Decolonising Knowledge and Knowers: Struggles for University Transformation in South Africa

Decolonising Knowledge and Knowers contributes to the current struggles for decolonising education in the global South, focusing on the highly illuminating case of South African higher education. Galvanised by #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall student protests, South Africa has seen particularly intense and broad social engagement with debates over decolonising universities. However, much of this debate has been consumed with definitions and meanings. In contrast, Decolonising Knowledge and Knowers shows how conceptual tools, specifically from Legitimation Code Theory, can be enacted in research and teaching to meaningfully work towards productive decolonisation. Each chapter addresses a key issue in contemporary debates in South African higher education and show how practices concerning knowledge and knowers are playing a role, drawing on quantitative and qualitative research, praxis, and interdisciplinary research.

Mlamuli Nkosingphile Hlatshwayo is a senior lecturer in Curriculum Studies at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. His research interests include theorising transformation in the global South, decolonisation, student movements and epistemological access in curricula.

Hanelie Adendorff is a senior advisor in the Centre for Teaching and Learning at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. She has a PhD in Chemistry but has been working in professional development since 2002.

Margaret A.L. Blackie is a senior lecturer in the Department of Chemistry and Polymer Science at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. Since starting her independent career she has attempted to hold together research interests in both synthetic organic chemistry and education research.

Aslam Fataar is currently Research and Development Professor in Transformation at Stellenbosch University, South Africa. His expertise includes sociology of education and education policy. He has been awarded several medals of honour for contributions to South African education and prizes for his publications.

Paul Maluleka is a South African scholar and Lecturer in History of Education and History Education at the School of Education, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg – South Africa. His interests centre around themes of education decolonisation, de/coloniality and Africanisation in the South African academe and basic education.