivist notions of research and proposes a position that
utilises an alternative research paradigm. The critical education researcher is concerned
with how existing institutions can be interrogated to understand issues of power and
institutional contradictions. His/her focus is on problems of social inequity and
injustices produced through the practice of schooling (Popkewitz, 1999:3). The central
task of this approach is the emancipation of people from positivist thoughts and



18

practices, and it fosters alternatives of naturalistic research practices. Its core is to
illuminate the role of schools in perpetuating the established order and to convert them
instead into instruments of social reform (Carr and Kemmis, 1986:129-13). In this light,
critical theory possesses the power to facilitate social renewal and a redressing of the
injustices of the past. In the same light as critical theory, critical research informed this
study because it is a transformative ―endeavor unembarrassed by the label ‗political‘
and unafraid to consummate a relationship with emancipatory consciousness‖
(Kincheloe & McLaren 1998:264).
1.5 Methodology – The Methods of Inquiry Informed by Critical Theory
In line with the critical theory tradition that informs this study, a qualitative method of
research was employed. This tradition of inquiry has been defined in a variety of ways
but in order to establish some common conceptions this study utilises Creswell‘s
definition:
Qualitative research is an inquiry process of understanding based on a
distinct methodological tradition of inquiry that explores a social or
human problem. The researcher builds a complex, holistic picture,
analyses words, reports detailed views of informants and conducts the
study in a natural setting (Creswell, 1998: 15).
In exploring social or human problems, qualitative research yields data that is
humanistic and subject centred, aiming at capturing the original meanings and
experiences of the participants. It is a welcome alternative to survey-dominated
traditional quantitative research (Easterby, Thorpe and Lowe, 2002:28-31). I have
elected to use naturalistic methodology as an overarching technique in which I
approached, analyzed and interpreted the data in an effort to gain understanding,
knowledge and perspectives of the research participants. This methodology is in
contrast with positivist methodology. A researcher using the positivist tradition strives
to be a neutral gatherer and objective observer of purely mechanistic empirical data
related to the subject during the research project. This is due to the fact that the
positivist tradition sees the world as existing externally and objectively and thus that it
can only be understood using objective, scientific methods (Boshier, 1999:11). This
obsession with objectivity flows out of a rational or realist-objectivist orientation; the



19

researcher is supposed to approach the research with a value and bias-free
epistemological framework (see Figure 1 by Paulston). This situation limits the manner
in which knowledge can be formed, gathered and interpreted. In this tradition, the
subjects speak for themselves and the researcher‘s job is simply to listen, observe and
form knowledge, thus applying models of natural science to human behaviour. With
regards to the creation of knowledge, positivist research is simply descriptive of
observable phenomena, leading to the creation of theories which are testable and could
be generalisable (Boshier, 1999:12).
Qualitative methodology generally, and critical theory specifically, allows the
researcher to probe beneath the surface facts and asks why a phenomenon occurs; it
proceeds further to advance the emancipation of the subject. Qualitative research views
knowledge as socially constructed through the interaction of people with one another
and the physical world.
According to Denzin and Lincoln,
Qualitative research is situated activity that locates the observer in the
world. It consists of a set of interpretative, material practices that make
the world visible. These practices transform the world. They turn the
world into a series of representation, including field notes, interviews,
conversations, photographs, recordings, and memos to the self. At this
level, qualitative research involves an interpretative, naturalistic
approach to the world. This means that qualitative research may study
things in their natural setting, attempting to make sense of, or to
interpret, phenomena in terms of the meanings people bring to them
(2003:4-5).
In the above quotation, the authors illustrate that qualitative researchers make no
attempt to hide their biases, but make them explicit. In other words, objective
observation is impossible. This implies that qualitative research is couched in the
idealist-subjective orientation as illustrated by Paulston (1996) in Figure 1. The position
of Denzin and Lincoln above also reveals that the qualitative researcher has at his or her
disposal a variety of methodologies and tools to use in gathering data while taking into
cognisance the meanings that participants bring into the research endeavour.



20

1.6 Qualitative Critical Research – Social Science for Emancipatory Change
In accordance with the theoretical framework that frames this study, critical qualitative
research is employed. It is research that aspires, as its purpose of inquiry, to confront
injustices in society. The assumption behind this position is that the knowledge that is
developed in the research may serve as a first step towards addressing the injustices and
different forms of oppression that are characteristic of modern capitalist society (Gail J,
Gail M and Borg, 1999: 361).
The ontological roots of critical qualitative research are couched in the discourse of
radical humanism. In this tradition, the assumptions about reality (ontology) and
knowledge (epistemology) are informed by realist-subjective orientations as illustrated
by Paulston (1996) in Figure 1 on page 21. This implies that the latter view reality as
socially constructed, subjective and existing within the mind in the conscience of people
(Boshier, 1999:9). Furthermore, knowledge or truth is shaped by ideological
consideration and power relations. Those who are in power control and own the means
of production of knowledge as well as determine what valid and legitimate knowledge
is. The dominant forms of knowledge have been informed by positivist characteristics
that are viewed by radical humanists as oppressive, limiting cognition and creating a
false consciousness that inhibits emancipation from domination (Boshier, 1999:14). In
this context, radical humanism seeks knowledge that would foster a critical
consciousness together with the goal of transformation (Boshier, 1999:15). In this study,
various scholars associated with radical humanism have been used to make a case for
radical social justice. These include but are not limited to Freire (1997), McLaren
(2005), Giroux (1987) and Habermas (1984). I have chosen to use critical theory as a
primary epistemological methodology because it is eminently suited to this type of
research due to its critical stance towards capitalism and the manner in which capitalism
impacts on individual and collective life. Since the Enlightenment, critical theorists
from Marx to Habermas have been critical of dogmatism and orthodoxy and have
continued in this tradition and applied it in their critique of capitalism. Their objection
to capitalism lies in the rise of socio-economic and political injustices, oppression and
exploitation that continue unabated in the current century. They further contend that
capitalism has a mesmerising effect on the individual and society at large so that these
end up being unable to imagine an alternative to the status quo: that is, people are so



21

indoctrinated that they have come to be absorbed by the culture of complacency,
characterised by a closed intellectual system. Policy makers and intellectuals seem to be
contributing by merely perpetuating a system that is responsible for global injustice.
This research is a humble step towards attempting to make capitalism humane through
advancing radical social justice and finding social justice within capitalism. A socialist
revolution in the terms of Marxism in altering the course of capitalism would be ideal,
but it is not a possibility in the current epoch. So in this overwhelming context, the
critical theory carries impressive credentials for reclaiming the enlightenment ideal of
freedom from oppression and exploitation and promoting radical humanism.
Radical humanism‘s ontology and epistemology are in direct contrast to traditional
positivist research as briefly explained above. To further illustrate these differences,
Paulston‘s Map of theory (below) is useful.

Figure 1.1 − Mapping the World of Concepts and Theories
Critical research is intended to yield transformative knowledge and be more open than
previous methods to the possibility of social change. In this regard, it draws heavily on
the powers of critical reasoning deployed in the Enlightenment and which have been



22

employed to overturn oppression and injustices (Willmott, 2008:1). In the pursuit and in
the defence of the Enlightenment project, critical methodology or social science for
emancipatory change is guided by the following interconnected themes: the critique of
positivist science, the critique of technocracy, an emphasis upon communicative action
and the critique of one-dimensionality and consumerism (Willmott, 2008:2). In critical
research, a rosy view of science as neutral and objective and yielding objective
knowledge is challenged because, instead of serving human emancipation, it serves the
interests of scientific knowledge for dehumanising and destructive purposes (Willmott,
ibid).
Critical research abhors technocracy and its degenerative moral stance with reference to
role of non experts or ordinary members of the public. The public is disenfranchised,
leading to some form of complacency on the part of the oppressed and the oppressors,
that is, general acceptance of instrumental rationality and the status quo of modern
capitalist exploitation. The constrained patterns of human imagination due to
technocracy limit opportunities for confronting and changing unjust social systems
(Clark, 2008, Willmot, 2008, and Gail, Gail, and Borg, 1999).
In order to counteract the negative impact of technocratic rationality, critical research is
heavily influenced by Habermas‘ theory of communicative action which is the epitome
of genuine democracy. Communicative action underscores democratic dialogue and the
importance of socially constructed meaning and language that facilitates the freedom of
humankind as the public interact to respond to the crisis of modern capitalist society
(Willmot, 2008 and Clark, 2008:3).
Communicative action is the one type of action that Habermas says uses
all human ways of thinking, and language. This combination allows
human beings to understand and agree with one another to make plans
for common action. This coming together and agreeing; communicative
action takes the place of revolution as the mode of change. According to
Habermas, the move from capitalism to communism (if it occurs) will
occur as a result of reason and communicative action (Illuminations,
2008:1).
Critique of one dimensionality and consumerism is also underscored as an important
and related theme of critical research. In the current era of an advanced capitalist



23

society, due to its oppressive nature, the emancipatory possibilities inherent even in
democracy are marginalised or obfuscated to the extent that most people have become
passive unreflective consumers, even when this poses great danger to life on the planet
(Willmott, 2008:3).
The institution that has been identified for this study is the University of Pretoria. This
institution has been purposively selected because it has demonstrated a public
commitment to social justice against the backdrop of a white-exclusive history;
accommodates the largest number of black students in a residential South African
university; has launched a number of specific projects to redress disadvantage in the
broader student and staff bodies; and has been hailed in the public media as an
institution with demonstrated responsiveness to the challenges of higher education
policy.
This study is a collective case study of three projects or cases that are beacons of social
justice. As mentioned, the cases selected for this study were the University of Pretoria
Foundation Year Programme (UPFY), the Institute for Women‘s and Gender Studies
(IWGS) and the Centre of the Study of AIDS (CSA). These three initiatives were
selected because they represent the most prominent and visible responses of the
University of Pretoria to the social justice claims of higher education policy. The case
study tradition has been employed in this study because it seeks an in-depth and holistic
description and interpretation of a problem or situation (Creswell, 1998:40). It has also
been selected because it provides for clear boundaries. In the case of this study the case
is bounded by time and place.
In accordance with the case study tradition used in this study, the research participants
were selected purposefully instead of randomly. They consisted of decision makers, at
management level, of the three centres as well as policy practitioners, lecturers and
facilitators at the implementation level. The participants consisted of academics and
non-academics employed by the University of Pretoria, with some form of experience in
higher education and possessing a minimum of a first degree. The rationale for the
purposeful sampling strategy chosen is that the study seeks to explain the impact of
initiatives informed by social justice from the perspectives of policy implementers in the



24

context of higher education and not from those held by the receivers or beneficiaries of
the initiatives. Furthermore, the nature of the participants in critical theory terms is that
of public intellectuals who play a significant role in the implementation of higher
education policy and the facilitation of knowledge production for the public good, since
the University of Pretoria is a public institution. The promotion of the public good and
the enhancement of radical social justice in the role and practice of the public
intellectual as custodian of emancipatory knowledge and democracy constitute the
hallmark of critical social science advances made by radical scholars (Giroux, 2006:68)
An equally important rationale for the choice of the participants is informed by radical
social justice advocates such as Gerwitz, in arguing that due to the contested nature of
social justice, that which counts as justice in education can only be understood within
specific contexts of interpretation and enactment (Gerwitz, 2006:70). In this regard, the
aim is to contextualise the meaning and experiences of social justice. As noted, the
study did not include the beneficiaries of the social justice initiatives because most of
them consist of transient members of the community who would need a special focus
research project of their own for their experiences to be documented honestly and
adequately. The in-depth voice and experience of the participants was crucial in
explaining the change and lack of change in the three centres towards the realisation of
social justice imperatives in higher education.
1.7 Data Collection and Analysis
The process of data collection was extensive, drawing on multiple sources of
information, as is characteristic of case study research (Creswell, 1998:62). Data for the
first research question, ‗What are the claims and expectations for social justice
embedded in South Africa‘s new higher education policies?‘ consisted of the mission,
vision and strategic plans of The University of Pretoria which were critically examined.
Existing statistical data from the institution‘s database was studied in order to establish
the participation rates of the previously disadvantaged members of the population. The
focus fell on the three projects under study.
Data for the subsequent three research questions was collected by means of semi-
structured interviews with project participants. The specific questions for the interview
can be found in APPENDIX A. The interview was semi-structured and open ended,



25

designed to explore the nature of the three case study responses to access to higher
education, gender and HIV/AIDS as social justice concerns. A one-on-one interview
procedure was adopted and the sessions were conducted in the offices of the
participants. Each interview session was recorded and later transcribed for analysis.
The interview questions used in this study are framed in the constructivist tradition
which is in line with critical theory and the qualitative methodology used. The questions
have been constructed with the epistemological assumption that knowledge is socially
constructed by members of a given society interacting with each other. In this tradition,
both the researcher and the research participants are actively constructing the social
world and through interview, they can give authentic insights about their experiences on
social justice issues in higher education. The interview questions were semi-structured
and open ended and therefore allowed for the research participants to provide their own
insights on the dynamics of social justice at the institution that is under study. The
familiar setting (offices of the participants) and the open-ness of the interview questions
also enabled the participants to talk about concerns of social justice in more detail and
depth without feeling threatened. The interview sessions were generally conversational
with the objective of understanding the participant‘s position on issues of social justice.
In addition to this, the questions enabled the participants to critique existing practices
and principles of social justice by enquiring about challenges and ways to address them
from the perspectives of the participants. for example : What challenges do you face as
you implement concerns of social justice and can you share with me how you have
addressed such challenges In this manner, the research participants were involved in
constructing knowledge and ideological critique with the purpose of transforming or
changing the status quo. In this question, what is embedded is the requirement to reflect
on the practices of social justice that are being marginalized to come with more
innovative and transformative ways of elevating practices of social justice. Furthermore,
in order to reinforce the possibility of contributing to transformation of practices, the
participants were probed. For example the following question was asked with this aim
in mind. ―Would you like to share with me any other concern on social justice that has
not been raised?



26

Since negotiating entry and establishing rapport are important features of all qualitative
studies conducted in a public organisation, the aims of gaining access to the field and
establishing rapport with the participants were pursued (Creswell, 1998:115). Approval
from the University‘s Research Ethics Committee was sought and granted (See
APPENDIX B – Research Ethics Clearance Certificate). In order to facilitate
understanding, a summary of the research objectives was sent to each together with a
informed consent form , which was signed by each of them (See APPENDIX C –
Informed Consent Form). All the participants (APPENDIX D) were assured of full
confidentiality and it was indicated to them that no harm would be inflicted on them, in
compliance with the ethical codes of human science research.
The data analysis consisted of detailed readings of the transcribed interviews with the
participants. This was carried out in order to familiarise the researcher with the data and
to execute the initial coding and categorisation of the data (Miles & Huberman, 1994.)
During this process in vivo and created codes were developed from the data, followed
by the categorisation of the codes into themes that presented the different responses to
the interview questions. The themes developed from the data gathered from each centre
are listed below:
1.8 Themes from Data Analysis
In an attempt to provide more nuanced interpretations of the themes developed, role
ordered and conceptually ordered matrices were created for each question (Miles &
Huberman, 1994). In these matrices the vertical lines represent a digest of the
facilitator‘s responses to each question while the horizontal line represents the themes
and sub themes formulated for each query: for instance, the role ordered matrix
developed for the response to the question: ―What is your specific role in the broader
mission of UPFY, IGWS or CSA?‖ In this matrix the vertical lines represent the
facilitators while the horizontal line represents the three roles derived from reading the
combined transcripts, namely learning facilitation, facilitation of the academic
development and support of the students, and the administrative and support role.



27

Table 1.1 − Themes from data analysis
UPFY themes IGWS themes CSA themes
Implementation of access
policy
Implementation of gender
policy
Implementation of
leadership in HIV/AIDS
Conceptualisation of
access
Conceptualisation of
gender
Conceptualisation of
responses to HIV/AIDS -
Human rights framework
and social justice
Conceptualisation of social
justice
Conceptualisation of social
justice
Conceptualisation of social
justice
Research Research Research
Role of project manager Role of project manager Role of project manager
Outcomes of project Outcomes of project Outcomes of project
Challenges facing UPFY Challenges facing IGWS Challenges facing CSA
Dealing with challenges Dealing with challenges Dealing with challenges
Other emergent factors:
The uniqueness of UPFY
Other emergent factors:
The potency of the
oppositional voice
Other emergent factors:
Critical policy engagement

The interpretation of data was informed by the critical research tradition and the
position that all research involves an act of interpretation – the facts do not speak for
themselves.
The quest for understanding is a fundamental feature of human existence
as encounter with the unfamiliar always demands the attempt to make
meaning, to make sense. The same however, is also the case with the
familiar. Indeed, as in the study of the commonly known texts, we come
to find that sometimes the familiar may be seen as the strangest
(Kincheloe and McLaren, 1998:97).
In the process of making meaning, the data was analysed and subjected to a level of
scrutiny that exposed the explicit and implicit in the utterances of the research
participants. Furthermore, as indicated the act of interpreting the data was heavily
influenced by critical theory whereby the researcher brings in his or her personal
subjectivity, which involves context, assumptions, understandings and concerns related
to issues of social justice. This involves a form of intellectual give and take mutually
undertaken by all the research participants that eventually leads to new understandings
with the intention of ultimately leading to new research content. These constituted the
co-creation of new research content by all the research participants, and represented not
merely a well-defined linear process but a complex form of organised chaos entailing



28

back and forth movements connecting research questions and the literature review,
interview data and findings.
1.9 Strategies to Ensure Rigour - Validation Strategies
An important aspect of ensuring validity in this research is to link the research to the
purpose of critical theory. In this sense, critical theory purposes to critique existing
socio-economic formations and advances ones that are more humane and socially
justice (Morrow and Torres 2002). The methodology that is more suitable to this project
is the qualitative interpretative paradigm that empowers research participants to
construct knowledge about the social world. In this process, critical theory serves as
both the research methodology and research content.
It has been stated that the research approach that is utilised in this study is a qualitative
one and thus it employs paradigm specific strategies for the purpose of ensuring rigour
and serving to establish the trustworthiness of the research. (Lincoln and Guba1985)
and (Guba and Lincoln, 1994) have been cited in several research publications: they
appear to be the most widely referred to and comprehensive social scientists who have
constructed a very understandable analysis of what constitutes rigour in qualitative
research. According to Guba and Lincoln, ―credibility is an analog to internal validity,
transferability is an analog to external validity, dependability is an analog to reliability
and confirmability is an analog to objectivity‖ (Lincoln and Guba, 1985:300), (Guba
and Lincoln,1994:112)
As the research is embedded in real-life situations that study the lived experiences of the
participants, an attempt has been made to document these through thick descriptions of
the research setting and parameters of the study. The purpose was to take the reader into
the setting and context of the study so the reader may understand the phenomenon being
studied as experienced by the research participants. In the tradition of qualitative
research that is informed by critical theory thick descriptions are central to making
sense of social phenomenon because they illustrate the constructive and naturalistic
epistemological stance of the two traditions. That is, knowledge is socially constructed.



29

Furthermore, in the tradition of critical theory, thick descriptions are seen as more
democratic and empowering because they privilege the subjects. This implies that the
researches participants are empowered in the process of making meaning – those that
are marginalised are privileged (Levistik and Tyson 2008:319). Related to the
democratic feature of thick descriptions is the notion of providing context of the
research problem so that it becomes more accessible to a wider readership
Furthermore, other strategies that were employed to ensure the credibility of the study
were triangulation, and peer review (Lincoln and Guba, 1985:219). Through
triangulation, I sought the corroboration of data from multiple sources. In other words,
documentary evidence, interview records and policy review data were checked for
consistency. Document analysis in the form of Annual reports and strategic documents
from the three centres were studied to discover the level of corroboration with the
interview data .triangulation is particularly useful because it adds a sense of richness to
an inquiry as it shows that there are multiple realities in social life. It further provided
valuable insights that cannot be gained from just interview data.
The approach that I adopted towards triangulation is the constructivist one which shares
similar epistemological and ontological orientations with critical theory and qualitative
research. For instance, triangulation confirms the position that knowledge is socially
constructed and there multiple realities as there are multiple sources of data. These
multiple sources of data enabled me to deepen and widen the comprehension of issues
of social justice as they are enacted at the three centres understudy.
By means of peer review, informed colleagues from within the university environment
were tasked to comment on emerging interpretations and findings. This process
involved discussions of the interpretations and conclusions with colleagues in the higher
education environment. Other peers were co- researchers who are involved in
researching areas related to social justice issues in higher education namely the service
learning in higher education and creativity and innovation in higher education. The two
research areas are studied form the critical theory perspective using qualitative research
methodology. These colleagues were useful in providing valuable insights and
constructive criticism on social justice concern in higher education. The colleague



30

whose research field is in creativity and innovation in higher education adopted a
sceptical stance which was valuable in helping me refine the interpretations of the
findings. My Supervisor played a crucial role in challenging me to provide concrete and
illustrative evidence for my interpretations and conclusions.
Confirmability refers to objectivity or the degree of neutrality and the extent to which
the findings are shaped by the research participants rather than the bias or motivation of
the researcher in conventional research (Lincoln and Guba 1985:55). Because a
naturalistic inquiry involves participants making meaning, objectivity and neutrality are
an illusion in this tradition. A great deal of subjectivity and intersubjectivity is involved
in constructing meaning and as a result, the preferred concept is perspectival, implying
the recognition of multiple realities in creating ―a holistic picture‖ (Ibid). An audit trail
is the most common strategy used to establish this measure. It shows that there is
coherence from the goals, data, findings and conclusion of the study. Another measure
of confirmability as a measure of validity in the tradition of critical qualitative research
is directly related to its stated purpose of inquiry. In this regard, it has been stated in the
previous sections that the purpose of the inquiry is the emancipation of humankind from
systems of oppression. It follows that the validity of the study is determined by the
extent to which it provides ways of counteracting the systems of oppression (Clark, nd:
4). the study is confirmable to the extent to which it makes explicit the multiple
perspectives and inter subjectivities of the whole research process. In this regard, it has
been stated unequivocally that this study advocates radical social justice.
1.10 Limitations
The hallmark of social research involves watching people live their lives, asking people
about their experiences, using words to tell the stories. This process carries with it the
limits of subjectivity. The writer is aware of the debate with regards to objectivity
versus subjectivity in social science and holds a view similar to that of Silverman (1993)
who avers that freedom subjectivity in social science is impossible. Since this study is a
qualitative study using the case study approach, it does not make use of large samples
and therefore the findings cannot be generalised.



31

An additional limitation of the study is inadequate participant validation or member
checking. In the tradition of critical research, ideally, participants are to be sent the data
to validate and make additional comments as a way of co-creating knowledge with the
researcher. This step is pursued as a way of facilitating the process of empowering the
participants to overcome the problems they encounter in the social world. However, this
was not pursued to its logical conclusion and therefore has been identified as a
limitation. In order to address this limitation, post-research presentations to the three
centres are going to be scheduled and they are possible spin-offs of sharing and creating
knowledge that is framed in the tradition of critical theory.
1.10.1 Post research activities as a means to reinforcing validity
The post research activity would be an attempt to share the research findings with the
research participants and also an act of mutual empowerment through knowledge
creation. What is envisaged in this venture is the following:
Follow up presentation at the three centres studied
Co-authoring of journal articles on emergent issues.
1.11 Conclusion
The study was designed to critically explain how the University of Pretoria has
responded to the government‘s emphasis on social justice mandated through the three
initiatives of UPFY, IGWS and CSA. This chapter has described the conceptual
framework as critical theory and the research method of the study as qualitative. It has
also been indicated that the case study approach has been employed for purposes of
providing a nuanced and in-depth analysis of the University of Pretoria‘s response and
non-response to the social justice mandate. It has also described in detail the elements of
data gathering, analysis and strategies used to ensure rigour which were in compliance
with the case study tradition of qualitative research tradition. The next chapter in this
study reviews the literature regarding key aspects of social justice in general and with
specific reference to higher education.



32

CHAPTER 2 – LITERATURE REVIEW AND SYNTHESIS ON SOCIAL
JUSTICE
2.1 Introduction: Some Positions on Social Justice
Studies on higher education policy and research on social justice have been conducted
mainly in isolation, while very little research has been carried out with regards to the
relationship between higher education policy and social justice. Since the pre-1994
democratic discourses emphasised the need for social justice to inform government
transformation agendas, it is essential that this link between higher education policies
and social justice be further investigated to determine the extent to which social justice
informs these policies. This review of literature seeks to highlight the key principles and
nature of radical social justice by foregrounding major international debate and aims to
arrive at an intersubjective understanding of what social justice is and how it should
inform public policy. Furthermore, this review of literature will highlight reviews of the
legislative and policy framework with respect to higher education. Lastly, it will also
seek to establish the link between these policies and the aspirations of radical social
justice and to show how these aspirations are adequately (or inadequately) addressed in
the legislative and policy framework.
At this juncture it is opportune to discuss the three traditions of social justice and their
position regarding broader political and socio-economic issues, in an attempt to evaluate
a tradition that promises a more socially just global order and to illustrate that
educational arrangements are inevitably a reflection of deeply embedded political and
economic factors that are unique to a particular society. The three main traditions of
social justice found in the western world are the conservative, liberal and the social
democratic or socialist traditions (Rizvi, 1998:54; Starr, 1999:14). These three
conceptions exist alongside each other in any one given era, with any of them gaining
prominence depending on the ideological position of the political party in power or the
State.
2.2 The Conservative Tradition of Social justice
The conservative and liberal traditions of social justice are pro-capitalist and would
support the discourse of human capital informed by neo-liberal discourse in education.



33

However, their position regarding social justice education differs. The conservative
tradition is conformist and promotes meritocracy – ―some will succeed at the expense of
others‖ (Starr, 1999; Rizvi, 1998). In other words, in the conservative tradition, social
justice is served when people take responsibility for their own lives and are rewarded
according to their contribution to society, even if the consequence is a more unequal
distribution of income or wealth. The Conservative Party in Britain and the Republican
Party in the USA espouse some of the elements of the first mentioned tradition. Its
modern variation is found in the economic policies of the conservative parties in the
Western world. Its economic policy has come to mean freeing the markets from
government constraints. This position originated with classical economists and
advocates of the enlightenment projects, such as Adam Smith (1723–1790) (1776) and
Hayek (1899-1992) (1848) whose common belief was that government should follow a
laissez faire economic policy (Hill, 2003:3). As far as the socio-economic aspects of
society are concerned, the conservative tradition believes that laissez faire is of greatest
merit. For its proponents, economic, and politico-social justice can be achieved by the
efforts of an individual, with minimal state interference. In this tradition, social justice is
viewed as the desire to render to everyone their due. For its upholders the driving force
for a socially just society is individual self-interest and the motivation for profit
operating under a laissez faire economy policy.
During the late latter half of the 20
th
century, Robert Nozick (1929 - 2002) can be seen
as an embodiment of the conservative tradition in the field of political and moral
philosophy. His theory regarding political and economic ethics is based on Libertarian
ideals. His position on how we can and ought to live together is presented in his book
Anarchy State and Utopia in which he advances the ideal of a free market and defends
the minimal state. He is renowned for the ―Entitlement Theory of Justice‖ in which he
vindicates right-wing libertarianism and the advancement of individual rights of control
over one‘s own mind, body, and life: a right to self-ownership. This position holds that
what an individual possesses belongs to him or her and no one can take it away. For
instance, he believes that it is unjust for individuals to be taxed for purposes of
redistribution to the poor. The purpose of such a belief is to merely protect self
ownership (Otsuka, 2005: 15, Feser, 2005: 20). Self ownership as the main principle of
Nozick‘s position is also reflected in his concerns with equality and justice; he views it



34

as immoral and unjust to equalise resources and opportunity. This position is similar to
the argument of social Darwinism that nature abhors equality but favours competition;
hence the principle of the survival of the fittest. Inequality is in the balance and is
beneficial to society (Vallentyne, 2002:2).
The conservative tradition and its ideals, particularly libertarianism, would not be
palatable to socialist minded thinkers because they appear to protect the status quo of an
unjust distribution of socio economic resources. Nozick‘s approach can be directly
contrasted to the approach of John Rawls as far as his minimalist state position is
concerned.
2.3 The Liberal Tradition of Social Justice
The liberal tradition is reformist and promotes egalitarianism – ―justice as fairness‖ – all
will succeed. Its point of convergence with the conservative tradition lies in the belief
that social justice can be attained within the existing capitalist socio- economic
framework. However, it differs from the conservative tradition with regards to its
position on the State‘s interference. This tradition is in favour of the role of the State to
protect society and regulate markets for the promotion of egalitarian principles, while
the conservative tradition favours a weak state (Rizvi, 1998; Starr, 1999). The liberal
tradition‘s modern variation is found in the liberal-centrist polices of the Democratic
Party in America and the Labour Party in Britain. The type of state this tradition
supports is a social democratic or welfare state. In this tradition, social justice would
require redistribution to those who lack the basic socio-economic amenities and the role
of the state in ensuring this (Gale, 2000:268).
The roots of the liberal tradition of social justice are found in the moral and political
philosophy of 17
th
century theorists and the ideals of the Enlightenment. John Locke
(1632-1704) is one of the seminal thinkers of the liberal tradition. His influence is still
present in modern liberalism in its various forms, particularly the notion of social justice
as liberty and equality. With reference to liberty, Locke advanced some of the most
developed ideas about liberty with regards to two states of liberty – ―the natural liberty
and ―liberty in society‖ (Tuckness, 2005:1; Schwartz, 2007:2).



35

According to Locke, people possess natural or original rights given to them by God and
the Law of Nature. In particular, people enjoy the right to life, health, liberty and
possessions and no one is entitled to interfere with these rights. These are the individual
rights as they came to be reflected in the universal declaration of human rights – the Bill
of Rights. These rights also display strong linkages with social justice, particularly its
liberal tradition. John Locke was also famous in philosophy as a rational empiricist. In
this regard, most of his work is characterised by opposition to authoritarianism and a
strong belief in the use of reason – free and autonomous inquiry in order to grasp the
truth (Uzgalis, 2007:1). Locke‘s empiricist stance and advocacy for natural liberty have
exerted an impact on modern day philosophy and the notion of human rights,
particularly social justice as an embodiment of human rights.
Locke‘s rationalism also exerted an influence on other enlightenment philosophers, such
as Kant (1724 – 1804) who was a central figure in the philosophy of the Enlightenment.
He defines enlightenment as the maxim of always thinking for oneself (Uzgalis,
2007:21). A commentator on Kant‘s theory advances the view that:
Kant wrote his social and political philosophy in order to champion the
Enlightenment in general and the idea of freedom in particular. His work
came within both the natural law and the social contract traditions. Kant
held that every rational being had both an innate right to freedom and a
duty to enter into a civil condition governed by a social contract in order
to realize and preserve that freedom (Uzgalis, 2007:1).
Kant‘s account of social justice is embodied in his theory of freedom and equality.
Equally important is Kant‘s account of rationality and theory of knowledge which
advances the notion that, through reason, mankind can find truth and just solutions to
problems caused by dogmatism and authoritarianism (Uzgalis, 2007:20). While Locke
and Kant may be regarded as the embodiment of the liberal tradition of social justice,
the 20
th
century ushered in yet another liberal social scientist and philosopher who
equally championed freedom and equality with almost similar tones to theirs, as found
in the ideals of John Rawls (1921-2002).
Rawls‘ central idea in most of his works is justice as fairness. He argues that two
fundamental principles of justice designed to protect our political liberties and social



36

opportunities should be affirmed. In the theory of justice his main point is encapsulated
in the quote below.
The first principle: each person is to have an equal right to the most
extensive total system of equal basic liberties compatible with a similar
system of liberty for all. Second principle: social and economic
inequalities are to be arranged so that they are both: (a) to the greatest
benefit of the least advantaged, consistent with the just savings
principles, and (b) attached to offices and positions open to all under
conditions of fair equality of opportunity, All social primary goods –
liberty and opportunity, income and wealth, and the bases of self–respect
– are to be distributed equally unless an unequal distribution of any of
these goods is to the advantage of the least favoured (Rawls, 1971: 302-
3).
According to Rawls, the above principles of justice would be agreed upon by people
who are under a hypothetical veil of ignorance assuming the original position. In this
position, the people would establish an egalitarian-liberal system as the fairest ideal of
justice (Kellner, 2005:5 and Stephens, 1994:15). The promise of Rawls‘ justice as
fairness is the creation of a more open society based on social justice. The context in
which Rawls devised his theory of justice was heavily reliant on positivist philosophers
who derived their moral principles from some form of utilitarianism. Rawls published a
theory of justice in order to revive the tradition of political thinking based on a
foundation of moral argument and a critique of crude utilitarianism. Rawls‘ main
positions held that a person possesses dignity and worth that social structures should not
be permitted to violate. He has been hailed as one of the most influential and enduring
moral philosophers of the twentieth and twenty first centuries (Nussbaum, 2001:1).
Liberal equality is often associated with him. His theory of justice is based on the
principles of liberty and democracy and equality.
Commentators on the first two traditions, Rizvi (1998) and Starr (1999), classify them
under the modernisation paradigm and neo-liberal philosophy. The education reform
policies informed by the said paradigm advance the human capital position on
education, viewed as an investment, and maintain that by distributing the same amount
of a social good (education) to people of all classes, justice can be attained, and
individuals will be able to utilise their education in an open market society (Whitty,
2000:93). The human capital paradigm emphasises that education enhances the



37

knowledge and skills of people. Human capital investments generate monetary and
social returns.
The main thrust of the market argument with reference to social justice is its insistence
that the markets and social justice are inexorably intertwined as part of the capitalist
system. It entrenches individual rights – individuals are free to pursue their rational self-
interests with limited State interference. This tradition bases its position on prima facie
evidence that the more capitalist a culture, the greater are its freedom and prosperity and
therefore social justice; less capitalism means more human misery and consequently this
tradition is opposed to economic and social justice. Throughout history, this tradition
recognises the gains derived from the division of labour, capital accumulation and the
increasing standard of living, and the cornerstones of the profit motive as the promoters
of a just society. Another common description of the proponents of the first and second
social justice traditions is the New Right. According to Apple, this social movement
consists of three social movements: the neo-liberal, the neo-conservative and religious
fundamentalists. The New Right sentiments are found among professionals in the new
middle class (Apple, 1993:11).
The New Right or the conservative alliance conception of social justice is informed by
liberal and neo-liberal ideology. Their conception of social justice can be referred to as
distributional justice that seeks to promote an egalitarian society based on the principles
of human rights and capitalism. The conservative alliance reflects some of the French
Revolution‘s principles of equality, liberty and fraternity which have become
encapsulated in modern democracy. Ideally, a government should ensure more equitable
and fairer access to resources, which should be evident in both theory and practice
(Gerwitz, 1998:470). In other words, a socially just government should practice the
ideology of egalitarianism by distributing socio-economic resources fairly and equally
while being informed by the culture of human rights. In principle, the ideology of the
conservative alliance appears to embody social justice because it appears to preach the
message of equality and distribution, which appeals to the marginalised and poor.
However, in practice, owing to the unequal nature of capitalism, the distributive element
of liberal social justice has come to be translated into the distribution of unequal socio-
economic relations, characteristic of capitalism.



38

The two traditions of the conservative alliance have dominated the Western
socioeconomic and political scenario but they have not brought about much change
because of the tension inherent in the pursuit of social justice in the modern world as a
result of globalisation and the neo-liberal agenda. Instead, injustices continue to be the
order of the day despite the advocacy of social justice. The persistent existence of
injustices, from the perspective of leftist scholars, is attributed to the failures and
debilitating nature of neo-liberalism.
The critiques of neo-liberalism contend that, globally, its policies are seen in:
A loss of equity, economic and social justice.
A loss of democracy and democratic accountability.
A loss of critical thought within a culture of performativity (Hill, 2003:4).
According to Giroux (2004a), the conservative agenda and neo-liberalism exercise a
strong hegemonic grip on societies across the world, evidenced in market
fundamentalism. According to Apple, one of the most important objectives of the
conservative alliance or the rightist agenda is to change people‘s commonsense, altering
the basic meanings of the categories and key words they employ to understand the
social and educational world and their place in it, so that the reality comes to portray the
agenda of the conservative alliance as the ultimate truth or alternative (Apple, 2001:
195). While the new right movement finds this an ordinary historical progression, there
are some social progressives who have accepted the neo-liberal agenda as common
sense even though it is counter to the progressive agenda of democratic idealism and
socially just futures (Giroux, 2004a:5). For Giroux, there is hope in the struggle against
the pervasive force of neo-liberalism if democratic forces both local and global connect
with intellectuals to destroy the conventional wisdom and myths of neo-liberalism with
visions of a development informed by progressive democratic idealism (Giroux,
2004a:7).
The neo-liberal tradition not only insists on opening up the markets, but also on opening
up social services such as education and health to the rule of the markets so as to
achieve the perceived social justices. With reference to education, it makes business



39

sense to open it up to the market in line with the vision of the knowledge economy of
the 21
st
century (Rikowski, 2003:11). According to the neo-liberal paradigm, the
common good that education should contribute should be regulated exclusively by the
laws of the markets, free competition, private ownership, and profitability. In essence
the definition of freedom is no longer democratic but private (Apple, 1993:30-31). It
appears that from the neo-liberal perspective, for education to serve the social justice
agenda it must conform to the language and aspirations of the markets and privatisation.
However, certain social scientists view this marketisation of education in a negative
light and as counter to the social justice agenda of equity and public good. For them
marketisation destroys the stronghold of public good in education (Cookson, 1999:7;
Apple, 1993:30-31; Giroux, 2004a:2-7). These proponents of progressive social justice
argue that if society is to meet the challenge of neo-liberal globalisation and its
onslaught on education, universities need to salvage and redefine themselves as beacons
of public good, sites of critical learning and promoters of utopian democratic social
justice (Giroux, 2004a:2).
Another variant of opposition to liberal social justice is evident in the ideas of Alasdair
McIntyre (1929- ). McIntyre is particularly opposed to the enlightenment project of
modernity and liberalism, particularly atomistic individualism. McIntyre especially
disputed Rawls‘ claims and the general liberal theory‘s universal pretensions and
devaluation of community (Bell, 2008:2). As a communitarian, he argued that ―the
standards of justice must be found in forms of life and traditions of particular contexts
and hence can vary from context to context‖ (Bell, 2008:2). For him genuine justice can
be cultivated by drawing on the ideals of the Greek polis and Aristotle to arrive at the
morality of small communities in which people work to fulfil their innately human
purpose while resting the destructive forces of liberal capitalism (Clayton, 2006:1).
Social researchers and opponents of the conservative or rightist neo-liberal agenda
comment that with the dawn of the 21
st
century, it has become even more difficult to
differentiate between the conservative and the liberal traditions because of their undying
belief in free market logic in all aspects of the economy. The common and mutual
agenda of the conservative alliance and their pro-capitalist stance has made it imperative
for leftist social researchers to come up with an alternative framework that is informed



40

by socialist ideology even if, at this moment in history, macro-political order does not
allow it. Leftist social researchers call for an alternative to global capitalism and regard
the role of transformative intellectuals housed in universities as very important to the
anti-capitalist struggle.
2.4 The Radical Tradition of Social Justice
Continuities exist between the first two traditions of social justice and the third tradition
in their calls for democracy and equal participation in socio-economic and political
matters of the state. The third tradition, which is socialist, demonstrates elements of
post-modernism in its outlook and has been identified by most social scientists as
possessing the greatest potential to promote social justice (Starr, 1991:22). It is
associated with leftist politics and is critical of conservatism and liberalism. According
to this tradition, everyone is supposed to benefit equally from participating in the socio-
economic activities and social institutions of a society (Starr, 1991:23); hence the move
towards the redistribution of social wealth, other social amenities and a more equitable
economic system. It is couched in the language of transformation and ideally would
thrive under a socialist socio-economic order.
The language of a transformation of the capitalist socio-economic order associated with
the third tradition causes it to possess a strong affinity to critical theory and the
Frankfurt school of thought. While there are numerous social theorists associated with
critical theory, of particular relevance to this project are Habermas and Freire because of
their clear position on democracy and social justice. Habermas‘ position on social
justice is heavily influenced by his belief that justice exists and reason or rationality can
benefit society. His attachment to reason can be traced to his disillusionment with the
irrationality of German Nazism and the repression and injustices that resulted from it
(Stephens, 1994:3). As a result, he became an avowed critique of totalitarian fascism
and advocator of an open, free society that upheld the principles of social justice and
democracy. In this regard, his project could be interpreted as transforming human
oppression into an expression of more humane and democratic values. He therefore
found a philosophical home in the critical theory of the Frankfurt school. Habermas‘s
strong affinity to the said theory was the common goal of opposing capitalism and



41

proposing a more socially just socio-economic order based on egalitarian social
democracy (Kellner, 2005:1).
Radical social justice concerns of equal and fair inclusion for Habermas are reflected in
his theory of communicative action and the democratic public sphere (Stephens,
1994:5). The theory of communicative action aims to expand the scope and power of
the ―bourgeois‖ public sphere so that everyone is involved collectively so as to achieve
more representative and socially just and rational solutions. Habermas supports benefits
for the majority as opposed to the conservative view that the minority should benefit.
He is often criticised by conservatives for destroying competition by increasing
collective participation and decision making. So for Habermas, social justice lies in
reasoned communication in a democratic public sphere. This is in line with the
description of him as ―trying to develop a historical materialist analysis which helps to
bring about a society free from domination and repression or what he calls distorted
communication‖ (Frankel and Habermas, 1974:41). Furthermore, Habermas as a
Marxist and radical social scientist supports the advancement of research based on
social justice:
I see our research projects as an input into a social science which should
be capable of a critical analysis of late capitalism with practical
consequences ….this is a standing demand upon any Marxist that you
must have a theoretical approach which is just (Frankel and Habermas,
1974:57).
The elements of radical social justice encapsulated in Habermas‘ work and research
comprise the quest to emancipate society from the debilitating grip of capitalism by
creating a just knowledge while critiquing late capitalism.
The concerns of Habermas to open up communication resonate with Paulo Freire‘s
(1927 – 1997) concern with democratic dialogue as a tool to emancipate the oppressed
against the debilitating effects of capitalism. Writing from the third world context, for
Freire, education is a tool for liberating oppressed people from colonialism. He was
critical of capitalism and the crises associated with societal modernisation such as abject
oppression and injustices (Morrow and Torres, 2002:11; Glass, 2001:15). He exerted a
strong influence on the critical education tradition in that he argued that education



42

served to reproduce the interests of the ruling class and as a result it would take critical
education to empower students and workers to resist capitalism and become active
participants in a struggle for emancipation towards a socialist utopian vision (McLaren
and Faramandpur, 2005: 53; Gibon, 2006:4). According to Freire, education for critical
consciousness is closely related to the quest for transformation as found in radical social
justice. In a third world context, closely similar to that of South Africa, Freire contends:
The education our situation demanded would enable men and women to
discuss courageously the problems of their context – and to intervene in
that context, it would warn men and women of the dangers of the time
and offer them the confidence and the strength to confront those dangers
instead of surrendering their sense of self through submission to the
decisions of others… that education could help men and women to
assume an increasingly critical attitude towards the world in order to
transform it (Freire, 1974:30).
Evident in Freire‘s assertions is the idea of transformation informed by a critical and
contextualised analysis of society so as to lead to just futures. In support of Freire, this
study advocates that the above sentiments and pedagogy of the oppressed are needed
today as a matter of urgency in order for the majority to benefit, because of the
onslaught on radical transformation and freedom by the current unjust discourse of neo-
liberalism as explained in Chapter One.
The tone of the third tradition argues for transformation and majority benefits rather
than minority ones. This implies that it supports the redistribution of socio-economic
benefits. However, while the third tradition is an improvement on social justice
informed by neo-liberalism, according to certain leftist scholars it does not fully
promote genuine social justice as it is only limited to redistributing socio-economic
resources to those that have been marginalised and excluded from the mainstream
(Young, 2000). A progression from the third tradition is proposed by certain leftist
feminist scholars. An improvement to the distributional dimension of social justice is
found in what they term relational social justice. This type of social justice focuses on
the nature of the relationships that structure society. These relationships include issues
of power, at the micro-interpersonal and macro-socio-economic level, and how they are
mediated. The said type concerns forms of social cooperation and distribution of power
relations (Gerwitz, 1998:471). Relational justice incorporates the following conceptions



43

of social justice: justice as mutuality, justice as recognition and justice as freedom from
oppressive relations (Ibid).
2.4.1 Justice as Mutuality
Justice as mutuality is an element of the relational dimension of social justice that is
based on principles of communitarianism. In this conception of justice, all citizens are
accorded equal treatment and benefits and, in turn, the relationships between them are
mutually reciprocal for the purposes of promoting the common good (Gerwitz,
1998:473). Justice as mutuality also possesses the element of interdependence. This
element is derived from a post-modern version of mutuality and is informed by
affirmative post-modernism. Mutuality attempts to overcome the negativity of sceptical
postmodernism with positive social action by attempting to balance difference,
solidarity and commonality (Gerwitz, 1998:47). A view of justice as interdependence
argues that promoting solidarity may make it possible for society to participate in
collective resistance in the campaign for a socially just society (Graig, 2002:475).
Mutuality is an important part of affirmative postmodernism because its advocates are:
…more politically optimistic, they support a wide range of new political
and social movements and advocate pluralism and tolerance rather than
partisan and dogmatic postures… The expression of affirmative post-
modern politics in the third world takes the form of populist,
fundamentalist, national post-modern movements. These organisations
call for returning to the primitive, sacred and traditional society as well
as rejecting first world ideologies, technologies and economics
(Rosenau, 1992:24).
While affirmative post-modernism is more positive about the future, sceptical post-
modernism is more nihilistic. This study concurs with the Marxist critique of scepticism
in post modernity: ―…It heralds the end of grand theories like Marxism and liberalism,
scorning any notion of a united feminist challenge to patriarchy, of united anti-racist
struggle, and of united working-class movements against capitalist exploitation and
oppression. For postmodernists, the world is fragmented, history is ended, and all
struggles are local and particularistic” (Hill, McLaren, Cole & Rikowski, 1999:9).



