Decolonization of higher education in South Africa

rdf:langString Decolonization of higher education in South Africa

rdf:langString Decolonization is the dismantling of colonial systems that were established during the period of time when a nation maintains dominion over dependent territories. The Cambridge Dictionary lists decolonization as "the process in which a country that was previously a colony (i.e. controlled by another country) becomes politically independent." However, this definition does not capture the agency of the "masses", as Frantz Fanon referred to them, and their role in this process. Fanon's ideas regarding the agency involved in shaping one's own path reflects the notion that "decolonization can only happen when the native takes up his or her responsible subjecthood and refuses to occupy the position of violence-absorbing passive victim." Specifically in the context of higher education in South Africa, decolonization represents a further dismantling of western centered institutions, systems, symbolism, and standards within the higher education system. It goes beyond just filling the void left by colonialism and Apartheid with the presence of marginalized bodies, and promotes the decolonization of the purpose and functions of higher education itself.