Universities’ commitment to social justice in spotlight

Higher education institutions in the 21st century must leave their ivory towers to form diverse democratic partnerships with other institutions and stakeholders, locally and globally, as agents for democracy, human rights, equity and change.

Ylva Rodny-Gumede, a professor of communication studies and a senior director of the Division for Global Engagement, University of Johannesburg (UJ) in South Africa, said the main aim of higher education institutions should be to educate students about democracy and community and global engagement, in the interest of finding solutions to common problems and fostering solidarity and unity.

She was among the speakers at the 26th annual International Education Association of South Africa (IEASA) conference from 20-23 August, which was themed ‘Navigating Internationalisation in Challenging Times’. The panel discussion she chaired was titled ‘Higher education, human rights, and the right to collaborate?’

Rodny-Gumede stressed that power dynamics are shifting globally, with a re-emphasis on decolonisation and equality in global politics that influence universities and the way in which they structure their international relations and global engagements.

“What is emerging is a stronger emphasis on diversity and equity in international relations globally, and within the Global South a voice that is becoming increasingly stronger and empowered to speak the truth,” she said.

Academic freedom

The panel discussion, which was pertinent, given the changing geopolitical landscape, featured Ahmed Bawa, a professor at the University of Johannesburg Business School and formerly the chief executive officer of the membership body Universities South Africa (USAf); Ghaleeb Jeppie, the minister counsellor (science, innovation and education) based in the South African Embassy, Tokyo, Japan; Professor Reitumetse Obakeng Mabokela, the associate chancellor and vice-provost for global affairs and strategies and higher education scholar, University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign; and Dr Aldo Stroebel, the deputy vice-chancellor of research, innovation and internationalisation, University of Mpumalanga, South Africa.

Rodny-Gumede noted that it might be trite to say that speaking truth to power is an act of bravery because, in international relations, diplomacy often trumps the ideal of truth-speaking.

“Where in the mix does academic freedom sit, and what is the state of academic freedom in our institutions amid increasingly fraught geopolitics?” she asked.

The professor said that, in the academy, academic freedom is cited as an unbreakable covenant of the business and ethos of higher education. However, lately, actions as well as talk of academic freedom have increasingly touched upon issues of how to deal with academic partnerships with states accused of domestic and-or international war crimes or human rights abuses.

For example, Rodny-Gumede said, debates have surfaced among and between academics and university leadership of whether to continue partnerships and whether an institution should follow its ideas and ideals, that is exercise its right to academic freedom or align to government policy on international relations issues.

Premising the discussion, she posed questions about collaboration within higher education institutions considering a changing geopolitical landscape. What does it mean to operate in the context that we operate in? Who do we partner with? How do we partner? And to what ends do we partner with other institutions?

Why a dichotomous role?

Obakeng Mabokela said these questions invite thinking about the role of universities, and there often seems to be this dichotomy that shapes the discourse of universities as a private or a public good.

“We seek to understand and contribute to the knowledge process in some form or another, ultimately aiming to become, hopefully, better individuals [who are] able to contribute in different ways to the higher education sector in our communities and the countries and where we live.

“But then, on the other side of that coin ... and equally important, are the contributions that we make as individuals, to the greater good, and [there is] the role that universities play in shaping that next generation of what I call global problem-solvers.”

In her assessment, Obakeng Mabokela said a dichotomous conversation or a dichotomy need not be created.

She added that it was critical for universities to have both a responsibility in shaping, informing, guiding, and contributing to the growth of individuals – and have that broader social good that not only benefits the individual, but can also be applied to a broader societal context.

How the sector responds to human rights abuses

Responding to Obakeng Mabokela, the University of Mpumalanga Deputy Vice-Chancellor Stroebel said he agreed with her “correct and insightful” assessment, but sometimes universities are all viewed the same way, for example as a sector and as a higher education sector.

“But, in our current differentiation in how universities react, the type of people they appoint, the quality, etc, there’s a big differentiation within universities,” said Stroebel.

“So, it’s, unfortunately, a very individualistic approach, usually. And, when there are shared challenges like student funding or diversity or transformation, then we quickly speak about ‘the sector’. So, I’m mentioning this because, from one perspective, this hegemony of the sector is, for me, very much a public good approach. I think … that is what universities are for,” he said.

Regardless of the nature of the differentiation in education, or the quality, or the context, all is critical because of the public good responsibility, according to Stroebel. Even private universities, he argued, are there for the public good.

“But, let’s be very frank, colleagues. It is a very large business, billions of dollars, billions of rands. So, [a university has] a public good responsibility that [also] has a focus or should be run on business principles … And I think that is sometimes where that misunderstanding would come [in] about what the role of that university is.”

Turning to international conflict, Stroebel said that, when Uganda criminalised homosexuality, there was not a single statement from any university in South Africa. Neither was there a statement from any university in the country concerning the economic implosion because of bad political leadership in Zimbabwe and the migration aspects of staff and students in the SADC region.

He said there is a tendency to swiftly jump to global aspects where there are divisions politically in a country and, then, universities align themselves with that. However, there are different levels of reaction, [for example] a vice-chancellor may make a unilateral statement for a university [and] the senate may make a statement for the university without it being sanctioned by management.

“I have many different thoughts on what it means, what the role of the higher education [sector is], that intellectualism, the strategic leadership, the notion to be able to debate in a free and fair environment, the adage of freedom of speech, et cetera – what that means when we say higher education should influence and advance this change, this political stance, the activism around injustices in the world,” Stroebel added.

Foreign policy’s role

Ghaleeb Jeppie, the science attaché to the South African Embassy in Japan, said a country’s foreign policy should be the basis of engagement as a country, referring to the tension between academic autonomy [to criticise a government] and public funding [from the same government] for universities.

“I want to come back to this issue around our foreign policy because, if our foreign policy is premised on a human rights approach, then clearly, as institutions, we have to be following that.

“We’ve been the very people who have been beneficiaries of solidarity. Many of us were not able to study at institutions of our first choices because of apartheid. The global community has stood with us. Now the Palestinians are asking for support, and we are vacillating in terms of our approaches,” he said.

The former head of USAf, Bawa expressed alarm at events challenging the notion of social justice around the world, starting with what he termed the new kind of cold war between the United States and China, similarly the relationship between the United Kingdom and China, which has seen Russia sidelined.

Of concern, arising out of the Palestine-Israel conflict, Bawa said that, in the US and UK, there was the obliteration of academic space for academics to engage.

He said universities must be committed to social justice, but it ought not to be just the heads of a few institutions, it should come from the political economy.

“Universities can’t just simply say we’re not going to respond to violence against human beings.”

Academic freedom and responding more effectively to what is going on in the African continent was also highlighted during the discussion.