CAN UNIVERSITIES MEET THEIR MANDATE TO BE SOCIALLY CRITICAL AS WELL AS CONSTRUCTIVE

  • J.L. van der Walt North-West University
  • F.J. Potgieter F.J. Potgieter North-West University
  • C.C. Wolhuter North-West University
DOI: https://doi.org/10.20853/28-3-365

Abstract

This article defends the claim that two conditions facilitate sustainable development, namely a democratic citizenry and social justice, and that in establishing these, the university is indispensible and ideally placed. With the use of an experiential, interpretive approach the social critique function of the university is examined, as well as the role of the university in reinforcing a culture of democratic citizenry and thereby of promoting social justice. The last part of the article delineates the current global higher education revolution, and identifies the opportunities and threats posed by that revolution regarding the university’s discharge of these two functions. The article concludes with a warning to scholars to be aware of both the opportunities for consolidating their scholarship and the concomitant threats to their academic autonomy. Key words: higher education, university, social responsibility, social justice, democratic citizenry, global higher education revolution
Published
2016-01-13
How to Cite
van der Walt, J.L., F.J. Potgieter F.J. Potgieter, and C.C. Wolhuter. 2016. “CAN UNIVERSITIES MEET THEIR MANDATE TO BE SOCIALLY CRITICAL AS WELL AS CONSTRUCTIVE”. South African Journal of Higher Education 28 (3). https://doi.org/10.20853/28-3-365.
Issue
Vol. 28 No. 3 (2014)
Section
Section A

Copyright (c) 2016 J.L. van der Walt, F.J. Potgieter F.J. Potgieter, C.C. Wolhuter

Creative Commons License

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.

This journal is an open access journal, and the authors and journal should be properly acknowledged, when works are cited.

Authors, copyright holders, may use the publishers version for teaching purposes, in books, theses, dissertations, conferences and conference papers.

A copy of the authors' publishers version may also be hosted on the following websites:

  • Non-commercial personal homepage or blog.
  • Institutional webpage.
  • Authors Institutional Repository.

The following notice should accompany such a posting on the website: This is an electronic version of an article published in SAJHE, Volume XXX, number XXX, pages XXX “XXX", DOI.  Authors should also supply a hyperlink to the original paper or indicate where the original paper (http://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/SAJHE) may be found.

Authors publishers version, affiliated with the Stellenbosch University will be automatically deposited in the University Institutional Repository  SUNScholar.

Articles as a whole, may not be re-published with another journal.

The following license applies:

Attribution CC BY-NC-ND 4.0