Abstract
Book review: Academic freedom in a democratic South Africa: essays and interviews on higher education and the humanities, J Higgins
Highlights
The publication of this collection of essays and interviews could not be more timely, arriving as South Africa celebrates 20 years of democracy
The term ‘academic freedom’ has become something of a ‘received idea’ in South Africa; there is a tendency to label whoever is defending it as ‘reactionary’ or ‘conservative’. Higgins challenges these notions by engaging with academic freedom from historical, theoretical and critical perspectives, offering readers opportunities to re-visit many of the positions and decisions taken over a period of vigorous debate and policy-making in South African higher education
Higgins begins with an analysis of the media coverage given to the academic boycott and the ‘O’ Brien Affair’, in particular, how the incident led to a re-consideration of the relationship between state and university by the apartheid government
Summary
The publication of this collection of essays and interviews could not be more timely, arriving as South Africa celebrates 20 years of democracy. The essays collected in this volume were previously published as academic articles, chapters in books and reports between 1990 and 2013 and offer a scholarly analysis of key events in South African higher education over this period.
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