44

The two versions of post-modernity help illuminate the current debates on socially just
futures and continually occupy competing positions for advancing a socially just order.
However, this study identifies more fully with some elements of affirmative post-
modernism because it is more tolerant, accommodative and optimistic since it
recognises the commonality of the human race.
2.4.2 Justice as Recognition
Justice as recognition is linked to the post-modern version of mutuality yet it draws
heavily on feminist insights. Justice as recognition concentrates on the
acknowledgement of others and otherness while avoiding practices of power and control
over others. The principle of recognition promotes the struggles for social justice waged
by a variety of groups such as those based on gender, race and ethnicity (Fraser,
1995:68). Practically, it involves listening to others before action is taken and engaging
in a joint authorship of the narrative of society, while acknowledgement of their
diversity is taken as a priority. At an interpersonal level, justice as recognition is
inclusive, which is a positive aspect of social justice (Gerwitz, 1998:476)? Fraser further
proposes two distinctions of recognitive justice – affirmative and transformative.
Affirmative recognition corrects injustice without disturbing the underlying framework
that generates injustices. Transformative recognition corrects injustices by restructuring
the underlying framework that generates them (Fraser, 2001: 82). In other words,
transformative recognition attempts to challenge the status quo in an almost similar tone
to that of the project of critical theory in seeking for alternatives to the current
framework of neo-liberalism.
Justice as recognition resonates with other radical scholars‘ conception of social justice
owing to the element of inclusion and acknowledgment of ―others‖ inherent in it. Other
social scientists and theories that support the inclusive and redistributive nature of the
third tradition have coined the term ―recognitive justice‖, particularly in the diverse and
plural context. According to Gale:
… Recognitive justice (has an) expanded understanding of social justice
that includes a positive regard for social difference and the centrality of
socially democratic processes in working towards its achievement. Yet,
in adhering to this position I want to avoid suggesting that material



45

conditions and distributive matters are unrelated to or are unimportant in
defining and practicing social justice… (2001:267).
The positive aspect of recognitive justice is that in addition to its accommodative stance,
it encourages the engagement of all, particularly the previously excluded, in social
processes. However, it does not indicate the practicalities. Its position is similar to that
of Gindin (2002: ―speaking to the limited nature of social justice inherent in liberal
capitalism‖. This implies foregrounding the social justice agenda even when history and
the broader socio-economic framework are at odds with it. The challenge is how this
should be accomplished. In the same vein, Whitty (2001:293) argues that in promoting
the recognitive and inclusive aspects of social justice in education, policies need to
deploy human capital as well as social capital. Social capital is a concept that is also
used by the World Bank to refer to norms and networks that enable collective action
which could be used in support of community development and social inclusion,
processes which are crucial in the functioning of a democratic, inclusive and cohesive
society (Forum Report, 2003:3). While the present study recognises the neo-liberal
ideological leaning of the World Bank and that of its conception of social capital, its
author chooses to use the concept of social capital to illustrate that the radical social
justice position advances even the radicalisation of social capital to render it more
inclusive in the widest and broadest possible sense. Inclusivity, social, economic and
political, resonates with participation parity: a position that is advanced by the radical
social justice proponents in their current scholarly journals such as the Journal of
Inclusive Education: a more viable alternative to proposals informed by neo-liberalism
(Waite, 1999 Hamilton, 2001; Sikes & Vincent, 1998; Alexiandou, 2002).
The two dimensions of relational social justice as identified by Gerwitz (1998) display
limitations. The concepts of communitarianism and interdependence held by those who
advocate justice as mutuality ignore the injustices inherent within capitalism by
conflating the interests of the capitalist and other groups. Another limitation of the two
positions is their inability to inform the content and direction of collective social action
for a more socially just world (Gerwitz, 1998:477). The limitations of these dimensions
are addressed by the notion of justice as freedom from oppressive conditions.



46

2.4.3 Justice as Freedom from Five Faces of Oppression
Justice as freedom from oppression entails freedom from the following forms of
oppression:
Exploitation;
Marginalisation;
Violence;
Powerlessness; and
Cultural imperialism (Young, 1997, as cited in Gerwitz, 1998; Young, 2000:35).
Each of the five faces of oppression represents a form of injustice that a member of
society might experience. Justice as freedom from the five faces of oppression
envisages a society in which socio-economic justice is achieved through equal
redistribution of the resources of society, humane treatment of all, equal recognition of
the worth of all members of society, empowerment and celebration of diversity.
Advocates of this radical and broad conception of justice assert that it encompasses the
principles and practice of utopian egalitarianism, democracy and human rights. It seeks
to promote socio-economic empowerment, political recognition and tolerance, and the
inclusion and celebration of diversity through processes that counteract imperialism in
any form (Gerwitz, 1998:477; Young, 2000: 48).
Young clearly posits a view of society divorced from social injustices and different
forms of oppression and domination. Not only does it illuminate a global context, it can
also be used to clarify the situation and lived experiences of the marginalised and
disadvantaged in the South African context. Young is not alone in providing a deep
analysis of oppression and domination and their consequences. In the South African
context, Ramphele articulates a similar view by employing various dimensions of space
as sources of marginalisation and domination, which therefore counteract the
emancipatory possibilities of people (Ramphele, 1993:3-7). According to Ramphele,
space is multi levelled; it consists of the physical, political-economic, ideological-
intellectual and psychosocial. People who live in marginalised and poverty stricken




47

Table 2.1 − The 5 faces of oppression
Face of
oppression
Description by Young
Exploitation
― the injustice of exploitation consists in social processes that bring
about a transfer of energies from one group to another to produce
unequal distributions, and in the ways in which social intuitions
enable a few to accumulate while they constrain many more‖ (p.41)
Marginalisation
―… marginal are people who the system of labour cannot or will
not use… the growing number of underclass of people permanently
confined to lives of social marginality… A whole category of
people expelled from useful participation in society and thus
potentially subjected to severe material deprivation and
extermination (p.41).
Powerlessness
―I have discussed several injustices associated with powerlessness:
inhibitions in the development of one‘s capacities, lack of decision
making power in one‘s working life, and exposure to disrespectful
treatment because of the status one occupies. These injustices have
distributional consequences, but are more fundamentally matters of
the division of labour. The oppression of powerlessness brings into
question the division of labour basic in all industrial societies‖
(p.44).
Cultural
imperialism
―Cultural imperialism involves the paradox of experiencing oneself
as invisible at the same time that one is marked out as different. The
invisibility comes about when dominant groups fail to recognise the
perspective embodied in their cultural expression as perspective.
This then is the injustice of cultural imperialism: that the oppressed
group‘s own experiences and interpretation of social life find little
expression that touches the dominant culture, while that same
culture imposes on the oppressed group its experiences and
interpretation of social life‖ (p.46).
Violence
―Many groups suffer the oppression of systematic violence.
Members of some groups live with the knowledge that they must
fear random, unprovoked attacks on their person or property which
have no motive but to damage, humiliate, or destroy the person…
Violence is systemic because it is directed at members of a group
because they are members of that group‖ (p.46).

settings, such as hostel dwellers, experience limited dimensions of space due to
systemic oppression and exclusion. Ramphele explores the emancipatory possibilities
that can be facilitated by dismantling systemic oppression and expanding and liberating
the various dimensions of space (Ramphele, 1993). Applying this notion of space to a
radical conception of social justice means that systemic structures which facilitate
oppression and domination need to be dismantled. This would be in line with the radical
conception of social justice adopted in the present study.



48

Young‘s conceptualisation of social justice and Ramphele‘s (1993) position on the
various dimensions of space share common elements of emancipatory possibilities for
individuals and societies in oppressive contexts and constitute a useful framework of an
agenda for social justice. Young‘s model incorporates that which is good in liberal and
post-modern conceptualisations of social justice but overcomes their limitations by
being inclusive and non-reductionist while indicating how different groups face
oppression (Gerwitz, 1998:482). Young‘s broad conceptualisation of social justice is
constructive because it improves on a more restrictive liberal and conventional
conceptualisation of social justice. It can be regarded as a useful starting point for
theorising about social justice during the globalised, post-modern and post-colonial era
because it reflects a more expansive and holistic synthesis of distributional and
relational dimensions of social justice. Although it was originally used to explain
injustices in the USA, this study argues that it is relevant for explaining the persistent
injustices in the South African context during the 21
st
century.
2.4.4 Radical Social Justice Agenda for the 21
st
Century
The distributional and relational dimensions of social justice as identified by Gerwitz
resonate with other elements of social justice informed by leftist discourse of the 21
st

century. Concepts such as socio-economic inclusion, and human development, radical
democracy and transformative intellectuals emerge in the writings, on social justice, of
radical scholars. The emphasis on social justice, inclusion and social capital accords
with that of humane capitalism which, according to Brine (2001:139), is reliant on
social inclusion and subsistence welfare support and is less aggressive. Consequently
for him social capitalism would promote conditions conducive to social justice.
Similarly, Walker (2003) argues that social justice pertains to human development, the
advancement of the individual as well as collective solidarity – the one with the other
(Walker, 2003: 168-169).
Applebaum (2001) adds another dimension to the debate on social justice by indicating
that as a form of, and essential to, moral education, social justice needs to raise
awareness of dominance. He suggests that for social justice to be genuine there must be
a critical analysis of dominant beliefs, values and standards so that the supposedly
―good intentions are exposed for what they promote and genuine socially just



49

alternatives are found‖ (Applebaum, 2001:55). This position is similar to the notion of
the anti-capitalist terrain of social justice advanced by Gindin (2002). He proposes that a
social justice situation comprises certain elements such as the radical democratisation of
knowledge, where technobureacracy moves to technodemocracy and academics
develop into academocrats (Gindin, 2002:8), which implies civil workers or workers
who are democratic in outlook and practice and also implies that academics hold
transformatory and democratic dispositions. In many ways this position echoes Giroux‘s
notion of teachers as transformative intellectuals (1987:36). This position advanced by
Giroux is also reminiscent of that held by Young on justice as freedom from oppressive
situations, discussed above, since the main objective of transformative intellectuals is to
liberate the oppressed masses by developing solutions to the injustices of the past.
Social justice and the transformative intellectuals that support it bring to light very
appealing classroom dynamics, for example, that further illustrate the elements of
radical social justice. The elements of these classroom dynamics include collaborative
problem solving and critical reflective practice. These must be displayed by all,
particularly teachers as intellectuals, while challenging the underlying assumptions of
policy provision and practice (Lloyd, 2000: 149).
Gerwitz and Gibb (2002) support the above in maintaining that:
Asking about socially just education practices requires policy sociology
to combine action-oriented and critical perspectives. It demands a
respect for practice and a willingness to see educational practices as sites
of justice or merely injustice, to raise consciousness of the people in
order to overcome ignorance and change their distorted social reality. It
also requires sociologists to see their own educational practices as
having a direct effect on the possibility of these conceptions being
realized (Gewirtz and Gibb, 2002: 509).
This position also echoes the writing of Freire regarding the nurturing of critical
consciousness in people so as to address the social reality; the way things are, in order
to change them for the collective good (Freire, 1974:17). Freire‘s position also falls in
line with critical theory as discussed in the conceptual framework (see chapter one).
With reference to classroom dynamics, critical theory and critical pedagogues locate
their oppositional role in nurturing critical consciousness, for the purpose of



50

transforming the whole of a society towards becoming a radically socially just one
(Slee, 2001:174). Slee‘s sentiment echoes Giroux‘s language of possibility as regards
radical scholars in critical theory and the pursuit of social justice (Giroux, 1987:218).
These suggestions of how to bring about social justice at educational institutions, using
the discourse of inclusive education and critical theory, are also noble and progressive.
These groups of social scientists are explicitly committed to social justice in education.
However, their views are inadequate in that they do not also further continue to indicate
how practically the social justice agenda can be realised.
Having looked at various traditions of social justice that exist in the world, I now turn to
what other social theorists see as the way forward for the advancement of the social
justice agenda. Social justice advocates a call upon all humanity to work towards a new
global order that practises inclusive democracy in socio-economic affairs, while
promoting sustainable development and environmental balance (Feagin, 2001:17).
Feagin (2002) writes as a critical sociologist with an optimistic attitude towards
advancing the goal of social justice. As is characteristic of the critical sociology
tradition, he also adopts an inclusive stance by calling upon all humanity to advance the
cause of social justice.
While other scholars lament the fall of the communist ideal and note that the theories
that promised certain emancipatory effects do not produce them, they nevertheless
relentlessly call for the reinvigoration of the public sphere, new forms of plural
democracy and reconstructed critical educators or professionals (Muller, 1998:205).
McLaren (2002) shares the same sentiments, in calling on critical educators to recognise
the dangers of democratic education in adjusting students to the logic of the market. He
further argues that democratic education should be challenged by a radical social justice
that is optimistic about the future and informed by a radical positive humanism with its
belief in the inherent ability of humankind to create a just social order (McLaren,
2002:1; Feagin, 2001:23). The inherent ability to create such an order is also found in
liberal capitalism and other failed attempts such as the social democratic tradition
(Cindin, 2002:3). In liberal capitalism and the social democratic tradition, social justice
ideals are limited because they are expressed in the language of reform found in the



51

practices of a welfare state and the goals of democratic capitalism. The support of
capitalism, common to both the traditions, continues to seriously undermine and
marginalise the ideals of radical social justice. Consequently, with regards to this
position, it appears that the possibility of the realisation of the social justice agenda is
multi-faceted and plural, as discussed above. The challenge is how to make the ideal
conceptions realistic, concrete and tangible so that they become the lived experience of
everyone.
However, numerous frameworks do not perceive neo-liberalism, capitalism and
socialism as the appropriate framework for social justice. One of them is the post-
modernist tradition which promises limited room for social justice insofar as its
characteristic of rejecting the metanarratives of modernisation is concerned. Post-
modernism is vehemently opposed to tradition. Its foremost theorists range from
Lyotard (1979) to Foucault (1980) among others. Their positions represent an
accumulated disillusionment with the promises of the enlightenment project and
modernisation. They employ terms such as ―responsible anarchy‖, which implies
acceptance of disorder. According to one of its prominent supporters, Atkinson,
―responsible anarchy involves standing against the fantasies of grand narratives,
recoverable pasts and predictable futures‖ (Atkinson, as cited in Cole: 2003: 447-448).
Atkinson further states that ―through acceptance of uncertainty, the acknowledgement
of diversity and the refusal to see concepts such as justice, or society as fixed truths,
post-modernism … is a powerful force for social change‖ (2003:473). The
postmodernist discourse promises social justice by opposing what its advocates refer to
as ―metanarratives‖ such as capitalism, socialism and communism. In postmodernism,
the focus on the local instead of the global masquerades as social justice. Furthermore,
postmodernism seems to possess impressive credentials by appearing to elevate the
status of the marginalised and downtrodden in society. The elevation of the
marginalised human beings serves as a necessary catalyst for them to perceive that they
have within themselves the capacity to stand against the grand narratives that have so
far not fully promoted a socially just society. However, social justice in postmodernism
is extremely limited as it does not deal with a holistic view of social justice as the third
tradition does.



52

Another tradition that bears certain similarities with the postmodern tradition and is also
opposed to neo-liberalism is the postcolonial tradition. Postcolonial discourse is of
particular importance to Africa and the developing world because of its critique of
western and new-imperialism as well as its mission to promote a more socially just
society by going beyond critique and looking for more progressive alternatives to
imperialism and colonialism (Tikly, 2004:150). Post colonialism is concerned with re-
narrativisation that is displacing the story of capitalism, modernity and Eurocentricity
and promoting non-western epistemologies and Afrocentricity (Tikly, 2004:193). The
uniting concern of postmodernity and postcolonialism is the re-narrativisation and
celebration of the marginalised epistemologies and ways of knowing such as the African
perspective. It is in the process of re-narrativisation that the possibility of
reconceptualising a more socially just world order lies. However, postcolonial theory
does not totally embrace the propositions of postmodernity. This is evident in that while
postmodernity is nihilistic and sees no hope in metanarratives, postcolonial theory
attempts to seek answers in these metanarratives and other alternatives that promote
critical thought and social transformation (Tikly, 2004:194).
Proponents of the radical tradition of social justice view postmodernism as being
opposed to social justice since it promotes chaos and anarchy, which does not provide
hope for the marginalised. According to Allman, the radical left ―… take issue with its
anti-foundationalism, its rejection of the metanarrative, and its denial of any totalising
system of thought like Marxism or feminism. Basically (they) challenge its inability to
make general statements about society‖ (Davies, 2001: 43). Allman, one of these radical
left researchers, argues that ―the approach to critical education that I advocate in my
writings is an approach that is aimed at enabling people to engage in an appreciated
experience of pro-alternative, counter hegemonic social relations. These are social
relations within which people can learn to ‗read‘ the world critically and glimpse
humanity‘s possible futures beyond the horizons of capitalism‖ (2001:16).
According to Allman (2001), postmodernism cannot accommodate genuine social
justice as conceptualised by the radical left. For Allman, that which is genuine
educational reform, which also meets the ideals of social justice, is an approach that ―…
aims at enabling people to live the now by struggling to transform it into an affirmation



53

of humanisation, i.e. an affirmation of our faith in human beings‘ ability and need to
‗make and recreate their own world‘‖ (Freire, 1972:63, as cited in Allman, 2001:16).
This position which is described as a critical utopia is more appropriate than the
ludicrous utopia which arises out of the belief that the liberal democracy which informs
capitalism promises social justice regardless of its contradiction (Allman, 2000:16). The
critical utopian agenda that aims at promoting social justice is also shared by other
radical left educators in the western world. This camp is one that is associated with neo-
Marxism, which is the main challenger of the capitalist and neo-liberal agenda on social
justice (Allman, 2000:17; Hill, 2003:24 & Cole 2004:488).
The quest for a critical utopia in which the communal human being is to replace a self-
centred individualist is the main focus of radical scholars. Among the elements of such
a utopia is the advancement of social justice by inflicting maximum damage to
capitalism (McLaren, 2003:3). Another pertinent element is the re-introduction of
Marx‘s theory of labour value and its orientation against capitalist exploitation
(Ibid).This would be doing justice to the plight of the marginalised and the oppressed in
society. Lebowitz, one of the forefront proponents of educational change informed by
radical social justice, states that:
…if you seek social justice, you are struggling, consciously or
unconsciously against the logic of capitalism. And that implicit in your
ideal of social justice is a different type of economic system, one which
exists nowhere in the world at this time but which I hope, barring
nuclear war or environmental disasters, will someday take shape (1988:
29).
In his most recent writings, Lebowitz has added that the struggle is not only for social
justice but also against capitalism and the reproduction of wage-workers who perceive
that capitalism is necessary for their survival (Lebowitz, 2004:7). Doing justice, for
those within the grasp of capitalism, would entail the critical and important realisation
that there is an alternative to capitalism worth struggling for. One process towards this
realisation is a critical evaluation and reassessment of the inadequacies and failures of
the 20
th
and 21
st
century (Lebowitz, 2004:8). This process should not merely end at
evaluation and assessment, but continue to the reformulation of a more progressive



54

alternative that does justice to global human development. This would, in the words of
other radical left educators, do maximum damage to capitalism (McLaren, 2004).
Social justice, according to Lebowitz, accommodates endogenous development because
it allows and encourages a solidarity that stems from a focus on the interests of the
community and human development rather than self-interest and capitalist development
(Lebowitz, 2004:11). Consequently, according to proponents of the third tradition, real
change for the marginalised will result with the overthrow of capitalism and the
reinstatement of socialism.
Scholars of radical social justice declare that education is important for radical
educational and social change. It is crucial, according to them, that in the educational
arena, ways are created to bring about social change informed by radical social justice.
Education possesses a considerable potential for change and they aver that education
needs to create an arena where real global and local issues may be addressed. One of the
forefront supporters of this kind of education is Rikowski. He suggests that the
education of the future that would advance social justice consists of three moments: the
first is that of a critique of capitalist society and education. The second is that of
meeting human needs and education while the third comprises the realms of freedom
and education (Rikowski, 2004: 566). The critique of capitalism involves the critique of
all forms of inequality in capitalism: class inequality, sexism, racism, discrimination
against different groups of people. In order for the critique to have a bearing on change
in society, Rikowski argues that it must be linked to meeting human needs, which is the
second phase. The third phase involves enabling the students and teachers to develop
realms of freedom which entail possibilities for transcending capitalism and its
oppressive institutions (Rikowski, 2004:567-569). Rikowski‘s (2004) education for the
future, informed by Marxism, resonates with the concept of social justice education as
advanced by leftist scholars, particularly with its focus on promoting education that is
liberatory and contributes to transformation.
The radical left‘s call for equal participation and an end to all faces of oppression as
identified by Young (1997) defines social justice as both a process and a goal for a



55

society that promotes mutual cooperation, socio-economic justice and physical and
psychological safety for all its members.
Our approach to social justice education begins with people‘s lived
experiences and works to foster critical perspective and action directed
towards social change… We take the position that people in both
dominant and subordinated groups have a critical role to play in
dismantling oppression and generating a vision for a more socially just
future.‘… As individuals and groups can only have partial visions.
Coalitions can bring together multiple ways of understanding the world
and oppressive structures within it (Adams, et al., 1997:14).
Social justice at a more practical level involves everyone in the particular society or
group, both the benefactors and the oppressors. It requires individuals to know about
themselves and others while acknowledging differences, embracing and engaging with
diversity. In this entire process social justice involves the quest for alternatives to the
status quo – that of the oppressiveness of neo-liberalism and capitalism. Radical
scholars, particularly the feminists, have suggested a practical way for constructing
institutions that promote social justice. The summary below offers an illustration of
some practical activities that could enhance social justice in organisations.
Engaging practically with difference and diversity;
Practicing and promoting community activism for social justice;
Promoting critical consciousness raising and awareness;
Creating and nurturing change agents for a common progressive and democratic
organisational culture; and
Promoting the practice of employment equity (adapted from John Anner, 2000:
494-495).
The above digest depicts a tall order for creating socially just educational organisations.
It can be viewed as a stepping point towards achieving what many have described as
impossible. The observations of feminist radical scholars such as Young (1997), Fraser
(1995) and Davies (1997) are useful in illuminating the possibility of achieving socially
just educational futures. ―The possible is embedded in the (im) possible. Through a shift



56

of attention, a shift of conscience and consciousness, not just in one mind but in the
mind of a people, action unfolds, sometimes violently, making a new possibility‖
(Davies, 2005:12). Davies further echoes the sentiments of Rikowski (2004), Adams
(1997) and other radical scholars in proposing that students need to be educated in a
manner which enables them to critique the system of oppression and come up with new
alternatives.
We must give to our students a doubled gaze, to enable them to become
critically literate, to become citizens at once capable of adapting and
becoming appropriate within the contexts in which they find themselves
and as responsible citizens capable of critique; citizens who can
understand the constitutive work that discourse do and who can work
creatively, imaginatively, politically, and with passion to break open the
old where it is faulty and to envisage the new (Davies, 2005:13).
The above sentiments of creating new possibilities also echo radical left principles for
achieving social and economic justice in education policy. According to Hill (2000),
these principles are based on a democratic theoretical framework. This principle
advocates that in order for education to advance the radical social justice agenda,
governments must commit more funding to education and put an end to a competitive
market ideology in education. The curriculum and policies must be informed by
principles of egalitarianism and democracy and seek to transform the present capitalist
system into a socialist one. The teachers and intellectuals must promote democracy and
engage in critical pedagogy, with a commitment to social justice inside and outside the
school (Hill, 2000:2).
On the whole, the sources that employ the language of the possibility of a progressive
radical conception of social justice are informed by critical pedagogy and focus on the
agenda of transforming educational policy and practice to make it more inclusive,
participatory and emancipating. There are points of convergence between the literature
from the West reviewed in this study and policy concerns in the South African context.
This is evident in the struggle for radical social justice, the impact of globalisation, and
the failure of the neo-liberal paradigm to address the education crisis and the ensuing
injustices, as well as its inability to bring about a socially just socio-economic and



57

political order. The section that follows considers the South African concerns regarding
social justice.
2.5 South Africa and Radical Social Justice
In South Africa, concerns with social justice, in line with the radical tradition, have
always been high on the agenda of the anti-apartheid movement. The dawn of political
independence and the dismantling of apartheid in the 1990s led to a re-emphasis on the
social justice agenda in the government‘s attempts at nation building, reconciliation and
addressing the injustices of the past.
Social justice became an integral part of the education and training agenda for post
apartheid South Africa. The foundation of the social justice discourse can be traced to
the anti-apartheid movements, culminating in the formation of the National Education
Policy Investigation (NEPI) in the 1990s, a policy initiative informed by a progressive
philosophy of education and reform. The apartheid government also proposed a policy
framework: the Education Renewal Strategy (ERS), which also claimed to address the
injustices of the past. There were major differences between the ERS and NEPI, both
conceptually and politically. In the first instance, the NEPI framework could be seen as
an attempt to democratise education policy formulation, whereas the ERS did not
fundamentally address the question of social injustice and was essentially autocratic and
informed by neo-liberalism‘s economic and technocratic rationality. Secondly, the NEPI
researchers consisted of a wide range of people, spanning political leaders and academic
practitioners, while the ERS derived its personnel from the state bureaucrats (Chetty et
al., 1993). It could be said that the ERS policy options were in alignment with the
conservative social justice positions as discussed in part one, while the NEPI policy
options were more in alignment with the social democratic tradition.
The NEPI emerged as one of the dominant positions that proposed progressive policy
options for South Africa. The guiding principles of NEPI were non-sexism, non-
racialism, redress, democracy and a unitary education system (NEPI, 1992: 6-7).
According to the NEPI proposals, the above principles require that any higher education
institutions must at least ensure open access, wider consultation and participation with



58

all stakeholders, equal-opportunity employment policies and equal opportunities in
admissions (NEPI, 1992:90).
On closer scrutiny, it could be said that during the agenda setting stage of policy
development in South Africa, the policy options that embodied concerns with social
justice, as advanced in this thesis, were those of the NEPI. All five guiding principles of
the NEPI not only hold appeal for the mass democratic movement but also for
progressive scholars internationally, in the quest for democracy and socially just futures.
However, it should be noted that the proposals of the NEPI did not exist in a conflict-
free political setting. They were strongly contested, further illustrating that the battle for
progressive radical social justice is fraught with competition as well as struggles for
recognition and a place in the centre.
Following the NEPI and ERS Proposals, the late 1990s saw the formulation of policy
documents such as the White Paper on Education and Training of 1995, the Green Paper
on Higher Education Transformation of 1996, the White Paper on Higher Education (3)
and the Higher Education Act of 1997. All these policy documents signalled the
country‘s commitment to transforming and reconstructing education in general, and
higher education in particular, in line with the demands of the Reconstruction and
Development Programme. Since the year 2000 a plethora of policy documents focusing
on transforming and reconstructing higher education have been published. These
included the Size and Shape Document – Towards a New Higher Education Landscape
– Meeting the Equity, Quality and Social Imperatives of South Africa in the 21
st
Century
(June 2000), the National Plan For Higher Education (February 2001) and the New
Academic Plan for Programmes and Qualifications in Higher Education (January 2002).
The policy documents of the 1990s, especially the foundational 1995 White Paper on
Education and Training, emerged as documents that carried over the proposals of the
NEPI and the ERS. The 1995 White Paper locates education and training within the
Reconstruction and Development macroeconomic policy. It is an attempt by the
government to envision and realise the policy of open access to all in an integrated
unitary system. The policy states: ―the paramount task is to build a just and equitable
system which provides good quality education and training to learners young and old



59

throughout the country‖ (Department of Education: White Paper, 1997:9). The specific
values that drove the policy are those embodying the reconstruction and development of
education and training. The policy is committed to education as a human right, open
access, lifelong learning, and an integrated approach to education and training, equity,
democratic governance, justice, respect for diversity and commitment to critical
thought. Most of these values portray a commitment to redress and justice (Department
of Education: White Paper, 1997: 9-12). In these foundational documents, concerns with
social justice were explicit. Although the basic principles that guided these policy
documents were progressive, overall macro-economic factors continued to be at odds
with the progressive philosophy. This inconsistency consequently calls for a new
approach to the advancement of the social justice agenda.
The subsequent policy documents and policy-making bodies, namely the National
Commission of Higher Education (NCHE), the Council on Higher Education (CHE),
the National Plan on Higher Education (NPHE) and the New Academic Policy (NAP),
brought additional elements of the social justice agenda to the policy scene. Most of
them made reference to this agenda, implicitly or explicitly, and to varying degrees. The
common aim of these policy documents is to transform higher education to meet the
challenges of globalisation. The recurring points raised in these documents that are in
alignment with the social justice agenda are: equity and redress, democratisation and
development (White Paper, 1997: 11-13). The ―Size and Shape‖ document echoes the
White Paper in the following: meeting equity, redressing challenges and promoting
critical intellectual debate, good citizenship, open access to all and the reinvigoration of
the African continent Council on Higher Education- CHE,, 2002:24-28). The National
Plan priorities were to increase the participation and representation of previously
disadvantaged groups (Department of Education: New Academic Policy, 2002: 26-27).
Although concerns with social justice remain in the policy documents on higher
education, the tone of the statements appears to be aligned with conceptions of social
justice associated with neo-liberalism and its emphasis on developing higher education
for the needs of the competitive global knowledge economy. Concerns with global
competitiveness and the knowledge economy have been translated in terms of the
corporatisation and commodification of higher education – a trend that is eroding social



60

justice concerns in higher education. Proponents of the radical social justice agenda,
such as the progressive intellectual forces in the country (Muller, 1998; Vally, 2002; &
Chisholm, 1998), lament the manner in which social justice is downplayed in policy due
to the macro-economic regime under which the new government has placed itself. The
developments in question are the replacement of the Reconstruction and Development
Programme (RDP) by the Growth, Economic and Redistribution Strategy (GEAR). At
the macro-level, progressive social scientists call for the re-insertion of the
transformatory agenda of the RDP in addressing the impact of globalisation.
Commenting on the change in the direction of post-apartheid education in South Africa
(from RDP to GEAR), Kallaway et al. (1997) have this to say:
Instead of the popular or socialist ethos of Peoples‘ Education and the
implementation of the National Education Policy Investigation (NEPI),
the master narrative of educational reform has, to a large extent, been
framed by the international neo-liberal guidelines from the World Bank
and the International Monetary Fund. Instead of the vision promoted by
People‘s Education for People‘s Power, the defining concept of the new
education has been rationalization, downsizing, line management,
efficiency, equivalencies and outcomes-based education (1997:.1).
Writing in the mid 1990s, Chisholm and Fuller‘s (1996) critique of South African
policy formulation and implementation indicates that the broad transformative agenda
of the pre-1990 period was being narrowed down to promote the concerns of a market
economy. Chisholm states that these alterations took place because of the broader
direction of change globally and locally in South Africa, which was moving towards a
more neo-liberal macro-economic policy. This development at macro level made it
impossible for policy makers to propose a policy agenda that was at variance with the
dominant trends (Chisholm, 1996:713). Although the macro policy development points
to a direction opposed to the progressive social justice agenda, literature in the South
African context continues to argue for the promotion of an atmosphere conducive to
both the macro and micro level, as regards social justice education.
Scholars writing in the 2000s also share similar sentiments about the erosion of the
transformative agenda that has the concerns of social justice in higher education at
heart. According to Badat (2001:1), globalisation and other hegemonic practices and
policies informed by neo-liberalism have exerted an impact on the extent to which



61

higher education can drive the agenda for social justice. In making this observation, he
was commenting on inserting the principle of the common good into higher education,
which is an element of social justice. Furthermore, Badat avers that for higher education
to be more responsive to the public good and social justice issues there needs to be a
courageous critical scholarship with a commitment to social justice and a humane
society (Badat, 2001:5). In similar vein, Ntshoe (2002:9) argues that the specific aspects
of globalisation that have impacted on the neutralisation of the progressive social justice
agenda are the thinking of the new right, and neo-liberalism. Ntshoe‘s position is that,
for the reversal of the neo-liberal negative impact on social justice, the neo-liberal
agenda needs to be challenged. However, he does not indicate how it should be
challenged or the specific strategies that could challenge it. Singh (2001) also shares the
same sentiments as Badat and Ntshoe. According to Singh, for the above stated goals to
be realised, social justice issues need to be made more explicit and real. She
acknowledges that to pursue such an agenda will prove difficult but that through
tenacious commitment to social justice and its clarification, it could be achieved (2001:
12).
Another study in South Africa views globalisation in a positive light: the author
contends that restructuring higher education in the era of globalisation creates
possibilities for communitarian liberalism, and adds that it may contribute towards
deepening democracy at higher education institutions (Waghid, 2000:106). The specific
elements of communitarian liberalism that are likely to promote democracy are
identified as conversational justice and shared rational deliberation (Waghid, 2002:112).
Implicit in this suggestion is an atmosphere fertile for the germination of the ideal of
social justice. Thus, it needs to be explored further but with caution, lest attempts at
promoting it relapse into neo-liberalism.
At the micro-level, the agenda for the promotion of social justice lies in the call for
more participatory and democratic policy formulation and implementation – involving
all social agents. De Clerq promotes this position in saying that policy documents
separate policy formulation from implementation. In addition to this she observes that
some of the policy authors possess a very poor understanding of educational dynamics
on the ground (1996:144). According to her, policy stands a better chance of



62

implementation if it is subjected to a more vigorous and critical dialogue and
pedagogical debate. In this manner all agents in the policy circle can contribute towards
enhancing the education and training system in being more equitable and effective.
Similarly, Unterhalter (1998:232) contends that, for policy to be more inclusive and
gender sensitive, a different and more socially just form of analysis is needed. Carrim
(1998:14) supports these sentiments in arguing that engagement with the concepts of
inclusion and exclusion offers a potential towards the realisation of social justice.
Other micro-level issues have to do with the discourse that is most conducive for social
justice in the current period of globalisation. According to Kraak (2001), this period was
characterised by a highly contested policy environment leading to the emergence of
three contesting discourses that have exerted an impact on policy formulation; the high-
skill economic or rationalist discourse; a popular democratic discourse, and a residual
stratification discourse. Each of these discourses treated social justice differently. The
popular democratic discourse is more explicit on issues of social justice while the other
two, the high-skill discourse and the stratification discourse, are more implicit in their
conception of social justice, because they are market driven and, rather, influenced by
conservatism and neo-liberal economic rationalism (Kraak, 2001: 23-24). It could be
said that Kraak (2001) supports the popular democratic discourse in advancing the
progressive agenda of social justice. In another paper, Ntshoe (2002) supports the
position of Kraak above in calling for a re-emphasis on the shift to the fundamental
issues of reconstruction and development, equity and redressing the historical
imbalances of the past (Ntshoe, 2002:8).
Related to the popular democratic discourse is the concern of higher education policy
makers in South Africa as to the place of indigenous knowledge systems (IKS).
According to Odora-Hoppers (2001:73), concerns for and engagement with IKS by
higher education institutions stand a greater chance of reconstructing knowledge
production, challenging existing paradigms, epistemological foundations and existing
academic practice. This will contribute towards enabling the higher education
community to find a sustainable and inclusive formula for a way forward; a formula that
is more responsive to transformation and progressive social justice (2001: 84).



63

Implicit in the sentiments of Odora-Hoppers (2001) is the call for a concern with social
justice that is transformative and emancipatory, which implies that for South African
higher education to play a responsive and transformatory role; its practitioners must
then begin to challenge the neo-liberal paradigm that thrives on injustices. Also related
to the concerns with respect to IKS is the debate regarding mode one and mode two
knowledge and their impact on the role of a university. According to Waghid (2002:18),
this debate needs to be framed within a complementary knowledge base that constitutes
disciplinary or mode one knowledge, plus socially distributed or mode two knowledge.
It could be said that socially constructed knowledge possesses inherent progressive
social justice attributes. The task lying ahead of researchers is to work them out.
However, Waghid does not provide details on how to achieve this.
2.6 Criticisms of Radical Social Justice
Radical social justice, referred to earlier as the third tradition, possesses a broader
agenda in the South African context because of the historical legacy of the country and
its specificity, for instance, the consideration of the forms of mode two knowledge as
social justice issues. The breadth and scope of the agenda further illustrate the inclusive
and accommodative stance of the radical conception of social justice. However, radical
social justice has been criticised for being overly utopian (Starr, 1991:24). With
reference to its position on education, it has also been criticised for adopting an
inclusive emancipatory and political stance that would produce a cadre of social
activists without adequate skills for the marketplace. Its proposal of full inclusion has
also been criticised for lowering educational standards by burdening educators with
students from disadvantaged educational backgrounds (Rochester, 2003:1). Another
criticism of the radical position of social justice stems from the postmodernist scholars
who accuse it of being a totalising meta-narrative that excludes other ways of knowing,
particularly those of feminism (Burbules and Berk, 1999:57). Despite this criticism, this
tradition stands a better chance of achieving a socially just education and training
system because of its socialist and redistributive agenda as opposed to the restrictive
and neo-liberal agenda of the other two traditions. The tenets of the radical position on
social justice, such as participation parity in all societal institutions, far outweigh the
issues of marketable skills, the lowering of standards and a totalising meta-narrative.
Also neutralising this criticism are the broad and inclusive agenda of radical social



64

justice and the language of possibility to which Giroux (1987) alludes. In such justice,
concepts such as justice as mutuality, recognition and justice as freedom from
oppressive socio-economic, political and cultural relations, promise a vision for genuine
social justice. Therefore, the challenge is to revitalise social belief in the alternatives to
neo-liberal social justice, such as are to be found in the radical social justice agenda.
In the context of the narrowing of the policy agenda, the shifting of policy alliances and
ambiguities, this study contends that the pursuit of social justice is critical. My
argument after reviewing research concerned with social justice issues in South Africa
is that the national policy documents appear to serve and legitimate the current socio
economic context informed by neo-liberalism. In principle, the social justice agenda is
expressed by the recurring focus on equity, redress and social responsiveness,
democratic and inclusive education. This scenario tends to leave existing and traditional
institutional practices intact. The question that arises is: How can institutional practices
be made to support the social justice agenda? This study therefore seeks to extend the
scope of existing literature on social justice education by providing a reconstructed,
revitalised and relevant version. Additionally, the study will then look at those
institutional practices that are conducive to social justice by addressing the desire for the
clarification of the distinctive core elements of socially just conditions.
Furthermore, while evidence gleaned from the literature appears to indicate that history
and the broader macro-economic framework of neo-liberalism stifle the concerns and
practices of radical social justice, and that the essential structure of neo-liberalism
remains integrated, new hope is to be found in the establishment or creation of the
progressive voice and practices of dissent. These beacons of possibilities provide
significant potential for the restructuring of the social justice agenda along progressive
and democratic lines, which is an important consideration for the creation of a holistic
and sensitive citizenry committed to a just world.
2.7 Conclusion
It is apparent that efforts have been made to integrate social justice into the legislative
and policy framework in South Africa. It is, however, not clear whether this has been
sufficiently addressed at the formulation level or even at an implementation level. This



65

study seeks to determine the extent to which radical social justice is sufficiently
addressed at both levels.
Radical social justice is a concept employed to evaluate the distribution of benefits that
result from major social institutions such as the schooling system and the health system.
At its highest or ideal level, social justice promotes a utopian society. Consequently,
this extreme utopian position has contributed to its marginalisation from the central
debates that have been dominated by neo-liberalism. With reference to education,
radical social justice is used to inform broad educational policies such as universal
primary education and the move towards education for all, and furthermore, to inform
the move towards massification with the emphasis on access, equity and the inculcation
of a democratic culture – implying parity in participation in all areas of higher
education. The fostering of equality as regards educational, socio-economic and
political participation comprises the major tenet of oppositional critical theory, which
essentially informs the theoretical framework of the study. The emphasis on radical
social justice issues in higher education is in line with the traditional mandate of
universities – to pursue teaching, research and service to the community. The chapter
that follows represents a critical review of the extent to which South African higher
education fulfills the mandate of social justice. This review is necessary because, as
already observed, post-apartheid higher education policies and reforms, informed by
social justice, are being marginalised by the overwhelming logic of neo-liberalism and
the resultant marketisation and commodification of higher education.



66

CHAPTER 3 – SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION AND
TRANSFORMATION PILLARS – FOCUS ON SOCIAL JUSTICE
3.1 Introduction
In this chapter, a background to the South African higher education policy context and a
discussion of how South African higher education has performed in response to
transformation pillars is offered. The following aspects will be addressed: a brief
description of the South African higher education transformation pillars, namely,
increased and broadened participation, responsiveness to societal needs and cooperative
governance and an assessment of how higher education has responded to these three
challenges. My purpose in this chapter is primarily to comment on higher education‘s
response to the national mandate of transformation in general and to social justice in
particular.
3.2 The South African Higher Education System After 1994
The transition to a democratic society in 1994 necessitated the creation of a new policy
framework on which institutions would base themselves in promoting the new
democracy. After 1994, all reforms sought explicitly to make important changes in
institutions of higher learning. These changes sought to address the apartheid legacy.
Their guiding goals and principles were laid down in the 1997 White Paper on Higher
Education Transformation. In 2000, the Centre for Higher Education Transformation
(CHET) reformulated the broad goals and principles of the White Paper 1997 into three
broad transformation goals of Higher Education, namely 1. Increased and broadened
participation, 2. Responsiveness to social interests and needs, 3. Co-operation and
partnership in governance (CHET, 2000: 36-37). These overarching goals were
subsequently referred to by CHET as the three pillars of transformation. The digests of
the broad goal of transformation in higher education, as provided by CHET, are
informative because they offer a South African perspective on policy developments in
higher education. The table below attempts to summarise them.



