The Decolonization of Knowledge: Radical Ideas and the Shaping of Institutions in South Africa and Beyond

In 2015, students at the University of Cape Town used the slogan #RhodesMustFall to demand that a monument of Cecil John Rhodes, the empire builder of British South Africa, be removed from the university campus. Soon students at Oxford University called for the removal of a statue of Rhodes from Oriel College. The radical idea of decolonization at the forefront of these student protests continues to be a key element in South African educational institutions as well as those in Europe and North America. This book explores the uptake of decolonization in the institutional curriculum, given the political demands for decolonization on South African campuses, and the generally positive reception of the idea by university leaders. Based on interviews with more than two hundred academic teachers at ten universities, this is an innovative account of how institutions have engaged with, subverted, and transformed the decolonization movement since #RhodesMustFall.

Jonathan Jansen is Distinguished Professor of Education at Stellenbosch University and President of the Academy of Science of South Africa. He is a curriculum theorist, and his research is concerned with the politics of knowledge. His recent publications include Fault Lines: A Primer on Race, Science and Society (2020), Learning under Lockdown: Voices of South Africa's Children (2020), and Learning Lessons (2021).

Cyrill Walters is a Research Fellow in Higher Education at Stellenbosch University. She also teaches on the MBA programme at Stellenbosch University Business School. She is currently engaged in projects examining decolonization within South African universities, the intersection of race and gender in higher education, and complexity theories in leadership.