Student Politics in Africa: Representation and Activism

The second volume of the African Higher Education Dynamics Series brings together the research of an international network of higher education scholars with interest in higher education and student politics in Africa. Most authors are early career academics who teach and conduct research in universities across the continent and came together for a research project, and related workshops and a symposium on student representation in African higher education governance.

The book includes theoretical chapters on student organising, student activism and representation; chapters on historical and current developments in student politics in Anglophone and Francophone Africa, and in-depth case studies on student representation and activism in a cross-section of universities and countries.

The book provides a unique resource for academics, university leaders and student affairs professionals as well as student leaders and policy-makers in Africa and elsewhere.

Karin Fischer, Gerhard Hauck, Manuela Boatcă (Hg.): Handbuch Entwicklungsforschung. Wiesbaden: Springer VS 2016, 378 Seiten
06/09/2017
A review of Student Politics in Africa: Representation and Activism in the journal PERIPHERIE: Politik – Ökonomie – Kultur commends the volume for the array of themes relevant to contemporary debates in African higher education. According to the reviewer, Anna Deutschmann, Student Politics in Africa is a valuable contribution to the field, and lays the groundwork for further studies. Read the review (in German).

Acronyms and abbreviations v

Acknowledgements x

Foreword xi

Chapter 1
Introduction 1
Thierry M Luescher, Manja Klemenčič and James Otieno Jowi

Chapter 2
Student organising in African higher education: Polity, politics and policies 9
Manja Klemenčič, Thierry M Luescher and Taabo Mugume

Chapter 3
Student representation in a context of democratisation and massification in Africa: Analytical approaches, theoretical perspectives and #RhodesMustFall 27
Thierry M Luescher

Chapter 4
The evolving nature of student participation in university governance in Africa: An overview of policies, trends and emerging issues 61
Ibrahim Oanda

Chapter 5
The three ages of student politics in Francophone Africa: Learning from the cases of Senegal and Burkina Faso 85
Pascal Bianchini

Chapter 6
Revisiting student participation in higher education governance at the University of Buea, Cameroon: 2004–2013 109
Samuel N Fongwa and Godlove N Chifon

Chapter 7
Student participation in the governance of Ethiopian higher education institutions: The case of Addis Ababa University 130
Bekele Workie Ayele

Chapter 8
Private higher education and student representation in Uganda: A comparative analysis of Makerere University and Uganda Christian University 162
Taabo Mugume and Mesharch W Katusiimeh

Chapter 9
Student actions against paradoxical post-apartheid higher education policy in South Africa: The case of the University of the Western Cape 182
Mlungisi BG Cele, Thierry M Luescher and Teresa Barnes 

Chapter 10
The University of Burundi and student organisations: Governance system, political development and student representation 202
Gérard Birantamije

Chapter 11
Politicisation of the National Union of Ghana Students and its effects on student representation 224
Ransford EV Gyampo, Emmanuel Debrah and Evans Aggrey-Darkoh

Chapter 12
Conclusion 249
James Otieno Jowi

Epilogue
Students, politics and universities: In search of interpretive schemes for the 21st century 249
Lis Lange

About the authors 252

Index 257