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Table 3.1 − Higher education transformation pillars
TRANSFORMATION PILLAR BRIEF EXPLANATION
Increased and broadened
participation
The historical legacy of fragmentation,
inequality and inefficiency in the higher
education system must be overcome and a larger
and more diverse student population must be
accommodated within the system (Cloete &
Bunting, 2000:4).
Responsiveness to societal needs
The higher education system must deliver the
research, knowledge and highly trained people
required in South Africa to be able to compete
successfully in a rapidly changing international
context (Cloete & Bunting, 2000:5).
Cooperation and governance
An enabling environment must be created in
higher education institutions. This environment
must be sensitive to and affirm diversity,
promote reconciliation and respect for human
life, and protect the dignity of individuals
(Cloete & Bunting, 2000:5).
Adapted from Cloete & Bunting, 2000

The three pillars of transformation in higher education formulated and initiated by the
government of national unity in the 1990s were also supported by non-governmental
organisations and higher education research and development organisations that strive
to develop current research on transformation throughout the higher education system in
the country. Organisations such as CHET, and various education policy units attached to
institutions, such the Wits Education Policy unit at the University of the Witwatersrand,
make use of these broad goals in their policy research and analysis so as to produce high
quality and high impact research for the purpose of informing decision and policy
makers in education.
The broad transformation goals provided a framework for the transformation of higher
education which was in accordance with the democratic dispensation of 1994. Policy
analysts and researchers both locally and internationally contend that the three pillars of
transformation were formulated during the symbolic policy stage 1990 – 1994, and were
reshaped and made more concrete during the substantive policy stage of the period 1995
to 1998 when the state and other established bodies elaborated on the framework and



68

clearly defined the values informing higher education transformation in South Africa, a
characteristic of symbolic policy. Winberg (2004) describes it as follows:
Policy documents are future orientated and utopian. In order to ensure
that the policy is taken up, the documents must focus on the potential for
a happy resolution to the current situation… the promise implied by
higher education is that as recommendations are implemented, so new
institutions will be created in which there will be broadened access,
academic productivity and financial stability. Policy documents
recommend changes to intuitions, their practices and underlying values
and predict a future in which shortcomings will be addressed and an
effective and efficient equitable higher education community created
(Winberg, 2004:492).
The late 1990s to the present saw the dawn of a new period: a continuation of the
substantive stage. Currently, the development of higher education policy is
characterised by the continuation of the substantive policy stage and the distributive and
redistributive stage. During this stage, the role of the state has begun to predominate as
a way of making decisive policy choices towards achieving an integrated, coordinated
higher education system that transcends the apartheid legacy more concretely (Cloete, et
al., 2006).
3.3 Social Justice as an Element of a Transformed Higher Education System –
Contributions and Contradictions
There are a number of research reports and sources that have been produced since the
formulation of policy documents which laid down the framework for higher education
transformation. The common theme in these sources is concerned with the construction
of policies that would address the apartheid legacy and modernise the higher education
system so that it becomes more responsive to local and global development. The trend
that these various scholars and analysts portray in their writings is the distinctive and
commendable nature of transformation in higher education during the democratic
dispensation (Gibbon & Kabaki, 2000:132).
Research reports that are exemplary in this regard are those stemming from research and
development organisations, progressive policy consultants and scholars in higher
education. The majority of them were formulated in the language of progressive politics



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and enlightened radicalism, a language whose project is to deepen democracy in higher
education and thus promote social justice as conceptualised in this research. In other
words, they envisage a higher education system that would contribute to the political
empowerment and socio-economic liberation of the South African society. The
discourses of progressive South Africa perceive education as an instrument of political
liberation and socio-economic transformation and of overcoming the oppressive
apartheid legacy. Specifically, the role of higher education is to meet societal socio-
economic needs while safeguarding democracy and social justice (Cloete, et al.; Cloete,
2002 b; Jansen, 2003; Kraak, 2001; Park, 2003; Waghid, 2002). Equally, Government
policies that were formulated subsequent to 1997 echo the transformation and social
justice discourse, for example, the National Plan on Higher Education‘s five policy
priorities. These are: 1. increased access so as to produce skills and competencies for the
21
st
century; 2. Promotion of equality of access and outcomes so as to redress past
inequalities; 3. Diversification of the institutional landscape; 4. Building of research
capacity; and 5. Restructuring of the HE landscape and making it consistent with the
values of democracy (NPHE 2001: 76).
The thread connecting the preceding conception of transformation in higher education,
as encapsulated in the transformation pillars, is the common aim of breaking the mould
of apartheid education and aligning transformation with the democratic and social
justice concerns of the new democracy.
The transformation debates in South Africa, as noted, have been hailed as exemplary by
a number of policy analysts both internationally and nationally. However, they have
also been criticised by scholars from the left for retaining traces of neo-liberalism in
their obsession with meeting the market and globalisation imperatives. Chisholm offers
the following explanation for the dependency of South African education transformation
debates on international trends:
First, there is a dependency argument about dependency on World Bank
policy; second that the alternatives offered by the left were too weak and
could not offer as much as those polices which eventually were adopted;
third, that post-modern flexible technologies and information dictate the
pace of change; and fourth, …manifestation of the impact of



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globalization of capital and markets consequent on the ending of the
cold war (Chisholm, 1998:51-52).
The above implies that with the dawn of the democratic dispensation, South Africa‘s
isolationist status was ended as it became part of the global community and was
influenced by an array of policy options from international organisations such as the
World Bank, as well as technological development informed by neo-liberalism and the
new right movement which regarded globalisation as a panacea for most of the
development and transformation challenges.
The trend described by Chisholm above resonates with the marketisation and
globalisation of higher education in western countries such as America and the United
Kingdom. This process also involves the ideological shift towards neo-liberalism.
The new ideological configuration among the political elites and ruling
class in at least the English-speaking capitalist countries can be seen in
the policies of the former Clinton administration and the current Blair
administration. These policies offer an interesting combination of some
social issues formerly part of traditional liberal platform such as
affirmative action, gay rights and environmental concerns – that are now
coupled with extremely conservative economic policies which hark back
to turn of the century neo-liberal economic ideas about an unfettered,
free-market economy and a minimal state … These economic ideas are
shared both by political liberals and conservatives alike in the United
States, Australia, the United Kingdom and Canada, as well as elsewhere
(Shumar, 2004:824).
The key drivers in the ideological configuration of neo-liberalism are higher education
institutions. According to Olssen and Peters,
Higher education institutions have been encouraged to develop links
with industry and business in a series of new venture partnerships. The
recognition of the economic importance of higher education and the
necessity for economic viability has seen initiatives to produce greater
entrepreneurial skills as well as the development of new performance
measures to enhance output and to establish and achieve targets (2005:
313).
The discourse that characterises the transformation of higher education is one of revived
modernisation and human capital theory. It is one that has continued to consistently link



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education, economic growth and international competitiveness continentally and
globally (Chisholm, 1998:65). Notwithstanding this, the specificity of the South African
context and needs is accommodated in the emphasis on redress and redistributive
strategies as an attempt to counteract the legacy of apartheid (Chisholm, 1998). For
instance, in subsequent policy, analysts were consistent and stressed the importance of
breaking the mould of apartheid and replacing it with a more socially just and
democratic dispensation, even in the context of a socio-economic policy that was anti
social justice; for example, radical scholars in the West warn nation states of the
dangers of embracing neo-liberalism. Giroux contends that:
Neoliberalism is the most dangerous ideology of the current historical
moment….[It] has given way to the language of commercialisation,
privatisation and deregulation and ..., within the language and images of
corporate culture, citizenship is portrayed as an utterly privatised affair
that produces self-interested individuals. [It] maintains that corporate
culture functions largely to either ignore or cancel out social injustices in
the existing social order by overriding democratic impulses and practices
of civil society through an emphasis on the unbridled workings of
market relations (Giroux, 2002:425).
It is evident from the preceding discussion that South Africa has not been immune to
international trends and their impact on education reform. The question to ask,
according to Chisholm, is whether equity and quality in education will be achieved in
the context of the internationalisation and marketisation of education reform informed
by neo-liberalism (Chisholm, 1998). This is of concern, particularly to the
transformation of higher education in South Africa.
In the context of the educational focus on increasing access and participation informed
by the human capital theory, the issue of how higher education is performing in terms of
promoting equity of access is very important. A number of stakeholders and policy
analysts in Africa consistently highlight the important role fair access to higher
education plays in the improvement of social justice (Sawyer, 2002: 38). Similarly, in
the South African context, the importance of equitable access is emphasised in the first
transformation pillar, that of increased and broadened participation as stated above. It is
a continentally accepted trend that increasing and broadening access to higher education
is an important reform and transformation strategy. As an important method, measuring



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or assessing how South African higher education has performed in this area is crucial
because it represents a measure of quality in higher education and its relevance to the
community.
3.4 South African Higher Education Performance in Terms of Three Pillars of
Transformation
The table below is a representation of how higher education has performed in terms of
meeting the goals of transformation pillar one: increased and broadened participation.
Table 3.2 − Indicators of transformation goals for higher education in South Africa
GOALS
INDICATORS
Total head count enrolment in public universities and technikons
(thousands)
Increased and
broadened
participation
1993 1995 1997 1999 2000 2001 2002
Total
enrolments
473 567 596 596 600 645 674

Percentage head count enrolment by population group
Student body
to reflect SA
demographics
White 47 31 28 27 27 27 27
Indian 7 7 6 7 7 7 7
Coloured 6 5 5 5 5 5 6
African 40 58 60 60 60 61 60

Percentage head count enrolments by gender
Increased
participation
of female
students.
Male 57 50 48 46 46 46 46
Female 43 50 52 54% 54 54 54
(Cloete & Bunting, 2000)

The enrolment figures portray a positive picture in terms of the continuing access to
higher education. On the basis of table 2, it could be said that higher education in South
Africa has made remarkable progress towards meeting the transformation pillar of
increased access and broadened participation. That is, there is an indication of a definite
effect on transformation pillar one, resulting from favourable developments with
regards to positive and representative enrolment figures. These figures also signify that
South African higher education is attempting to be representative of the South African
population and is thus partly fulfilling the policy imperative of redress as required of



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such education in South Africa. Some researchers describe this trend as a revolution
because ―…the ratio of black students in total university enrolment increased from 32%
in 1990 to 60% in 2000, while in technikons it rose from 32% to 72% over the same
period. Thus, by 2000, there was a majority of African students both in the universities
(60%) and technikons (72%)‖ (Cloete, 2002:1). With reference to the participation of
women, the increase was three times greater than that of men: from 42% in 1990 to 53%
in 2000 (Cloete) The positive progress made towards increased and broadened
participation is further reiterated by the study commissioned by the Commission on
Higher Education ten years after the beginning of democracy in 2004 (CHE, 2004: 90).
Furthermore, the positive indicators of performance as a move towards the
transformation pillar of increased and broadened participation also demonstrate that
higher education is embracing transformation, since it has been conceptualised by
various scholars in the South African context. For example, this performance is
illustrative of Waghid‘s conception of higher education transformation as initiating
equality through furnishing equal access and development opportunities for
disadvantaged students, and promoting accountability, because higher education policy
has to respond to and address national policy imperatives and finally promote quality
assurance measures that involve the spirit of dialogism (2000: 109). Waghid‘s
conception of higher education transformation in South Africa chimes with Van Wyk‘s
re-imagining of such transformation. Van Wyk‘s reformulation consists of four
necessary conditions for transformation: equity and redress, critical inquiry,
communicative praxis and citizenship (2003:157). For these two scholars, increased
access and broadened participation represent one of the conditional issues for
transformation in higher education. In this regard, South African higher education is
doing fairly well. However, with regard to other conditions mentioned by these scholars
such as the spirit of dialogism, critical inquiry and communicative praxis, it is not quite
clear how to establish the performance as it would require more qualitative investigation
than the quantitative approach used by the CHET study.
While the performance indicators employed above indicate that there are some pockets
of change as regards the nature and effectiveness of higher education transformation,
certain studies caution against their uncritical usage. According to van Wyk (2004;



74

2005), a focus purely on performance indicators – performativity – would not support
deep transformation. Deep transformation would be enabled by re-asserting the
influences of ubuntu in policy reformulation and communitarianism as well as by
creating space for imagination and creativity (Van Wyk, 2004 & 2005).
Although these indicators depict progress towards the broad goal of increased
participation and broadened access, they obscure deeper problems. For instance, the
Centre for Higher Education contends that while the number of black students and
women has increased, it has not increased favourably in hard science areas such as
engineering and accounting (Cloete & Bunting, 2000:72). In the same vein, Van Wyk
contends that focusing on a quantitative increase is a matter of performativity, which
can be associated with the corporatisation of higher education that uses the business
language and logic of input / outputs and more productivity while marginalising aspects
of the common good in higher education transformation (2005:183). There still needs to
be a more in-depth analysis of the extent to which this transformation pillar is addressed
by developments in higher education.
The trend in South Africa, that of opening up higher education, resonates with that of
higher education in England at the turn of the 21
st
century. In England under the new
Labour government, higher education was informed by an inclusive language of social
justice, being regarded as important to the future economic success of the country and
as playing a role in shaping a democratic, civilised and inclusive society (Skelton,
1999:240). In England it was declared that ―education must be a force for opportunity
and social justice, not for the entrenchment of privilege‖ (White Paper on Higher
Education as cited in Blanden, 2003:8). This inclusivity was exemplified in increasing
numbers of students from underrepresented groups, which caused those in higher
education to increase in number as well as to represent a more heterogeneous student
population (Skelton, 1999:240). Studies show that the English government‘s target is
for 50 percent of 18-30 year olds to have some experience of higher education by 2010
(Lewis, 2002:04). In South Africa, the government‘s target was a modest 20 percent of
the age cohort 18 to 24 by 2001 (Bawa, 2000:7).



75

The discourse that informed this policy reform was that of neo-liberalism with the aim
of utilising higher education for the common good while at the same time the market
imperative was more important (Vally, 2007:17). In other western democracies such as
Canada, the trend is similar: increased access to higher education makes a crucial
contribution to economic development, social cohesion and the advancement of
democracy in a knowledge based society Kaiser, Hillegers, Iwen, & Legro, 2005:1).
However, studies on higher education reform indicate that the trend of increasing access
to higher education is greatly flawed. The defect lies in the failure to highlight the
contradictions between inclusive access and the exclusionary experiences of students of
higher education because the cultural assumptions underpinning these experiences are
left unquestioned.
Liberal humanism maintains that learning and access to culture are
essential to human development, but it fails to recognise the implicit
assumptions built into any particular expression of culture. It also fails to
recognise that culture is contested; a particular expression of culture is
an outcome of power relations between two groups (Skelton, 1999:242).
The English experience, while positive, offers lessons for South Africa. The country has
progressed in increasing access and broadening participation, but it stands in danger of
perpetuating the cultural assumptions and injustices of neo-liberalism if it does not
critically engage with this ideology and discover alternatives to it. South Africa might
also face the same problem if it does not critically engage with the cultural assumptions
of neoliberalism such as western cultural imperialism and bourgeois dominance.
The pillar of responsiveness was complex to analyse for both the CHET 2000 study
cited above and the CHE 2004 that followed it. In regard to this, the CHE 2004 study
indicates that due to the ―South African phenomenon of non-absorption of labour‖;
there are still inadequate employment opportunities which in turn affect the ability of
higher education to satisfy the pillar of responsiveness (CHE, 2004: 165). The rationale
provided by researchers in the 1990s for this still relevant phenomenon is that South
Africa, like most developing countries, adopted a ―Fordist‖ method of production
accumulation that emphasised massification, particularly education, a clear division of
labour and authority (Chisholm, 1998:55). This resulted in many graduates acquiring



76

inadequate, limited skills to meet the demands of the competitive global market.
According to this analysis, post-Fordism, as a method of accumulation that places a
greater emphasis on smaller units of production, multi-skilling and flexibility, would
have addressed this complex problem, but its adoption in the country has been limited
(Chisholm, 1998).
In addition to this, the scenario is compounded by an unclear and ambiguous
relationship between educational outcome, economic growth and social development
(CHE, 2004:165). This implies that a pool of unemployed and unemployable higher
education graduates still exists. With reference to the ambiguous relationship mentioned
analysts contend that it has been informed by the human capital theory and was
responsible for universal movements such as Education for All, with the hope that
investment in education would lead to economic development. Regarding this issue,
international researchers have shown that this is a contested area since countries that
have heavily invested in education in Africa do not necessarily exhibit much progress in
the area of economic development (Chisholm, 1998:56-57). For example, in the South
African context, Horwitz (2007) is of the opinion that the issue of the creation of skilled
manpower resulting from investment in education in South Africa, like that of a two
sided coin, is both a myth and a reality. He argues that South Africa needs to revamp its
human capital strategies so that it can meet the needs of the global economy (Horwitz,
2007). In the South African context, it could be said that in principle and to some extent
in practice, a mixture of Fordism and post-Fordism has exerted an influence on
educational reform, particularly in the focus on increased participation and broadened
access. The idea was an image of a multi-skilled, flexible worker to ensure the
international competitiveness of the country (Chisholm, 1998:58).
While the present study takes cognisance of these complex links between education and
economic development as informed by both Fordist and post-Fordist modes of
production, it concurs with CHE in cautioning against reducing the pillar of
responsiveness to only meeting the demands of the labour market and downplaying the
important role of higher education in fulfilling its obligation to the public good (CHE,
2004: 165). The role that higher education plays in promoting the public good is a
crucial element of social justice as advanced in this thesis.



77

The third pillar of transformation, cooperative governance, is intended to guide higher
education in the area of governance. The rationale behind this pillar was to destroy the
legacy of autocratic management in apartheid higher education through the
implementation of democratic governance structures and processes (Cloete, et al.,
2000:10). South African literature reveals that during the apartheid era, two approaches
to higher education management existed. The first was the strong state control that
characterised the white Afrikaans speaking institutions in their relation to the state. With
reference to internal management processes, these institutions were highly centralised,
autocratic and conservative (Cloete, et al., 2000:14). The second was the polar opposite
approach, of the weak state supervision that characterised the English speaking
institutions. These institutions held anti-apartheid leanings and had a strong collegial
tradition with participative decision making (Cloete, et al., 2000). The terms under
which they engaged with stakeholders correspond with the participatory management
approach. Conservative Afrikaans institutions adopted a non participative approach
while the liberal English institutions adopted a more participative approach (Cloete,
Kulati & Phala). Furthermore, the language and tone of cooperative governance
portrays a post-Fordist method of accumulation because it is couched in the language of
participation as opposed to non-participation, which is more Fordist. Although this
pillar possesses impressive credentials for promoting transformation as discussed in this
chapter, recent research reports reveal that problems do exist. These problems were
identified in the complexity of implementing cooperative governance in 2000 and 2004
respectively.
From 2000, analysts (Cloete, et al., 2000; Hall & Symes, 2005) contended that the
policy framework did not accord adequate attention to the management of institutional
change and that, as a result, the majority of institutions were failing to translate the
broad agenda of transformation into concrete strategies for institutional change (Cloete,
et al., 2000:17). In 2004, the same problem of inadequate guidance with regards to how
to make decisions emerged, thus hampering equity and democracy (CHE, 2004:184). In
a similar context, certain analysts perceived the concept of cooperative governance as a
hindrance to academic freedom (CHE, 2004:199). Thus, for cooperative governance to
take root in the transformation of higher education, the latter‘s stakeholders needed to
formulate proper guidelines for the implementation of cooperative governance.



78

Consequently it could be safely said that the implementation of such governance is in its
infancy and that this issue continues to be a challenge to higher education.
The above assessment of the transformation pillars indicates that there are varying
degrees of change and non-change in higher education. This scenario is also explained
by contending challenges faced by this sector in its attempts to promote the
transformation and social justice agendas. In 2004, CHE released a document that
identified a number of critical issues and challenges facing higher education after 10
years of democratic rule. The array of challenges include addressing the legal and policy
context at the systemic level by ensuring appropriate processes of monitoring and
evaluating in order to identify and address policy gaps. At institutional level, the process
of evaluating the progress made towards institutional transformation with respect to the
institutional landscape and culture was identified as important, as was, furthermore, the
process of developing processes for sustaining and maintaining the progress made in the
following areas: equity, teaching and learning, research, community engagement,
responsiveness, governance, financing and internationalisation (CHE, 2004:11)
In October, 2004, a seminar organised by CHET took place which brought together a
group of various reputable and renowned experts who identified key issues challenging
higher education ten years after democracy. The theme uniting the seminar was higher
education and development, which was adopted because it was considered as more
forward looking and linked to national agendas than past themes that were retrospective
(CHET, 2004:5).
The conference recommended that South African higher education needed to adopt a
positive discourse on higher education, democracy and development as opposed to a
negative, disabling discourse. This implies that an optimistic attitude to the capabilities
of higher education engaging with the challenges and creating meaningful solutions
needs to be embraced. The paradox of skills availability, and scarcity, was reiterated as
an issue to be prioritised. Related to the skills concern was the subject of an increase in
the participation rate while not compromising quality. Since the core function of higher
education is research, the challenge is to broaden the research spectrum. With regard to
the policy process, it was suggested that adopting a more differentiated policy, as



79

opposed to a comprehensive and symbolic policy, would be appropriate and timely. The
rationale was that this would encourage all institutions to participate equally, while
those that needed support would be assisted. Since there is inherent dissonance or
discord in the policy process, higher education needs to prioritise the creation of a more
harmonious and orchestrated policy (CHET, 2004:1-2). While the conference focused
on higher education democracy and development, it could not avoid the emphasis on the
economic importance of higher education by reiterating the need to focus on skills
development in order to meet the demands of the market and industry and the
challenges of the globalising South African society.
In November 2004, the CHE also held a colloquium whose sole purpose was to
critically identify South African higher education trends and review its commitment to
transformation. The colloquium bore the following fruits in terms of paradoxes and
challenges facing higher education after democracy. The need to re-examine the goals
of higher education and strategies to achieve these goals emerged as contested terrain
from the perspective of both opponents and defenders of the White Paper on Higher
Education Transformation, for example, exposes inherent contradictions in and
contributions of higher education as regards the promotion of equity and access. The
core activities of the higher education sector were identified as a need to focus on re-
inventing curricula and their content with a particular focus on mathematics, science
and technology education, including teacher training. Other important focus areas
identified were the promotion of staff equity, research and innovation, strengthening the
link between higher education and further education and training, and the promotion of
regional cooperation as well as the internationalisation of higher education. The
relationship of higher education with the state was discussed and it was reiterated that
the preferred state role is that of a strong steering state, essential for the furtherance of
the transformation goal of the White Paper of 1997. This position was opposed by those
favouring a loose state control in order to protect institutional autonomy and academic
freedom. Since higher education does not operate in isolation but within society, there
was a need to conceptualise the relationship between higher education and civil society
while addressing the neo-liberal agenda that informs higher education. The relationship
between higher education and the market was also reiterated as being of utmost
importance since the private sector is an important source of additional funding. On the



80

overall theme of a transformed and engaged university, the challenge lies in the
broadening of the transformation agenda that needed to be informed by debates on the
African renaissance through continental consultation (CHE, 2004:3-9).
While the CHE colloquium raised current pertinent issues regarding higher education
transformation, it also appears to have been influenced by the global discourse of techno
science, particularly with the emphasis being placed on the genuine need to develop
skills in mathematics, science and technology. Furthermore, the influence of a neo-
liberal discourse is also evidenced by the importance being accorded to the role of the
private and business sector with regard to funding. One unique point the colloquium
raised is that of relevance to the African continent in the resuscitation of the African
renaissance discourse, thus locating the role of higher education in Africa and avoiding
completely Eurocentric influences. It can be said that the policy review and analysis
carried out after ten years of democracy reveal that higher education policy in South
Africa represents a strong embodiment of neo-liberal principles. While these principles
may provide the best way to meet the needs of the global knowledge economy in
principle and practice, they seriously undermine progress towards equity, social
inclusion and social justice.
3.5 South African Higher Education: Persistent Policy Challenges
The celebration of the ten years of democracy also influenced other higher education
stakeholders to begin to debate issues that continue to challenge higher education and
the transformation agenda. The points of convergence between the various stakeholders
demonstrate that South African higher education needs to adopt a positive and enabling
discourse while re-interpreting the goals of higher education ten years after democracy.
That is, the focus is to redefine and justify the existence of higher education. This focus
comes at a time when globally, higher education trends signal shifts from the traditional
professional culture of open intellectual inquiry and debate to one that stresses
performativity – as mentioned, the language and logic of business evident in the
emphasis on measured outputs, strategic planning, performance indicators, quality
assurance measures and academic audits (Olssen & Peters, 2005:313). According to
these Western researchers this is a period that is informed by neoliberalism; they
maintain that



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In a global neo liberal environment, the role of higher education for the
economy is seen by governments as having greater importance around
the world. Universities are seen as key drivers in the knowledge
economy and as a consequence higher education institutions have been
encouraged to develop links with industry and business in a series of
new ventures and partnerships (Olssen & Peters ibid).
In South Africa, the CHET project of developing performance indicators for higher
education is influenced by the same global trend, but this does not render the project as
trivial and irrelevant. It continues to be a timely and relevant one that is useful for
measuring higher education performance in order to make in-depth and informed
choices and policy decisions. For instance, the CHET (2000) study has revealed policy
gaps and contradictions such as the fact that, with reference to increased and broadened
participation, the enrolment figures in higher education have levelled while the
participation rate of blacks and women is still low, particularly in the mathematics and
science areas. Such policy gaps need to be addressed. It is hoped that all these
contradictions will be used to reformulate a more targeted and specific policy for higher
education in order to meet this goal.
The challenges and trends that continue to plague higher education in South Africa
indicate that while the process of producing broad and symbolic policies seemed to be
easy and was hailed as exemplary because it promoted democratic principles, the
process of implementation is fraught with problems and is complex. According to
implementation analysts, the stakeholders often level accusations, such as
implementation failure or paralysis and overload, at the government (Gornitza, Kyvik
and Stensaker, 2005:35). This phenomenon is reflected in policy inconsistencies and
contradictions. A number of factors have been attributed to the implementation gap –
the main ones being the macroeconomic policy, GEAR, and the budget (UNDP, 2004:
56-57). This may possibly explain why, among the challenges facing higher education,
some of the transformation goals still emerge as issues to be addressed ten years later.
The limited implementation of most of the transformation goals further illustrates that
systemic change at universities is complex and paradoxical because contradictory
positions regarding the necessity for change and resistance to change always exist
(Meister-Scheytt & Scheytt, 2005: 97). In the South African context, the position of the
government of national unity was to concur with the necessity for change because it



82

embarked on a grand symbolic policy that aimed at a break with the apartheid legacy.
An example of the ―resistance to change‖ group is evident in intellectuals and
institutions that engineered the apartheid legacy and are still interested in maintaining it.
Furthermore, those which subscribe to neo-liberal ideology can also be grouped in the
category of resistance to change because they preach the language of limited reform as
opposed to the discourse of transformation. The elements of resistance to change are
found in the conservative and new right movements who benefited the most from the
apartheid regime. For this group the policies of the democratic government spell socio-
economic and political disaster for the country.
The trends and challenges that South African higher education is facing mirror those of
universities in the other parts of the world. This is evident in the fact that, while this
sector is pursuing the noble role of teaching, research and service to the community,
economic and social realities continue to impact either negatively or positively on
contributions to national development by higher education. During the 21
st
century one
of the socio-economic realities that most pervasively influence higher education is the
phenomenon of globalisation. With regard to globalisation, its impact on South Africa is
evident in a number of issues, the main one being the neo-liberal policy of GEAR which
has influenced education decisions being made on the basis of fiscal austerity and
market procedure (Oldfield, 2001:36). The second related impact is in the restructuring
of higher education within market driven concerns: a situation that is detrimental to the
nurturing of a newly found democracy in South Africa (Waghid, 2001: 455). The
sentiments of South African researchers on globalisation chime with those of western
researchers such as Reading, one of the more provocative researchers on the modern
university, who asserts that globalisation is changing the structure and role of the
university. He contends that due to this phenomenon, the traditional role of the
university in serving and promoting the idea of a national culture is being replaced or
downplayed, as nation-states are in decline and national cultures are being replaced by
global cultures. Furthermore, universities are embracing the culture and business logic
of trans-national corporations. Reading perceives this as the demise of the modern
university and appeals to the creation of a new community of critical thinkers on the
role of universities in the 21
st
century (Reading, 1996). In the South African context,
Waghid et al., further contend that globalisation



83

...contributes to the redefinition of the notion of a university as a place
that has been reduced to subservience to the idea of human ―resource
development‖, based on a data base or education management
information system, regulated three-year budget plan, reviews,
performance appraisals and the rating of academics, appraisal meetings
and annual reports creating a secure over-regulated world of
excellence... Regulatory mechanisms based on auditing systems in effect
reduce public accountability to the language of accounting, creating a
false sense of security that limits society‘s critical reflective ability.
(2005:53)
The regulatory logic of auditing to which Waghid is referring reflects earlier in his
research with regards to globalisation and universities, which drew attention to the
concepts of new managerialism, academic capitalism, and the entrepreneurial university
as important features of economic aspects of globalisation (Deem, 2001:7). Academic
capitalism, as part and parcel of the knowledge and global economy, involves the
process of developing, marketing and selling research products, education services and
consumer goods in the marketplace. Slaughter and Rhoades provide the following
illustrative analysis:
Academic capitalism in the new economy is a regime that entails
colleges and universities engaging in market and market-like behaviours.
What do we mean by that? How is the present different from the past?
After all, colleges and universities have long operated bookstores and
sold tee shirts and coffee mugs for profit and professors have long
written textbooks and engaged in consulting for profit. We believe the
difference is a matter of breadth and depth. Colleges and universities —
particularly public colleges and universities faced with a major loss in
state support — now develop, market and sell a wide range of products
commercially in the private sector as a basic source of income. This
goes far beyond non-academic consumption items (such as logos, tee
shirts, etc.). Today, higher education institutions are seeking to generate
revenue from their core educational, research and service functions,
ranging from the production of knowledge (such as research leading to
patents) created by the faculty to the faculty‘s curriculum and instruction
(teaching materials that can be copyrighted and marketed) (Slaughter &
Rhoades, 2004:37).
In the South African context, Waghid (2000) illustrates this in a critical analysis of
CHE‘s agenda of transforming higher education. The criticism is levelled at the goal of
transforming higher education by increasing capital and knowledge intensive production
and services, thus addressing the demand for skilled professionals in the scientific,



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technological, technical and business field (2000:450). While the supporters of the audit
culture might argue that a form of bureaucratic control is beneficial to the achievement
of social justice, growing numbers of research findings indicate that it is
counterproductive. In the South African context, researchers in support of Waghid‘s
anti-audit culture stance argue that attempts to monitor and regulate universities are
compliant with the audit culture, and undermine the very practices of academic work
and professional autonomy that are essential for the promotion of social justice in
universities (Enslin, Pendlebury & Tjiattas, 2003:75-56). The observations of these
South African researchers concur with those of international research with reference to
the introduction of a market logic in higher education (Apple, 2005) This trend is
detrimental to the realisation of radical social justice because not only does it undermine
the democratic culture, but it also infringes on the liberatory and emancipatory roles that
higher education intellectuals need to play for the common good.
The overarching factors that have influenced this reformist policy trend are neo-
liberalism and the macro-economic policy of GEAR, as discussed earlier. According to
GEAR, higher education plays two important roles. Firstly, universities are to assume a
more entrepreneurial position in outlook, research and curriculum content and secondly,
they are to produce human capital that would render South Africa globally competitive,
with the emphasis falling on the natural sciences instead of the arts and humanities. As
noted, this newly assumed role or position has been criticised for downplaying the role
of universities in contributing towards the promotion of a critical and actively engaged
citizenry (Motala & Singh, 2001; Waghid, 2000: 11). This critical analysis is shared by
Jobbins in arguing that:
In a democratic society, healthy universities act as a check on authority,
as a watchdog ready to bark at excesses, errors and miscalculations by
government. They give their academics a secure platform from which to
analyze and criticize without fear or retribution from the state. The role
is especially vital in the developing world, particularly for nations such
as South Africa, as they struggle to compete in a global economy with
the technological cards heavily stacked against them (Jobbins, 2002:56).
In other words, healthy universities are custodians of economic and social justice. They
are the vanguards of democracy and transformation for the benefit of the majority of the



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population rather than the privileged few. In universities, there is a mass of critical
intellectuals whose agenda is to humanise and promote higher education for the public
good and thus seek to alleviate socio-economic inequalities and advance democracy.
The logic of globalisation does not automatically decrease socio-economic inequality
and injustices and anti-democratic positions and ideologies (Waghid, 2001:463).
Globalisation and its concomitant neo-liberal discourse are posing a serious threat to the
maintenance of a critical mass of intellectuals that are housed in ―healthy universities‖
because universities are now adopting business organisational culture and logic. For
universities to promote social justice in the context of globalisation, they need to
humanise the global market logic with that of social justice so that the conception of
higher education for the common good is protected.
3.6 Conclusion
This chapter has attempted to indicate the complexity of change and transformation in
higher education by discussing how South African education has transformed or
changed with reference to three pillars of transformation. It has demonstrated that while
some positive progress has been made in constructing these pillars, South Africa still
has to put much effort into adequately addressing the gaps that emerged during the
erection of these pillars. Furthermore, South African higher education must contend
with the complex paradox of the effects of globalisation while attempting to advance the
mandate of the common good and social justice. The chapter that follows will focus on
the University of Pretoria and its attempts to implement transformation goals as
embodied in social justice projects.




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CHAPTER 4 – UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA AND TRANSFORMATION
4.1 Introduction
In this chapter a synopsis of the University of Pretoria is provided. This consists of a
brief background to the institution during the apartheid years so as to provide an
explanation of recurrent themes from the past. This will be followed by a critical
discussion of the University during the more recent transformation and democratic
dispensation in order to illustrate its position on social justice.
4.2 University of Pretoria before 1994 - The Conservative Tradition and
Ideological Outlook
The University of Pretoria as an African University has its roots in the pioneering higher
education institutions that existed in Egypt about two or three centuries before Christ
(BC) and in Timbuktu in about the 11
th
century (Lulat, 2005:71 -72), an indication that
its intellectual history is entrenched in African ancestry, in like manner as other
institutions. The university itself was established in 1908 as the Pretoria centre of the
Transvaal University College during the British occupation of South Africa (South
African Standard Encyclopaedia). During British rule and, later, the apartheid era, the
University of Pretoria played a crucial role in contributing to the creation of higher level
human resources to assist the country‘s socio-economic and political development, in
line with the role of universities in the rest of the African continent. However, the
University was established in a context that was embroiled in conflict between the
British and the Afrikaners. Originally it was established as an English medium public
institution but due to the dominance of Afrikaans speaking students and the call for
Afrikaner nationalism, the Institution became an Afrikaans institution in 1930 (South
African Standard Encyclopaedia). The positioning of the University as an Afrikaans
institution initiated and highlighted its role in promoting the interests, culture and
ideology of the Afrikaner community in South Africa, while contributing to the
development of the country.
Although the focus of this research is placed on this university after 1994, a brief
synopsis is used to illustrate the extent of Afrikaner dominance in higher education.



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Coupled with this was the project of Christianising education in general, but with
specific reference to higher education. The CNE declaration of 1948 stated that:
Article 11: Higher Education
We believe that our higher education should have the same basis and
purpose as our primary and secondary education, the Christian-National
life and world view to the forming of the man of God completely
equipped for every good work. We desire that our institutions for higher
education, beside the usual secular sciences, Christian theology
(geloofsleer) and in particular Christian philosophy should be taught and
practiced. But we desire still more that instruction and practice in the
secular sciences must proceed from the Christian life and world view: in
no single science may the light of God‘s truth be lacking. We believe
that our University education especially should be thetic rather than
antithetic, never merely eclectic and never reconciliatory. A Christian
University institution must expound Christian science positively, must
place it in opposition to non-Christian science, but never give
unconnected instruction, merely choosing here and choosing there, and it
may never try to reconcile or remove the fundamental opposition:
creator and creation, men and animal, individual and community,
authority and freedom remain in principle insoluble in one another.
University councils have no more serious vocation than to appoint the
right men and women for the teaching work; professors and lecturers
must be convinced Christian and National scientists (Rose and Tunmer,
1975: 126).
The above quotation illustrates the extent to which Christian National Education
1

influenced higher education in South Africa during the apartheid years, particularly after
the ascendancy of the Nationalist Party in the 1940s. With reference to other aspects of
white education at tertiary level the above quotation embodies the following principles:
the Christian basis of Afrikaner education, mother-tongue instruction and cultural
separation; the moulding of the child, clericalism and the complementary roles of the
church and state (Hofmeyer, 1982:100) (Ashley, 1989:59). According to scholars, these

1
Christian National Education was the official education policy of the Nationalist Party during the
apartheid era. It was informed by the religious element of the said Party that emphasised a religious state
heavily informed by Christian principles. Translated to education, education policy founded on Christian
principles that were conservative was implemented and promoted the world view of the Afrikaner as a
dominant group.




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principles, when applied to white education, resulted in an education that was
conservative, unilingual and heavily state controlled (Hofmeyer). Since the University
of Pretoria existed in this context, it was also influenced by these principles and
continued to be integrated with the culture and ideological outlook of the conservative
institutions throughout the apartheid years and even beyond.
A further reading of the quotation informed by the organisational culture of universities
reveals other aspects of Afrikaans speaking universities before 1994.
Organizational culture refers to the taken for granted values, the
underlying assumptions, expectations, collective memories, and
definitions present in the organization. It represents how things are
around here. It reflects the prevailing ideology that people carry inside
their heads. It conveys a sense of identity provides unspoken guidelines
for how to get along and enhances the stability of the social system to
which they belong (Cameron & Quinn, 1999:134).
Using Cameron and Quinn‘s (1999) framework to analyse the organisational culture of
the University of Pretoria, it can be asserted that during the apartheid years the
dominant ideology that informed ―how things were done‖, gave a sense of identity to
and enhanced the stability of the institution was that of Christian National Education.
When implemented as education policy and embedded in organisational culture, the
proposal in the quotation resulted in Christianised higher education that promoted
Afrikaner nationalism. In the excerpt, the following features of Afrikaner Nationalism
are identified: the religious quality of Afrikaner nationalism, the ideology of white
supremacy, institutional racism and ethnic mobilisation (Franzsenn, 1997:125-126). In
more practical terms, the institutional culture reflected mainly that ―the way things are
done‖ was heavily informed by the Afrikaner culture, ethos and mission.
The historical reality that needs to be emphasised is that the University of Pretoria was
founded as an apartheid university with a policy that supported racial discrimination or
exclusivity from the start. This commitment was in line with the policies of the
apartheid government. When university apartheid was enforced with the Extension of
University Education Act in 1959, the University of Pretoria, like other Afrikaans
medium universities, continued with minimal opposition to the government‘s higher



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education policy (Moodie, 1994:7). This trend characterised the institution until the
1990s, while at the same time it enjoyed a sustainable degree of autonomy (Bunting,
2004:49).
4.3 The University of Pretoria during the Democratic Dispensation
On the dismantling of apartheid and the election of a democratic government, the role of
the University of Pretoria as a South African university came to be redefined. The
institution could no longer afford to support the apartheid status quo but was to
experience a paradigm shift, that is, to move from a unilingual conservative university
to a bilingual, multicultural and reformed institution that sought to promote
transformation as outlined in the White Paper of 1997, thus partly embracing the culture
and ideology of the democratic period. The paradigm shift was not experienced only in
its philosophical outlook but also in the demography of the student population that had
become almost representative of the South African population.
The dawn of the democratic period found the University to be an institution that is
nationally and internationally recognised for its high standards of efficiency,
productivity and innovation. In 1996, two years after the first democratic elections in
1994, it was among the top five institutions in South Africa with regard to efficiency
and innovation. This was according to a project commissioned by CHET entitled ―The
Best in Higher Education‖. There are several measures of efficiency and innovation in
higher education, which indicate institutional productivity or the rate at which inputs are
translated into outputs. The measures used by the CHET study were the following:
undergraduate success rate, undergraduate throughput rate, relative cost efficiency,
research outputs. In one measure of efficiency, the undergraduate success rate, the
University of Pretoria was among the top five universities with an 82% rate. It can be
argued that this sizable figure illustrates that good teaching was taking place at the
University of Pretoria (CHET 1998:1). Although the study does not indicate the
percentage success rate of African students, it clearly illustrates that the university‘s
overall success rate is satisfactory.
With reference to the throughput rate, the national average was 20% in 1996 while
institutions with a percentage bordering on 20 were regarded as satisfactory. Once more,



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in terms of this measure, universities fared much better than technikons (universities of
technology). In this regard, the rate for the University of Pretoria was 22%: 7
th
out of
the 10 universities under study. Hence it could be argued that even with graduate
throughput, the University of Pretoria met the national average (CHET, 1998:2).Though
this may not be the best indicator, it shows that the university met the minimum
standards.
With regard to relative cost efficiency, the CHET study revealed that education at
universities cost much less than that at technikons. This positive attribute functioned to
the advantage of the University of Pretoria as a university because, for example, with
regards to economics, students are more likely to choose university admission. This was
illustrated five years later in market research (2002) conducted by Cornia Pretorius of
the Sunday Times, a national newspaper, when the University of Pretoria topped all
universities as being the most popular choice for higher education. This finding was
utilised by the Vice Chancellor, Professor Pistorius, who emphasised the point that the
University of Pretoria was positioning itself as the institution of choice for staff and
students. ―In the olden days, we were a strong white Afrikaans institution, but we have
transformed to a South African institution and we are happy the results are showing‖
(Pretorius, 2002:7).
Not only was the University of Pretoria a popular choice amongst students; but its
performance in research also makes it immediately and abundantly clear that it is among
the best research institutions. The University of Pretoria is positioned second in terms of
research outputs among all higher education institutions in the country, which, in terms
of scientific strengths, indicates the aspects of research outputs that the institution was
producing at required NRF standards. This further indicates that the University of
Pretoria continues to play an important role in contributing towards the production of
much needed research and knowledge for the growing South African democracy. This is
the trend that the institution continues to maintain since, even prior to 1994, it was
among the top 10 research universities in the country (CHET, 1998).
Considering the performance of the University regarding the aforementioned indicators
of what is best in higher education at the dawn of the democratic dispensation, the case



91

can be made that the institution is efficient in terms of meeting the two core functions of
the university: teaching and research. Furthermore, this efficiency could illustrate that
its performance was in alignment with the country‘s goals of producing skilled human
capital for the purposes of socio-economic development. This further illustrates that the
institution had for many years been esteemed for the important contribution it made to
socio-economic development. In the context of the policy developments and the
transformation debates discussed in chapter 3, it is therefore important to consider the
university‘s position on transformation and the extent to which it meets the needs of all
South Africans and the government‘s social justice mandate.
4.4 University of Pretoria as an “Innovation Generation” Institution
The shift towards serving the interests of all South Africans occurred gradually, with
several mission and vision statements being formulated and deemed as relevant to the
democratic dispensation. At the University, the mission, vision and strategic plan that
encapsulated the discourse of the democratic dispensation are to be found in the
Innovation Generation strategic plan, which documents the position of the University of
Pretoria as:
…. a leader in higher education in South Africa, and a research
university that is recognized internationally for academic excellence and
focus on quality. The university strives to be known for international
competitiveness, local relevance and a commitment to continuous
innovation, and to be the University of Choice for students, staff,
employers of graduates and those that require research solutions. It will
be a university with an inclusive and enabling value driven culture that
provides an intellectual home for the rich diversity of South African
academic talent and one that is committed towards discharging its social
responsibilities. The university must be a symbol of national aspiration
and hope, reconciliation and pride (Innovation Generation, 2000: 3).
According to the Innovation Generation documents, the strategic drivers of the
universities are:
Focus on academic endeavours;
Quality;
Local relevance;



92

Transformation;
International competitiveness;
Value driven organisational culture;
Sustainability; and
Innovation.
The strategic drivers identify the University of Pretoria as an academic institution that is
committed to providing access to all students in a supportive learning environment.
Quality implies that the academic curriculum is relevant to the needs of most
stakeholders and that the academic staff are motivated as regards the facilitation of
learning. Transformation is a crucial driver which indicates that the institution is
committed to the principles of democracy and redress of past inequalities and injustices.
The adoption of a value driven organisational culture is also an important position
which implies that it is inevitable for this institution to embrace transformation as a
value since it operates in a context that is informed by the transformation paradigm. A
focus on international competitiveness indicates that while the institution attempts to be
relevant it addresses both local and global needs so as to meet the imperatives of the
global knowledge economy. Sustainability indicates the commitment to transparent
responsibility and accountability, efficient and effective use of resources while utilising
appropriate monitoring and evaluating processes.
Since the title of the document is Innovation, it is important to cite the interpretation
thereof:
The essence of innovation is renewal and continuous improvement. It is
a powerful force that drives organizational competitiveness, and is
fuelled by a creative energy. It is recognized that the process of
innovation has two components, viz. the creation of new ideas or
inventions on the one hand, and market adoption of the other. It is
important that both components of the innovation process be managed.
In order to be successful, the innovations must often be accompanied by
organizational changes. Success will depend on the organization‘s
ability to translate its interpretation of the concept into the ability to
deliver quality products (Innovation Generation, 2000: 6).



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There are some positive aspects of the Innovation Generation‘s strategic framework. It
can be viewed as a precondition for the effective implementation of the main objective
of the University of Pretoria in the new millennium informed by the transformation
discourse. The document contains a comprehensive set of goals and priorities, ensuring
that all stakeholders and decision makers are able to pursue a common agenda more
coherently, an agenda that is unique to the University of Pretoria. This document can
also be considered as a tool to orientate all stakeholders towards implementing and
achieving the national call for innovation in higher education.
The concept of the ―entrepreneurial university‖ is also reflected in the document. This is
evident in the emphasis on creativity and innovation, which are the cornerstones of
entrepreneurship (Clark, 1998 :) In this regard South African social scientists like
Bundy advance the view that in relation to the adoption of the trend towards
entrepreneurship, the University of Pretoria became a pioneer in a context that is
strongly influenced by the global marketisation of education (Bundy, 2005:92).
Consequently, in a sense, the university must balance the demands of the marketisation
logic and those of transformation.
The University of Pretoria is engaged in multiple transformational challenges, which
include giving effect to its mission, strategic drivers and changes in the institutional
culture. The adoption of the Innovation Generation strategy at the University of Pretoria
is an example of organisational change that is aimed at institutional transformation as a
response to the national mandate, as well as at a transformed organisational culture.
This is a complex process that requires the core values and shared beliefs to alter and
become aligned to a shared vision of an ideal future. This kind of change is referred to
as organisational change by Senge (1990:9). In the case of the University of Pretoria,
the vision is to be a South African university that promotes the innovation generation, a
shared vision that is relevant and is timely, given the global pressures and local realities
of positioning the institution as a world player.
4.5 The Organisational Culture of the University of Pretoria
The adoption of the Innovation Generation strategic plan bears directly on the
organisational culture of the university, which, according to Thaver, is a subset of a



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much larger socio-historical process (2006:24). An understanding of organisational
culture is important to the study of institutional transformation because it tells of ―how
things are done‖ at a particular institution.
The work on organisational culture was likened to that on institutional cultures by
Tierney, with the aim of diagnosing cultures in universities and colleges and solving
problems while managing change (Higgins, n.d.:104). Tierney extends the term
―organisational culture‖ to the operations of universities as organisations and therefore
considers that a synergy exists between organisational and institutional cultures since
they have in common a focus on ―how things are done‖ as informed by the prevailing
and dominant ideology in any institution (Higgins, n.d.:105).
Since organisational cultures involve some pertinent aspects of the character and
integrity of any institution, for any institution to be relevant to its epoch and context, it
is inevitable that these aspects portray the said environment. In the case of the
University of Pretoria, this implies that its ideological dispositions were required to
portray the democratic dispensation as opposed to that of the apartheid past. At the said
University, the adoption of the Innovation Generation strategic plan signals another
change strategy and ideology informed by innovation – making improvements that are
substantially and ideologically different from those of the past legacy in order to be
aligned with the transformation imperative of the democratic state.
Understanding institutional cultures in the South African context has been influenced by
a global common sense of neo-liberalism as well as by local questions with regards to
racial and cultural identities in post-apartheid and post colonial society. According to
Higgins:
The current, dominant sense of the term in South Africa understands the
institutional culture of higher education institution through the lenses of
‗whiteness critique‘. In this perspective, it is argued, institutional culture
is above all experienced by black staff and students as the overwhelming
‗whiteness‘ of academic culture. ‗Whiteness‘ here refers to the ensemble
of cultural and subjective factors that together constitute the unspoken
dominance in higher education of Western, European and Anglo-Saxon
values and attitudes as these are reproduced and inflected in South
Africa. ‗Whiteness‘ is or can be experienced as an alienating and



95

disempowering sense of not being fully recognised in or by the
institution, and a consequent impossibility of feeling ‗at home‘ within it
(Higgins, n.d.:106).
In the South African context, the term ―institutional culture‖ is highly contested and
politically charged. The above analysis demonstrates that it is closely linked to the
impact of the legacy of past racial injustices of black subjugation and white dominance.
In this regard, Thaver takes the position that in comprehending institutional cultures:
…. we should be able to uncover various ways in which the racial
―politicking‖ of the old has been transmuted and reconfigured (in other
words, how it has been reinvented under the guise of ―politically
correct‖ rhetoric and democratic speak and even ―nation building‖ or,
alternatively how the old has been challenged and negated and how new
modalities are seen to emerge in their stead (Thaver, 2006:25).
For the University of Pretoria, the adoption of the Innovation Generation strategy
signals change. Though not an easy process, since it is meant to impact on the whole
organisation, it represents a step in the right, and relevant, direction because the
institution is attempting to conduct business differently from the past and to address the
challenges and realities of the current democratic era in the country.
The adoption of this strategic plan by the university is a distinguishing feature of a
complex organisation which is classified in the following manner by researchers such as
Bergquist:
Bergquist focuses on archetypes by which numerous institutions might be categorized
and described. He hypothesizes that different change strategies would be needed and
appropriate within the four different academic culture archetypes that reflect any higher
educational institutions – collegial culture, managerial culture, developmental culture
and negotiating culture. The collegial culture arises primarily from the disciplines of the
faculty. It values scholarly engagement, shared governance and decision making, and
rationality, whereas the managerial culture focuses on the goals and purposes of the
institutions and values efficiency, effective supervisory skills, and fiscal responsibility.
This contrasts with the developmental culture, which is based on the personal and
professional growth of all members of the collegiate environment. Lately, the



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negotiating culture values the establishments of equitable and egalitarian policies and
procedures (Bergquist, 1992, as cited in Kezar, 2002:439).
On the basis of Berquist‘s classification, and considering the status of the University of
Pretoria, it can be inferred that the institution falls under the collegial type. However,
the institution does not neatly fit into this category because of the past legacy and the
fact that it also contains pockets of the managerial type within it. Although the
reformational language and tone and some elements of transformation in the Innovation
Generation document might be present and the institution may appear to be a collegial
one, its management core continues to be more managerial in nature. Berquist‘s
classification is useful in explaining one aspect of the categorisation of the University of
Pretoria. A South African study that also deals with institutional classification is helpful
in this regard. According to File, the collegial model is an ―open system‖ subject to
environmental changes and internal demands, with integration being achieved by the
existence of a shared culture and a community of scholars (File 2000: 32).
The above aspect of collegiality is reflected in the strategic document, in the
proclamation of the adoption of a new organisational culture that is inclusive and
enabling and is based on the democratic rights and values of the constitution
(Innovation Generation, 2002:5). The fact that in theory and principle, the University
states in clear terms that it values the rights enshrined in the constitution is another
positive aspect of the document. However, due to the contested nature and politically
charged context of the South African higher education environment, the realities and
experiences on the ground continue to exhibit aspects of the political model in which,
according to File, the institution exhibits a diversity of interests within the institution,
lack of shared goals and a common vision; different sectors and groups with differential
access to power and resources; and problem solving based on bargaining and
compromise (File, 2000: 32). This is due to the power relations and contestations as a
result of the apartheid legacy and will continue to exist for some time. While an
organisational culture informed by collegiality has a greater chance of promoting the
social justice mandate because it is couched in the discourse of an inclusive culture, the
probability of achieving institutional collegiality is still in its infancy. It is an ideal that
needs to be pursued for the sake of protecting and maintaining a democratic institution.



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4.6 Competing Discourses at the University of Pretoria
In revealing other meanings attached to the Innovation Generation, it is useful to
employ recent approaches to policy analysis in education that are informed by critical
discourse analysis. This form of analysis is used by a number of progressive policy
activists, such as Taylor, as an investigative tool to explore change in new times and to
promote social democratic goals (Taylor, 2004: 435). A relevant point with respect to
the analysis of the document is to consider the kind of language employed in it. The
rationale behind this procedure is that language, in the context and times in which the
document is written, is used as a vehicle of knowledge as part and parcel of the
knowledge based economy – a distinct feature of globalisation (Taylor, 2004: 433). One
of the strategic drivers of the document is international competitiveness, whose purpose
is to benchmark the institution on an international level (Innovation Generation,
2002:5).
Another feature of critical discourse analysis that is useful to employ for comprehending
the meaning attached to ―Innovation Generation‖ is its focus, moving beyond
ideological critique to other forms of text and discourses that may mark the productive
use of power in the face of economic and cultural globalisation (Taylor, 2004:107).
Using the lens of such analysis, it is evident that in the institution‘s strategic plan, other
forms of discourse exist, namely those of neo-liberalism and social justice. The specific
values that capture the former are international competitiveness and innovation while
those that embody the latter discourse are those of transformation and local relevance.
In the said document, there is a juxtaposition of competing discourses, which is a
distinct feature of the fluidity of the era of South Africa as a 14 year old democracy.
This may be perceived as a positive state of affairs, but for the agenda of the present
study it will be positive only if, in the final analysis, the progressive social justice
agenda gains supremacy.
A closer examination of the text of the Innovation Generation reveals the language and
discourse of globalisation and indicates that neo-liberalism is predominant. This is
evidenced in the pervasive rhetoric and values of the market in the representation of the
text: for instance, most of the strategic drivers reflect certain aspects of market logic



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such as technological innovation, focus on excellence, students referred to as clients and
performance management systems (Innovation Generation, 1-14).
An important question stemming from the strategic document is the extent to which it
addresses the government‘s mandate of transformation and social justice. Indeed,
transformation is indicated as one of its important values. In comprehending the
meaning attached to social justice in this document, it is important to identify the
aspects that are closely similar to social justice as conceptualised in this research.
Transformation is one of the values that are identical to social justice as theorised in this
study, yet the transformation that is indicated in this document is one that is informed
by the organisational culture of neo-liberalism and is therefore more reformative in
nature, not promoting transformative radical social justice. Therefore, the discourse of
transformation informing the document is not in harmony with the original
transformation discourse which was informed by socialist discourse promoting equal
distribution and access to all social and economic services. The kind of transformation
in the document is reformist, focuses on minimal changes or adjustments and tends to
legitimate a neo-liberal project of globalisation. This researcher is weary of an uncritical
enthrallment with transformation that is more likely to prejudice the members of the
disadvantaged communities and perpetuate existing educational injustices. The tone
adopted regarding transformation in the document is neutral.
A further reading of the said document reveals that transformation as a value is
embraced and manifested in a variety of ways that attempt to be relevant to the current
era of democracy. Although the transformation as conceptualised in the document is
still couched in reformist language which points to commitment to the process of
modification without fundamental change, the fact that transformation is stipulated as a
value indicates a prima facie commitment, in principle, to progressive values. The
strategic plan as a response to the national systemic change informed by transformation
discourse also encapsulates elements of reculturing. According to Fullan, reculturing
refers to the process of developing new values, beliefs and norms (Fullan, 1996:422).
The aspect of reculturing is significant as a contemporary value of the Innovation
Generation, because it implies that all academic stakeholders across the generations are



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to embrace the value of innovation. This further reinforces the point made by a South
African researcher that:
Transformation …is not about changes in the composition of staff and
students, or changes in governance structures or course content
(curriculum). Essentially, it is about the transformation of the
organizational culture and the development and acceptance of new,
shared values. This can only be achieved through fundamental changes
in the mindset… of all stake holders and role players… (Fourie,
1999:277).
This conveys an important lesson for the Innovation Generation: that transformation
which impacts on organisational culture needs to bring to the fore both the bottom and
top structures in order to communicate. These sentiments are shared by Fullan (1999) in
contending that the three strategies that carry a greater possibility of effecting change
are networking, reculturing and restructuring. According to Fullan, networking is action
orientated and increases the involvement of the majority of stakeholders by means of,
for instance, ongoing, multilevel development. Reculturing entails developing new
values – transformation. Restructuring concerns changes in roles, and structures and
other mechanisms that enable new cultures to thrive (Fullan, 1999:422). Fullan's ideas
are applicable to the promotion of social justice because they concern building a new
and transformed order at an institution that promotes collaborative work and respects
diversity. For the university to fully realise the Innovation Generation credo, it needs to
reinforce its endeavours of networking, reculturing and restructuring. These are crucial
processes that fall beyond the scope of this research and need separate treatment.
However, Fullan‘s analysis is useful in explaining the extent of transformation at the
university and how it has met the government mandate of social justice. It enables one
to question the role played by the three centres being studied in the process of
networking, re-culturing and restructuring so that the university is seen to be meeting
the government social justice mandate.
Since the focus of this research falls on the three centres mentioned, in terms of the
strategies of transformational endeavour that fulfil the national social mandate, it is
proper to comment on how the strategic document treats them. The UPFY is given as an
example of transformation: it is perceived as an innovative approach to increasing



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access to mathematics, science and engineering by students from disadvantaged
backgrounds. Consequently, the UPFY contributes to the human and social capital of
the nation by equipping students in mathematics and science for the global knowledge
economy. CSA is mentioned in the section on students as an aspect of innovation that
contributes to a value driven organisational culture in addressing the university
community and other stakeholders affected and infected by HIV and AIDS. These
sentiments render the strategic document timely and relevant to one of the most
profound challenges of higher education in Africa. The IGWS is referred to under
―academic initiatives‖ as an area of special interest or expertise and research area
housed by the faculty of humanities. The institute accordingly adds value to the
Innovation Generation value of transformation since it focuses on gender – an aspect
that is high on both the international and national agendas. The three centres not only
embody most of the innovation values, they are also pertinent as agents of change
towards furthering social justice goals as envisaged in the present research. The sections
that follow will provide a detailed and critical analysis of the three centres. This will
constitute an attempt to analyse the extent to which the University of Pretoria is
addressing the national mandate of social justice.
4.7 Conclusion
This chapter has provided a brief background to the University of Pretoria during the
apartheid era and the succeeding democratic dispensation. It has demonstrated that
while there are competing discourses at the institution, the dominant institutional culture
is a conservative liberal one. This culture tends to favour the interests of the dominant
Afrikaner. It has also been shown that the University has embraced certain aspects of
transformation in terms of the Innovation Generation strategy. The influences of
neoliberalism and market ideology have also been shown to be present at the institution.
Regarding the conceptualisation of social justice, it is evident that, owing to the
dominance of conservative and liberal ideology and the influence of the market, the
kind of social justice that is espoused by the university possesses more liberal tones than
those of the radical left. It is clear that the institution has not completely shed its
conservative outlook.



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CHAPTER 5 − ACCESS AS SOCIAL JUSTICE: THE CASE OF THE
UNIVERSITY OF PRETORIA FOUNDATION YEAR PROGRAMME −UPFY
5.1 Introduction
In the previous chapters, various conceptions of social justice and their educational
implications were discussed. In summary, these views are the conservative conception
of social justice and its utilitarian – confirmatory function, the liberal tradition of social
justice and reformation and the radical view of social justice and transformation. The
previous chapters also furnished an analysis of the transformation agenda of higher
education in South Africa by means of a critical discussion of the transformation pillars
of higher education. In this analysis, it was indicated that increased access and
broadened participation in higher education comprises one of the policy agendas
informed by social justice as one of its goals to redress the imbalances and inequalities
of the past. However, the issue of access falls short of promoting radical social justice
because it is more fully informed by the neo-liberal paradigm that perceives the
economic or market value of access instead of by the holistic and transformation value
of access advanced by radical social justice. Consequently, for access to genuinely
promote a social justice agenda it also needs to reflect aspects of the radical conception
of social justice that informs this study. In chapter four, a brief synopsis of the
University of Pretoria and its position on access and the transformation pillars of higher
education was provided, and it was shown that the institution is committed to
transformation as exemplified in its strategic document regarding the Innovation
Generation. However, its stance towards access as social justice revealed conflicting
positions dominated by the neo-liberal agenda.
In the present chapter, access to higher education is explored in the case of the
University Foundation Year Programme – UPFY. The research question addressed
concerns how, and the extent to which, the University of Pretoria has fulfilled the social
justice mandate through the UPFY. This will be carried out at a conceptual level, firstly
by locating access as a social justice imperative within the broader debates with regards
to a global conceptualisation of access in order to illustrate how it complements the
agenda of radical social justice discussed in Chapter 2. Secondly, at a more experiential
and practical level, the research question will be addressed by means of a critical



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analysis of the interview data obtained from the participants in the UPFY case study.
Lastly, recommendations on how the UPFY can best fulfil the social justice agenda
underlying this study will be furnished.
5.2 Access to Higher Education as a Social Justice Agenda
The achievement of social justice is one of the greatest challenges of the 21
st
century
and education has been noted as a vehicle for accomplishing its objectives to reduce
oppression, inequality and other social problems. The rationale for education as a
vehicle in this respect is informed by the human capital argument that investment in
education is a key to the socio-economic development that would improve the quality of
life of all citizens (Schultz, 1970) in the long term. Related to this view of education is
the liberal notion that it has also added egalitarian benefits that would promote equality
in society (Bowles & Gintis, 2001). The socio-economic and private returns on
investment in education are crucial on a global scale and have been the goals of
Education for All – EFA (Smanoff, 2002) and the Millennium Development Goals
(World Bank). During the current century, the demand for increased access to and
participation in higher education is even more urgent owing to the cultural, economical
and political importance of the post secondary sector to the future of democratic
societies (Giroux and Schmidt, 2004). The importance lies in the fact that this sector
continues to build on the great democratic and civil rights struggles of the 20
th
century
which advanced education as a human right with the power to transform society, so that
principles of justice become a lived experience for all. In the current era of a knowledge
driven society, expanded access to education has become a necessary tool for ensuring
social justice. In the South African context, issues of access are similarly crucial to the
transformation agenda of higher education and of the state and are embodied in one of
the transformation pillars discussed in chapter three.
Studies across the world are in agreement that social justice is a key concern in current
educational policy and practice. The achievement of social justice as theorised in this
study entails the provision of equal opportunities to all citizens, the promotion of a
human rights culture and freedom from all forms of oppression and discrimination as
advocated by Young (2000) as well as the liberation of space proposed by Ramphele
(2002). Important as it is, social justice is quite complex in its application or



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implementation, particularly with reference to education. If we were living in a utopian
context, social justice would not be a relevant consideration because all would be
treated equally and the socio-economic benefits would be distributed equitably. The
reality of the world that we all live in is that people are not equal, resources and the
socio-economic system do not promote equality and that these factors render questions
of social justice imperative (Clark, 2006:275).
The elements of radical social justice in education are found in the writings of leftist
scholars who argue that in the pursuit for a just society there need to be just institutions,
curriculum justice and equity pedagogy (Clark, 2006:285). Equity pedagogy involves
teaching strategies and environments that help diverse students attain the necessary
knowledge, skills, and attitudes in order to function effectively within a just, democratic
society (Banks et al., 1995:152). This implies that, ideally, institutions of learning which
promote social justice need to ensure open access, and promote the success of their
students. The three progressive discourses that enliven social justice are critical
pedagogy, cultural studies and the anti-globalisation movement. The common feature of
these discourses is the call for education whose goal is to transform the socio-economic
status quo of neo-liberalism and globalisation and recommend socially just alternatives
(Hytten, 2006:222).
In other words, the vision and promise of social justice can be expressed as follows:
First it asks us to uncover, examine, and critique the values and politics
that undergird educational decisions and practices, even as we also
explore the more instrumental issues of organizing curriculum and
instruction. Second, it compels us to challenge educational common
sense and to ask important questions about why we do the things we do
in schools and who benefits from them. Third, it calls for us to attend to
the ways in which schooling often contributes to the creation,
maintenance and reproduction of inequalities, particularly along lines of
race, class, gender, language, sexual orientation, and other categories,
ultimately so we can construct more empowering alternatives (Hytten,
2006:223).




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The above passage illustrates that access to higher education needs to be more
empowering and liberating for students so that they can critically question the status quo
in order to transform it into better alternatives. Access, as theorised by the radical
tradition of social justice, moves beyond the obsession with numbers to a more holistic
empowerment of students so that they can make a meaningful contribution to the
development of democracy. Thus access needs to be informed by the elements of social
justice education.
5.3 The Elements of Social Justice Education Related to Access to Education
Since social justice is crucial and its implementation even more so, Clark argues that it
can only gain impetus if it is utilised as a standard against which policies and practices
can be judged (Clark, 2006:281). The tangible yet theoretical underpinnings of social
justice that promise empowerment and liberation are found in the principles of social
justice education, of which four key processes could bring about social justice in any
educational environment. According to Bell these are:
Dialogue;
Democratic decision making;
Student centred critical pedagogy; and
The analysis of oppression and systems of power (Hackman and Rauscher,
2004:4).

In addition to the above, social justice education possesses five components that lead to
more equitable learning and critical learning environments:
Content mastery – factual information;
Tools for action and social change;
Tools for personal reflection;
An awareness of multicultural group dynamics; and



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Tools for critical analysis (of systems of oppression) (Hackman, 2005: 103 -
104).
The abovementioned components enable learners to experience learning in a more
holistic manner and empower them to interact with others from diverse socio-economic
backgrounds. Furthermore, it enables them to relate their learning experiences to wider
and broader socio-economic issues with the purpose of making the world a more just
and better place for everyone.
Another educational trend that also encompasses certain theoretical underpinnings of
social justice education is Universal Instructional Design (Hackman and Rauscher,
2004:118). Although UID has its origin in architectural and building science with the
objective that construction building structures are accessible to all people, when applied
to education it means utilising instructional strategies which ensure that the diverse
body of students in any one institution can be accommodated (Silver, n.d.:1). Several
institutions of higher education around the world have latched on to the notion of UID.
The following principles devised at the University of Guelph are instructive:
Accessible and fair use;
Flexibility in the use of participation and presentation;
Straightforwardness and consistency;
Information is explicitly presented and readily perceived;
Supportive learning environment;
Minimise or eliminate unnecessary physical effort or requirement; and
Learning space accommodates both students and method (University of Guelph,
2003:1-4).
According to Silver, one of the proponents of the theory and practice of UID, the theory
thereof is important to higher education because, currently, such institutions receive
students from diverse backgrounds with regards to race, gender, class, ethnicity and
disability, and in order to accommodate this diverse body of students, they need policies



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that support full integration informed by universal social justice (Silver, n.d.:1). In other
words, higher education needs to be informed by the theory of inclusion, and social
justice, in order to meet the needs of the diverse body of students:
More specifically, UID focuses on educational equity like multicultural
education and social justice education, UID is designed to meet the
needs of students who have historically been underrepresented,
disempowered and oppressed within educational institutions.
Furthermore, UID, multicultural education and social justice education
call for educational reform as a means for actively engaging all students
in the learning process by placing students at the core of educational
planning (Pliner & Johnson, 2004:108).
A similar trend or educational theory that promises social justice is inclusive education.
In principle, in an inclusive institution, diversity is celebrated and valued, the
curriculum and delivery process accommodates all students and conscious steps are
taken to ensure that institutional resources are accessed and used equally by all (Nunan
et al., 2000:72-73). The main objective of inclusive education at all levels of schooling
is to reinforce social good as well as individual benefit by opening up access and further
creating an environment that promotes the capabilities of all, culturally and
economically (Nunan, 2000:87-86). As noted, advocates of inclusive education are
aware that it is a contested terrain which is perceived as unachievable and undesirable
by opponents but they maintain that, for the sake of promoting social justice, inclusive
education is a more appropriate standard of excellence.
The theoretical underpinnings of social justice and other related educational trends and
philosophies such as social justice education, inclusive education, critical pedagogy and
universal instruction design, though originating from diverse backgrounds, are united in
promoting and opening up access and encouraging the success of all students, regardless
of race, class, gender or ethnic origin. The diagram below attempts to sketch this
connection.



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Figure 5.1 − Social justice and related educational theories
In Figure 5.1 I develop a representation of the elements of social justice education
which have the potential for facilitating access and the success of students from diverse
backgrounds in higher education. The elements encompass inclusivity as opposed to
exclusion, and a critical pedagogy, as opposed to the compliance pedagogy associated
with conservative traditional education. All these aim to provide empowering and
liberating educational encounters while advocating an engaged citizenry and
democracy.
Figure 5.1 is also an attempt to illustrate that teaching for social justice must be
embedded in teaching and learning encounters in order to promote democracy and
overcome oppression at all levels of society, institutional and global, because in
contemporary society, both in the West and in the developing world, certain groups are
privileged more than others, leading to widespread oppression and some form of
complacency on the part of the oppressed and oppressors. In the contexts of these
injustices it is imperative for teaching to advance social justice. Teaching for social
justice means recognising marginalisation, exclusion and discrimination in their
multiple forms and then taking action to interrupt the cycle of oppression so as to foster
the quest for social democratic futures for all. This implies infusing social justice into
Social justice

Justice
Critical
Pedagogy
And cultural
Studies


cultural
s
t
u
d
i
e
s
Social
Justice
Education
Universal
Instructional
Design and
Access
Inclusive education
Education

















4
Eeducation



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every aspect of teaching and learning – curriculum, pedagogy and learning as illustrated
in Figure 5.1 – in an interconnected manner showing the continuous link between and
interrelatedness of the various aspects of teaching for social justice. The position of
teaching for social justice that this study supports is in close affinity with the position of
leftist scholars such as Freire (1997) and McLaren (2003). In this regard, Freire in the
seminal book Pedagogy of the Oppressed (1979), written thirty years ago, is still
relevant today in arguing that the goal of teaching is to focus on conscientising students
to be activists against all forms of oppression and promote social justice. McLaren
(2005) in similar vein stressed that teaching for social justice entails the education of
students to counteract the oppressive nature of capitalism and advance radical social
change.
In this study, I argue that for social justice to be genuinely implemented, the principles
of teaching for social justice need to frame the total teaching and learning encounters.
Thus the concept of inclusion as prescribed in Figure 2 is to be adopted as a social
justice strategy of achieving access and success for all students from diverse
backgrounds. Furthermore, inclusion entails utilising UID so that students with diverse
learning abilities are accommodated. Social justice education not only entails inclusion
but also crucial elements of critical consciousness and awareness of systems of
oppression and exclusion, with the goal of emancipation and freedom for all. In this
manner, the project of the Enlightenment is furthered through critical consciousness and
the quest for freedom. Social justice education is also grounded in the intellectual
ancestry of critical theory as discussed in chapter two.
Social justice calls for equity in terms of access, participation and success rates, which
has universally formed part of reform efforts in higher education, although to varying
degrees. Among the various motivating factors for this call, a prominent one in the
context of globalisation is the increased importance of the role of higher education in
producing skills for the global economy – furnishing both human and social capital
while meeting the social justice mandate of accommodating marginalised groups.
Social justice calls for equity in terms of access, participation and success rates, which
has universally formed part of reform efforts in higher education, although to varying



109

degrees. Among the various motivating factors for this call, as mentioned a prominent
one in the context of globalisation is the increased importance of the role of higher
education in producing skills for the global economy – furnishing both human and
social capital while meeting the social justice mandate of accommodating marginalised
groups.
In response to this call, diverse strategies or programmes emerged in an attempt to
mainstream diverse students from marginalised backgrounds. Throughout the world,
widening participation in higher education is central to education policies. It involves
different types of interventions which Osborne (2003) classifies into three types: in-
reach, out-reach and flexible programmes. In-reach access refers to those programmes
that focus on recruiting potential students into higher education, for example female
learners and learners from disadvantaged and marginalised communities and
backgrounds. Out-reach programmes concentrate on partnerships with employers and
the community. Flexible programmes refer to access through distance learning,
recognition of prior learning and usage of information and computer technologies
(Osborne, 2003:43). Other studies on access and participation in higher education refer
to the three approaches to access: firstly, the academic trend which seeks to attract
gifted and talented young people to traditional higher education, and secondly the
utilitarian strand which is influenced by the needs of the market and employers and
requires higher education in order to effect change that would meet these needs.
Thirdly, the transformative trend calls for higher education to create a transformed and
progressive institutional culture that focuses on long-term, institution-wide (not
atomised pockets of excellence) access initiatives that value diversity and difference as
strong points (Jones & Thomas, 2005: 619).
The transformative approach to access possesses impressive credentials for promoting
social justice as envisaged in the current research. However, institutions that have
adopted this approach are scarce. One example of a reform strategy that has adopted the
transformative approach is the University of Queensland‘s 2010 Strategy in Australia.
This strategy has been praised by proponents of the transformative approach such as
Taylor (2003) because according to her analysis it considers and prioritises investment
in human capital and social capital equally while employing diverse teaching



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approaches to meet the needs of diverse communities. The strategy explicitly adopts an
inclusive approach to access: ―Building success together‖ (Taylor & Henry, 2003:350).
Furthermore, this approach offers an important lesson for South Africa in its pursuit of
increasing access and broadening participation as a transformation pillar of higher
education.
In order for an access programme to fulfil the mandate of social justice as theorised in
the present study and demonstrated in the literature section as being one of progressive
and radical action, it needs to be eclectic with a variety of credentials as illustrated in
figure 1 above. The main discourse that informs these credentials is social justice
education as it seeks to promote holistic learning experiences that seek to transform the
classroom while it critically questions practices and conceptions in society that are
contrary to transformation. Accordingly, for institutions of learning to meet the criteria
set for social justice, access programmes, no matter what their scale, have been
important. The question remaining is whether these programmes fulfil all the criteria set
for social justice. The section that follows is an attempt to critically discuss the extent to
which the UPFY programme does so.
5.4 University of Pretoria Foundation Year Programme − UPFY
The UPFY as an access programme to mathematics and science at the University of
Pretoria is located in the Science Faculty. It was founded in 2000 as a response to the
national imperative to increase access and participation, and the increased national
demand for skills in these fields. These are regarded as priority skills in South Africa
because of a double imbalance in the South African labour market that led to an
undersupply of skilled labour in the fields of mathematics, science and engineering and
an oversupply in the social sciences (Woolard et al., 2003:459). The national and
general scarcity of mathematics and science skills was also particularly reflected among
disadvantaged communities, owing to national trends and their marginalisation during
the apartheid era. During that era, African students did not meet the entrance
requirements to study in the mathematics and science related fields at university because
of the sub-standard schooling they received (Howie, 2003:2).



111

The South African state responded to this economic and labour crisis by instituting
policies that aimed at transforming higher education institutions into being socially
relevant to the country‘s needs, particularly with regards to the scarce skills. These
institutions responded to this call by developing policies, programmes and practices that
allowed students from disadvantaged and marginalised backgrounds access to the said
disciplines. Increased access to higher education has been supported as a response to
social, political and economic imperatives in many countries. The 1997 White Paper on
Higher Education Transformation addressed these concerns as discussed in chapters two
and three. In 2001 the National Plan on Higher Education – NPHE, a follow-up policy
document – was produced by the government with a view to enhancing the
transformation agendas initiated by the White Paper 1997 and drawing attention to the
importance of equipping all graduates with skills and qualities required for participation
as citizens in a democracy (NPHE, 2001; Waghid, 2002:94). The NPHE produced six
broad goals based on previous policy documents regarding higher education
transformation. The national plan then further accentuates the importance of the
transformation project that higher education is supposed to fulfil, and thereby become
relevant to socio-economic imperatives of the country. The NPHE specifically targets
skills development for democracy in the global context. For instance, with reference to
economic concerns and the scarce skills imperative, the NPHE focused on changes in
enrolment in terms of the field of study. This implied an emphasis on increased
enrolment in the science, engineering and technology fields and a decrease of student
numbers in the humanities, business and commerce fields (NPHE, 2001; Waghid,
2002:93). An equally important target of the NPHE is the enhancement of the cognitive
skills of graduates required for participation as citizens in a democratic society and as
workers and professionals in the knowledge economy (Waghid, 2002:93). Thus, in
order to be socially and globally relevant, the NPHE made provisions for technical and
cognitive skills that would enable graduates to function and be relevant in the
competitive global context, while being informed by democratic principles.
The context in which UPFY was created was informed by an earlier transformation
policy and the following-up of the NPHE. The various aspects of the programme, such
as the profile of the manner in which students are taught and of the curriculum, reflect
this context and the policy imperatives that were created by it. The environment in



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which the UPFY was devised was also informed by debates on the relevance of higher
education to the socio-economic needs of the society. This was illustrated in the position
of Bawa (2000) in which he argues that against the background of the need to meet the
demands of globalisation, South African higher education must create a social contract
between the institutions and the public. Bawa suggests that the purpose of the contract
would be to build the intellectual foundations of society by focusing on both graduate
and undergraduate education, research, industrial partnerships, governance,
effectiveness and efficiency. The aspect of the social contract that is of particular
interest to this study and the UPFY is undergraduate education. According to Bawa,
Undergraduate education has a vital role of building the foundations for
the development of a broad-based indigenous intellectual culture,
steeped in a critical democratic ethos. It is a function which, with the
State, the higher education sector must maximally and actively widens
access to increase participation. It must therefore ensure that it is
delivered in the most cost effective ways (Bawa, 2000:7).
The undergraduate education referred to above represents the 18-24 age cohorts. The
majority of the students at the UPFY fall into this group, the importance of which, Bawa
asserts, lies in the foundations of national development. Some aspects of this social
contract are also reflected in the NPHE, in particular, the broad goal of enhancing the
cognitive skills of university graduates and of building democracy. The UPFY plays an
important role in fulfilling some of the positions advanced in the NPHE and Bawa‘s
social contract. Hence, even though it is small in scale, it plays an important part in
fulfilling the political and economic role of higher education.
The overall objective of UPFY is to increase the quality and quantity of mathematics
and science students at the University of Pretoria. The UPFY was designed to prepare
students from disadvantaged backgrounds, the majority being black, for careers in
science, mathematics and technology. The UPFY is an alternative to the historically
standard pathway of progression from high school to university with matriculation
exemption. The entrance requirements into the UPFY are lower than those of normal
university programmes because the programme supplements and improves students‘
matriculation performance so that there is parity between a university entrance
matriculation pass and the UPFY (De Beer & Golpalraj, 2005:1). The duration of the



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course is one year: it is designed to allow progression into higher education
mathematics and science fields as stipulated in the table below.
The UPFY students are required to write a selection test developed particularly to
evaluate a student‘s propensity towards the subjects mentioned.
Table 5.1 − The UFPY programme
Access courses at UPFY Admission requirements as per science faculty
Mathematics
Biology
Chemistry
Physics
English and Study Skills
Computer Literacy
Faculty Admission requirements
Natural and Agricultural
Sciences
UPFY pass
Engineering, Built
Environment and
Information Technology
UPFY pass and a minimum
of 65% in chemistry,
physics and mathematics
Health Sciences and
Dentistry
UPFY pass and propensity
for the medical profession
Source: (UPFY: www.up.ac.za/academic/upfy/programme. html. Accessed on 2/20/2005).

The table above shows the mathematics and science subjects offered at the UPFY and
the mathematics and science requirements as per the science faculty. It illustrates the
different faculties into which UPFY graduates feed on completion of the bridging
course. An UPFY pass refers to a 60% pass in the basic mathematics and science
subjects offered at the UPFY.
The UPFY as an access programme that exists in the current era of progressive teaching
and learning methodologies displays certain elements of cooperative teaching and
learning techniques. For instance, in a newsletter, the director of the centre expressed
these by saying that:
This is new physics; making science accessible to students who did not
have the opportunity before, assisting teachers in developing deeper
insights in the subject hand in hand with developing better teaching



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methods, and sharing the intellectual joy with colleagues has been the
leitmotiv throughout my career (UPFY Director, 2005).
The UPFY Programme attempts to correct the teaching and learning deficiencies of
apartheid education by using progressive teaching and learning methods which attempt
to address the needs of the students as a whole — fostering holistic development while
attempting to develop the student‘s positive self-esteem (UPFY Programme, 2005:3).
The assessment and teaching methods are student centred and practical, and relate to the
student‘s daily life. The assessment practices are based on Outcomes Based Education
and are informed by current research on best practices in assessment (UPFY
Programme, 2005:4). Other positive features are the small group/class size, about 25 in
each group, the employment of mentoring sessions, career talks and the provision of
accommodation by the university (4) (UPFY Programme, 2005:5).
2

The nature of the UPFY Programme accomplishes some of the elements of student
centred pedagogy at the academic level while also fulfilling the political and economic
mandate of affirmative action that seeks to redress the imbalances of the past. The
motive of the UPFY, to redress previous injustices, bears similarities with access
programmes that seek to broaden the participation of the previously disadvantaged in
Western countries (Bibbings, 2006:83). The aspects of affirmative action are contained
in the admission policy that requires lower grades and the exclusive admission of black
students – ―positive discrimination‖ (Bibbings).
Another related positive attribute of the UPFY is evident in that it accomplishes goals of
the transformation and redress agenda in the anti-elitism it signifies. At a glance UPFY
can be seen to address elitism because it adds diversity to a historically conservative
institution whose dominant culture was based on elitist principles of exclusion. The
issue of access as an antidote for elitism in higher education has been researched in the
South African context and found to possess positive attributes such as promoting social
inclusion and diversity (Ntshoe, 2003:381).

2
UPFY students were initially provided with fully sponsored board and lodging at the university
residences and were to be fully integrated into the social life of students at the university. But due to
financial constraints some of them commute from neighbourhoods around Pretoria and surrounding black
townships.



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UPFY as an access programme can be viewed as a human rights project. Global
research indicates that increased access to higher education has been informed by the
human rights discourse (Bibbings, 2006:87). In South Africa, the present educational
policy and legislative framework conveys the centrality of human rights standards and
intentions by which institutions can inform their educational principles (Keet, 2002:30).
This implies that UPFY fulfils the human rights mandate by extending the educational
rights of the participants so that they are granted the opportunity to fully develop their
potential.
5.5 Policy Implementation
This section presents the results of the study in three sections: key findings, the findings
as they relate to each research question, and additional findings not anticipated in the
original design. In many parts of this section, the researcher includes actual statements
from the interviews with participants in order to illustrate significant themes or
connections.
The main finding with reference to the theme of policy implementation is that UPFY
plays a crucial role in fulfilling the access mandate of the state, particularly since it
focuses on enhancing the disadvantaged student‘s skills in mathematics and science.
Furthermore, the responses obtained from the interview data share a common feature,
that of characterising UPFY as a redressing of the apartheid educational legacy. The
interpretation below reflects the sentiments illustrating UPFY as an access and redress
programme.
At management level, the director of UPFY argued that the project‘s aim is to redress
apartheid and fulfil the access mandate of the government, particularly in the
engineering, science and technology fields. This illustrates that the broader policy of
increasing access to higher education is owned and supported by people at management
level.
At implementation level, the statements of all the six facilitators were in harmony with
the management sentiments. The main purpose of the UPFY, as indicated, is to address
the needs of disadvantaged students by opening up access to the mathematics, science,



116

engineering and technology fields. The following digest of responses obtained from five
of the facilitators is illustrative.
UPFY mainstreams disadvantaged students into mathematics and science —
Physics
UPFY increases the number of blacks at UP: as regards access and success —
Chemistry
UPFY bridges the gap between schooling and varsity — Mathematics
UPFY helps previously disadvantaged students — Biology
UPFY empowers previously disadvantaged students — Life skills.
The above statements further reflect an understanding of radical social justice and social
justice education (Hackman & Raucher, 2001). For example, inclusion as an element of
such education is highlighted by the emphasis on opening up access to those that have
been previously disadvantaged.
5.6 Role of Project Managers
This section reports on the analysis of the responses to the question, “What is your role
in the broader mission of UPFY?” The question regarding the role of each facilitator or
project manager revealed how each of them had personalised their contribution to the
broader mandate of contributing to the access and success of students at UPFY. An
examination of the vertical line or row of learning facilitation revealed that the word
―teach‖ was the dominant action word used by most facilitators in describing what they
do with reference to their respective subjects. This response made it appear as if the
dominant mode of classroom interaction is the traditional instruction paradigm of
teaching, as opposed to the learning paradigm that evidences elements of progressive
teaching. It would have been of great concern if their responses had ended there.
However, a number of facilitators further qualified their teaching role with phrases such
as, ―teaching for understanding‖, ―designing a bridging curriculum‖, ―enhancing
student‘s knowledge in mathematics and science‖, ―making use of a constructivist
approach to teaching and learning‖ and ―encouraging critical reasoning in students‖.



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There is little doubt that the participants consider themselves as teachers first and
foremost, but of interest are the qualifications they ascribed to their teaching roles. The
descriptive roles illustrate that their role is to help students learn – focusing on learning.
These roles have characteristics similar to the OBE methodologies that have been
adopted in the country since 2000 (Lubisi, 2000). With reference to the teaching
methodologies used at UPFY, adopting a constructivist approach to learning and
teaching was also prominent. This further resembles certain aspects of the OBE
teaching and learning methodologies.
The facilitation of the student‘s involvement in academic development emerged as a
role that is common to most facilitators. In this regard, they viewed themselves as
mentors, role models in the ―rare‖ field of mathematics and science whereby they guide
the student on a path to success. In this role they provide motivation sessions as a means
of empowering students for success in the field. They also facilitate the bursary
application process so that those who do not enjoy financial support can obtain
assistance from sponsors.
As a result of the three roles, the enhancement of the student‘s holistic development is
clearly evident. The facilitators develop the cognitive, emotional and material needs of
the students; hence, at UPFY, most learning facilitators are more than merely teachers;
their role is extensive.
However, in their statements most of the facilitators did not make reference to their
roles as intellectuals who are aiming at the goal of questioning the context of their
teaching and transforming it. From the perspective of radical social justice, this is a
crucial function because intellectuals have a dynamic role to play in this regard, in the
process broadening democratic possibilities. What is missing is Giroux‘s position with
regards to radical intellectuals:
On the one hand, radical intellectuals earn a living within institutions
that play a role in producing a dominant culture. On the other hand,
radical intellectuals define their political terrain by offering students
forms of oppositional discourse and critical social practice at odds with
the hegemonic role of the university and the society which it supports
(Giroux, 1988:151).



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Giroux further develops the notion of radical and transformative intellectuals who may
emerge from any social class, with the goals of resisting the suffocating knowledge and
practices of capitalist conditions of oppression (Giroux, 1988: 152); therefore, in terms
of the perspective of radical social justice, the roles of the facilitator are presented as
being neutral and fulfilling the agenda of the hegemonic ruling class. In order for the
state of affairs to be more conducive to radical social justice, there is a need for the re-
education of facilitators in the dynamics of critical pedagogy and the role of
transformative intellectuals.
However, some of the input of most of the facilitators regarding their role in the
facilitation of learning reveals certain elements of social justice education, though to a
limited extent. In their utterances, there are aspects of student-centred critical pedagogy
(Hackman & Rauscher, 2000). They express a sense of putting the students first in the
learning process and guiding them in the mathematics and science fields. In this regard,
aspects of social justice education which are dominant and clearly evident are student-
centredness and critical thinking. This illustrates that while the facilitators may possess
some understanding of progressive teaching methods; this understanding does not go
beyond student-centredness and critical thinking to include aspects such as an
awareness of oppression and systems of power, and engaging with diversity and
dispositions to transform oppression so as to promote a socially just world. Given this
state of affairs, it would be of great benefit for the future if UPFY were to explore the
possibilities of familiarising facilitators with other aspects of social justice education.
In spite of the above, not all facilitators are alike in adopting the indicated neutral or
apolitical stance towards classroom experiences. Only one discerning voice reflected
elements of resistance, and the political nature of classroom encounters and a university
learning environment as a whole, by indicating that the UPFY course has been
―buggered‖ for profit making (Mathematics Facilitator). Since most facilitators operate
in a university context, by virtue of their being intellectuals, their role falls short of
fulfilling the radical social justice agenda. Most of their utterances were silent with
regards to the role of engaging and changing the lives of the students and the society in
which they live. The position of critical pedagogy on this matter is that teachers and
students should become the chief mechanism for social change and that this can only



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take place when the subjective positions of students are taken seriously (Giroux,
1988:152).
5.7 Conceptualisation of Social Justice
Social justice as conceived by the participants from the UPFY reveals the complexity of
the concept in theory and practice. However, points of commonality were displayed by
them. These were concerned with social justice being fulfilled by the UPFY mandate to
ensure access and the success of previously marginalised groups. The overall meaning
attached to this process has to do with correcting the educational injustices of the past
with respect to policies and practices. Succinctly, social justice could be viewed as
―getting learning right‖.
According to the director, the UPFY focuses on addressing the access problem by:
Admitting students from disadvantaged backgrounds. The Programme
provides quality training with the best trained teachers in the best
available facilities and resources. It is an ideal Programme addressing
the needs of disadvantaged students (2004).
The director further added a critique of social justice. According to him, the concepts
―disadvantaged and social justice‖ need to be re-assessed because the status of being
disadvantaged has changed during the 14 years of democracy.
The conceptualisation of social justice by the five facilitators added an illustrative
dimension that relates more to the practice of social justice and ―getting learning right‖.
These goals would involve ―empowering students with a humane culture, empowering
students through the enhancement of their knowledge, promoting diversity tolerance by
making the University of Pretoria more culturally and demographically representative,
and making transformation a real lived experience of everyone‖. Added to these
responses was the mention of re-educating the whites about teaching black students,
addressing white cultural dominance and dealing with the conservative Afrikaner
culture. In facilitating the process of learning about other cultures, the UPFY could
benefit by using the mechanism for creating a multicultural and social justice
organisation suggested by Anner (2000). In this regard, a mechanism that would be



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appropriate is to build personal relationships between members from different
backgrounds.
The language and discourse of empowerment and transformation permeated most of the
responses. According to the physics facilitator, social justice is complex to define and
practise; upgrading the socio-economic status of the marginalised and turning their
disadvantaged status into that of being advantaged could be viewed as social justice. In
the educational arena, social justice would entail a re-education of the African child by
broadening her/his knowledge of career choices and encouraging him/her to take up
careers in rare fields such as mathematics and science (Physics Facilitator). This implies
that social justice education promotes the demystification of science by making it
popular and accessible to more students, particularly those from marginalised
communities. This position is in line with the inclusive nature and broadened
knowledge conception of social justice advanced by Odora-Hoppers (2001).
Related to the above, the Chemistry and the Life Skills facilitators expanded on the
social and personal dimension of social justice. The chemistry facilitator used another
educational and practical example of social justice in referring to building the
confidence of African children: addressing their false inferiority complexes and
enabling them to perceive that their worth is equal to that of any other student. Social
justice would also entail educating black students with regards to diversity and survival
skills on campus. The life skills facilitator views social justice as a process that would
lead to inculcating the values of good citizenship in African children. Empowering
African children and assisting them would also constitute social justice. While the
personal and social dimensions mentioned above contained some relevant aspects such
as empowerment and good citizenship, they fall short of the liberatory and
emancipatory possibilities of radical social justice.
The mathematics facilitator provided an illustrative account of social justice relating to
education transformation — promoting participatory and democratic curriculum
planning:



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So it is pointless by saying that I transform my unit by including the
majority of blacks, when the majority of that staff have no effect on the
policy, no effect on the direction of the course (2005).
Although the mathematics facilitator mentioned the relevant elements of social justice,
there were contradictions in his statement. This emerged in the mention of
transformation being pointless because of the lack of decision making powers on the
part of black staff and the difficulty in paying fees experienced by the UPFY students.
His statements illustrate the manifestation of powerlessness as a face of oppression, in
Young‘s (2002) terms. This implies that although the majority of staff at the UPFY are
black graduates, they still lack decision making powers with regard to policy and
financial issues and are therefore marginalised. Furthermore, this practice indicates the
intentionally limited commitment to change. Instead, UPFY is more committed to the
culture of compliance although the experiences of some of the staff members do not
reflect any transformation. In terms of institutional cultures, the sentiments reveal
Higgins‘ (n.d.) description of the institutional culture of higher education as being one
of white dominance, as experienced by most blacks. What can be deduced from this is
that the mathematics facilitator is situated in a contradictory position, with a disposition
that is counter to the dominant white and Western culture.
According to this facilitator, social justice is reflected in the ethos and dynamics of the
UP but requires further transformation and ―letting go‖ of the apartheid past,
particularly the practices that counteract social justice and promoting those that
encourage it. According to him, qualities that foster it include:
cultural recognition;
uplifting the socio-economic status of the marginalised and disadvantaged;
adopting ideas and practices of progressivism;
teaching with compassion;
democratic curriculum planning; and
addressing the commercialisation of higher education.



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The sentiments of the five facilitators reflect a variety of conceptions of social justice.
Some strands of the conservative tradition are apparent in the emphasis on social justice
as being redistributive of socio-economic benefits to the marginalised, while at the same
time; certain elements of the radical conception of social justice are evident in the
emphasis on democratic curriculum planning, adoption of progressive ideals and
empowering the African child with principles of good citizenship. These ideals are
similar to those of radical educators, such as Giroux‘s position that education should be
for the public good informed by principles of democracy and social justice (Giroux,
2004). Subsequently, it can be inferred that the facilitators at the UPFY are a mixed
group who evidence sentiments of progressive social justice, even though this is in its
infancy here. Hence, in order for this form of justice to be nurtured, much work is
required in this regard.
5.8 Intended Outcomes of the UPFY
The general responses of the participants to the question on the outcomes of the UPFY
further reflect the broad policy intentions, noted earlier, of increasing access and the
success of previously marginalised groups in the mathematics and science fields. Some
of the responses relate the outcomes to macro issues such as contributing to the socio-
economic development of the country and the promotion of South Africa‘s self-reliance
in certain scarce skills.
The responses further revealed the broad nature of the programme, in the mention of
cultural transformation and the equal ownership of the University of Pretoria by all
stakeholders, the adoption of an inclusive culture, the promotion of openness and
transparency. Such outcomes were identified by progressive facilitators who identified
with the constructivist approach to teaching and learning. At the micro and programme
levels, the responses indicated that the educational outcomes include the enhancement
of students‘ study skills, and knowledge in the four fields mentioned. Once the student‘s
knowledge is enriched so as to facilitate her/his success at the university, most
participants indicated the following as part of the long-term outcomes of the
programme:
increased numbers of black mathematics and science graduates;



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mainstreaming disadvantaged students in the field of mathematics and science;
and
the enhancement of cultural transformation.
The overall image presented regarding the outcomes of the UPFY ensures positive
solutions to the past and current situation of a deficient education system. The intentions
of the project, according to the facilitators, are to rise to the scarce skills challenge as
revealed by South African research (Woodlard, Kneebone and Lee, 2003). In addition,
certain political outcomes are linked to the transformation agenda of higher education in
South Africa, for instance, the intention to be accommodative and inclusive of all
cultural groups, even the minority cultures. Although this is mentioned in passing, it is a
project that the UPFY needs to pursue in future so that it avoids being stigmatised as a
―black only‖ project. In terms of radical social justice, the UPFY as such a project
would become a problem because it perpetuates positive discrimination, appears
exclusionist and therefore runs counter to certain of the concepts of inclusion. Some of
the outcomes of the UPFY stand the chance of perpetuating affirmative action — a new
form of apartheid. In terms of the radical position of social justice, this is problematic
because any developmental and empowerment initiative needs to target everyone.
5.9 Research
Research as an important function of all the facilitators of the UPFY did not emerge as a
concern in the interviews with the majority of them. However, the physics facilitator
communicated the following research passion:
Performance of children in science and technology in the SADC region;
Demystification of science;
Simplification of complex concepts in science;
Teaching physics from the African perspective;
Making science accessible to African children; and
Challenging the bias towards social science and humanities in Africa.




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The position of the said facilitator with regards to research is broad and focused on the
African and Southern African context – that in which the University of Pretoria
operates. An important point that he raises is the demystification of science and making
it more accessible to African students. This position addresses the commonly held
position, influenced by Bantu Education, that mathematics and science are not good for
African students.
Addressing the bias towards natural sciences versus the human sciences presents a
further important concern which is international in nature. On this issue, radical scholars
such as Giroux raise the important issue that the humanities in higher education are
being eroded by the emphasis on sciences and business and management sciences
(Giroux, 2006). This trend has contributed to the production of higher education
graduates that are out of touch with the common good of higher education with
reference to democracy and good citizenship.
At the time of the interview, one facilitator indicated that there was no tracer study of
the UPFY students once they have entered the mainstream. This is one research area on
which the programme could focus.
The research agenda that emerges from the UPFY data indicates that there is great
potential for the UPFY to make a meaningful contribution to the field of inclusive
education and indigenous knowledge systems as an aspect of social justice (Odora-
Hoppers, 2001), a field that the UPFY could latch on to in order to be socially relevant
to the South African society. The sentiments of the physics facilitator also reflect the
positions of other researchers with regards to research in higher education in a
transformed context. For example, Waghid states that:
Transformation in higher education involves a process of new
knowledge production, reflexive action, which means seeing new
problems and imagining new ways of approaching old problems, and
deconstruction or reconstruction or constant exploration beneath surface
appearance ―to respond to a future that cannot be imagined‖ (Waghid,
2002:459).




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What is evident in the above quotation is a broad research agenda that seeks to address
new ways of doing things. In this context, there is room for unlimited exploration and
discovery of diverse research topics such as inclusive education and social justice
education.
5.10 Challenges
The data point to inadequate financial resources as the most overwhelming challenge,
which inhibits the full implementation of the UPFY access programme. Financial
inadequacies manifest themselves as poverty at the societal level. For example, the
poverty stricken background of students was frequently mentioned as a major problem.
At the institutional level, the centre is also experiencing financial difficulties. The centre
attempts to address these financial issues by assisting students to acquire sponsorship;
but sponsors are hard to come by.
A further challenge was related to the management of the University of Pretoria: This
was identified as a lack of proper vision and the misinterpretation of employment
equity.
… if they continue to disguise empowerment by continuing to employ
more white women, which fits employment affirmative action criteria
and say this is our actual employment figures this year… But also when
you look at the staff that we have now, we have 32% of black staff. Is
that staff happy? Do they feel part of this University; do they feel
welcomed in this university? And by and large the wealth and the
resource that it has, the real property is not the buildings, it is the
intellectual property that it has. It is the people that it has and it is the
staff members, and if the staff is unhappy, the productivity will be
negative. So these are the challenges, the challenges of the people who
do not want to change which means the university will not change
(Mathematics Facilitator, 2005).
It can be deduced from the above quote that most black staff at the UPFY are generally
not happy with the pace of transformation and the implementation of polices such as the
Employment Equity policies. They experience the negative impact of an organisational
culture that is hostile to transformation and to fully correcting the injustices of the past.
As valuable assets and intellectuals they perceive the proclaimed change as non-change.
The sentiments in the quote also reflect their view that the institutional culture of



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universities in South Africa mirrors white dominance and the concomitant lack of power
that blacks possess to change the state of affairs.
Their experiences further reflect the issue of the mismatch between policy outcomes and
expectations: that is, among the outcomes of the transformation policy are pockets of
resistance to change and ethnocentricity which clash with the expectations of a united
democratic rainbow nation. This scenario is manifest in a number of settings in the
country.
The common educational challenges mentioned were the lack of preparedness of
learners for tertiary education by the schooling system. This problem, according to most
of the facilitators, manifests itself in other challenges such as the students‘ inadequate
background in mathematics and science, lack of exposure to the field and very low
academic literacy. As far as the director of the centre is concerned, the challenges that
face the UPFY, in this regard, can be classified in terms of financial need, English
proficiency, and family issues. All these factors affect the skills that are needed by
students in order to cope with the tertiary learning environment.
The cultural integration challenge also emerged as a significant factor. This was to be
expected, given the fact that the UPFY is a programme in a historically conservative
white institution which evidences traces of segregationist ideology as opposed to that of
―multiculturalism‖ or the ―melting pot‖ metaphor. This challenge is evident in the
persistent culture of white entitlement, resistance to change and the marginalisation of
black staff members from policy making.
In other words, although the UPFY is attempting to be a microcosm of a transformed
democratic society, the ―rainbow-nisation‖ process continues to meet with major
problems. The experiences of most of the facilitators, especially those who are black,
indicate that white conservative Afrikaners still wish to maintain the core and
dominance of their culture.
The challenges that the UPFY faces as it implements the access and success mandate of
the government are manifold and interrelated. These illustrate the magnitude of the



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socio-economic injustices that continue to plague the marginalised and disadvantaged
communities, even fourteen years after the start of the democratic dispensation. At the
educational level, the challenges seriously compromise the teaching and learning culture
and are most likely to compromise the access and success mandate.
In further explaining the challenges that the UPFY faces, it is useful to employ
McLaughlin‘s (1998) concept of an implementation problem, which refers to a situation
where policies are not being implemented as planned (McLaughlin, 1998:81). In the
case of the UPFY, for instance, the original plan was to offer full sponsorship for all the
students, but as time passed, this became a problem: full sponsorship could not be
sustained. Once again, the financial commitment of the university towards redress is
placed under question. It also illustrates another important development in higher
education (see chapter four) regarding the impact of market logic or the
commodification of higher education services (Apple, 2005). It appears that the
university has been affected by this to such an extent that it has lost touch with the
needs of the students from poverty stricken backgrounds. This could explain the
dwindling financial contribution of the university management to the UPFY
programme.
5.11 Addressing Challenges
Policy outcomes are far from matching educational expectations, mainly
because of insufficient or no implementation. The reason most education
policies are not implemented is that they are vaguely stated and the
financing implications are not always worked out (Psacharopoulos,
1989).
The above statement was made 20 years ago and it still applies today even in the case of
the UPFY. As has been indicated, the main challenges regarding the full implementation
of the UPFY are financial. Therefore, making a strong financial commitment to the
programme would contribute to its smooth and full implementation. This solution was
included in the responses of most of the participants.
Educational reform policies in South Africa have been dominated by attempts to meet a
high level of needs for ―person power‖ and to employ the discourse of transformation to



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fulfil the other needs of the new democracy. At institutional level, these reform efforts
as reflected in various projects, like the UPFY, encountered various challenges that
exerted a negative impact on their full implementation.
In addressing these challenges various solutions have been suggested by the facilitators.
Most of the solutions are on the lines of reinforcing the UPFY mission so that it
continues to fulfil its mandate of providing access to the previously disadvantaged
students in the given fields.
Since respondents identified the issue that the lack of financial resources presents the
greatest challenges, obtaining finance for all the UPFY activities, particularly student
bursaries, was suggested as a solution. The main strategies of the director are to acquire
funds to address these critical financial needs. Since UPFY is an access programme that
is a response to the national mandate to increase access as a social justice imperative,
the director argues that there is a need to re-conceptualise both access and social justice
since the terms are not clearly defined. According to him, it is through their clear
conceptualisation that the programme will be able to meet its outcomes.
It was suggested that the solution to the educational and pedagogical challenges lies in
the development of the curriculum and the student as regards academic skills. With
reference to curriculum concerns, two aspects emerged, firstly the design of a proper
curriculum that is contextualised and is able to increase the student‘s knowledge
quantitatively and qualitatively. Secondly, another interesting point that emerged in
connection with the curriculum was that it needs to be informed by the African
perspective. The reformed mode of delivering the curriculum emerged as an important
solution. In this regard, most of the facilitators suggested that adopting progressive
educational strategies on a broader scale would enable students to learn much more.
Also of note is the mention of the deployment of constructivist learning theory.
With reference to the academic development of students, most facilitators felt that this
programme needs to be reinforced so as to treat the students holistically and to provide
the following services:



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Career guidance;
Aptitude testing;
Empowerment and motivational programmes;
HIV AIDS counselling;
Drug counselling;
Preparation for the world of work and the world of self-employment; and
Engaging in research on the performance of African children in mathematics and
science.
The above activities are in place at the UPFY and form part and parcel of its normal
operations. However, since they have been highlighted they need to be reinforced and a
task force assigned so that they can receive proper attention.
The challenges listed by the UPFY staff reflect the broader issues of implementing
social justice in a context that is employing a conservative form of social justice. Since
the institution as a whole is a neo-conservative liberal university it could be inferred that
the conception of social justice dominant at the UP is one that is liberal and reformist.
This view does not advocate the transformation of the capitalist status quo as the radical
conception does; therefore, perceiving it through a liberal lens, the UPFY is an
exemplary project, par excellence. But in terms of a radical social justice perspective,
the UPFY still needs to address other challenges such as re-educating the African child
about the social relevance of mathematics and science and their role in contributing to a
socially just world in a more holistic manner.
5.12 The Uniqueness of the UPFY – Other Emergent Factors
The director of the UPFY stressed that contrary to the common experiences of other
centres and programmes on campus, the UPFY is not marginalised. The programme
enjoys full management support and is fully integrated into the faculty of science. The
success factor of the UPFY during its short experience has been to produce students that
are on a par with mainstream students. However, despite the positive attributes above,



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the problems of financial needs of the UPFY students remain both consistent and
persistent.
5.13 Critical Appraisal of the UPFY
The problems of the UPFY will be treated according to the critical tradition that informs
this study. When it is viewed through the lens of the critical theory tradition, a number
of contradictions and gaps are apparent in the programme, for example, the danger of
stigmatisation, and the mathematics and science bias.
In terms of the philosophy and logic that informs the UPFY as regards the redressing of
apartheid educational injustices, there is evidence of certain elements of social justice
education as theorised in the current research. For instance, the programme employs
individualised instruction responsive to the needs and problems of the student and
follows a holistic and inter-disciplinary approach to the curriculum (De Beer &
Golpalraj, 2005:1). Individualised instruction is used in conjunction with a student
centred approach together with certain aspects of dialogue. These two strategies reflect
the sentiment of social justice discussed above (Hackman & Rauscher, 2000). However,
the use of progressive education techniques does not entail other aspects such as a
critical analysis of systems of oppression and power and the ability of students to act as
change agents (Hackman & Rauscher). This implies that students at the UPFY need to
be provided with contextualised information that critically engages the dynamics of
capitalism and neo-liberalism so as to create better solutions to current problems. For
instance, an awareness of how societal, economic, moral and religious values suppress
many groups so as to maintain the status quo of the privilege of the advantaged groups,
as compared to the disadvantaged groups, constitutes one element of combating the
systems of oppression. This would go a long way towards empowering students to
question even the very existence of the UPFY. Although there are some pockets of
social justice in the UPFY, in order to promote genuine social justice education, it
would be advantageous for the programme to explore the possibility of broadening its
mandate to include contextualised information with regards to the political economy of
capitalism and neo-liberalism and the quest for alternatives to the status quo.



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The UPFY project is a microcosm of the wider South African higher education scenario.
By addressing the access mandate, the UPFY erects the broad transformation pillar,
increased and broadened participation, which is crucial for the relevance of higher
education to societal needs. However, the UPFY could also make practical contributions
to the enhancement of transformation and to creating an educational institution
informed by social justice by adopting some of the mechanisms required to build a
successful multicultural and socially just organisation: such as encouraging
relationships between members from different groups, fostering social justice activism
together with community organisations and confronting white privilege and nationalism
(Anner, 2000:494). While the mechanisms stem from a western and American context,
it is useful for the UPFY to adapt some of its provisions because they are relevant to
addressing the conservative organisational culture of the University of Pretoria that
perpetuates marginality, and exclusion from power, of people from disadvantaged
communities. In brief, the mechanisms suggest that the university needs some form of
re-education to learn about dealing with introducing an organisational culture that is
conducive to social justice and inclusion. In this regard, undergoing the process of re-
culturing, as suggested by Fullan (1998), would also go a long way towards building a
campus climate conducive for the promotion of social justice.
Furthermore, in terms of critical theory and pedagogy, the intellectuals, activists and
facilitators at the UPFY need to be explicit about their role if they perceive it as
liberating the consciousness and learning of the student, the curriculum, research and all
other activities performed by the UPFY. They need to broaden their activity to the wider
university context so as to address instances of white dominance in an institutional
culture. There must be a critique of this in most of their activities, as well as a critical
questioning of the context of their teaching and learning and the extent to which the
status quo is liberatory or confirmatory. What has emerged from the data analysis is the
limited critique of the context of the university. By critique, the study does not imply
the encouragement of a culture of complaint, but the interrogation of dominant
practices, hidden and obvious, that threaten to undermine genuine inclusion and the
agenda of radical social justice.



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5.14 Conclusion
The UPFY Programme is informed by the transformation agenda that advances non-
sexism, non-racism, integration and inclusion. By admitting exclusively black students,
the UPFY is perpetuating segregation on racial grounds. For this reason, it is in danger
of being stigmatised because it is associated with a population group that is perceived as
experiencing deficiencies and needing remediation. Instead of being perceived as a
developmental programme with a long term impact, it might be viewed as a remedial
programme that only exerts a short term impact. Furthermore, there is also the related
problem of negative labels accorded to the UPFY candidates that might lead to the
programme being a breeding ground for racism, social intolerance, and an extremist
culture. Consequently, in the long run, owing to stigmatisation, the UPFY may actually
exacerbate the access problem it originally sought to alleviate.
Although the UPFY was created or set up to deal with the problem of scarcity of skills
in the natural sciences, a goal which it is fulfilling, the curriculum of the programme
communicates a bias towards the natural sciences at the expense of other skills that are
essential for the youth to make a meaningful contribution to democracy. The scale and
focus of the UPFY Programme are also problematic. A significant difficulty is that it is
not an institution-wide programme but can be described as a minimalist model designed
and confined to the faculty of natural sciences.
The UPFY can be seen as an access programme that is driven by a mixture of
philosophical rationales, from progressive social justice education to economic
imperatives and development of skills in science, engineering and technology. These
rationales inform the educational institutions of most countries, particularly in the global
context where there is a growing need for skills in the said fields. At face value, the
programme can also be said to be fulfilling utilitarian needs because it specifically
contributes to the production of graduates in mathematics, science and engineering and
technology, areas that are earmarked by the market and industry as being important and
of value only to the human capital market.
The crucial question to ask is whether the UPFY‘s rationale is one of social justice and
of dealing with the nature of the challenges faced in advancing it. It has been shown



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above that the responses reveal that the UPFY has potential for fulfilling the mandate of
some elements of social justice. The chapter that follow focused on the case of IGWS
and social justice.



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CHAPTER 6 − IGWS AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
―In theory women‘s position in society has been greatly improved – in
reality this does not seem to be happening‖ (Sharita Samuel, 2001).

6.1 Introduction
The central question addressed in this chapter is whether the IGWS fulfils the higher
education transformation mandate of fostering social justice through the promotion of
gender equality. It is my contention that such equality in South Africa can become
socially relevant if guided by radical social policies which promote gender justice. It is
also my contention that gender equality, if framed in the language of radical social
justice, boasts extremely impressive credentials for promoting human beings from
circumstances that enslave them – those of domination and oppression. Its emphasis on
human beings as self-creating producers of their own history is remarkable. This point
will be argued by locating gender within the broader global developments leading to
gender mainstreaming. This is done so as to provide a conceptualisation of gender
equality and its links with radical social justice. A consideration of the role of IGWS
will be provided to illustrate an appropriate setting and context. This will be followed
by a report on the analysis of data that seeks to address the central research question.
6.2 Gender Equality in the Global Debate
The quest for gender equity has been one of the leading priorities on the agenda of
nation states and international organizations such as the United Nations during the 20
th

and 21
st
centuries. In this search, gender equality activists and feminist scholars have
also played a crucial role in trying to advance gender equality and transformation of
institutions at national and international level – particularly regarding processes of
marginalisation and exclusion. Informed by the human rights culture and the dominant
egalitarian and liberal ideologies, most nation states adopted the United Nations‘
internationally agreed strategies, standards, programmes and goals to advance the equal
status of women and women worldwide (CEDAW 2003:3). The specific examples are
found in the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against
Women (CEDAW) of 1967 and 1979, the United Nations Women‘s Decade 1976-1985



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and the Beijing Platform for Action of 1995. Social researchers and feminist theorists
were also influenced by the United Nations in promoting gender equity, as is evident in
the feminist and social theorists‘ increasing interest in the need to overcome gender
based injustices. Research indicates that the quest for gender equality was advanced by
various feminist theorists, ranging from liberal to post-modernist. Each of these theories
enhanced the understanding of the search for gender equality and made a major
contribution to the nation state in promoting equality of this sort (Connelly, 2000;
IGWS, 2004; Mannathoko 1999). The uniting concern of most feminist theorists is the
promotion of women‘s equality. They differ only in their strategies regarding how to do
so.
The dominant feminist theory which was one of the forerunners of the gender equality
movement is that of liberal feminism, which emphasised the equal opportunity of
women before the law. It is informed by liberal political theory which is grounded in the
twin principles of universal and human rights guaranteed by the rule of law
(Molyneaux, 2000:11). ―For liberal feminism, the ideal gender arrangement has tended
to be the one in which an individual acting as a free and moral agent chooses the
lifestyle most suitable for him or her… Liberal feminism has always had a reformist
orientation (IGWS, 2004:25; Connelly, 2000:41) In most nation states, this position has
been utilised as a framework for creating machinery and government departments that
promote gender equality within the capitalist socio-economic system (Connelly, 2000:
42). For instance, liberal feminists were in the forefront in creating Women in
Development – WID (Connelly).
6.3 The Women in Development Agenda – WID
The Women in Development movement (WID) was popular in the 1960s and was
informed by the liberal modernisation paradigm which advocated individual rights,
freedom of choice, and equality of opportunities for men and women (Gordon,
1996:13). Its main purpose was to reform the position of women by promoting equal
opportunities for them in all aspects of the socio-economic and political arena, thus
elevating them from the margins to the mainstream of policy (Razavi & Miller, 1995:1)
At its height, in the 1970s, the WID movement sought simply to insert women‘s issues
into economic and agricultural development by initiating special projects that focused



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on women (True, 2003:370: El-Bushra 2000:55). This agenda also exerted an impact on
Africa and the developing world, as evident in liberal socio-economic reforms that
attempted to emulate the Western characteristics of the liberal modernisation paradigm
(Connelly, 2000: 33). The WID accepted capitalism as a panacea for redressing
women‘s inequality without questioning it. A number of criticisms were levelled against
its agenda. For instance, social researchers from Africa criticised it for not adequately
accommodating the African context where pre-capitalist formations existed that were
not promoting women and development. Socialist feminists critiqued it for contributing
to the perpetuation of a cheap labour force in its uncritical acceptance of capitalism
(Gordon, 1996:14). Kabeer critiques the WID agenda as pragmatic, non-ideological and
pro the capitalist status quo (Kabeer, 1994: 12). WID has also been faulted for being
influenced by the modernisation paradigm which does not apply to all contexts, and for
being limited to the economic level and not the social aspects of inequality (Parpart,
Connelly, and Barriteau 2000:57; Mannathoko, 1999:450).
Due to the limitations of the liberal feminist position, some feminists sought answers for
a more nuanced theory of women‘s development in Marxism, because it had developed
a thorough critique of liberalism and capitalism. The primary Marxist position on
women and gender inequalities was that these were due to capitalist forms of
domination, so that the removal of oppression and domination and the establishment of
gender equality would be achieved on the demise of the capitalist system (Parpart,
Connelly and Barriteau, 2000:45). However, this approach did not fully address the
concerns of women since it regarded the elimination of capitalism as a prerequisite for
their liberation. This dissatisfaction with both the liberal and Marxist strands of
feminism led to the emergence of radical feminism, which argued that patriarchal
domination was the process that had hindered women from development and therefore
suggested separate projects for women, thus protecting them from being integrated into
the patriarchal world. The extreme radical position was not popular even though it
continued to operate in a context in which WID was losing ground, due to its reformist
nature.



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6.4 The Women and Development – WAD Agenda
The emergence of the Women and Development school of thought was due to the
inadequacies of the WID agenda. It was initiated by radical feminist disillusionment
with the latter and stemmed from the position of Marxist feminists who insisted that the
emancipation of women needed to be preceded by the elimination of the capitalist
system and the introduction of socialism (Parpart, Connelly and Barriteau, 2000:59).
WAD stressed the distinctiveness of women‘s knowledge, work goals and
responsibilities (Parpart, Connelly and Barriteau 2000: 60). However, WAD was
marginalised and did not display much transformative potential due to its smallness in
scale and its exclusion of men. It has also been criticised for its inability to challenge the
male dominated power structures.
The agendas of WID and WAD have also been faulted by other feminists for being
inadequate, particularly in meeting the needs of African and third world women. The
WID agenda has been censured for being compatible with liberal capitalism that
expresses the sentiments of white western middle class women. It fails to address third
world women‘s economic exploitation through imperialism, racism and poverty
(Gordon, 1996:78- 79).
The WAD agenda has been criticised for leaving men out of the development process.
Consequently, scholars who advocate African development argue that for genuine
gender equality in the third world and Africa, there must be diversity within feminism in
order to respond to different women‘s needs (Gordon, 1996:78- 79). This implies that in
the third world, there is a need for a variety of feminist schools of thought ranging from
liberal to radical feminism. Such scholars argue that, for African women, gender
equality alone is not enough: ―Women need justice not only at the household level, but
also in the local, national and world economic order… Feminism for the Third world
women involves not only women‘s equal participation in society but a movement for
social justice that is inclusive of the entire community and addresses the racism,
economic exploitation and imperialism …‖ (Johnson-Odim, 1991, cited in Gordon,
1996:79).



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6.5 Gender and Development – GAD
Research has demonstrated that during the 1980s political and economic conservatism
dominated Western government and donor agencies, which resulted in high debt and
increased poverty and gender inequality (Walby, 2000:21), owing to the inadequacies of
modernisation as a development paradigm that informed gender equality. The projects
of gender equality that had been initiated by the WID and the WAD did not alleviate
women‘s inequality; this led to some feminist and development theorists losing
confidence in the two approaches. In turn this lack of faith led to the emergence of the
Gender and Development agendas: GAD. This framework is referred to as the
empowerment approach. It was founded by an organisation called Development
Alternatives with Women in a New Era – DAWN – in 1985. GAD was the brainchild of
third world feminists who focused on gender empowerment on the local and global
arena (Parpart and Connelly, 2000: 62), but the Gender and Development paradigm was
more transformative because it sought to incorporate the gender perspective and to
transform the broader socio-and institutional context so as to promote gender justice
(True, 2003:370). GAD focused on patriarchal domination and the social construction
of gender. Its agenda was broad and holistic in that it focused on the interconnectedness
of class, race and gender (True, 2003:370).
In addition to the influence of third world feminism, the GAD approach was also
heavily influenced by the experiences of Western socialist feminists. The latter‘s main
argument is that class subordination and the patriarchal system are of equal importance
and need to be challenged at the same time (Connelly, 2000:50). The socialist feminists
do not isolate gender oppression from political-economic and patriarchal domination in
explaining the position of women (IGWS, 2004: 30). Informed by both radical and
socialist feminisms, ―GAD adopts a two-pronged approach to the study of women and
development, investigating women‘s material conditions and class position, as well as
the patriarchal structures and ideas that define and maintain women‘s subordination.‖
(Connelly, 2000:33)
However, GAD suffers from certain limitations in the sense that it does not engage fully
with gender equality on a global scale (True, 2003:370). Because the GAD strategy was
informed by socialist feminism, it can be said that other socialist feminists called for



139

global feminism, in particular Young and ―the five faces of oppression‖. Young‘s
position is a more comprehensive analysis of women‘s oppression across the globe and
applies to most contexts – in the west and in the south. Young calls for the elimination
of all forms of oppression in order to achieve true gender justice on a global scale.
In South Africa, the struggle for women‘s equality and emancipation was more
pronounced in the ANC liberation movement than other circles. South African women
were also experiencing similar injustices to those of other women from the rest of the
world but their case was unique because of the apartheid regime. According to Bozzoli,
―…all women suffered from some form of discrimination on the basis of sex. Black
women carry the burden of a triple oppression of race, class and gender‖ (Bozzoli,
1983:139). For the emancipation of women, the ANC in the 1990 advanced the view
that ―experiences of other societies have shown us that the emancipation of women is
not a by product of the struggle for democracy, national liberation and socialism. It has
to be addressed in its own right within our organisations, the mass democratic
movement and in our society as a whole‖ (ANC, 1990).
In South Africa, the feminist discourse that played a large role in formulating the
agendas of the WID, WAD and GAD was initially treated with suspicion, particularly
by some black progressives, because they perceived it as a white, middle class
bourgeois import offering very little hope for black women (Karamarae & Spencer,
2000:230). Another factor that contributed to the downplaying of feminist discourse was
the fact that owing to the urgency of the liberation movement, inequalities in terms of
gender were obscured (Karamarae & Spencer, 2000:239). However, the ANC continued
to promote gender equality as important.
6.6 Gender Mainstreaming
The end of the 20
th
century and the dawn of the 21st century ushered in new socio-
economic dynamics in the process of globalisation that led to the re-emergence of the
gender mainstreaming agenda. The concepts take their origins from international texts
of the United Nations Third International Conference on women in 1985, when the
debate on women in the role of development was discussed. It was adopted during the
United Nations Fourth International Conference on women in 1995 as the Beijing



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Platform for Action. Currently, gender mainstreaming is the main strategy used for
achieving gender equality nationally and globally (Moser & Moser, 2005:11). In this
strategy, there are strands of both the dominant paradigms of WID and GAD,
particularly in the focus on gender equality. Gender mainstreaming does not aim at
replacing the existing policies that were informed by the WID and GAD agenda but
aims to complement them. It operates hand in hand with other policies to reach the goal
of gender equality (The Council of Europe, 2003:2). The most widely used definition of
gender mainstreaming is that of The Council of Europe: ―gender mainstreaming is the
(re) organization, improvement, development and evaluation of policy processes so that
gender equality perspective is incorporated in all polices at all levels at all stages, by the
actors normally involved in policy making‖ (The Council of Europe, 2003:2): a process
of productive engagement.
The gender mainstreaming paradigm attempts to promote gender justice by establishing
a gender equality perspective across all areas of policy. According to True:
…it is a strategy to reinvent the process of policy design;
implementation and evaluation by taking into account the gender
specific and often diverse interests and values of differently situated
women and men. Every policy or piece of legislation should be
evaluated from the perspective of whether or not it reduces or increases
gender inequalities (True, 2003:371).
Gender mainstreaming as a strategy was adopted and used to inform policies of
international organisations such as the United Nations and the European Union and
national governments such as that of the newly democratic South Africa (Woodward,
2001:7; CDE, 2004).
Gender mainstreaming is also perceived as a new form of political practice and theory.
It chimes with the gender equality project of feminist discourses owing to its
progressiveness. According to Walby, ―gender mainstreaming is a new development in
feminist practice that seeks to normalize policies for gender equality… it is also a
feminist strategy that draws on and can inform feminist theory‖ (Walby, 2005:466). Its
novelty lies in its focus on transnational and global processes and transformations of the
discourse of universal human rights (Walby, 2005:453). According to Walby, ―it is



141

situated within the development of transnational global politics, of multilateral forms of
governance such as the United Nations and trans-national polity of the European Union,
as well as the development of a diverse global discourse of human rights that transcend
country boundaries, each of which have disparate outcomes when in articulation with
country differences‖ (2005: 339). Even progressive African feminists identify with the
sentiments of gender equality and mainstreaming projects, particularly in their critique
of neo-liberalism, neo-colonialism and globalisation (Riandriamaro, 2003:44 and Tripp,
2003:233).
Gender mainstreaming is an essentially progressive norm, but it is contested in theory
and practice due to its enormous scale (Hannan, 2000, cited in Woodward, 2001:7;
Perrons, 2005:390; Walby, 2005:321; Gottfried & Reese, 2003:3). However, its
impressive credentials are limited because research shows that there have been
challenges such as inconsistency in implementation and lack of consensus as regards
assessing the impact of gender mainstreaming (Moser, & Moser, 2005:11). Hence there
is a great need for research evaluating such an impact.
The attractiveness of gender mainstreaming inheres in its holistic approach to gender
equality: in proposing to introduce a gender equality perspective to all policies at all
levels of governance. This does not signify that the targeted gender equality policies and
state mechanisms for delivering them are to disappear, but it does mean that an
overarching gender mainstreaming strategy is intended to complement domestic policy
approaches to gender equality that are in place. Hence the significant role that
independent and autonomous woman and gender studies programmes play in promoting
gender mainstreaming, as will be shown in the sections that follow.
6.7 Gender Mainstreaming Strategy in South Africa
The approach that South African policy makers have adopted with reference to gender
mainstreaming is based on the South African Constitution. In South Africa,
mainstreaming initiatives have sought to create a focal point for gender in the form of
the Commission for Gender Equality: CGE. The mandate of the CGE is based on the
constitution and its brief is to promote gender equality.



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The functions of the Commission are to:
Monitor all organs of society to ensure that gender equity is safeguarded and
promoted;
Assess all legislation from a gender perspective;
Commission research and make recommendations to parliament and other
authorities;
Educate and inform the public;
Investigate complaints on gender-related issues;
Monitor South Africans‘ progress towards gender equality in relation to
international norms.
(Commission for Gender Equality 2006:1)

The establishment of the Commission offers an indication that South Africa is
concerned about and committed to promoting gender equality. Established in 1997, the
CGE was timely, following the 1995 UN Beijing conference on women. The CGE
sought to highlight the importance of mainstreaming or integrating gender equality in all
spheres of society. In South Africa it has integrated mainstreaming policies and
strategies into all sectors of the economy and continues to oversee the compliance of all
sectors with this policy imperative.
The following analysis is illustrative of the contribution that the adoption of the gender
mainstreaming paradigm has recently made to South African society:
Ten years after democracy in South Africa, it is possible to point to
significant strides that have been made socially, economically and
politically in terms of gender equity. The constitution, the Bill of Rights,
legislation in all departments and use of quotas as a mechanism to
improve gender inclusivity reflect the commitment to gender equality
and non-sexism in government and civil society organizations (Chisholm
& September, 2004:1).



143

Gender mainstreaming in South African education also gained its momentum after the
adoption of the 1995 Beijing platform of action. In the same year the Ministry of
Education appointed a Gender Equity Task Team: GETT. Its main aim was to advise
the government with respect to the establishment of a permanent gender equity unit. The
results of the recommendations of GETT led to the Ministry of Education adopting
three principles that advanced gender equity:
Mainstreaming gender;
Capacity building for gender equity implementation;
Reduction of gender based violence and harassment in education (Pandor, 2004:
10).
The concerted attention given to gender equality in the education arena indicates the
heightened visibility of women‘s issues in general as well as the promotion of the
human capital discourse and its philosophy of investment in education as a key to socio-
economic development. Furthermore, it demonstrates that concerns with gender equality
are (by now) well-charted territory because these do not end at national (state) level but
trickle down to all state departments, and, with reference to education, also to all
institutions of learning and other educational stakeholders such as community
organisations. This is particularly pertinent at tertiary level, since these institutions
contribute to women‘s quantitative and qualitative participation as part of building
human capital.
As a result of the new democratic dispensation in South Africa, the state has adopted a
comprehensive reform of social policy with reference to gender, informed by the
principles of democracy, human dignity, political, economic and social justice. This
prompted a variety of progressive scholars to devote their attention to analyzing and
explaining the extent to which government social policies are promoting the
transformation agenda of the democratic dispensation in general and the gender equity
agenda in particular. This impetus came from varying scholars locally and globally
whose sentiments identified with the anti-apartheid and the feminist movements
(Siedman, 1999:289). Social research reveals both the contributions and contradictions



144

which the state and feminist driven gender equity and mainstreaming agenda have
produced. The positive aspects are evident in a number of theoretical and concrete
developments. According to Siedman, South African feminist activists constructed a
broad picture of women‘s interests, informed by their participation in the grassroots and
mass democratic movement and the discourse of international feminism (Siedman,
1999: 290). In similar vein, Meer asserted that South African women used the non-
sexist stance of the liberation struggle era to ensure that gender equity was enshrined in
the constitution and promoted gender mainstreaming in the new state (Meer, 2005:44).
This sentiment towards gender equality indicated that South Africa is embracing a more
holistic view of women‘s issues.
The positive fruits of promoting gender equality are even seen as inspirational and
exemplary for other countries.
South Africa is a stellar example of what women can achieve during a
democratic transition. South Africa‘s dramatic and impressive
achievements have been an inspiration to activists and feminist
scholars… New to parliament, they nevertheless accomplished much:
the government approved the highest of international women‘s rights
standards available, women‘s constitutional equality and reproductive
rights were enhanced, new attention was paid to gender equality in the
economy, and new institutional forums were established to ensure
government accountability on gender issues (Walsh, 2006: 85).
Hence the gender equity and mainstreaming paradigm resulted in women‘s voices and
influence having an impact at the highest levels of government, thus championing the
fight for gender justice.
Another positive aspect is the contribution made by a vibrant South African feminist
movement, as evident in the publication of the feminist journal Agenda.
Agenda has always attempted, through the copy, to contribute towards
the development of a South African feminism. In the early years,
reacting against the perception that feminism was only relevant to white
western and middle class women the first 10 issues were deliberately
focused on the socio-political and economic reality of being a black
woman in South Africa. The copy was selected to demonstrate that all
aspects of life were influenced by gender (in relation to other social



145

dynamics) and not only those traditionally identified as ―women issues‖
such as contraception, abortion and rape, domestic violence and
sexuality (Friedman, 2004:11).
Agenda’s focus in promoting South African feminism is evidenced by the calibre and
intellectual status of its contributors. For instance, Professor Amina Mama, one of
Africa‘s leading contemporary feminist activist scholars, views engagement with gender
mainstreaming as a tool that empowers women to stop intellectual and epistemic
violence against women (Mama, 2001: 63).
The presence of a vibrant critical feminist discourse and publications such as Agenda
created an environment for developing networks and interest groups. This environment
facilitated the roles of the CGE at national level, the GETT at departmental level and
that of various institutes for gender and women at certain institutions of higher learning,
for instance the IGWS at the University of Pretoria. Thus the significance of the
liberatory nature of the intellectual work that women came to be engaged in was
elevated and shifted from the margins to the mainstream. Consequently, from the
perspective of Mama (2001) the intellectual space was transformed and made to serve
the collective interests of women and gender equity.
However, some scholars warn that the process of democratisation during the liberal
moment in South Africa offers its own challenges.
...democratisation, even at its pinnacle is full of opportunities and
stumbling blocks for women. Although South Africa is indeed an
example of woman‘s breakthrough to state power and the public sphere,
analysis reveals the extraordinary challenges women face in attempting
to participate fully in public life even at an ideal moment in the most
celebrated case. South Africa serves thus as a sobering reminder that
democratisation in the best circumstances presents serious limits for
those hoping to enter, speak, and be heard in the newly opened public
sphere (Walsh, 2006:106).
Women equally face challenges as regards the process of democratisation and gender
mainstreaming. Although gender mainstreaming has been hailed as an impressive
strategy for achieving gender equality, it faces a fair amount of criticism emanating
from the West, but applicable to most contexts. Researchers point to the fact that while



146

it has created impressive guidelines, no single blueprint is available for best practices.
An equally important shortcoming is the fact that gender mainstreaming does not
promote any substantive equality because it focuses on integrating women into existing
policies without informing these policies by means of current feminist or gender
theories (Guerrina, 2002: 1). It has also been critiqued for being overly rhetorical,
displaying the following features:
A method without any specific outcome and funding;
Contradictory objectives;
Targets – does not always address the most important gender problems;
No sanctions – efforts to solve gender problems dependent on the political
priorities in the member state (Mosesdottir, 2005:10).

6.8 Evaluating South African Performance in Gender Equality
The South African state meets the criteria for evaluating gender mainstreaming progress
10 years after Beijing which were developed by Moser, one of the forefront gender
scholars and activists. These consist of the following four stages:
Adopting the terminology of gender;
Putting a gender mainstream policy in place;
Implementing gender mainstreaming;
Evaluating or auditing the practice of gender mainstreaming (Moser & Moser,
2005:11; Moser, 2005:5).
According to international research, the evidence to date suggests that there have been
greater advances in some stages than others. Thus widespread consensus exists with
respect to stage one, embracing the terminology, as well as stage two, putting a gender
policy in place. Progress has been less where stage three is concerned, implementing
gender mainstreaming, or stage four, evaluating or auditing the practice in institutions
(Moser, 2005:585). South Africa as a signatory to the Beijing platform of action has



147

performed fairly well. The South African Constitution and the work of the CGE
illustrate the state‘s positive acceptance of the gender mainstreaming terminology and
development of a gender policy. Progress is slow in realising stage number four: that of
evaluating and auditing gender in practice.
Table 6.2 − Summary of South African gender statistics
INDICATORS
RATIO/
(YEAR)
RATIO/
(YEAR)
2015 MDG
TARGET
PROGRESS
TOWARDS
TARGET
Ratio of girls to boys
(girls per 100 boys) in:

Primary education
98:100
(1994)
96:100
(2001)
Equal access to
primary
education for
boys and girls
Have already
attained
Secondary education
118:100
(1994)
112:100
(2001)
Have already
attained target
Tertiary education
92:100
(1994)
116:100
(2001)
Equal access to
secondary
education for
boys and girls
Have already
attained target
Ratio of literate females
to males (15-24 years)
111:100
(1996)
109:100
(2003)
Equal female to
male ratio
Have already
attained target
Share of women in
wage employment in
non-agricultural sector
41%
(1996)
43%
(2001)
Equal access to
employment
Slow
Proportion of seats held
by women in national
parliament
26
(1994)
33
(2004)
Equal access to
public office
Potentially
should reach
target
United Nations (2005:20).
South Africa‘s performance with regard to the promotion of the Millennium
Development goal of promoting gender equality by 2015 is also illustrative of the
country‘s remarkable achievement in the realisation of some of Moser‘s stages. The
country‘s performance in this regard is important because the MD goals were a target
set for members of the United Nations to address pertinent global problems stemming
from issues of education, health social development and environmental sustainability,
and any country‘s positive performance is illustrative of meeting appropriate global
targets. With reference to gender, the goal is the elimination of gender disparities in
primary and secondary school by 2005 and at all levels by 2015 (United Nations 2005).



148

Hence, in the context of a higher education transformation agenda informed by the
broad social justice mandate of redressing gender inequalities and all discriminatory
tendencies, meeting these goals is important for the country.
On the basis of this country‘s performance with regard to meeting the MDG of gender
equity, by means of the gender equity strategy of the DOE and the government through
the work of the CGE, South Africa is progressing well in addressing gender imbalances
in education and the country as a whole. Furthermore, social science research into the
country‘s performance indicates that in meeting the MDG target of gender equity, South
Africa stands a greater chance of experiencing improved economic growth, and a
reduction in fertility and infant mortality and malnutrition. This is an added advantage
because when gender equity is enhanced there are high economic returns in investing in
women and girls (Ghadia & Klasen, 2004:19).
The exemplary performance of South Africa in implementing gender equity, when
interpreted using the resources approach, is worth discussion. The said approach
proposes that gender equality is defined as gender parity, in numbers, within all the
different levels of education. Its definition of gender is primarily descriptive and
biological (Unterhalter, 2004: 1). There is nothing wrong with equalising the
participation rates of male and females in the system, but it would be wrong if other
aspects of gender equality are not considered. The structuralist approach is an
improvement: it looks at gender as being more than a number parity issue but perceives
it as a social construct with inequalities shaped by social relations, institutions and
cultural forms. For its proponents, the achievement of gender equality is not limited to
participation parity but should include the removal of gender-discriminatory
institutional or cultural formations (Unterhalter, 2004:2). Therefore, according to the
structuralist approach, numbers only address gender equity superficially: for countries
really to advance gender equity there must be transformation of other aspects of
schooling and the socio-economic arena, through holistic gender mainstreaming. South
Africa still has a long way to go in this regard.
Unterhalter‘s explanation of the structuralist approach also evidences certain similarities
with the progressive agenda of leftist feminists who perceive gender inequalities as



149

socially constructed by the capitalist system‘s division of labour. For these feminists,
gender equity can be achieved by the promotion of the GAD agenda: challenging the
neo-liberal paradigm and promoting radical gender justice. Furthermore, the
structuralist approach contains strands of Young‘s theory of change in the elimination of
the five faces of oppression discussed earlier, particularly the exploitative division of
labour in capitalism and its impact on gender injustice. Applying the said approach to
South Africa‘s performance in terms of the MDG reveals that there is still work that has
to be done, because the structural and institutional practices that have contributed to
gender inequality are still left intact. Leftist feminists defend the MDG because they
view these goals as an opportunity to think widely about how gender equity can be
achieved in education so as to transform society. However, within the feminist
movement, there are groups that perceive the MDG in a negative light. This critical
group regards the MDG as an ambitious project with an inadequate conceptualisation of
gender exploitation (Unterhalter, 2005:122). With regard to this dismissal of the MDG,
this study concurs with Unterhalter that it is crucial to affirm the contributions to the
MDG as one step towards the achievement of gender equity.
A further reading of the South African performance with regard to the MDG shows that
while the figures in the table above indicate that there is a sizeable number of women
with seats in parliament, progress towards achieving gender parity in employment is
slow nationally. With reference to education, Unterhalter asserts that ―women comprise
a lower proportion of head teachers and my guess is that because women employed as
teachers are clustered at the lower grading levels the ratio of women to men‘s earned
income in the education as in formal employment is generally lower‖ (Unterhalter,
2004:11).
At institutional level, while the gender participation rates are impressive, the picture of
gender disparity is glaring in terms of the percentage of women in decision making
positions and the ratio of estimated women‘s earnings to those of men. For instance,
women record lower educational attainments than men at school level – causing
throughput rates to continue as male-dominated (Moleke, 2005:7). At tertiary level,
there continues to be a low proportion of female students in professional study fields
and science. Even in parliament, research shows that the revolution remains incomplete



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while women are excluded from full participation in political life due to the continued
dominance of gender stereotyping, patriarchal norms and conservatism (Britton, 2002 ).
This is clear in the mismatch between written legislation and practice and this also
needs to be addressed (Samuel, 2001:21). A major force that gender activists and
women in general have to reckon with is neo-liberalism and globalisation which has
entrenched the phenomenon of the feminisation of global labour, contrary to the
promise of economic prosperity and poverty alleviation (Benjamin, 2001:68). Equally
important is the HIV and AIDS pandemic that has reached crisis proportions for women
in South Africa, with them being the hardest hit (Jobson & Wyckoff-Wheeler, 2003:7).
The list of issues that are still hindering the quest for a complete revolution in or
transformation of gender equality is not exhaustive. However, it has highlighted those
that are pertinent and appear in local research publications. What is of interest about the
list is also that it consists of issues which are high on the agenda of the IGWS at the
University of Pretoria.
6.9 Women’s Studies Programmes in the Global Debate
The role of women‘s studies programmes in higher education has been commended
throughout the world as playing an important role in advancing critical feminist thought
while maintaining high academic standards (Moghadam, 2001:5). Women‘s studies
programmes have made tremendous contributions in developing feminist conceptual,
theoretical and methodological approaches that have challenged the conventional
approaches (Stromquist, 2001:373.) The mandate of such programmes is to equip
students with the discourse of feminism and broadly related discourses (Rosenfelt,
1984:170). These programmes proliferated enormously in the 1990s, partly due to the
impact of the 1995 Beijing Platform of Action and its call for gender mainstreaming
policy and practice. In this context, there have been renewed efforts in the negotiation of
the recognition of women‘s studies as a new body of knowledge and theory in higher
education. Programmes of this nature play such an important role in the academic field
that its advocates argue that without them, feminist scholarship and teaching would
completely disappear (Rosenfelt, 1984:171). Consequently ground that has been won
towards mainstreaming women‘s issues and gender equality in pursuit of economic and
social justice would be lost. Furthermore, the critical feminist discourse that has added
value to the academic and social arena by advancing social justice concerns would also



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disappear. Hence it is no surprise that in the Western world and in African contexts,
women‘s studies programmes continue to exist and to advance gender equality despite
criticism and financial challenges. For instance, ―It is said that women‘s studies lack
academic rigor, evince ideological biases, and are insular and isolated‖ (Moghadam,
2001:5), and they have been obliged to struggle for scarce financial support from higher
education managements (Stromquist, 2000:373).
However, while these programmes continue to fight for academic legitimacy and
complete acceptance, the case that is made in support of them in universities outweighs
these criticisms by a large margin. Most such programmes that house critical feminists
play a crucial role in taking nation states and international organisations to task when
gender justice is breached in any form. Therefore, these programmes will continue to
play an important role in advancing gender justice and a socially just economic order.
The IGWS at the University of Pretoria is one such.
6.10 Background to the Institute of Gender and Women Studies
The IGWS was established in the 1990s. This occurred in a context in which there was a
renewed focus on gender equity on the global scale, as a result of the 1995 Beijing
Platform of Action and owing to South Africa‘s new democratic dispensation, with the
call to emancipate women from all forms of oppression and transform higher education
as stated by former president Mandela.
The impetus for the establishment of this institute stemmed not only from global and
national action, but also from Western financial support, ideological and theoretical
models. The financial support in the case of IGWS originated from Germany, which
was responding to the European Union‘s adoption of gender mainstreaming policy in
general, and specifically to the local focus on promoting international academic
networks in higher education. The German body responsible for implementing this is
the German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD), through the programme called
―Exporting German Academic Courses‖ (IGWS, 2002:1).
A German university directly involved in the DAAD programme is the University of
Applied Sciences in Kiel, which entered into a collaborative agreement with the



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University of Pretoria in 2001. As a result of the agreement, the IGWS was born; it was
modelled on the structure and content of the Institute for Women‘s Research and
Gender Studies at the University of Kiel. Thus the IGWS at Pretoria adopted a research
business model based on that of the University of Kiel (IGWS, 2000).
6.10.1 The Mandate
The institute is mandated by the University to be a trans-disciplinary
institute, which achieves its objectives through research, support of
formal and informal academic programmes and community awareness
and involvement that is historically and socially contextualised and
critical (Constitution of IGWS, 2004:1).
6.10.2 Vision
The vision of the institute is that of a society in which women and men
are free from sex and gender based discrimination and are able to
interact with each other in a manner that allows them to realise their full
potential. Such a society will be an equitable and just one and will
encourage the flourishing of both women and men (Constitution of
IGWS, 2004:1).
6.10.3 The objectives of the institute are:
To conduct critical research on sex, gender and sexuality;
To promote excellent teaching in formal and informal programmes on sex,
gender and sexuality;
To engage critically with international human and women‘s rights
conventions and national legislation;
To raise critical issues relating to sex, gender and sexuality for debate and
discussion that could contribute to a continuous reshaping of Southern
African society;
To promote and support sex and gender equality and equity across the
university as well as the broader Southern African society (Constitution of
IGWS, 2004:2).



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The overall objectives of the IGWS and its approach to gender equality and
empowerment are informed not only by developments on the African continent but also
by international best practices. This is explicitly stated in the objective of engaging
critically with international conventions on gender equality. Since the IGWS is locally
committed to the goal of promoting gender equality at the University of Pretoria and the
wider South African society, to this end, it conducts critical research on gender,
promotes teaching excellence in gender and continuously contributes to the building of
a society that celebrates gender equality.
The vision and mission of the IGWS are couched in the neutral language of liberal
theory and feminism. This is evident in the kind of society it envisages: a just, equitable
society where women and men will flourish free from gender based discrimination.
Such a society is not very different from the one envisioned by liberal feminists –
particularly the notion of equality in society. The mission and vision appear to be more
reformist than transformational and do not appear to be informed by the socialist or
even the African feminist perspective. The IGWS emerges more as a unit that supports
the current status quo of neo-liberalism in the South African context because it makes
limited reference to socio-economic transformation informed by socialist feminists.
The IGWS supports the integration of gender into the curriculum across faculties,
focuses on gender research, non-formal training and outreach, gender advocacy and
networking globally and locally (IGWS, 2003 annual report: 1-4). These activities are
undertaken by university personnel and external experts on gender issues since the
institute employs no permanent staff. This emerged as a crucial shortcoming because it
implies that there is no central person who will facilitate the continuity of the
programmes and the attempts to mainstream gender. From the perspective of the
critique of current trends towards the marketisation of higher education (Apple2005),
the absence of permanent staff is also an indication of the casualisation of academic
labour and academic capitalism explained by (Slaughter and Leslie 2001). This implies
that gender equality training sessions are packaged with a price label in order to make a
profit and the facilitators are hired with the profit motive in mind.



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The IGWS is housed within the faculty of humanities and functions as an
interdisciplinary, independent, interfaculty unit for the promotion of gender equity. The
positive aspects of the institute lie in its independent status because it is able to
represent the full scope, complexity and vitality of gender and women‘s studies, without
much domination from a controlling body or faculty. Consequently, the institute is able
to bring to the fore issues of gender equality and women‘s studies, locating them within
local and global debates informed by higher education transformation and the social
justice mandate. Since 1994, these concerns have been evident in the activities of the
institute as it began to grapple with gender equity and equality in post independence and
democratic South Africa. Like its counterparts in the West, the institute looks through a
critical feminist lens in analysing progress towards gender equity and mainstreaming in
policy and practice.
The existence of the IGWS at the University of Pretoria illustrates one of the positive
achievements in the implementation of gender equity, and accordingly in fulfilling the
national mandate in this respect. As this is a positive step, it is useful to indicate the
extent of its conformity to this national policy imperative. This step can be characterised
as integrationist: implying an integration of gender issues with the purpose of reforming
gender relations. This step is supported by liberal feminists who perceive public
institutions as crucial in promoting gender equity, even if the measures are small. The
optimistic liberal feminists regard this as a starting point even if it is piecemeal and the
status quo is left unchanged (Razavi and Miller, 1995: ii). It is useful to employ the
analysis of radical feminist critique as well, in positioning the role of the institution as
regards implementing gender equity. A radical feminist approach is agenda setting, and
attempts to transform the thrust of policy as it brings women‘s concerns into the
mainstream (Razavi and Miller, 1995: ii). In the South African context, the gender
equality agenda has been set at national level and institutional level. Illustrations of this
process are evident firstly in the constitution informed by human rights and gender
rights, and the national higher education transformation agenda. Secondly, at
institutional level, the adopting of the transformation agenda by higher learning
institutions and the formulation of institutional policies that promote gender equity
represent instances. Hence an institution of higher learning like the University of
Pretoria has little choice but to prioritise gender equity in its policies and practices



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through adopting the transformation agenda that encapsulate gender equity as a priority
– in its Innovation Generation document, and by establishing the IGWS. Agenda setting
for gender equity was implemented through these processes and consequently the
University of Pretoria was taking a stance in advancing gender and social justice. The
process of agenda setting at the University of Pretoria can be described as exemplary at
the rhetorical level and in terms of complying with the national policy requirements.
However, when it comes to an examination of the tone and content of the documents
that are intended at guiding gender equity, most of them are informed by the
integrationist approach. Most are couched in the language of liberal feminism that
suggests incremental change. As a result, they tend not to adequately address the
movement towards gender transformation. Consequently, in order for the institution to
promote genuine gender equality, it needs to be cautious and guard against the trend of
routinely marginalising good gender intentions and not translating them into meaningful
social action.
According to international research on the institutionalisation of gender equity, there are
three factors that are useful in conditioning an organisational response in this respect.
They are the organisation‘s degree of independence from external pressures; the
organisational mandate, the ideological mandate and the existence and capacity of
internal policy advocates (Razavi and Miller, 1995:6). While the above factors were
used to analyse international public organisations, an attempt will be made to employ
them in the case of IGWS. When the three factors are used to provide an illustration of
the university‘s response to gender equality, a great deal is revealed. The factors of
external pressure and influences involve issues of accountability and, as a public
institution; the University of Pretoria is accountable to the government and needs to
promote the mandate of the latter. Since it does not depend on government funding
alone, it is also responsible to other external stakeholders such as funders and donors.
As has been indicated above, the South African government has been an avid supporter
of gender equality owing to the new democratic dispensation. Educational institutions
too must follow suit and they are accountable to the Department of Education which has
also put gender equity mechanisms in place within its policies and practices as all levels
of schooling. Gender equity has been one of the key focuses and performance indicators
in the educational arena and is therefore a top policy priority. Therefore, with such an



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array of external pressures and influences, the University of Pretoria has been required
to institutionalise gender equity through the establishment of the said institute and to
aim at meeting one of the transformation pillars of higher education: increased and
broadened participation, by increasing the rate at which females participate in higher
education. With regard to donors and funders, in the case of the IGWS, the German
academic exchange service is one of the main financiers. So the institute as a whole
must reflect the gender equity and mainstreaming discourse that the donor agency
promotes. IGWS has performed exceedingly well in this area, as evidenced in the
content of the courses offered and the international calibre of the gender and feminist
facilitators invited.
The second factor of the internal policy advocates and refers to gender entrepreneurs,
proponents of innovation within the organisation: ―An important factor conditioning
response of staff members willing and able to promote a new issue and equipped with
skills ranging from the more advanced and analytical, to brokering and bargaining with
different actors to line up support‖ (Resave and Miller, 1995:5). Gender entrepreneurs
have been required to provide convincing justifications for the relevance of gender to
their organisations. At the operational level, this is seen in the progressive calibre of the
personnel at IGWS and their activities. However, while there are gender entrepreneurs
within the Institute and the university community at large, the former faces a major
challenge since it is operating without a head and permanent staff, as indicated earlier.
The fact that it lacks important leadership is an illustration of the marginalisation of the
social justice agenda through the casualisation of academic work. This phenomenon,
described in Chapter 4, needs to be addressed by gender entrepreneurs so as to further
the agenda of social justice.
The third factor of the organisational mandate, ideological and procedural, involves the
way in which the objectives of the organisations fit with the issue of gender equity.
―Institutionalizing a new concern is facilitated if it has an easy fit with the
organizational mandate‖ (Razavi and Miller, 1995:6). The University of Pretoria
mandate is informed by the broad transformation agenda of the democratic dispensation,
which has been discussed earlier in the form of three transformation pillars: 1. Increased
and broadened participation; 2. Responsiveness to societal needs and 3. Cooperation



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and governance. The three pillars are interrelated, and all of them provide room for
gender equity. However, the first two more explicitly offer fertile ground for the
promotion of gender equity because they encapsulate gender parity and gender
mainstreaming as conceptualised by the state and state machinery that is in place for the
promotion of gender equity. At institutional level, gender equity is encapsulated in the
strategic document regarding the ―innovation generation‖ and more directly through the
activities of the IGWS. The role of its staff is to provide a convincing justification for
the relevance of gender equality in theory and practice. They are up to date with the
current issues and debates in this respect.
6.11 Implementation of Gender Equality at the University of Pretoria
The above sections have furnished an analysis of the establishment of the IGWS in a
context influenced by feminist movements from WID to GAD and currently by gender
mainstreaming. In the section that follows an analysis and interpretation of participants‘
experiences at IGWS is provided.
The responses to the question, regarding what the institute does, indicate that its focus
falls on training informed by gender equality, research and service to the community.
Below, it is suggested that the Institute has made a number of contributions in terms of
promoting gender equality at the University of Pretoria and the society at large. The
noble contribution of the Institute has occurred alongside a number of challenges.
With regard to training, all three participants indicated that the IGWS focuses on
offering informal gender and sexuality training to both internal and external community
members. In terms of training, it disseminates information to the university community
and the general public on gender related debates, as stipulated in its constitution. This is
distributed via informal and formal training workshops, forums and information
seminars with a focus on gender, equality and sexuality. IGWS makes use of a cadre of
gender experts from the academic pool and relevant external professionals, depending
on the nature and scope of its workshops.




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The commitment of the IGWS to gender equality and related concerns is reflected in
most of its activities and programmes which in turn are a modified translation of the
broader national mandate, encapsulated in the transformation pillars of increased and
broadened access and responsiveness to societal needs and challenges. The data gained
from the IGWS participants reiterate these broad policy intentions. For instance the
2005 Business Plan of IGWS stated the following with regard to teaching and training:

A further reading of the responses related to the issue of teaching and training indicates
that the Institute is focused more on informal training than on the academic teaching of
gender issues. The role of training is couched in the language of commercialisation that
is intended more for profit than for the common good. Related to this, the training
presupposed a limited and biased position as to the various intricacies of the promotion
of gender equality. The limited nature of this role has been identified as a challenge that
needs to be addressed.
Research is the main activity of the Institute, which concentrates on research into
current issues in gender and other related areas such as race, class and HIV/AIDS
prevention. In focusing on research, the centre fulfils the universal mission of teaching,
research and service to the community of higher education. But its task does not end
Objective - To promote critical teaching in formal and informal programmes
Action Plan:
Teaching
Develop a generic module in feminist and gender theory for post graduate
research purposes
Develop web-based course on feminist and gender theory
Training
Develop generic short courses in gender mainstreaming
Organise at least 3 short courses during 2005
Organise one winter school focusing on gender mainstreaming
(IGWS Business Plan, 2005:1)



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there; it has re-invented and added relevancy to the research mission by putting gender
at the centre of its research.
Objective – To conduct critical research
Action plan
Identify UP research team willing to publish in collaboration with IGWS on
gender and related issues
Initiate collaborative international projects e.g. gender and engineering
Host a monthly gender seminar focused on critical gender issues
Host international expertise to present academic papers
Publish a collection of presentations delivered at the gender seminars (IGWS
Business Plan, 2005:1).

The institute‘s additional objective is to conduct critical research: a positive attribute.
The inference that can be deduced is that research is informed by the language of the
four dimensions of critical thinking, namely identifying and challenging assumptions,
challenging the importance of context, imagining and exploring alternatives and
developing reflective scepticism (Scott, 2000:3-4).
According to the director, the main focal point of the centre is research into gender and
women‘s issues in all contexts: rural and urban. In this area, an example of this focus is
research on women‘s access to water and land. Improving gender equality at top
management level is also a strong research area, because the university management is
still predominantly male dominated. Although at the time of the interview, the centre
was still to hold its strategic planning workshop, the facilitator pointed out that the
centre plays a crucial role in gender research and training. The elements of this focus are
to be found in solid research, the capacity building of women at tertiary level and



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developing a substantive theoretical framework so as to remove the perception that the
institute is a woman‘s complaints centre.
The emphasis on interdisciplinary research stood out as a valuable feature in terms of
the perspectives of the facilitators. The director further indicated that the merit of the
centre is found in difference, which implies that the centre attempts to positively do
things differently, while contributing to the core business of the university. Her
sentiments regarding research illustrate that the production of research by the centre is
not conditioned by the traditional research agenda characteristic of the University of
Pretoria. The results have been that the said agenda attempts to address relevant issues
concerning gender transformation in particular and institutional transformation in
general that are conducive to gender justice.
The overall research agenda of the institution displays strands of both the liberal
reformist and transformational approaches to feminism. However, the liberal one is
more dominant as evidenced by the critical research position of the centre. Less central
is the transformative approach although topics display attempts to break with
conventional research, for example the focus on Ubuntu – questions of humanness and
polygamy. This alternative research agenda is espoused by the director of the Institute.
Moving away from the traditional mainstream research agenda would therefore be a
positive step for it. The success of this endeavour needs to be accompanied by the use of
critical feminist discourse that holds to a more inclusive and holistic conceptualisation
of gender equality. However, given the challenges that the Institute has been required to
address, it is in danger of being affected by issues of power that may dictate the research
agenda and sway it to the demands of conventional research that supports the status quo.
Hence, what appears to be marginalised, in terms of the responses of the participants, is
any consideration of some important aspects of critical research and critical teaching
since these are not pronounced explicitly:
Studying marginalised oppressed groups who are not given the authority to
speak;



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Approaching inquiry in ways that are interpretative of social practices which are
taken for granted;
Locating meaning in broader social, cultural and political spheres;
Developing themes problematically and as being open to interrogation;
Editing the researcher into the text and not presuming that she/he is a neutral
character in the research;
Being reflexive of its own limitations, distortions and agendas;
Being concerned about the impact of the research in producing more equitable
and just social relationships (Shacklock and Smyth, 1998:3).
Service to the community is a third focus of the Institute. It is perceived as important in
so far as it makes the university more responsive to the community and relevant to the
context in which it operates. With specific reference to the academic community of
women at the University of Pretoria and surrounding communities, the data highlighted
that the Institute has provided the much needed additional space for them to work on
issues that are of importance and relevance to women in a supportive environment
However, community development was only mentioned in passing during the
interviews, without many further details being provided by the second facilitator. For
participants that are located in higher education it is expected that they would be aware
of the goals of higher education: teaching, research and service to the community. That
the participants from the IGWS hardly mentioned community involvement may indicate
that the centre devotes scant attention to this matter. Its marginalisation may impact
negatively on the attempts of the centre to be relevant to its stakeholders, particularly
the broader community. Consequently, for the institute to adequately contribute to the
broader role of the university, it needs to take community outreach seriously, since it is
important for the University of Pretoria to be socially relevant to the needs of the
country.
In most of the Institute participants‘ sentiments with reference to issues of research and
training, there is an entrenched, reserved and liberal tone. Hence the implementation of
the mission and objective of the institute can be described as policy compliant and not



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as critical engagement with policy. The neutral nature is also reflected in the role of the
facilitators, described below.
6.12 The Role of Facilitators at IGWS
Asked what their roles are in the broader mission of the institute, the facilitators‘
responses revealed the following: research capacity building for gender equality;
training on gender specific workshops and life skills; disseminating information on
gender equality and forging networks for the centre. The research capacity building role
mentioned by one facilitator is in line with the broader mission of the Institute and other
institutes in other universities, but it falls short of indicating the nature of the research
that is undertaken. There is a disjuncture in this instance because the Institute explicitly
states that it is promoting critical research, but the facilitators do not qualify the research
in explicit terms. In this manner, the critical research role appears to be downplayed in
practice: this is a crucial issue because it also impacts on the marginalisation of radical
social justice and the agenda of the IGWS appears to be compromised. It needs to state
the nature of the research it undertakes explicitly, without being apologetic about its
gender activist role.
6.13 Conceptualisation of Social Justice
The main project of transformation runs through all the participants‘ conceptualisations
of social justice and the role of the IGWS in it.
According to the director, genuine social justice in the South African context is based
on the South African Constitution, the foundation of which is equality for all. Other
important characteristics of social justice are socio-economic rights and equality, as well
as racial and gender equality. For the director, social justice and its broad notion is
proposed as a framework to be adopted because of its impressive credentials.
I will start off by giving you a more general definition. I think social
justice in the context of South Africa …. is a kind of social justice given
in the preamble of our constitution (which) refers to a society where we
have equality… racial but also sex and gender equality. So the
understanding of social justice would be an approach or even a
programme where we have upliftment, socio-economic upliftment and
policies that address the injustices of the past. So I think the university as



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an institution of higher education should accept these broad notion of
social justice and I think this kind of understanding should be the same
in the whole university context (IGWS 1).
The sentiments of the director are expressed in a similar tone to the congratulatory one
accorded to the South African Constitution by gender researchers in terms of making
provision for the promoting of gender equality based on human rights (Walsh, 2006).
Social justice is provided for by the constitution; the director further mentions socio-
economic upliftment as an element of social justice, but expresses this more in liberal
terms which fall short of the radical social justice of socio-economic transformation. It
appears, then, that the kind of social justice that is proposed by the director is a
reformist one. This is a trend that is also displayed in the sentiments of the other
facilitators:
Several policies that the university has established in terms of social
justice. I am sure you are aware of all of them… There is one on code of
conduct, there is one on discrimination, and there is one on equal
opportunity, the one of sexual harassment. And there is also the
transformation forum (Facilitator 1).
The neutral and reformist language of social justice is also displayed in the above
utterances. This indicates that the existence of policies that are framed to promote
equality and the elimination of oppressive circumstances constitutes an element of
social justice. In principle this might seem appropriate, but in terms of the radical social
justice that informs this study, the existing policies still fall short of achieving such
justice since they are framed in the language of liberalism. However, despite the
reformist language, there was an instance of an alternative radical stance in the other
facilitator‘s position:
I don‘t think the university is committed to gender studies – building
women‘s capacities at the university. …I don‘t think the university has
placed a good policy. But you should know from looking at the
composition of staff. There is very little change in terms of race and
class. I think there doesn‘t seem to be much commitment to bring gender
to the fore. If you take one instance, the fact that there is no woman at
top management at the university. I mean this illustrates to you the
problem we have. So I think there is a big discrepancy in terms of social



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justice concerns and real concrete implementation on the ground
(Facilitator 2).
According to this facilitator, concern with social justice is of crucial importance if
gender justice is to be achieved. However, the promotion of both social justice and
gender justice is hindered by inadequate transformation in terms of staff composition at
the institution. Another inhibiting feature of gender justice consists of the policy
implementation discrepancies, evident in a lack of transformation. The facilitator is
candid about her lived experiences, as a counter to the emphasis on social justice that
practically promotes just practices for every member of the university community.
At IGWS management level, the important role that it is playing in gender equity is also
acknowledged. According to the director of the institute, the university as a whole
displays a principled response to the national mandate of social justice and the IGWS
translates this into its various activities and programmes.
The director conceptualises social justice as an element of the broad national
transformation agenda of higher education in South Africa. She further provided
concrete examples of social justice criteria, such as a transformed and representative
student body, the adoption and implementation of employment equity and the work that
the institute is doing in terms of gender justice. For instance, the agenda of projects that
illustrate matters of social / gender justice at the institute includes issues like gender and
socio-economic upliftment of women as regards rural women, a biannual gender
mainstreaming workshop, and training on sexuality
The director further indicated that there are impediments to the full realisation of the
social justice mandate in general and gender mainstreaming in particular. The most
pressing one was the interim phase of the institute: operating in limbo and uncertainty
surrounding the director‘s and coordinator‘s position. Both the positions are part-time,
which affects the implementation of the policy of IGWS. Another challenge is that the
institute does not offer academic courses related to gender and women‘s studies. It is
only permitted to offer non-credit bearing developmental courses on such issues. This
implies that the knowledge produced and disseminated by the institute is limited to only
the participants on the courses offered and is not available to other areas of the



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academic community that could benefit from an injection of gender mainstreaming into
the activities. The challenges illustrate the marginalisation and downplaying of the
important role that this institute plays and, more importantly, of the intellectuals and
feminists that are housed in this institute. This state of affairs leads to the institute
operating with limited potential capacity as far as intellectuals and gender activists are
concerned, which in the long run would leave the University of Pretoria community
with impoverished and biased research and training as regards gender equality and
social justice.
The conceptualisation of social justice by the institute is located rather in the
distributive paradigm of liberal social justice than in the transformative one of radical
social justice, discussed in chapter two. Although mention is made of transformation as
an aspect of social justice, the crux of its members‘ argument is the advancement of
social justice by redistributing socio-economic resources while maintaining the status
quo of a capitalist socio-economic and political system. As has been mentioned in the
literature, this conceptualisation is limited because it leaves the broader macro-
economic system of capitalism and neo-liberalism intact, consequently perpetuating
current social injustices. I am aware that it is next to impossible for the Institute to
single-handedly change the status quo. What can be done is the forging of links and
networks with progressive activists and intellectuals, like the radical left whose struggle
against capitalism and neo-liberalism is consistent. For the IGWS to be more fully
relevant to the agenda of progressive social justice, it needs to be informed by a more
thorough transformative agenda that is attentive to forms of social justice and gender
justice which are more holistic and inclusive, as in Young‘s five faces of oppression that
advance utopian socio-economic liberty.
6.14 Conceptualisation of Gender
The common feature that identifies gender, according to the two facilitators, is gender
mainstreaming in more progressive terms. As a rider to this, one facilitator proposes
adopting an activist and vocal stance in support of gender equality throughout the
university.



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In addition to gender mainstreaming, the two facilitators indicate that the other focus of
the institute falls on equity in general, with a special emphasis being placed on class and
racial equality: for instance, in the project on building the capacity of women – growing
its own timber. In other words, the centre provides a space for women to make a
positive contribution to gender equality. Thus the way gender is conceptualised by this
member is that it is informed by equality and empowerment, while being cognisant of
issues of race and class. Furthermore, the contribution that the gender researcher needs
to make should build capacity and not just end with creating knowledge.
The sentiments of the facilitators display a conceptualisation of gender that is informed
by social justice. However, these participants further make the observation that the
institution‘s conceptualisation of gender is still very limited. The dominant view of
gender at the institutional level is informed by the traditional or conventional paradigm,
with the following characteristics, as mentioned earlier: no women in top management
and inadequate commitment to gender equality. It appears that there is inconsistency
and limited commitment in this respect. One facilitator revealed that another disturbing
feature of the university management is the obsession with the commercialisation of
gender research: it appears to hold profit in higher regard than gender equality. This
may be attributed to the global trend towards commodification of higher education and
academic capitalism that is explained by Slaughter and Rhoades (2004). The impact of
academic capitalism stands a chance of diluting the focus on gender equality, thus
promoting the status quo of the marginalisation of gender.
The conceptualisation of gender by the participants reveals two approaches: liberal
integrationist and leftist agenda setting. One project manager displayed the simplistic
liberal approach characteristic of the WID agenda. However, the majority of
participants reflected the more sophisticated theory of critical feminist discourse. For
instance, these participants are opposed to the commercialisation of gender research by
the university, which indicates that while the project of commercialisation (as is
characteristic of modern universities) has infiltrated deep into every aspect of university
life, there is resistance to practices like these. Even though the centre might succumb to
this move in order to guard against closure, the resistant stance towards
commercialisation is an important social justice move. In their reference to gender, most



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of the participants from IGWS did not explicitly pronounce a preference for any form of
feminism discussed in the earlier section. This occurrence may be an indication that
feminism is treated with suspicion in some circles, as shown by Bozzoli (1999).
6.15 IGWS External Programmes and Linkages
The institute does not operate in isolation. It maintains both national and international
linkages that advance the cause of gender equality. Of particular note is that already
mentioned, with the University of Kiel in Germany. Continentally, the institute works
with similar organisations in the SADC region, especially in Zimbabwe. Nationally the
IGWS is affiliated to Gender Network – GENNET – and the government gender desk.
In its local and global linkages, the Institute performs the onjectives listed below:

Some of the merits of IGWS lie in its linkages with counterparts in Europe and Africa.
However, the institute‘s activities are limited in that staff do not make mention of
international agencies such as the United Nations and the World Bank agenda on gender
equality. While these two organisations themselves have been criticised for furthering a
neo-liberal agenda that is opposed to social justice, their merit lies in putting the gender
equity item on the global agenda and in taking nations to task for not meeting gender
equity targets and indicators. For instance, the United Nations MDG of gender equity is
considered as an important milestone towards the achievement of gender equality. It
Objectives
To engage critically with international human and women‘s rights
conventions and national legislation
To raise critical issues relating to sex, gender and sexuality for debate and
discussion that could contribute to a continuous reshaping of Southern
African society
To promote and support sex and gender equality across the university as well
as the broader southern African society. (IGWS Business Plan, 2005:3)



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would be advantageous for IGWS to be informed by the discourse of the MDG so as to
be locally and globally relevant.
6.16 Challenges Facing IGWS
The generally pessimistic tone of most of the responses reflects the continued
undermining of the institute by the university community as a whole, particularly those
members that are resistant to change and women‘s empowerment. The compelling
challenge that the institute faces is lack of funding, which contributes to its
marginalisation. This is similar to the reason advanced by Psachoropoulos (1989): that
educational reforms fail because of lack of financial commitment.
The negative attitudes of some members of the university community towards gender
activism are visible in the perceptions held by some members of the university
community regarding activism of this kind. According to the facilitator, gender activists
are seen as troublemakers and rattlers of people‘s comfort zones. The dominance of
patriarchal ways, as reflected and imbedded in the institutional culture that is described
as ―whiteism‖, is the main factor working against the spread of gender activism.
Therefore it seems as if some members of the university community would rather
support the status quo than embrace a shift to gender equality. For people living in
comfort zones, such equality is not regarded as an urgent matter.
The project manager further made the observation that most of the policies that are in
place at the institution are impressive because they are informed by the South African
Constitution. However, problems arise when the policy is translated into practice. The
policy intentions do not match the policy outcomes and this results in a situation where
change is lacking, thereby maintaining the status quo that marginalises gender equality.
For instance, with reference to the objective which states that critical teaching on gender
equality is a mission of the institute, the facilitators‘ responses are neutral and do not
explicitly indicate the critical nature of the training.
According to the facilitators, due to its marginalised status, the institute furthermore
finds it difficult to find a core of women – particularly black – to reinforce it. Related to
this is the difficulty of attracting new ideas to facilitate the process of re-inventing the



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institute and making it profitable. The marginalised status of IGWS is reflected by the
part-time status of the current coordinator position. Once again this state of affairs is a
reflection of a mismatch between policy and outcome. In this instance, although the
broad goal of increased and broadened participation as a transformation goal has been
met by the University of Pretoria in terms of gender parity, it seems that among the
cadre of graduates there are not enough gender activists. Another possible explanation
of this situation may be the current trend in prioritising the natural sciences and business
sciences at the expense of the human sciences and social sciences, coupled with the
paucity of attempts at training the youth in a culture of human rights, democracy and the
public good of higher education (Waghid, 2004).
At management level, the director identified the lack of identity, sense of belonging and
interim status of the institute as a major challenge. Another huge challenge is the
university management‘s half-hearted commitment to and hesitancy towards gender
equality. This is translated into the inadequate funding with which the institute has had
to live so that it must relentlessly and continuously look for finance. In doing so, the
institute must also contend with competition from NGOs that are also searching for
funds. This makes funding opportunities scarcer. The issue of scarcity of money is not
only a problem faced by the institute alone but also by the other centres and institutes in
the university. The competition for funds by the different units in general and the
institute in particular reflects the global trend of the commodification and marketisation
of higher education as eloquently described by Giroux in his article on higher education
under siege (Giroux, 2004; Apple, 2005: 382). Regarding this matter, the institute has to
re-invent its objectives and find ways of surviving in a context that is hostile to gender
equality by unremittingly pursuing financial assistance from a variety of sources.
The overall challenge is that the IGWS has been obliged to operate in an environment
that is heavily influenced by the current conservative and patriarchal organisational
culture of the University of Pretoria. This scenario resonates with experiences of other
women‘s studies centres in higher education in the West. According to Stromquist,
patriarchy and other conservative forces continue to deviate from the path of genuine
social justice as advocated by the feminist movement (Stromquist, 2001: 382). Coupled



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with this are the dominant logic of neo-liberalism and the global trends already
mentioned.
6.17 Dealing with Challenges
In addressing the challenges, the director indicated that the institute will continue to
seek management support, particularly in terms of finance, and ensure that the policy
obligation of gender equity as stipulated in the transformation agendas of higher
education is fulfilled. Even though this situation is complex, all the participants
indicated that adopting an optimistic outlook is a strategy for addressing the challenges:
―Hoping for the best‖. This attitude reflects the radical social agenda for the 21
st

century. This agenda involves searching for the social justice inherent in capitalism
even though the latter might be antithetical to social justice (Muller, 2000; Lebowitz,
2001). Related to this is looking for the possible in what is perceived as impossible, in
the same manner that Davis (2004) suggests.
Another strategy that is common to all participants at IGWS is to educate the university
community about gender by disseminating relevant information through publications,
newsletters, forums, workshops and adopting a gender activist role, while lobbying for
gender equity. For example, the annual workshops on gender mainstreaming and other
scheduled workshops that deal with topical issues on gender equality such as HIV/
AIDS and the feminisation of poverty.
In the said context which is hostile to gender equity, resulting in the state of fluidity and
uncertainty at IGWS, the participants reveal that it is difficult to provide a more
concrete and positive response to the challenges described above. Hence in dealing with
the challenge, the facilitator has adopted a wait and see attitude, while
uncompromisingly advocating gender equity in theory and practice. It is important that
the facilitators continue to advance the quest for gender equality, but it would be even
more crucial if they were to take a position that is in line with that of the radical social
justice advanced in this study. As members of the academic community and progressive
thinkers, in a context that is hostile to radical social justice, they stand the danger of
being ostracised and silenced by the dominant powers of conservative neo-liberalism.



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But they possess within them a voice and agency that they can use as an instrument of
liberation from the dominant systems described.
6.18 Other Emergent Factors
Issues that emerged as of concern are the problems of implementation and the conflict
between official views and actual change in terms of putting policies into practice. An
interesting observation which was made was that the university had reached change
saturation; therefore there is no further need for change. According to this, the policies
and relevant systems are in place and they comply with the transformation mandate and
the requirements of the government. So as far as management is concerned, the required
transformation has been achieved. Any other change that is marginal to the university‘s
commitment to excellence and unsettles the comfort zone is not welcomed and, as a
result, some members of the academic community and gender activists are in a state of
uncertainty:
We are not sure of where our main task should fall. Should it be
academic research in terms of going to books and finding new theory
that kind of stuff? As a lecturer I teach my Jurisprudence students
theories and the theories of social justice, is that enough or where should
we be... should we be part of a creative practical project and so on.
Those are the kind of tensions that academics have (Director).
The uncertainty surrounding the task of the institute remains an issue of concern, both
as a challenge that needs to be addressed and as representing an inadequate commitment
towards gender from the position of management. Consequently a strong and vocal
group is essential: it needs to lobby for repositioning the institute within a relevant
academic department so that it can exert an influence. Another issue of interest is the
director‘s admiration of the notion of social justice. According to her, the university
should work towards injecting social justice concerns into the content of all its courses.
An attempt should be made to make the principled and theoretical commitment to social
justice that many academics display more concrete and practical. As it stands it is more
like a ―pie in the sky‖ affair.



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The issues that the facilitator raised include contradictions in policy that compromise
the ideals of social justice when put into practice. It appears that compliance with
policy, even if it is informed by the ideology of white conservatism, serves the interests
of those in power while those of the marginalised and oppressed are downplayed. In the
case of South Africa, those in economic power are the white minority and some
members of the liberal centre. In this regard, continued critical engagement by radical
progressives with the matters of marginalisation of gender equality is suggested.
According to the facilitator, the university is living in the past with reference to gender
and women‘s issues. For instance, the majority of the university community does not
take the institute seriously and advocates of gender equity are regarded as loudmouths
in the various departments. This observation seems to indicate that some circles in the
university are out of touch with global movements such as the MDG and their target of
gender equality. They seem to be informed by the Enlightenment and traditional
rationality that is out of tune with the current era. Related to the issue of being ―out of
sync‖ is the silence on the triple oppression that is being experienced by women in
South Africa and the attempts to counter it. There is a lack of concern with the class and
race struggle that is part and parcel of an understanding of the nature of South African
struggle for gender equality.
In this bleak context for the advancement of gender equity, one facilitator singled out
the faculty of education as exemplary in promoting and advancing the principles of
social justice and gender justice by matching policy and practice (Facilitator 2).
6.19 The Potency of the Oppositional Voice
The quest for social justice principles such as gender equity as an element of social
justice may be canonised in policy declarations, but is peripheral to policy enactment
and implementation at the University of Pretoria, as evident in the data analysis above.
For social justice to be inserted into the centre of policy, the voice of leftist intellectuals
must be brought to the centre. The proposals of the IGWS participants contain features
of the oppositional voice to the mainstream.



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For social justice and gender justice to be genuine, it needs to go beyond the façade of
legislature and political rhetoric. The conceptualisation of gender as social justice
appears to be repressed and ridiculed by some groups in the university. There are
consequently important lessons for the promotion of gender equality to be learned by
the University of Pretoria, especially the IGWS. For instance, the latter would benefit a
great deal by engaging with diversity-building relationships between members from
different communities and by addressing the patriarchal conservative organisational
culture of the university so as to facilitate progress towards gender mainstreaming and
gender equality. .
6.20 Conclusion
The narratives above have attempted to illustrate that attempting to achieve gender
justice as an element of social justice on a global and local scale is fraught with complex
dynamics and, though a noble ideal, it faces the danger of being an elusive quest if
advocates of gender equity succumb to the overwhelming forces of neo-liberalism and
globalisation. However, in the South African case, the picture is more positive because
of the political will of the state and the fervent activism of feminist and radical scholars
who are supporting gender justice despite a socio-economic environment that is not
tolerant of it. Public higher education institutions, as in the case of IGWS, play an
important role in utilising global feminist discourses and contextualising gender issues
while addressing the ensuing challenges. However, there are limitations to the extent to
which the university, through the IGWS, can realise a gender equity agenda of a critical
feminist type owing to the ideological traditions that are still evident at management
level.
In the following chapter the contribution of the Centre for the Study of AIDS at the
University to social justice will be considered.




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CHAPTER 7 − THE CASE OF CSA AND SOCIAL JUSTICE
In spite of recent advances in treatment and care available in most
developed countries, the HIV/AIDS pandemic continues to spread
throughout the developing world. Structural inequalities continue to fuel
the epidemic in all societies, and HIV infections have increasingly been
concentrated in the poorest, most marginalised sectors of society in all
countries. The relationship between HIV/AIDS and social and economic
development has therefore become a central point in policy discussion
about the most effective response to the pandemic (Parker, 2002).
7.1 Introduction
The previous chapter dealt with how the IGWS addresses gender as a social justice
imperative. This chapter focuses on the way in which CSA addresses HIV/AIDS as a
social justice concern. This will be carried out by discussing the HIV/AIDS pandemic,
followed by the South African response in dealing with it: that represented by CSA in
particular. This section provides a brief background to global and local concerns on the
HIV/AIDS epidemic and locates the role and goals of the Centre for the Study of AIDS
– CSA – at the University of Pretoria within that debate. This is achieved by furnishing
a broad overview of the pandemic and of how the global powers and the South African
government have responded to it at a macro level. At the micro level, this chapter
considers the strategic response of the Ministry of Education to the pandemic as well as
that of the higher education sector. Finally it looks at the role and goals of the CSA and
considers how they fulfil both the global and national mandates to alleviate the high
prevalence of the HIV and HIV/AIDS pandemic in the country. The rationale is to
critique the position of CSA and arrive at an appreciation of its position on HIV/AIDS
as a social justice concern.
7.2 Overview of HIV/AIDS
The HIV and AIDS epidemic started in the mid ‘80s with a few reported cases across
the world and since then, hardly 20 years later, it has developed into a global crisis. It
has been described as the most devastating pandemic in the history of modern
civilisation. Its spread across the globe has been rapid and its impact profound.
According to the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS — UNAIDS, close to
40 million people in the world were living with HIV/AIDS in 2005 and over 20 million



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have died. The largest proportions of those infected reside in sub-Saharan Africa, and
the highest prevalence in this region is found in South Africa (United Nations, 2006;
Saint, 2004; Otaala, 2004).
Originally, the pandemic was regarded as a health issue only. However, it is
increasingly recognised as having much wider and broader implications for all levels of
society. In some 20 years, the view of the pandemic has shifted from being a simple
medical matter to a complex socio-economic problem on a global scale. The economic
consequences are dramatic since the portion of the population that is of a productive age
is most severely affected by the epidemic. In effect, currently, the pandemic attacks
each component of the Human Development Index. It reduces life expectancy, lowers
educational attainment, and reduces income per capita. It undermines the very concept
of human development (African Development Forum, 2000:2).
In order to appreciate its global impact, it can be described as a humanitarian crisis
undermining the realisation of all the millennium development goals. Hence, the United
Nations describes it as a global emergency. In the same light as the UN analysis, several
analyses of the HIV/AIDS pandemic in its 25 years of existence around the globe regard
it as a global threat. It undermines socio-economic freedom, particularly since the large
majority of people infected and affected by it are found in the South – the poorest
regions of the world, already fraught with serious socio-economic and political
problems of underdevelopment (Parker, 2002:343, Barnett, nd.:30). It undermines
democracy and human rights because groups that are already vulnerable to human rights
violations – such as women, children, sex workers, and those living in poverty – are
unable to realise their rights (CSA, 2004:1). It undermines gender equality: research
indicates that the prevalence of HIV/AIDS is higher among women, ―… because
women‘s vulnerability to HIV/AIDS is rooted in inequality in sexual, social and
economic terms. It is at the intersection of power, gender, inequality, poverty and
destructive social norms that HIV hits hardest. Furthermore, it has a negative impact on
educational development because the highest prevalence of HIV is found among the
youth that are still educationally active in tertiary education‖ (Otaala, 2005; Saint,
2004). The above analysis of HIV/AIDS reflects some of the elements of the strand of
analysis which focuses on political economy. This view situates HIV/AIDS within



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broad socioeconomic issues and links its spread, impact and governance to globalisation
because it explains globalisation and its diverse meanings (Altman, 1999:560).
In keeping with the critical tradition that informs this study, HIV/AIDS can also be
regarded as a global emergency that prevents people from experiencing social justice. It
can be inferred that it exacerbates the five faces of oppression which people experience
because of its magnitude and some forms of the exclusion and stigmatisation it
perpetuates (Young, 2000:35). People living with HIV/AIDS and those affected by it
experience marginalisation, which is defined as the exclusion of a whole category of
people from useful participation in social life. HIV/AIDS renders societies powerless
against it. This situation could describe the experiences of the majority of women in
sub-Saharan Africa (Young, 2000:36). The status of powerlessness could also describe
the position of the global community vis-à-vis the pandemic because to date a cure for
the disease has not yet been discovered. Recognising its global impact and working to
transform this impact is an important part of social justice. In this regard, it is useful to
employ Young‘s social connection model for responsibility and global justice, in which
she contends that ―… all agents who contribute by their actions to the structural
processes that produce injustices have responsibilities to work to remedy these
injustices‖ (Young 2004:42). HIV / AIDS has reached a stage where it is a global
responsibility, and the global community therefore urgently needs to find ways to
correct the injustices caused by it. It is no longer the responsibility of nation states alone
but, rather, that of the global community.
The above analysis using Young‘s five faces of oppression also displays certain
similarities with the politico-economic approach to HIV/AIDS. This approach explains
the shape of the pandemic in terms of broad historical processes in the economy and
society that have contributed to a range of structural inequalities such as race, class,
ethnicity and gender, which in turn have conditioned the vulnerability of different
individuals and groups to HIV/ AIDS infections.
Most of these factors can be grouped into three analytically distinct, but
interconnected categories; (i) economic (under) development and
poverty; (ii) mobility, including migration, seasonal work, and social
disruptions due to war and political instability; and (iii) gender
inequality. This research reveals that despite the uniqueness of each local



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HIV/AIDS epidemic, the same general structural processes are at work
in Africa, Asia, Latin America and the Caribbean (Parker, et al.,
2000:S23).
With the dawn of the new millennium, the impact of HIV had reached such catastrophic
proportions that the international community responded by establishing UNAIDS in
2001 as an international body to provide appropriate world policy guidelines to halt and
reverse the spread of HIV and AIDS as one of the Millennium Development Goals. The
UNAIDS acknowledges HIV as a
... Global emergency and one of the most formidable challenges to
human life and dignity and is committed to strengthening support to
nationally owned and led responses. UNAIDS has five focus areas
including: leadership and advocacy, strategic information and technical
support, tracking monitoring and evaluation, civil society engagement
and mobilization of resources (http//:www.unaids.org).
As a global emergency, the HIV/AIDS pandemic has been associated with the broader
impact of globalisation, both negative and positive. While the field of political economy
informed the conceptualisation of the pandemic, it also highlights that a feminist
conception of equality is also relevant. From the feminist perspective, HIV/AIDS is
regarded in the following manner:
AIDS is a socially constructed disease and much of the response and
attitudes towards HIV-infected individuals centre around the pre-
existing concepts, paradigms and societal construction of those affected.
Social construction theory is concerned with the way in which societies
interpret, judge and ascribe meaning to groups, conditions, and events
(Berger and Luckman 1996), interpretations that may or may not reflect
reality (Gilbert and Wright, 2003:1).
In order to realise a more holistic view, the analysis of the political economy also needs
to be combined with the feminist position with regards to HIV/AIDS as a socially
constructed disease or pandemic. The merits of this perspective lie in privileging the
voices of groups that are most affected, in the process making a valuable contribution to
research that is often overlooked.



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7.3 The South African State’s HIV/AIDS Agenda
National governments have also conceptualised the pandemic in similar terms to those
of the global community and have also aligned their existing HIV and AIDS strategies
with the world agenda, establishing appropriate policies and research bodies informed
by the global mandate of alleviating it. In South Africa, HIV/AIDS strategies have been
in place since 1994. In 1992, the National AIDS Coordinating Committee of South
Africa (NACOSA) was formed; in 1994 it prepared the South Africa AIDS Strategy and
Implementation Plan which was designed to prevent the spread of HIV and AIDS, to
reduce its impact and to harness existing potential resources for this purpose (Coombe,
2000:19). The main goal was to address the HIV/AIDS issue by means of a
multidisciplinary, multi-sectoral and holistic mainstreaming approach. Through it, the
following broad structures were established:
The Inter-Ministerial Committee on HIV/AIDS (IMC);
The Inter-Departmental Committee on HIV/AIDS (IDC);
The South African National AIDS Council (SANAC);
The National AIDS Coordinating Committee of South Africa (NACOSA), now
an independent NGO focusing on lobbying for advocacy at national level; and
Education, health and welfare programmes in general
(Coombe, 2000: 24-25).

Thus at formulation level, relevant policies were set up together with appropriate
structures and processes to support their implementation and evaluation. However,
despite the commitment of the government to address the HIV/AIDS pandemic,
researchers show that the scale and magnitude of its efforts have not been sufficient to
deflect it. South Africa is still the HIV/ AIDS epicentre in the 2000s.



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Table 7.1 − The Consequences of the Pandemic: Projections to 2010
1999 2005 2010
Percentage of SA workforce HIV positive 11.5% 20% 22.5%
Percentage of SA workforce with AIDS 0.4% 1.65% 2.7%
New AIDS cases per annum 145,256 466,365 625,180
Number of AIDS orphans 153,000 1,000,000 2,000,000
Life expectancy of SA females (years) 54 43 37
Life expectancy of SA males (years) 50 43 38
(Coombe, 2001:3)

Data regarding AIDS prevalence levels in sub-Saharan Africa represent a cause for
alarm and purposeful action. The figures present a picture that is so powerful and
unarguable that the only way to change the situation is to engage in purposeful action
which will result in further changes. However, the statistics regarding the impact of
HIV/AIDS mask more than they reveal because they do not indicate the intricacies of
where the problem lies.
The 2000 AIDS review suggests that the implementation of the 1994 plan has been
impeded principally by problems with regards to the mismatch between policy and
implementation. These were identified as being insufficient political commitment and
capacity on the part of the government at all levels, provincial and local, as well as
misinformation and inability on the part of leadership to grapple with the complex
dynamics of the HIV/AIDS pandemic (Coombe, 2000:25-27).
The above problems indicate that in the South African context, during the 1990s, the
government was ill-informed concerning the urgency of the situation, leading to non-
implementation. The ensuing difficulties indicate that there was a need for a renewed
strategy in this regard, together with a global approach and a recognition of the national
emergency, such as that by UNAIDS. As a result, from 2000 onwards there was a more
concerted effort by the government to reinforce existing strategies and approaches, with



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the main goal of promoting an HIV/AIDS-free society in line with the UN and the
millennium development goal of eradicating it by 2015. The renewed political will in
response to combating HIV/AIDS is evident in the increase in the National Health
budget. According to Ndlovu, ―the total HIV and AIDS subprogrammes budget of the
strategic health programme (which includes the comprehensive HIV and AIDS grants
for provinces and specific allocation for the national department) has increased
nominally from R1.6 billion in 2005/6 to R2 billion in 2006/7‖ (Ndlovu, 2006:1).
Other government departments echoed this national goal in their quest to promote an
HIV/AIDS free society. In South Africa, the department of education (DoE)‘s current
strategy, Tirisano (working together), is a commitment to the reconstruction and
development of HIV/AIDS prevention and intervention measures in all phases of the
system, and at every level working together with all the stakeholders across all sections
of the society (Coombe, 2002:31).
Table 7.2 − The Tirisano (Working Together) Programme
Project Strategic objective
Awareness, information and advocacy. To raise awareness and the level of knowledge
of HIV/AIDS among all educators, learners, to
promote values, which inculcate respect for
girls and women and recognise their right to
free choice in sexual relations.
HIV/AIDS within the education
curriculum.
To ensure that life skills and HIV/AIDS
education are integrated into the curriculum at
all levels.
HIV/AIDS and the education system. To develop planning models for analysing and
understanding the impact of HIV/AIDS on the
education and training system.
(Coombe, 2000:31-33).

The above table indicates the government‘s concerted effort to re-educate the public
regarding HIV/AIDS. Since it concentrates on the education arena, it has the potential
of reversing the negative impact of HIV/AIDS by reversing the high mortality rates of
the youth in terms of the re-organisation of the curriculum and the planning of the
education system with the view of addressing the demonisation of HIV/AIDS.



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7.4 The South African Higher Education HIV/AIDS Agenda
The higher education sector also embraced the Tirisano strategy. It made its
contribution explicit in its broad and multifaceted conceptualisation of the pandemic,
couched in the language of multi-sectoral collaboration and cooperation against it. This
is evidenced in the 2000 South African Universities Vice Chancellors Association
(SAUVCA) report, which indicated that HIV/AIDS is of particular relevance to higher
education because:
it is a developmental issue, not just a health issue;
it affects not only individuals, but also organisations and systems;
it affects human resource development;
preventing the spread of HIV/AIDS and managing its impact requires
knowledge; and
successful institutions and societal responses to HIV/AIDS require leadership
(Chetty, 2000:112-13).

The follow-up to this document was a consultative national conference on HIV/AIDS
and the related field of education. At this conference the higher education sector made
the following declaration:
As the higher education community, we recognize the seriousness of the
threat posed by HIV and AIDS to our community and to the education
sector. We fully support the ministry‘s initiative in calling this
conference and commit ourselves to supporting the coalitions against
HIV and AIDS through
Education
Research
Community outreach



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Management of HIV/AIDS
Advocacy and Stimulation of Critical Debate and
Inter and intra-sectoral collaboration (Tirisano, 2002:49-50).
Concurrently, as the conference was taking place, the higher education sector was
involved in the initiative of implementing the first nationally coordinated Higher
Education HIV/AIDS Programme (HEAIDS). It was launched in November 2001 by the
dominant higher education stakeholders: SAUVCA, CTP and the Department of
Education. The programme was sponsored by the British Department of International
Development (DfiD) and the Canadian Development Cooperation (CDC) (HEAIDS,
2004:215).
The goal of the HEAIDS Programme is to mobilise the higher education
sector to respond sensitively, appropriately, and effectively to the
HIV/AIDS epidemic through HE‘s core functions of teaching, research,
management, and community service, through the continuum of
HIV/AIDS interventions – namely prevention, treatment, and care and
support (HEAIDS, 2004:214).
This signifies that higher education institutions would be regarded as having responded
adequately to the HIV/AIDS pandemic if, after being assessed, they displayed the
majority of the results below:
Table 7.3 − Goals and Results of the Higher Education HIV/AIDS Programme.
Results and objectives
Effective policy, leadership, advocacy and management
Effective prevention
Effective care and support
Teaching appropriate to HIV/AIDS
Appropriate research and knowledge creation
Community outreach
(HEAIDS, 2004:217).



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The HEAIDS agenda to employ education to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic is in
harmony with the discourse of researchers from around the globe that recognises and
endorses the important role which education plays in addressing the resulting problems.
Coombe and Kelly (2001) make a case for education as a vaccine for HIV/AIDS. ―In
the absence of a physiological vaccine against HIV infection, society has at its disposal
a ‗social vaccine‘: the vaccine of education‖. They argue that education:
enhances the potential to make discerning use of information;
enhances the potential to plan for the future; and
accelerates favourable socio-cultural changes (Coombe & Kelly, 2001:9-12).
South African higher education scholars argue that ―the triad mission of higher
education can be used to effectively combat the HIV and AIDS through the
incorporation and integration of AIDS issues in all teaching, research and community
service activities‖ (Mapesela, 2003:109). Crew (1999) avers that the universities need to
adopt an activist role in the face of the crisis. The CSA position is that universities
should not work in isolation but with the Southern African Development Community
(SADC) and with the world community, united collaboratively and coherently, in order
to halt the said global emergency (Crew, 1999:8). In 2000, the institutional profile of the
University of Pretoria with reference to its response to HIV/AIDS was as follows:
Table 7.4 − HIV/AIDS and Institutional Profile of the University of Pretoria
Item Description
Programmes
The Centre for the Study of AIDS (CSA), first of its kind to be
established in South Africa with areas of focus listed in table 11.
Services Campus health and 24 hour counselling service.
Curriculum
Various partnerships with certain departments established aimed at
curriculum development — mainstreaming HIV/AIDS.
Partnership
Universities in the SADC region, local institutions, international
universities such as the Universities of Toronto, South Wales and Yale.
Outreach Telematic education programme that carries HIV/AIDS programmes.
(Chetty, 2000: 39-40).



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Since the current study is informed by the critical theory approach that perceives hope
and the possible in the impossible, I concur with the position that aspires to imminent
victory over the HIV/AIDS pandemic and CSA‘s attitude of adopting an activist stance.
Table 7.5 − Framework for a comprehensive Pretoria University response to HIV/AIDS
Item Description Pretoria University status
University
Mission
Be responsive to the real needs
of society through vision and in
the knowledge domain.
Innovation Generation
document.
Overarching
Principle
Personally committed
university leadership bringing
about total management
commitment, showing itself in
policy development and
commitment of resources.
Management team financially
and structurally supports most
of the HIV/AIDS
mainstreaming activities of the
CSA.
Fundamental
Pillars
Openness, acceptance that
breaks the silence.
Promoting gender equity and
empowerment.
Adoption of a human rights
approach.
Inclusion at all level of PLAs.
Cohesion with national policies
and strategies.
Collegial institutional culture.
Role of the IGWS – gender
mainstreaming.
Role of the CHR – promoting
of human rights culture.
Promotion of the HEAIDS HIV
and AIDS Declaration.
Basic Strategies

Inward-looking Protects its own functions as an
AIDS- affected institution.
Links prevention to care.
Tackle management-related
factors.
Activities and services of the
CSA
Outward-looking Serves the needs of an AIDS-
affected society.
Produces highly flexible, top
quality AIDS-competent
graduates.
Reflects vigorously on the
needs and challenges of an
AIDS-affected society.
Places expertise at the service
of an AIDS-affected society.
Further develops AIDS-
relevant expertise.
Research and HIV/AIDS
advocacy activities of the CSA.
Adapted from Kelly, 2001:52-54.



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The global community should experience the rage caused by the injustices of
HIV/AIDS because people are socio-economically marginalised while women and
children experience the worst effects of the pandemic.
In 2001, Kelly developed a synthesis report for the Association for the Development of
Education in Africa (ADEA) which contains a conceptual framework for a
comprehensive response to HIV/AIDS in a university in Africa. One South African
study praises this framework as being relevant in assisting universities to address the
issue of HIV/AIDS in a holistic and strategically comprehensive manner (Van der
Merwe & Gouws, 2005:57). This framework will be used to evaluate how the
University of Pretoria has performed in its response to the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
It can be inferred from the table above that the University of Pretoria is creating an
appropriate response to the pandemic that reflects the national and global mandate of an
HIV/AIDS free society by 2015. The mission and the areas of focus of the CSA are
illustrative in this regard.
The CSA is an institutional project that focuses on implementing the University of
Pretoria‘s HIV/AIDS policy. From the outset, the CSA was established to inform the
university community about the HIV/AIDS dynamics as they unfolded. The staff of the
CSA consists of researchers, academics and activists who demonstrate much
commitment to the HIV/AIDS research field in general and, in particular, the
implementation of legal policy pronouncements and current HIV/AIDS research
findings. The project staff accomplish this in a paradoxical context, a local
(institutional) and national (countrywide) environment fraught with both rejection and
acceptance of the HIV/AIDS phenomenon. This peculiar state of affairs is closely
linked to the infringement of the social justice mandate entrusted to institutions of
higher education in the country. There is a need to study the campus response to the
national mandate of social justice with regard to HIV/AIDS in order to inform future
policy developments; and furthermore, to gain a clearer and better understanding of how
the university responds to the mandate though its treatment of the pandemic.
The CSA‘s mission and strategic objectives are,



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...to mainstream HIV/AIDS through all aspects of the university‘s core
business activity. The mission is to understand the complexities of the
HIV/AIDS epidemic in South Africa and to develop effective ways of
ensuring that all the students and staff of the university are prepared
professionally and personally to deal with HIV/AIDS as it unfolds in the
South African society (CSA, 2004:1).
The strategic objectives of the CSA, when translated into areas of focus, include
activities that target the university community as a whole in ensuring that there is
current information on the pandemic. These areas are not merely about disseminating
information but are framed in terms of the human rights discourse and focus on
nurturing social transformation and democracy. Most of them relate to the agenda of
social justice, particularly the approach based on human rights.
The CSA focus areas involve monitoring the mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS in the
university‘s core business, community mobilisation, training, and support, and research,
together with a human rights culture in the context of transformation and development
(CSA, 2005:1-2). These focuses contribute to the realisation of the mandate of HEAIDS
as indicated above. Furthermore, these areas are not only of local interest but are global
in nature because, through collaboration in research, the CSA could possibly influence
the global community.
The CSA has emerged as one of the more relevant and timely higher education
HIV/AIDS programmes in the country which facilitates the realisation of the broad
government mandate of providing effective responses to the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The
University of Pretoria‘s performance in the 2001 HEAIDS study indicates that the
institution is responding to the HIV/AIDS pandemic positively. There is political will
and buy-in by management as evidenced by the presence of an HIV policy and financial
commitment to HIV/AIDS programmes at the management level.
With reference to effective prevention, established staff and student peer education
programmes are organised and coordinated by the CSA, although much work is still
necessary with regard to other items concerning effective prevention, such as the
establishment of Voluntary Counselling and Testing (VCT). Acceptable care and
support is available at the onsite campus clinic for treatment of opportunistic infections



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in staff and students. However, there was no response in the area of palliative care,
usage of ARVs and home based care for the university community. This indicates that
the university still needs to develop in this area while working on mainstreaming and
teaching with regards to HIV/AIDS since only 20% of the HODs indicated that there
was a departmental policy to include HIV/AIDS in the curriculum, while the other 80%
indicated that no such policy was in place (CSA, 2005:5-6).
The institution must also develop the area of research and knowledge creation since the
study discovered no response to this aspect (HEAIDS, 2004: 166-167). However,
evidence gathered from the institution indicates that there is relevant and constructive
research in the form of CSA‘s yearly reviews, discussed in this section. On the basis of
the HEAIDS criteria or the HIV/AIDS framework, the University of Pretoria is meeting
some of the requirements while in other areas there is room for improvement.
The CSA is playing a most crucial role in disseminating information regarding the
status of the pandemic to the university community and stakeholders and even further
afield to the international community. An analysis of the role that the CSA is playing in
using ICT in support of HIV/AIDS related research indicates that the CSA site
―provide[s] current epidemiological data, bibliographic data-bases, reports,
documentation, discussion forums, and the possibility of links‖ (Kelly, 2002:10). Thus
the CSA is relevant to both the local and global community with respect to activities
that promote the alleviation of the HIV/AIDS pandemic.
7.5 HIV/AIDS Reviews by the CSA
The AIDS reviews are published annually by CSA in an attempt to address ―… the
complex question as to why, despite the comprehensive National HIV/AIDS Plan
adopted in 1994, South Africa has what has been described as the fastest growing HIV
epidemic in the world‖ (Crew, 2000:1).



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Table 7.6 − HIV/AIDS Reviews Summarised
Author, title and year
of publication
Synopsis and theory of change
Marais Buckling, (2005) This review looks critically at how South Africa should
be measuring the impact of HIV/AIDS. It highlights the
sociological and politico-economic reality: ―... what
emerges is a nuanced but horrifying picture of a society
that is being ruptured and buckled into an antithesis of the
humane, just and dignifying society millions struggled for
and continue to strive towards.‖ The review argues that it
is imperative that the country develops creative and
innovative ways of combating the pandemic so that the
ideal of a socially and economic just society is realised.
Pieterse & van Wyk,
What’s Cooking Review,
2005.
This review examines macro-economic policies and how
they give rise to socio-economic conditions that
exacerbate a person‘s vulnerability to food insecurity,
HIV infection, hastening the development of AIDS and
its effects on the success of treatment. The authors argue
that food insecurity is as much a product of historical
injustices as it is of current policy decisions.
Kometsi, K., (un) Real
Review, 2004.
This review addresses the manner in which the epidemic
positions men and the crucial role that they can play in
the social and political responses to HIV/AIDS. It further
looks at the dominant images of men in society and
focuses on masculinities in the South African context
Barolsky, V., (Over)
Extended (2003)
This review examines the impact of the epidemic on
families and the personal relationships between family
members. It addresses the question: How the (over)
extended family copes with the epidemic and how social
and community structures can be developed in innovative
and creative ways to cope with the epidemic.
Kitson, C., Ceaser, M.,
and Jithoo, T., Whose
Right AIDS Review,
2002.
What do human rights have to do with AIDS? This
review looks at the connection between HIV/AIDS and
human rights. It considers what constitutes the rights
based approach to HIV/AIDS and the international
guidelines on which such an approach is based.
Jones, T., Who Cares
AIDS Review, 2001.
This review investigates the role the international
community plays in addressing the HIV/AIDS pandemic
in Africa. It considers the extent of care from the African
and the South African community and argues that all
should care in the fight against the pandemic.
Marais, H., To the Edge
AIDS 2000 Review.

This review seeks to address the forces that shaped the
response to the HIV/AIDS epidemic in 1994-1999. It
examines the ideological factors, origins of the National
AIDS Plan of 1994 and the dynamics and challenges that
led to the country‘s failure to fully implement the plan.




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The table above depicts only a selection of publications by the CSA that attempt to
furnish the public with information related to the HIV/AIDS pandemic as it is
experienced by ordinary people in various settings and contexts in the country. The
focus of the AIDS reviews ranges from addressing macro socio-economic issues to
micro issues such as the role of men (masculinity) and the extended family in
addressing the pandemic. The reviews provide a rich and well researched perspective on
how HIV/AIDS affects lives and possible ways of dealing with the pandemic.
Furthermore, the brief analysis of its yearly HIV/AIDS Reviews indicates that in the
area of critical research and knowledge creation, the centre is relevant to the local
university community, the higher education institutions, the South African nation and
the global community at large. This points to the critical role the centre is playing in
addressing the global emergency through providing timely and relevant research.
The reviews further illustrate how the pandemic and its impact is closely intertwined
with imbalances of power and access to resources in the South African context, in a
similar manner to Bancroft‘s (2001) report in a global context. In the reviews, it is also
evident that the HIV/AIDS pandemic is conceptualised by the CSA in its publications in
politico-economic terms — a broader strand of analysis with broader categories such as
the global nature of the HIV/AIDS pandemic (Altman, 1999:260). Although the
HIV/AIDS reviews of the CSA cited in the current study raise pertinent issues related to
the pandemic, the women‘s movement and the feminist perspective on HIV/AIDS
appear to be downplayed. The feminist perspective seems to be subsumed under the
debate of globalisation and HIV/AIDS. It is nonetheless crucial that the feminist
standpoint within the South African context begin to highlight the threat the pandemic
poses to women (Msimang, 2003:101).
An equally important aspect of the reviews is that they are couched in the discourse of
social constructivism that privileges the voice of participants – those infected and
affected by the HIV/AIDS pandemic. In this manner, they shed light on the calamity
that is often overlooked by other publications couched in the terms of scientific and
medical discourse. Furthermore, the reviews speak to the human rights culture that
informs most of the activity of the centre. By being informed by social constructivism
and the human rights culture, each review fulfils the radical social justice mandate in



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that it includes experiences of the marginalised in research as a crucial contribution to
knowledge.
The Centre does not operate in a vacuum but in a context that is informed by conflicting
discourses and paradigms in addressing the pandemic which exert an impact on the
effectiveness of the centre in fulfilling its mandate. For instance there is a constant
debate on the relationship between HIV/AIDS and poverty on the one hand and
HIV/AIDS and ARV on the other (Coombe, 2000). The one camp is informed by the
social justice discourse and contends that alleviating poverty will reduce the prevalence
of HIV/AIDS while the other position is informed by the logic of the market and of
profit, and argues that the provision of medication such as ARV will alleviate the
pandemic. In this context, the CSA must find a balanced position that will present the
best possible prevention and intervention strategy to the general public while taking
cognisance of the conflicting positions. Since currently, as noted, the country is
experiencing the highest prevalence of HIV/AIDS in the whole world, while the hardest
hit portion of the population affected and infected by it are those living in poverty and
marginalisation, the social justice position on the pandemic boasts impressive
credentials for alleviating the situation. On that note, it is informative to analyse and
reveal how the CSA makes sense of social justice and HIV/AIDS. Judging from the
artefacts and publication of the CSA considered in this section, its position on
HIV/AIDS as a social justice concern is informed by the ideological and political
context in which it operates. This will be addressed in the analysis of the data garnered
from the interviews with participants from the CSA.
7.6 Conceptualisation of Social Justice
The CSA Deputy Director avers that social justice is a complex concept, concerning the
total transformation of institutions to correct the imbalances of the past. According to
him social justice aims to promote access, gender and disability equity in the institution.
With regard to the wider community, social justice is aimed at increasing community
participation and involvement.
I mean I am looking not only from the point of view of access of
previously disadvantaged communities to higher education, but also
looking at things like staffing structure in terms of gender equity, issues



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of disability, relationships with communities. I mean they draw their
staff from communities – but a lot of projects and research happen
through communities and I would imagine issues of social justice are
very important there in terms of how the university works with these
communities. Perhaps initially in terms of selecting research topics,
looking at issues of historical imbalances, access to services and rights I
would imagine that the university has an important role in this kind of
research (Deputy Director of CSA).
The CSA deputy director‘s perception of an institutional response to the social justice
mandate reveals several characteristics. The most dominant one that is emphasised
several times is the slow pace of transformation at the University of Pretoria while the
second has to do with making the demographics of institutions representative of the
South African population and promoting the employment of people from marginalised
groups. His position on social justice reflects the liberal school which fosters equality
within the existing structures (Rizvi, 1999), particularly the issue of making the
demographics of the institution more representative of the historically marginalised
communities. While demonstrating concern regarding the slow pace of the university in
this respect, the director‘s sentiments reveal an aspect of an institutional culture that is
conservative and locked in the past, in that the slow pace is retarding the full realisation
of the government‘s social justice mandate. What appears to emerge from the data is
that the director is operating in a context that is at odds with his ideological standpoint.
He expresses a liberal position while he operates within a conservative context. There is
a tension between the conservative and the liberal paradigms and thus the radical social
justice advanced in this study appears to be overshadowed.
The deputy director further offered three examples of programmes that constitute a
response to social justice: the UPFY Programme, the IGWS and the Centre for the study
of Human Rights. Within the CSA, an exemplary project that promotes the social justice
mandate is the Youth Skills Development project. This project upgrades marginalised
youth by providing them with relevant skills so that they can be self-reliant and thus
enhance their self-worth and dignity. Furthermore, the project utilises the ―Train the
Trainer‖ feature which ensures that the skills learned are ploughed back into the
community by better trained and skilled youth. While the CSA programme is relevant
and useful, it falls short of fully engaging the youth in other aspects of the HIV/AIDS



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pandemic, particularly those framed by the political economy analysis and critical
theory. What appears to be lacking in the youth programme is the inculcation of critical
consciousness and action against systems of oppression and poverty together with their
role in human emancipation as proposed by critical theory (Kincheloe & McLaren,
2002). Another important aspect of the youth programme is the emphasis on ―skilling‖;
however, in terms of critical theory, skilling without an emphasis on liberatory
consciousness and action is tantamount to perpetuating the status quo of oppression and
marginalisation. In this regard, it would be of benefit if such programmes were infused
with the language of critical pedagogy so that they serve as emancipatory systems
against systems of oppression.
The experience of the deputy director, with respect to the University of Pretoria‘s
response to the HIV/AIDS mandate and transformation at large, illustrates the
phenomenon of the mismatch between policy and practice as identified by policy
analysts (McLaughlin, 1998). While the CSA‘s director mentions some relevant aspects
of social justice, in particular, transformation as an element of government policy, what
appears to him as a disparity is the complex nature of social justice in practice,
particularly the context which is controlled by a dominant discourse of conservatism
and its anti-progressive form of social justice.
However, in experiencing social justice as a complex endeavour, the director is not
alone; he is joined by the two project managers in this study. In recognition of its
complexity, the participants shared their sentiments that social justice promoted by
relevant research topics and practices is informed by the human rights culture. This
framework informs most of the dispositions and activities of the CSA, including its
research and training endeavours. The initial point of departure of this approach
encourages activists to consider everyone, regardless of their HIV/AIDS status, as being
entitled to the basic human rights enshrined in the universal declaration of human rights
and the South African Constitution. This position ensures that everyone is accorded
equal treatment in all areas of life and no exception should be made regarding people
living with and affected by HIV/AIDS.
The issue of social justice, we are a social research organization and
indeed we will always look at the sort of the social issues around the



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epidemic. We have got some of the number crunchers and the bio-
medical staff on board. As the team within the centre we focus on the
themes on all the social issues, ranging from education to sociology,
psychology, psycho-social well-being and we try to marry that with our
vision or approach and linked to our approach to doing our work within
the human rights framework. It is all about access and meaningful
participation. Sort of ensuring access to the activities that we are doing,
and sort of to the greater good of human society, but also getting all
stakeholders within the constituencies to have meaningful participation
in all initiatives that we are doing. I mean all of that is sort of for us the
social justice element is sort of enshrined into your normal basic human
rights. So because we work within ... we are a social research
organisation working within the human rights approach; the social
justice angle is sort of the logical entry point for us into the HIV/AIDS
(CSA Project Manager 2).
In addition to the human rights framework, fulfilling social justice concerns involves
employing contextualised research with the aim of improving the lives of women since
they represent the portion of the population most severely affected by the HIV/AIDS
pandemic. It also involves a multi-sectoral approach, for instance, working with non
profit organisations such as People against Women Abuse (POWA), and international
aid agencies, such as Australian Aid. The main aim is to empower women and improve
their socio-economic status.
One project manager‘s conceptualisation of social justice is informed by a human rights
culture with a strong emphasis on gender equality. The research projects under the
auspices of the project manager attempt to effect ―gender justice‖: for example, two
projects focus on the trauma and empowerment of women. The focus of this project is
to empower victims of gender based violence by providing the project organisers with
property (CSA Project Manager 2). Although on a small scale, such activities do
constitute a building block towards achieving gender justice in the context of the
pandemic that is undermining gender equality, what also emerged with reference to
gender is the attempt to go beyond the provision of services to women‘s empowerment.
In a way this is similar to the project on self-reliance which attempts to promote
sustainable development that is longer lasting. The CSA‘s focus on gender does not
merely end with the limited gender perspective that concentrates on women. There is
another progressive venture that focuses on gender from a masculine perspective. As a
result, a more balanced perspective regarding gender would be provided. In this



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broadened perspective, there are also proponents which hold that women‘s rights are no
less than human rights. This is a similar stance to that advocated by socialist feminists
in advancing gender justice (Young, 2004; Unterhalter, 2004). In so doing, the socialist
feminist also strives to represent human diversity and thus to portray inclusiveness as an
element of social justice. However, the CSA‘s position on HIV/AIDS and gender could
benefit from engaging with the Man as Partners (MAP) movement whose objective is to
change men‘s knowledge, attitudes, and behaviours, leading to a decrease in the spread
of HIV/AIDS and gender based violence (Greig & Peacock, 2005:3).
The human rights framework that the CSA adopts in dealing with the pandemic portrays
the global commitment to dealing with it. It also reflects Parker et al.‘s position on the
rights based approach:
Ultimately, together with a new emphasis on community mobilization
aimed at unleashing resistance to stigmatization and discrimination,
structural interventions aimed at developing a rights-based approach to
reducing HIV/AIDS-related stigmatization and discrimination should be
a high priority in order to create a transformed social climate in which
stigmatization and discrimination will no longer be tolerated. Within
such a framework, discrimination becomes a clear breach of a basic
human rights obligation — a breach that, when concretized in civil rights
legislation can effectively impede and prohibit the exercise of
HIV/AIDS related stigmatization and discrimination (Parker, et al.,
2003:17).
The difficulty with the human rights culture/approach is that the dominant discourse that
informs it at the moment is one of neo-liberalism and hence it is limited in inculcating a
form of social justice that promotes collective human rights.
While the staff of the CSA perceive social justice as a complex concept to define, yet
even more complex when being implemented or practised, especially given the
historical legacy of the country and the stigma associated with HIV/AIDS, adopting the
human rights approach emerged as pertinent for them. Implicit in this approach is the
attempt to deal with the injustices suffered by those infected or affected by HIV/AIDS,
for example, stigmatisation. The human rights approach also resonates with the position
of socialist feminists on justice as freedom from the five faces of oppression (Young,
2000). According to Young, for every member of a given society to experience justice,



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there must be humane treatment and equal recognition of all. By linking these two
approaches, a socially just community could be created. For example, members of
society who are marginalised because of their HIV/AIDS status could be accorded full
recognition and incorporated into the social world.
Although the said framework devised by Young was written within a Western context,
the present study utilises it here because it illuminates certain aspects of the oppression
experienced by people affected with HIV/AIDS. Furthermore, the framework is useful
for providing solutions in addressing the injustices.
7.7 The CSA’s Conceptualisation of HIV/AIDS
The data analysis indicates that, in implementing the CSA‘s mandate, the project
manager‘s conceptualisation of HIV/AIDS is further broadened and informed by current
debates on the political economy of HIV/AIDS. The staff at the CSA perceive it as more
than merely a medical issue, but more importantly, as a developmental issue since it
cuts across all sectors of the economy and the social life of communities. This broad
view is couched in the human rights culture which is the mainstay that informs most of
the CSA activities. In addition to this, HIV/AIDS is adopted as a moral responsibility of
the institution and the nation at large. This concept can be characterised as having more
neutral undertones, even though it is informed by current politico-economic debates. It
possesses liberal tones because its emphasis leans more towards the human rights
approach that operates in the capitalist and globalised context responsible for the
globalised nature and socio-economic inequalities of the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The
liberal undertones of this conceptualisation have merits in being couched in terms of the
human rights culture, but fall short of theorising the pandemic in radical social justice
terms – as a thread of global social justice. Another important omission is the
downplaying of the feminist position that perceives HIV/AIDS as being socially
constructed and best understood from the perspectives of the society that is affected and
infected by the pandemic (Gilbert & Wright, 2003).
7.8 Leadership in HIV/AIDS
Another important attribute that emerged from the data concerns the CSA‘s objective to
demonstrate leadership in terms of HIV/AIDS in the academic field by equipping



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students with skills such as initiative, creativity, and humane skills that contribute to the
enhancement of the social role of higher education. The CSA also fulfils the university‘s
business and economic mission to produce leaders in the corporate world with relevant
knowledge of HIV/AIDS. This mission is fulfilled by mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in
most of the university curricula and other extracurricular activities. Of note in this
attempt is the success story with respect to mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in engineering,
resulting in informed engineering graduates. Equally of note is the CSA‘s approach to
educating the UP community concerning HIV/AIDS. In this regard the CSA has
embraced the flexible learning approach and thus attempts to accommodate all learners.
However, while there are success stories of mainstreaming HIV/AIDS in the curriculum
in isolated departments, there is much resistance to mainstreaming since, as noted, only
20% of the departments are embracing it. Hence, it can safely be inferred that the
mainstreaming of HIV/AIDS is strongly contested in the university context, and for it to
gain ground, much spadework needs to be done.
With their zeal to demonstrate leadership in the HIV/AIDS field, the interviewees‘
responses indicate that the CSA does not operate in isolation, but embodies a strong
community outreach focal point which is informed by the inclusive and broadened
conceptualisation of the HIV/AIDS phenomenon. The community projects with which
the CSA is involved include but are not limited to youth concerns, women/gender
development, schools (through the national vaccine project) and linking academia with
the community. Furthermore, the CSA places a strong focus on community
development, enhancing pertinent areas such as improvement of food security and
social infrastructure.
The approach of the CSA when implementing the HIV/AIDS policy is not limited to the
local community but extends to the continental and global community. The project
managers indicated how the magnitude of the pandemic has necessitated that the CSA
does not adopt the AIDS/HIV project in terms of the isolationist and exceptionalism
positions, but must, rather, cooperate and collaborate with internal and external
compatible organisations. It maintains strong links with relevant local, national, regional
and international activist organisation in the HIV/AIDS fields. At an institutional level,
the centre enjoys strong links with other tertiary institutions in the country while at the



197

national level it is informed by the government HIV/AIDS Programme as it was
established in response to the then vice president‘s call in 1999. Regional programmes
are manifested in the form of the SADCC Future Leaders Programme which targets the
youth and empowers them with relevant skills in the HIV/AIDS field. International
links have been established through the involvement in the activities of UNESCO by
one project manager and the HIV/ AIDS research project of the University of York.
The CSA has positioned itself as a socially relevant centre with a strong research
function. This indicates that its role in implementing policy on HIV/AIDS is strongly
informed by relevant and current research. The AIDS Review is evidence of this fact.
The other exemplary research endeavours are those in collaboration with international
institutions such as that just mentioned.
Demonstrating leadership in the HIV/AIDS fields translates into the implementation of
both local and global organisational visions of mitigating and curbing HIV/AIDS. From
the United Nations to the University of Pretoria, there is strong commitment to the
alleviation of the pandemic. The UNAIDS‘s commitment, actions and goals to halt and
reverse the spread of HIV/AIDS by 2015 are reflected in the leadership, as regards
HIV/AIDS activities, taken by the CSA (UNAIDS, 2007). Related to this commitment
are regional issues of critical concern. For instance, the SADC identification of ―the
need to ensure that poverty alleviation is addressed in all SADC activities and
programmes with the ultimate objective of eradicating it. HIV/AIDS is a major threat to
the attainment of the objective of SADC and therefore is accorded priority in all SADC
programmes and activities‖ (SADC, 2007). This is a pertinent concern because,
according to UNAIDS figures, the SADC community records the highest prevalence of
the HIV/AIDS pandemic; therefore, it is fitting that the SADC should take explicit
action towards mainstreaming the latter. Demonstrating leadership in the HIV/AIDS
area at local and global level, and taking into consideration HIV/AIDS as a social
justice concern, reflects Young‘s (2002) position on justice as a global concern. Social
justice can no longer be an isolated national issue, but becomes a global one.



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7.9 The Role of Project Managers
The project manager‘s role in implementing the HIV/AIDS policy focuses on the
following functions: strategic planning, fundraising, research management, staff
development and ―innovating and expanding CSA‖, youth and gender development.
Once more the CSA is socially relevant because it proposes a special portfolio for
HIV/AIDS and the youth, headed and coordinated by a project management team.
My specific role I mean my primary portfolio in the centre is the Youth
Projects – the Leaders at Work Project and other related links of which
there is quite a few of. There is a media portfolio as well liaising with
the media and so general marketing of the centre as well. Then other
activities include sort of grant writing, I am one of the main grant writers
of the Unit because we have to raise our own funding in the unit. Then
also I am representing the centre on various bodies sort of regionally and
nationally. And I am chief editor in the UNESCO Impact of HIV and
AIDS clearing house in Paris (CSA Project Manager 2).
This is particularly important because global statistics indicate that the generation
affected most by the pandemic comprises the youth of tertiary education age (16 – 25
years). The manner in which the CSA markets its services to the youth target market is
exemplary and credit goes to the youth portfolio project manager who continually
provides vibrant, popular and captivating messages regarding HIV/AIDS. The emphasis
on gender is also of particular relevance to the mitigation of HIV/AIDS because women
constitute a large percentage of the people affected and infected by the pandemic. In
fact this focus reflects the current strategies of dealing with the phenomenon of the
feminisation of poverty and HIV/AIDS. In addressing these issues, social researchers
argue that increased empowerment of women globally is the key (Gahan, 2005: 5).
In sharing experiences regarding their role, the project managers revealed very little
evidence of how HIV/AIDS impacts on them as social scientists and researchers. Their
role is limited to issues of the development of the skills of the youth as regards HIV/
AIDS gender and community development. What appears to be missing, for instance, is
the interrogation of issues of socio-economic exclusion, deprivation and discrimination
owing to the pandemic and the role of neo-liberalism therein. From the perspective of
critical theory, the centre would be in a position to advance radical social justice if the
role of the project manager were informed by critical social research and science, whose



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aim is to liberate human beings — the youth and adults alike — from systems of
oppression and homophobic practices of capitalism as characteristics of the global
context of the pandemic (Hill, 2000:3). A related matter with respect to revitalising the
role of the project in challenging neo-liberalism and its anti-democratic tendencies can
be found in applying the principles of Tirisano and compassionate citizenship suggested
by Waghid (2004). Waghid‘s important suggestion is that instilling compassionate
citizenship in the youth cultivates values of democracy, social justice and equality, non-
racism, non-sexism, ubuntu – human dignity, openness, accountability and respect for
the rule of law. Waghid further adds that in higher education the role of university
teachers in a context of global injustice such as HIV/AIDS would involve that:
[We] will need to cultivate compassion as an appropriate response to the
situation of others; this is a quality that deserves recognition in the
education of students and the democratisation of society. Good
universities not only teach students practical reasoning, but also a sense
of generosity and appropriate concern towards others …. Teaching
university students to show compassion means instilling in them the
value of learning to oppose undeserved conditions of living which
affront human dignity such as socio-economic deprivation, racism,
inequality and poverty – conditions which are rife in South Africa and
on the African continent (Waghid, 2004:539).
Although Waghid‘s suggestions are expressed in general terms and refer to teaching,
they could be applicable to the project managers at the CSA, as university employees
involved in training the youth at the university as a place of enactment. Therefore, a
consideration of teaching the CSA clientele some principles of compassionate
citizenship as an aspect of democracy would go a long way towards facilitating the
rights-based approach that frames most of the CSA‘s activities.
7.10 Outcomes of the Programmes
The CSA has enjoyed some successes in implementing the HIV/AIDS policy. The
evidence provided by the project managers points to successful outcomes in the area of
intervention, youth development, addressing stigma, gender and masculinity. The
intervention package has been created and must be replicated nationally. Since the
objective of this package is to address HIV/AIDS trauma, primarily aimed at women,
again a strong gender focus is evident. In this regard, the CSA should be wary of



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making a contribution to dealing with the feminisation of HIV/AIDS as referred to by
Gahan (2004).
The CSA, through its various projects, particularly those that target the youth, has
successfully demystified the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. In addressing the notion of
stigma, the human rights approach once again informs the conception and delivery of
training material. Not only is there progress in addressing stigma, but another area that
also evidences positive outcomes is the broadening of gender to include the masculinity
perspective. This process, according to the project manager, represents the goal of the
CSA ―to invent new ways of meaningful participation of men in HIV/AIDS
programmes and promote men as active agents of change‖. This implies that in the
battle to combat the spread of HIV/AIDS it is not only women who should be in the
forefront but also men, because all genders are equally affected by the pandemic. These
outcomes reflect the activity of the organisation MAP whose objective it is to build
societal capacity to involve men in HIV/AIDS related prevention, care and activities
related to gender based violence and the promotion of gender equality (Greig &
Peacock, 2005:2).
According to the CSA director, the CSA projects are locally and regionally focused. As
noted, their main agenda in promoting social justice is framed by the human rights
approach while addressing the stigma attached to HIV/AIDS. One example of a regional
programme that addresses social justice and HIV/AIDS is the one offered to regional
parliamentarians which promotes the dignity and human rights of those affected and
infected by HIV/AIDS. The CSA‘s involvement with these parliamentarians is another
indication of the relevance of their project to the local outcomes.
7.11 Challenges of the CSA
For the two project managers, stigmatisation of HIV/AIDS remains the greatest national
challenge for the CSA to address despite the fact that the centre has instituted measures
to address this. Even at institutional level, HIV/AIDS continues to be demonised, which
has led to the perpetuation of a taboo culture that the CSA must also address. One
project manager‘s position with regards to the challenges of stigma and misconceptions
about the pandemic is as follows:



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One of the challenges, first we are focusing on the university campus, is
the diversity of the campus population. I mean there are myths and
misconceptions going with that, if you are dealing with race and culture,
the average white students on campus are not affected by the HIV/AIDS;
they feel sometimes untouched by it. So if you are trying to have a
campaign targeting them or if you are trying to get them involved into
the programme, they sometimes look reluctant because they sometimes
see it as a black issue and not a white issue. Some of the black students
might think that well it is a drug-user issue or it is a homosexual issue
(CSA Project Manager 2).
According to the project managers, the pandemic has re-invented and recreated gender
and social inequalities, thus presenting a challenge of great magnitude that needs to be
addressed consistently and immediately; not piecemeal.
Although there have been some positive outcomes, especially in the area of
demystifying HIV/AIDS and the stigma attached to it, the project managers argue that
the battle is not completely won as there continue to be further misconceptions of the
HIV/AIDS pandemic influenced by race, culture and the socio-economic dynamics.
These misconceptions are going to continue to exist on the global scale for as long as
the statistics point to the fact that the hardest hit groups of the populations are those
marginalised by poverty, gender, race and social class. The question that arises, with
reference to dealing with stigma, concerns what CSA experience is also reflected in the
international research field. According to Parker, HIV/AIDS related stigma and
discrimination continue to plague the world even among the sectors of the world that are
experiencing adverse poverty conditions and the feminisation of poverty (Parker, et al.,
2003:17). They suggest that for the global community to deal more effectively with
stigma and related discrimination and oppression, there is a need to:
Conceptualize stigma and stigmatization as intimately linked to the
reproduction of social difference; this paper offers a new framework by
which to understand HIV/AIDS-related stigma and its effects. In so
doing, it highlights the manner in which stigma feeds upon, strengthens
and reproduces existing inequalities of class, race, gender and sexuality.
It highlights the limitations of individualistic modes of stigma alleviation
and calls instead for new programmatic approaches in which the
resistance of stigmatized individuals and communities is utilized as a
resource for social change (Parker, et al., 2003:17).



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Another challenge that the CSA has been required to deal with is the increasing demand
for its services in the context of the growing numbers of those affected and infected by
HIV/AIDS, particularly among the youth. As a result certain staff members have felt
overwhelmed by the constant demand for their services by the university community
and the nation at large.
Some of the above challenges are reiterated by the CSA director. According to him, the
challenges that face the organisation stem from three sources – student related, staff
related and management related. With regard to students, stigmatisation, racism and
reluctance to support some of the CSA programmes are the main challenges. With
regard to staff stigmatisation the challenges are coupled with limited cooperation from
staff. With regard to management, there is reluctance to assist with the CSA projects in
particular.
Financially, like the other two centres – the UPFY and IGWS – the CSA has had to
contend with financial difficulties, perhaps due to the commodification and
marketisation of higher education services as described earlier by Giroux (2002) and
Apple (2001). Overall, stigmatisation emerges as being the greatest challenge in the
whole university community.
7.12 Dealing with the Challenges
In dealing with the said challenges, project managers characterise the approach of the
CSA as being dynamic, innovative and creative. The goal of continuously finding
unique and new ways of improving the situation drives most of its activities, for
example, the Future Leaders Programme that equips the youth with skills to deal with
the pandemic in the corporate world. The human rights approach once again emerges as
the mainstay that informs the solutions formulated by the CSA. This broad approach is
coupled with encouraging people to apply a critical mind to the greatest challenges,
such as stigmatisation. Even in the projects that address stigma, the CSA does not
employ the ―one-size-fits-all‖ approach but rather creates specialised interventions for
specific marginalised people.



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In addressing the challenges facing the UP, the CSA director refers to a concerted effort
that involves most of the stakeholders, from top management to students. Educating and
disseminating information regarding HIV/AIDS is the dominant strategy employed by
the centre, for example, the HIV/AIDS Reviews. The nature and focus of the
educational interventions are such that they appeal to different audiences that consist of
most of the stakeholders of the University community.
Measures to mainstream HIV/AIDS in the curriculum promote collaborative research on
HIV/AIDS and cooperation with the Centre for Human Rights Studies. All these
processes are intended to address the HIV/AIDS challenge in a context where
misconceptions regarding the pandemic are rife. With reference to research, the
promotion of interdisciplinary research is an important strategy for the centre:
Also being placed in the university, we feel that one of the strengths is to
promote interdisciplinary research. I mean in getting people from
various disciplines together to do research together, to work on
interventions together and do research together. And linked to that is that
we believe firmly in sort of marrying theory with practice, I mean for a
long time HIV and AIDS were sort of reactive, people reacted to the
challenge. Throughout the years we have got so much theory in
HIV/AIDS and the theory does not always influence what is happening
in the field you know. Theories sometimes are always kept in library
shelves and books and it does not actually feed back into the community
where that theory was actually developed (CSA Project Manager 2).
By promoting interdisciplinary research, the centre is dealing with the challenges and
demonstrating that it is aware of the complexity of the pandemic while forging ways of
addressing it from a variety of perspectives. This is a positive disposition. However, in
terms of critical theory, the research undertaken by the centre would benefit from
adopting a stance that is critical of current research theories and practices with the aim
of liberating knowledge and human beings (Kincheloe & McLaren, 2002). This is an
area that the centre needs to explore in order to advance the agenda of radical social
justice.
In addressing the financial difficulties, the centre continually seeks funds from different
donors such as UNESCO and the Australian Aid organisation. The deputy director
describes this venture in the following manner: ―We raise all our funds from donor



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organisations and international governments. What they [the University of Pretoria] do,
give us office space and access to the university‘s IT network internet – we pay for
usage.‖ (Deputy Director, CSA). From the data it is evident that fundraising, addressing
stigmatisation and making use of relevant research in the centre‘s activities are
important strategies for dealing with the challenges.
7.13 Critical Policy Engagement
The recurring question that cropped up in the researcher‘s mind during the visits to the
centre and while she analysed the interview data, was the level and extent of any
critique of the dynamics which the HIV/AIDS pandemic presents to the CSA, especially
because the centre has been tasked with engaging with the highly politicised area of
HIV/AIDS. Evidence of some level of critique is present in the broad politico-economic
informed conceptualisation of the pandemic as opposed to the sanitised limited one.
Another example of such critique is the adoption of the human rights framework in
addressing the pandemic. This indicates that the centre views people living with
HIV/AIDS first as human beings with rights – which is most important. Its conception
of a human rights discourse does not merely end at individual rights as the liberal
tradition has it, but encompasses collective human rights that deal with broader societal
developmental issues. Thus HIV/AIDS is not only an individual matter, but more of a
collective one. However, the issue of HIV/AIDS as a collective human rights matter is
not powerfully developed but is merely mentioned in passing. This is the area that I
think the CSA needs to explore in future, in order to be considered as a critically
engaged centre. Consequently, for the CSA to display characteristics of critical policy
engagement, it has to interrogate the current discourse of individual human rights and
inform its practices with collective rights of this kind.
The question to ask in relation to this topic is: what kind of policy content / framework
specifically seeks to promote or oversee social justice? Is the increasing concern with
HIV/AIDS a social justice issue? Is there a strong demonstrable commitment to
accountability to social justice at the CSA? If there is not, what undermines the
commitment to social justice? Is the framing of HIV/AIDS in the human rights culture
possible if there is no strong commitment to social justice?



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An attempt has been made in the current study to depict the conceptualisation of social
justice and HIV/AIDS. For all the participants, the elements of social justice include a
total transformation of the institution, promoting general and disability equity, gender
and human rights. HIV/AIDS is viewed as a social justice concern because it mostly
affects the marginalised people, and doing justice to the pandemic is found in the human
rights approach. Thus, the human rights approach / strategy that focuses on democracy,
diversity, inclusion, and tolerance of differences, results in long term positive
consequences in addressing the issue. Although social justice is considered to entail a
focus on the utopian human condition, promotes non-sexism, non-racism, non-classism,
non-ageism, non-discrimination, and is concerned with promoting an inclusive and
democratic culture, nevertheless HIV/AIDS has emerged as an attack on the utopian
human condition aspired to, and will require a relentless defence of strategies informed
by social justice to address this pandemic.
Although the suggested utopian human condition is admirable since it accommodates
the marginalised victims of HIV/AIDS, the socio-economic and political context is
hostile to it. The utopian view‘s advocacy for the proper, humane, treatment of
HIV/AIDS concerns is unambiguous. In this context, that which characterises the
CSA‘s advocacy is not even close to the utopian perspective. It is more realistic and
practical in that it is couched in the language of the human rights and democratic culture
with which most South Africans can identify and have come to embrace as part of the
democratic dispensation. It is troubling that the human rights and democratic culture
contains one glaring exclusion: in principle, social justice is mentioned but engagement
with the strategy is deficient. Hence, to shift the activities of the CSA closer to the
utopian view, concerted effort must be applied to the engagement with social justice and
HIV/AIDS as a matter of urgency.
One important observation concerns the dynamics of power relations and how they
affect the policy process at the CSA. The power dynamics at the university are heavily
influenced by the neo-liberal ideology. Studies have shown that this ideology has
altered the university as well as its research policy and practice. Most universities have
witnessed the introduction of market-like behaviour on a global scale and at South
African universities in general, while the University of Pretoria in particular is not an



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exception. South African research points to neo-liberalism and globalisation as the main
culprit that seriously undermines transformative social justice (Waghid, 2001).
According to progressive educators, ―the major task for leftist academics is to be
accountable for the ‗real world‘ political implications of theory by working out ways to
connect education with community struggles for social justice‖ (McLaren, 2003).
Another important issue with regard to that which should be in place, versus that which
is actually in place, is the purpose and content of the research agenda. In the context
where the latter is being made to fulfil the needs of the markets more than the needs of
the community or society at large, the CSA needs to position itself strongly as a social
research centre for community development – the civic good. Related to this, the CSA
needs to be wary of the neo-liberal research agenda whose main purpose is to do away
with cooperation and the civic good and open the door for the operations of vast
corporations and the law of money. If this is left unchecked, HIV/AIDS research for
community development will be held under siege by the law of the markets and thus
social justice will be compromised. Community development or civic good is an
important mission which the CSA aims to fulfil and, in doing so, it is aligning itself
with the broader mission and vision of the University of Pretoria. Community
development, and engagement, do not occur in an ideological vacuum. In societies that
subscribe to neo-liberalism, community development is informed by stakeholder
participation in the projects geared towards development. At the CSA, the data revealed
that there are attempts to practise the principle of stakeholder participation in the
various projects. While this is a noble move, particularly towards alleviating the scourge
of HIV/AIDS, it will continue to be inadequate as long as the said participation is
unequal and informed by the ideology of market logic. In addressing this, the CSA
needs to continue in its efforts with regards to community development and go one step
further to empowering them in terms of human, social and humane capital. This implies
the promotion of loving communities which build bridges to connect different social
sectors and classes for the common human good. In this context the relevant question to
ask is: what is the imagined community on which the CSA wishes its focus to fall? This
imagined community would not only consist of the ruling class who are supposedly in
control of the means of production. The envisaged imagined community consists of all
classes; in particular, the working classes who make it possible for academics and



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community workers to speak write and teach effectively, even if their contribution may
appear to be meagre. The imagined community would use popular power and dominant
power to address the common threat to humankind – HIV/AIDS.
7.14 Conclusion
This chapter has focused on the manner in which the CSA has addressed the HIV/AIDS
pandemic as a social justice concern. It has highlighted the conceptualisation of the
pandemic as a global emergency from the perspective of political economy.
Furthermore it has been shown that dealing with the pandemic, in a context informed by
a neo-liberal and conservative agenda, hampers strategies that address the magnitude of
the issue. However, the CSA has demonstrated the use of positive strategies in dealing
and engaging with HIV / AIDS, despite operating in a context that does not fully
promote the pandemic as a social justice agenda. In this connection, the chapter has
suggested that the CSA has the potential to contribute to the alleviation of the crisis
through the deployment of the human rights framework.



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CHAPTER 8 − SOCIAL JUSTICE MANDATE UNDER SIEGE
If you are seeking justice, you are struggling, consciously or
unconsciously against the logic of capitalism. And that implicit in your
ideal for social justice is a different economic system, one which exists
nowhere in the world but which [we] hope … will someday take shape.
(Lebowitz,1998:29).
8.1 Introduction
The previous chapters dealt with changes in education policy and institutional responses
to the social justice mandate. In this chapter I show that despite policies, social justice
mandates are marginalised and compromised because they are consistently at odds with
the pervasive neo-liberal ideology within higher education institutions. However, I
argue here that despite a neo-liberal and marketised global and local context, the ideals
of radical social justice must be pursued. Put another way, the pursuance of a radical
social justice agenda cannot stand in the wings and await the cue of ideological change.
In this chapter I examine the factors behind the marginalisation of the centres that are
presented as beacons of social justice at the University of Pretoria. The guiding question
in this last chapter is: ―What contributes to the marginalisation of the social justice
mandate in higher education and how can this situation be changed?‖
This study is premised on the assumption that social justice in its enormity and
complexity is an important guiding principle for polices and practices in higher
education. However, the study also shows that social justice continues to be under siege
owing to the overwhelming nature of the widespread global socio-economic policies of
neo-liberalism. This is especially so because the quest for social justice and alternative
futures is pursued in a global and local context that is hostile to the realisation of
genuine social justice, because the nature of late capitalism has necessitated the move
from a Keynesian welfare state to neo-liberal arrangements, as explained in Chapter
One. In any nation state, the quest for social justice is embedded in the universal human
rights declaration that recognises the socio-economic and political rights of all
individuals regardless of race, class, gender, religion or any other form of classification.
In a democracy, the state is the custodian of social justice and through its institutions
such as the education system the ideals of social justice are to be realised. It has been



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shown that the higher education sector has played a significant role in advancing the
ideals of social justice globally and locally – particularly those of opening up access,
promoting equal participation in higher education and inculcating the culture of
democracy and compassionate citizenship. However, certain elements of social justice
need to be highlighted because they play a pertinent role in illustrating the role of higher
education in fulfilling the social justice mandate. This study has concerned itself with
three aspects of social justice at the University of Pretoria: as mentioned, access to
higher education in the form of UPFY, promotion of gender equality in the form of
IGWS and a human rights culture in the form of HIV/AIDS and CSA projects.
8.2 Conceptualisation of Transformation
The response to the research question probing the factors behind the marginalisation of
social justice initiatives in higher education is multifaceted and multidimensional. The
position of this thesis is encapsulated in the quote by Lebowitz (1998) at the beginning
of this chapter. In essence, elements of a socioeconomic order that would provide fertile
ground for the germination of radical social justice informed by radical humanism
principle appear to be an impossible ideal owing to the logic of late capitalism.
Nevertheless, the quest for radical transformation that encapsulates the agenda of radical
social justice as explained in Chapter Two continues to be a motivating factor even
though it goes against the norm of late capitalism and the accompanying discourse of
neo-liberalism that continues to marginalise social justice endeavours.
The process of marginalisation occurs at various levels of society, ranging from the
broader macro socio-economic policies to micro level institutional policies that are
couched in the language of social justice but continue to perpetuate social injustices by
not being explicit enough about transformation. For instance, it has been stated in
Chapter Four that the Innovation Generation document of the University of Pretoria
underscores transformation as one of its strategic drivers. In stating the concept of
transformation, it appears self-evident that the institution is transforming and this is
further supported by the changing demography of students which is more representative
of the South African population. But this is more of a prima-facie change. In this
context, suggesting that UP‘s conceptualisation of transformation is couched in the
liberal discourse of reform would not be far from accurate. As an illustration, the



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mission of the institution proclaims the promotion of equity of access, redress and
transformation, and this is further reflected in the assertions of management participants
at the three centres that there is commitment to opening up access to all South Africans
in their diversity. In this regard, the university appears to be a massive institution for
everyone embodying an egalitarian discourse. Furthermore, in a context that is driven
by reform, there are beacons of calls to transform as exemplified in the three cases
discussed. However, there exists a dilemma in the tendency to the marginalisation of
transformation because of the threat it poses to the status quo of reform, and to the
general conservative–liberal institutional culture of the university. Another
compounding illustration is the fact that the dominant institutional culture is informed
by conservative libertarian ideals, which creates a possibility for the downplaying of
ideals that are more communitarian as evidenced in those of radical social justice. In
addition, the institutional culture may appear to be no longer that of the traditional
―ivory tower‖ institution divorced from society but rather one of influencing and
increasing the knowledge base of society within the human capital view. It is within this
perspective that the crisis arises because it is couched in a liberal functionalist language
that does not problematise inherent injustices and inequalities in higher education and
society at large. From this position, there is societal consensus on inequality which is
almost in line with the libertarian position of Nozick (1929-2002); competition serves to
balance inequality. Whereas radical social justice would critique injustices and
encourage the emancipation of the whole society, functionalist and liberal informed
policies tend to promote the status quo of injustices, stifling genuine equal participation
in higher education. In this context, for the University of Pretoria to begin to seriously
position itself as a transformed institution in the language of radical social justice, there
needs to be substantive engagement with issues of transformation.
At a macro level, research shows that the global neo-liberalism and market ideology are
the main culprits in the marginalisation of radical social justice (Vally, 2001; Waghid,
n.d.; Rikowski, 2002; Apple, 2001; McLaren, 2001; Lebowitz, 1988; Giroux, 2002;
Jansen, 2002). In Chapter Two, it has been shown that from the perspectives of radical
left educators, global neo-liberalism and capitalism continue to hinder the
transformative and counter hegemonic agenda of radical social justice in the 21
st

century. Hence the conceptualisation of transformation from the neo-liberal perspective



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is intended to maintain the status quo of global capitalism and undertake necessary
reforms that make it appear as if change has occurred. The adoption of a culture of
reforming the socio-economic situation without overthrowing capitalism has also
become a trend in developing and emerging democracies such as South Africa. In the
South African context, this was reflected in the introduction of GEAR: a macro
economic policy that was heavily informed by liberal market logic and which continued
to perpetuate socio-economic injustices amongst the poorest and most marginalised
sectors of the population. In this context, it would be a utopian ideal to await the
inevitable collapse of capitalism due to the current crisis and injustices as foretold by
orthodox Marxism. But the historical reality is that the capitalist socio-economic system
is going to be with us for some time. Because this study is informed by critical theory
and the notion of hope against all odds, and as a progressive critical educator, I advance
a similar position to Freire‘s Pedagogy of hope (2004). He states that ―one of the tasks
of progressive educators, through a serious and correct analysis is to unveil
opportunities for hope no matter what the obstacles may be…‖ (Freire, 2004:4). This
implies that there are opportunities for social justice, liberty and freedom in neo-
liberalism. As radical scholars, there is an urgent need to pursue more strongly the
notion of human emancipation and endeavour to reconstruct knowledge that would
promote social justice.
In the educational arena, social justice is under siege because of the global movement
towards massification of higher education as a response to the growing demand for it in
society. However, in this context, the role of higher education with respect to advancing
democracy and acting as the custodian of social justice is declining. Instead, tertiary
education is increasingly being informed and framed by the language of neo-liberalism
through the process of the commodification and marketisation of higher education. This
implies that the roles of higher education are being fashioned in a similar manner to
those of the business world, with the prime motive of generating capital and maximising
profit. Consequently the triple role of teaching, research and service to the community
for the public good is replaced by a focus on the private good and corporate interest. If
this trend of regarding higher education as merely another corporation continues, then
society will ultimately lose a great deal because of the fluidity of the business world and
the great risk of losing societal confidence in higher education. So it is incumbent upon



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higher education institutions to resist, and safeguard themselves against the onslaught
of, the market ideology by sustaining and protecting the tradition of democracy for all
humanity.
The said assault is evident in the marginalisation of teaching as a liberatory activity, and
of the role of transformative intellectuals and critical research in creating alternatives to
neo-liberalism. In this context, it stands to reason that counter-hegemonic and counter
cultural strategies are marginalised so that the status quo is maintained. In pointing to
the massive assault of market ideology on social justice, this study is not positioning
itself in terms of mere pessimistic determinism or apocalyptic despair. Rather, I,
performing the role of a transformative intellectual, firmly hope in restoring the social
justice agenda, and thus claiming its rightful intellectual space in the centre of policy
formulation, implementation and evaluation. The hope is based on the position of
radical humanism and critical theory that human beings possess the capacity to
emancipate themselves from situations that are oppressive (Boshier, 1999:1).This
inherent freedom is also part and parcel of the Enlightenment project and modernity
akin to the argument of Habermas (1974) and the notion of a democratic public sphere.
What this implies is that for social justice to be the lived experience of everyone,
intellectual and ordinary citizens alike, the practice of open debate and the culture of
human rights need to be promoted.
In furthering transformation projects, intellectuals in the three centres would play a
pertinent role particularly in facilitating the social justice mandate of higher education.
As intellectuals, they are tasked with the making a contribution to the mission of
teaching, research and service to the community. For them to make a dent in the neo-
liberal environment there is a need to adopt dispositions and practices informed by
critical theory. This needs to be explored in the current epoch despite the hostility of
neo-liberalism to the tradition of critique and emancipation promised by critical theory.
8.3 Conceptualisation of Social Justice
It has been asserted that the conceptualisation of social justice which frames this study
is a radical one. The elements of radical social justice are the elimination of the five
faces of oppression identified by Young (2000), the liberation of space proposed by



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Ramphele (2002), the adoption of human rights and inclusive culture, and the promotion
of global justice, with education playing a pivotal role. With reference to the pursuit of
the mandate of access, gender equality, and the alleviation of HIV/AIDS, the study
argues that they contain in them common features of alleviating the five faces of
oppression and liberating space.
However, radical social justice continues to be sidelined, though in fact it has been
demonstrated that the achievement of social justice is one of the greatest challenges of
the 21
st
century, given the dominance of the conservative and liberal traditions of social
justice and the resultant persistent injustices of the North and South divide and of socio-
economic issues. The marginalisation of radical social justice is witnessed in the
dominance of the liberal tradition‘s conception of social justice amongst the facilitators
at UPFY, IGWS and CSA, while the radical tradition of social justice is referred to on
limited occasions, for instance, an indication that one item of the research agenda of the
IGWS is Ubuntu and the possibility of exploring indigenous knowledge systems
mentioned by researchers at UPFY. Thus a paradoxical situation exists, where the
missions of the centres that contain the potential to deal with human misery, oppression
and discrimination and contribute to the development of humane, inclusive and human
rights based culture appear to be couched in the language of limited reform and not
explicitly of transformation, as provided for in radical social justice. Furthermore, even
in the limited instances where the sentiments of the facilitators at the three centres
express elements of radical social justice, for example, where mention is made of
empowering the African child through the demystification of mathematics and science,
there appears to be a silence about the emancipatory possibilities of these disciplines
couched in the discourse of radical social justice. In the case of CSA, elements of
radical social justice are portrayed in the adoption of the human rights framework in
dealing with the HIV/AIDS pandemic; however, this also falls short of the possibilities
of substantive emancipation as there appears to be no indication of explicitly forging
ways to challenge the dominant tradition of social justice.
UPFY contributes to the social justice imperative and the alleviation of the five faces of
oppression by opening up access into higher education. At UPFY, social justice
involves correcting the educational injustices of the past policies and practices. At



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classroom level, it involves the use of progressive teaching methodologies and of
empowering students with knowledge, while re-educating students about cultural
imperialism. It also embraces improving the social-economic status of the marginalised
members of the community, and broadening knowledge to include indigenous
knowledge systems, particularly in the context of a knowledge society. In this regard,
social justice is no longer restricted to questions of redistribution but encompasses
issues of recognition of identity, difference and new forms of knowledge.
There is a need to affirm and accord full recognition to the multiplicity of worlds and
forms of knowledge. These are elements of radical social justice, since they advance
parity between redistribution and recognition (Fraser, 1995). At the university, what has
emerged is a different picture. In theory and practice, the parity between redistribution
and recognition is non existent. For example, in terms of the fact that the student
numbers at the University of Pretoria are now more representative of the diverse South
African population, the university is deemed to have met the measure of redistribution
as social justice, but at the same time, recognition and tolerance of diversity is still an
issue of great concern in the university community. The experiences of black African
students that the institutional culture at this higher education institution reflects
―Whiteness‖ as described in Chapter Four furnish evidence of lack of parity between
recognition and redistribution. This indicates that there is a constant tension between
policy and experience with reference to issues of social justice and that there is limited
synergy and integration of redistribution and recognition. Each component is advanced
in isolation as if they are not related to each other. Hence, even though it may appear as
if there are concerns with recognition of identity, difference and forms of knowledge,
when these are treated in isolation from redistributive features of social justice the end
results still reinforce the liberal conception of social justice.
The IGWS, through its focus on gender equality and gender mainstreaming, also
contributes to the elimination of the five faces of oppression. For it, social justice
involves the advancement of gender equality, transformation, socio-economic equality
and the advancement of a human rights culture as laid down by the South African
constitution. The conceptualisation is located in the distributive paradigm of social
justice. Although there are some traces of the radical paradigm in the mention of



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transformation, it exists more in principle than in practice. The IGWS appears to be
locked in the epoch of the distributive paradigm of social justice because it advances an
egalitarian socio-economic order and seems not to have moved beyond the rhetoric of
reform: for example, the implication by one facilitator that gender justice would be
addressed by equalising the gender composition of staff at the university. In the
distributive paradigm, the principles of liberal gender equality and social justice
mutually presuppose each other and therefore appear to offer adequate remedies for
global injustice. This illusionary state of affairs, characteristic of the current distributive
paradigm, constitutes a comfort zone and continues to be left unchallenged, while
injustices and breaches of human rights continue to rise to new levels locally and
globally. There is potential in the oppositional voice of feminism. The IGWS needs to
embrace, support and enact within is sphere of influence a set of core values in the areas
of human rights and gender mainstreaming informed by socialist feminism in order to
advance radical social justice.
The CSA, through its adoption of the human rights framework in dealing with the
global HIV/AIDS pandemic, contributes to the alleviation of the five faces of
oppression. For CSA, social justice endeavours would have to be framed by this
framework in order to address those affected and living with HIV/AIDS. The
achievement of social justice is a global project, not just the endeavour of a nation state
or an individual institution. This position displays elements of radical social justice
because of its global stance, indicating that the quest for social justice need not be
limited to such states but should be the responsibility of the global community.
There is a need to take the cue from critical intellectuals and elevate the project of
human emancipation. This process emphasises the centrality of human agency in
counteracting neo-liberalism. Neo-liberalism in its various forms is socially made by
human beings and it will take human beings to find alternatives to it particularly in the
context of global oppression and injustices. It would be detrimental to the emancipatory
project to wait for the natural death of capitalism.
In the broader global context there may be an argument that the current recession is a
sign of capitalism self destructing. However there is ample evidence in the form of



216

government bail outs and the shaky but definite reassertion of the power of capital that
this is not the case. In other words capitalism is not going to destroy itself. In the South
African context it may be argued that there is a strong socialist agenda evidenced in the
presence of the Congress of South African trade Unions (COSATU) and the South
African Communist Party (SACP) in the Tripartite Alliance
3
. However the country is
unlikely to ditch a broader capitalist economic policy despite the socialist pressures
from the SACP and the COSATU.
8.4 The Dilemmas and Possibilities of Transformation
In South Africa‘s higher education context, the post 1994 dispensation provided a new
policy framework which was based on democracy and a human rights culture. Within
this setting, for higher education to be regarded as transformed, it was required to
promote the three transformation pillars of 1. Increased and broadened participation, 2.
Responsiveness to societal needs and 3. Co-operation and partnership in governance. By
being responsive to these factors, higher education contributed to socio-economic
development and the empowerment of the vast majority of South Africans. The
discussion in Chapter Three has indicated that South African higher education has
performed well by formulating relevant and appropriate transformation policies couched
in the language of liberalism. However, due to the overwhelming logic of the market,
the policies continued to facilitate a limited transformation that met the needs of the
global and local markets. It has been indicated in Chapter One that the market logic
when translated to the higher education context is perceptible in the commodification of
higher education: academic capitalism, the trend to seek funds and forge links with the
corporate sector as a way for academics to acquire funds (Slaughter and Leslie, 2001,
Bundy, 2005 and Levidow, 2002). In the case of the three centres, commodification is
portrayed in the demand placed upon them to acquire external funding to finance part of
their operations. The university appears to be shedding its responsibility to advance
transformation and social justice by not fully financing the three centres. Instead it is
adopting a non-committal approach informed by academic capitalism; consequently, it
is apparent that although such transformation is couched in the language of social

3
A political alliance between the ruling party, the African National Congress, the SACP and COSATU.



217

justice it allows only limited possibilities for advancing radical social justice because it
is implemented in a framework of neo-liberalism which in a sense inhibits the right to
equal access and participation in higher education.
The possibility for transformation exists in de-commodification of higher education and
reinserting of the common good of higher education. This would entail changing the
emphasis on economic and the profit motives to that of higher education serving the
community. This position is advanced by critical scholars across the world. In
sponsoring the three initiates of social justice fully, the university would not exhaust its
funds. On the contrary, it would be some form of service to the community and a way of
enhancing the public role of higher education.
8.5 The University of Pretoria and Neo-Conservative and Neo-Liberal Ideology
At the University of Pretoria, its inability to shed in total its neo-conservative and liberal
institutional culture has been demonstrated. Because culture defines how any institution
functions, the manner in which matters operate at the university is greatly influenced by
the conservative culture and ideology whose main task is to reproduce and maintain the
status quo of white privilege and dominance at the expense of any other cultures,
particularly the counter culture reflected in radical social justice. For example, the fact
that there was virtually no female senior executive until 2007 when only one woman
was appointed at senior executive level is an indication of the dominance of a
conservative patriarchal culture. This served to marginalise some of the activities of the
centres that aimed to promote social justice because at management level, gender
representation was not enshrined. Even if gender parity at management level did exist,
as is required by government policy, the overall neo-conservative and liberal
institutional culture of the university would still act as a stumbling block to the
realisation of radical social justice because the ideological dispositions of the change
agents at management level would be informed by liberalism.
Instances educational entrepreneurialism tell part of the story about academic capitalism
at the University of Pretoria. (Rhoades and Slaughter 2004) At the strategic level, there
are elements of academic entrepreneurialism and cost efficiency inn the tone and
content of the Innovation Generation Document. For instance, in 1994, at the dawn of



218

the democratic dispensation in South Africa, the University of Pretoria was assessed as
the best in terms of cost efficiency. This suggested that the university was managing to
―do more with less ―in the context of governments move to cut funding in higher
education and encourage institutions to seek funds for themselves from other sources.
The common challenge that emerged from interview data from the three centres
highlighted was limited financial resources as the main element and the fact that the
management of the centres have to find ventures of generating money for the running
each centre. For instance, at UPFY the director indicated that there are links forged with
industry to acquire finding for students at UPFY as the projects goal is to addressed the
shortage of labour supply the country with scarce skills in Math‘s, Science, Engineering
and Technology. In the case of the IWGS, the facilitators indicated that apart from being
marginalised from the main faculties, they also had to generate funds from external
sponsors and offer gender developmental workshops pitched at market prices. The
failure to comply with the demands would lead to their further marginalization and
possible extinction. The CSA equally indicated the concern with financial constraints
and the challenge of finding means to obtain funds. The common focus on revenue
seeking ventures by the three centres indicate that the university is more driven by the
profit motif than consideration of issues of gender, HIV/AIDS and access as social
responsibility issues for the common good.
The said neo-conservative and liberal ideology has also influenced the roles that the
university employees fulfil as academics, administrators and activists. In this regard, a
notable characteristic that emerged from the data with reference to the roles of most of
the participants from the three centres is the description of their responsibilities in
liberal language, for example, references made to ―teaching for understanding‖ and
making use of the ―constructivist approach to teaching and learning‖ as opposed to that
of radical discourse that would explicitly refer to critical consciousness-raising in the
fashion of radical scholars like Freire (2005). Most of them see themselves as
technocrats, educating students for their roles in the reproduction of capitalist interests.
What is not being developed is the role of university employees as transformative
intellectuals, with the mandate of educating the youth to call for better alternatives to
neo-liberalism and to transform capitalism. Given that at the University of Pretoria,



219

particularly at the three centres, there are intellectuals who are not explicit about their
own transformatory and emancipatory role, radical social justice will continue to be
marginalised. Some of the participants focus on the upliftment of the individual student
and are therefore informed by the redistributive paradigm of social justice, while others
are more concerned with broader change at macro-level. Showing concern about change
is not adequate. In order for radical social justice to be realised, the intellectuals need to
further advance their pronounced engagement with issues of transformation toward just
alternatives.
The powerful neo-liberal ideology blinds some of the university employees who
perceive no alternative to it and are thus paralysed as regards transformation. It was
observed that the university had reached saturation regarding change. This observation
was made by participants whose framing of social justice is liberal and redistributive in
nature; for instance, some facilitators at the IGWS expressed frankly the fact that the
university has several policies established and informed by social justice. In this regard,
the University of Pretoria has embraced elements of racial equality, gender equality and
the eradication of practices of all forms of discrimination and oppression as a reform
measure in order to comply with national legislative requirements. Such measures,
while important to a limited extent, perpetuate the culture of compliance because they
do not interrogate broader socio-economic frames but continue to operate within them.
This observation is related to the issue of transformation paralysis that was discussed in
chapter one. The sections of the university community that are more likely to identify
with the concept of change saturation are those whose ideological position maintains the
status quo of the University of Pretoria as a conservative traditional university. For this
group of people, their strategy is to resist policy prescriptions that they deem as
educationally inappropriate, based on their ideological framework. For example, one
facilitator from the IGWS indicated that the centre is performing quite well with
reference to addressing gender equality by running gender mainstreaming workshops
internally and externally, to the public. I hold the position that the University of Pretoria
is far from reaching change saturation: the transformation agenda still needs to be
pursued more than ever before because there is a great and urgent need for the
institution to consider the discourse of radical humanism and re-position itself in



220

promoting the public good and thereby be more responsive and relevant to the needs of
the multiple and diverse citizens of South Africa, not just the privileged few.
The issue of transformation paralysis is related to the concern that there is a declining
voice of criticism within South African higher education, which was raised by one of
the foremost scholars in this field, Jansen, in his comment on the dwindling culture of
critique in the current state of higher education (Jansen, 2004:11). The voice of criticism
is crucial to the very survival of higher education staff members as stalwarts of
democracy and protectors of social justice and needs to be revived so that progressive
intellectuals can continue to promote the quest for a socially just future. Jansen (2004)
further observes that what has replaced the voice of criticism is the voice of complaint.
This study concurs with Jansen in advocating that in order to sustain and maintain
higher education as relevant to the society at large, there needs to be the revival of
critical intellectual engagement at universities.
This study has highlighted the merits and challenges that the three centres face in
implementing the three elements of social justice: access, gender equality and
alleviation of HIV/AIDS. It has been shown that these centres operate in a context that
is informed by globalisation and neo-liberal ideology and that this overarching ideology
affects the meaningful promotion of radical social justice as advanced by this study. In
conclusion, notwithstanding the magnitude of the challenge of promoting radical social
justice in a context that is opposed to it, the three centres through their substantive
engagement policy can make a meaningful contribution to the enhancement of the said
elements of social justice. In this process, they would be contributing to a more
inclusive, equitable, respectful and tolerant society, informed by the latter.
Furthermore, the possibilities for transformation are contained in the existence of human
agency. In analyzing the possible incidence of human agency in the three centres under
study the following observations are pertinent. Given that from the point of view of
critical theory, human agency broadly implies collective action for the collective good,
there was evidence of two dominant points of view. The first was that the centres had
little if any potential for agency. This was linked to the perception that change and
agency for change were intimately connected to resources, financial, administrative and



221

executive resources. Arguably this may be associated with the hierarchical structuring
of the University and the neo liberal interpretation of agency which posits that change is
possible through resources and executive mandate for change. Included in this position
was that the centre had reached change saturation given policy compliance at the
institutional level.
The second is the belief that the centre has potential for agency. This was evidenced in
the suggestion that union involvement in the centre would be beneficial to the centre
and that the power of the union could be used as leverage for change. Another example
was the argument, in this instance in UPFY, was the call to de mystify the teaching of
science. Underpinning this call was the belief that demysticfication would make
learning more accessible to a wider group of students and this would change the
perception that science was difficult and available only to a few.
8.6 Policy, Implications and Lessons
Social justice in the South African context is driven by the new democratic state but it is
highly contested in principle and practice. There is a clear divide between rhetoric and
practice. On the face of it, social justice is symbolic and appears to fulfil some aspects
of the radical social justice agenda, but at the level of implementation is translated as an
extension of neo-liberal reality.
At the University of Pretoria, the commitment to social justice is pronounced, reflected
in policy documents and translated by the three centres studied. However, owing to the
university‘s conservative institutional culture and its alignment with market ideology,
social justice in the radical sense is marginalised. This result is evident in the sense that
while the three centres play an important role (people who are likely to access them are
disadvantaged or marginalised) this stands a chance of perpetuating social injustices for
as long as the territorial core is informed by the conservative neo-liberal agenda. Only
concerted efforts at mainstreaming these important social justice initiatives will bring
the three major issues of such justice to the fore. That is, the university needs to build it
into the curriculum and make it integral to the process of learning and teaching. This
strategy could first be piloted at the centres and then be integrated at institutional level.



222

The process of mainstreaming these initiatives might take some time; in the meantime,
the three initiatives exist as pockets of social justice and need to be sustained. Even
though they appear to be isolated, their merit lies in advancing elements of social justice
in a context that is hostile to it. In these three centres, there exist voices of resistance
which adopt a counter-hegemonic stance that needs to be nurtured so that it can reclaim
its space, advance radical social justice and thus contribute to the liberation and
emancipation of higher education for democratic purposes. This would be in line with
critical theory, particularly the interrogation of traditional assumptions that underlie
conceptions of social injustices. That is, the culture of critiquing late capitalism with the
purpose of humanising it and advancing justice of this type. Although these counter-
hegemonic voices are isolated, they are valuable and useful towards constructing justice
of this nature. In other words, while the creation of radical social justice often occurs in
a hostile context, part of the solution lies in concerted efforts at harnessing the non
hostile voices in this context, no matter how far they may be from actually
implementing radical social justice. The study posits that radical social justice knows no
national or cultural borders; it is a global concern that may lead to a more informed and
reflective transformative agenda.
As argued above, the current context of advanced capitalism characterised by
globalisation and informed by a neo-liberal agenda is hostile to radical social justice.
Despite this state of affairs, in this study, I advance the view that radical social justice is
still the way forward to effect change towards a more humane, inclusive and democratic
socio-economic dispensation. Neo-liberalism and economic rationalism is a policy for
the present, and not for the future. At an educational policy level, I suggest that the
radical social justice discourse needs to be revitalised and signified at all levels of the
policy cycle. In radical social justice are found both the theory and the practice of a
critique of the status quo, which constitute an important strategy for counteracting
complacency, one-dimensionality and global injustices which result from neo-liberal
discourses. The culture of critique is an element of radical social justice and an
important function of intellectuals in higher education. Therefore, the nurturing of a
revitalised radical social justice agenda is a matter of urgency in the current context of
higher education in South Africa.



223

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APPENDIX A - INTERVIEW QUESTIONS
To study this central question, the following questions (to the project managers) were
addressed in the study.
 What is your specific role in the broader mission of IGWS?
 How does your involvement / engagement with IGWS activities attempt to fulfil
social justice concerns?
 What are the intended outcomes of your project?
 What are the challenges you face in this project?
 How have you attempted to deal and address the challenges?
 Is there anything that I have not asked that you would like to share with me?

The research questions addressed to the director were the following:

Government has placed a high value on ‗social justice issues‘ in higher education
policies:
 In this context, what is your understanding of social justice?
 How has your university responded to the government‘s mandate of social
justice?
 Describe an exemplary project or initiative your institution has undertaken in
addressing social justice concerns?
 What are the major challenges that you face in implementing the projects of
your centre in relation to social justice commitments of your university?
 How have you addressed these challenges?



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 How have you attempted to deal with and address the challenges?
 Is there anything that I have not asked that you would like to share with me?
 Would you like to ask me any question?




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APPENDIX B - LIST OF PARTICIPANTS


UPFY PARTICIPANTS
1 Director
2 UPFY Biology facilitator
3 UPFY Physics facilitator
4 UPFY Chemistry facilitator
5 UPFY ESS facilitator
6 UPFY Math facilitator

IGWS
PARTICIPANTS
1 Project Manager
2 Deputy Director
3 Project Manager

CSA PARTICIPANTS
1 Project Coordinator
2 Director
3 Project Manager and Lecturer









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APPENDIX C - LETTER OF INFORMED CONSENT




258

APPENDIX D - ETHICS CLEARANCE CERTIFICATE