This is an ethnographic study of student politics relating to Palestine-Israel within British universities. Palestine-Israel has been a focal issue within British campuses for over four decades, manifesting in intense, high profile conflicts, which have been subject to competing political and media framings. In this thesis, I identify this as a case of what Nancy Fraser (2008) describes as 'abnormal justice', a situation of incommensurable, spiralling conflicts over the 'what', 'how' and 'who' of political community. I show how students' engagement with Palestine-Israel raises spectres of entangled histories of the Holocaust and colonialism, and tensions over the national versus global boundaries of the polity. Moving beyond abstract portrayals of this as a conflict between discrete ethno-religious groups or autonomous moral actors, I attend to students' complex personal experiences of these political dynamics. My central argument is that PalestineIsrael exerts discomforting, at times irreconcilable, claims over participating students, arising out of violent histories, ongoing racisms, complex transnational attachments and " the rationalism of post-imperial British universities. I trace how unsettling ambiguities and a desire for moral coher.,e nce are enacted within this campus politics, analysing how institutional practices of containment and shaming lead to 'tragic' moments of passionate aggression, which then circulate in the media. Contributing to a cross-disciplinary turn towards affect, aesthetics and ethics in the study of public spheres, I stake a claim for responsive ethnography with ethical ambitions. I do so by drawing our attention beyond spectacular political conflicts, showing how students cultivate reflexive practices and express uncertainty, care and commitment within overlooked, 'ordinary' spaces of the campus. In these ways, I show how attending to intersubjective political experience provides vital insights into the motivations and desires at stake in justice conflicts, and operis up expansive possibilities for reflexivity and creativity within the public institutions of democratic societies.

Philosophiae Doctor - PhD / This dissertation examines various ways in which the University of the Western Cape (UWC) in Cape Town, South Africa, confronted the paradoxical post-apartheid higher education policy of expansion of access to historically disadvantaged students and limited funds and how students addressed the resulting problem of ‘unmet financial need’. My case study is set within the broader context of the momentous political and social change in South Africa’s first decade of democracy and the transformation of higher education in that country between 1995 and 2005. I reconsider the general topics of student activism, student participation in university governance and student funding based on relevant and accessible scholarly literature. Eventually, Wright, Taylor and Moghaddam’s framework (1990) inspires a conceptual-analytical framework to be applied in the case study analysis, consisting of a typology of four ideal types of student action, namely, normative collective student action (Type 1), non-normative collective student action (Type 2), normative individual student action (Type 3) and non-normative individual student action (Type 4). I adopt a qualitative case study approach and use a variety of data collection methods (such as interviews, official documentation and observation) to construct a case study database. Interviewees include members of the university management, university staff and students (both leaders and ordinary students). I interview diverse students in terms of their origin, race, gender, fields of study and levels of qualification, and political orientation. The interviewees include former student leaders in order to gain a historical perspective on the pre-1994 era. Staff interviews target mainly those members who were directly involved with student financial issues or who were responsible for making student funding decisions. I collected different types of documents, including Student Representative Council (SRC) annual reports, minutes, discussion documents, university annual reports, and university financial statements. I also have opportunity to observe various student activities on campus, including student meetings and workshops, where student funding concerns are discussed.

This thesis is an exploration of student and youth politics in the Northern Transvaal (now Limpopo Province) from the height of apartheid in 1967 through the first decade of the ANC’s rule until 2003. It analyses three major trends over this period: the elite-led protest politics of the Black Consciousness era in the late 1960s and 1970s, the turn to mass-mobilized protest of the 1980s, and the consolidation of student and youth movements around the reconstituted ANC Youth League in 1990. It is primarily concerned with exploring the intersection of education and political protest in Limpopo, and the effect of mobilizing ideologies such as radical Christianity, Africanism, and non-racialism, on student and youth activists. It argues that across decades, organisations, and ideologies, this region has produced generations of influential young political leaders. It provides an institutional history of the University of the North and situates that university in a broader narrative of South African political history: from its contribution to the roots of Black Consciousness in student Christian movements, and the role of local university politics in influencing national protests, to the geography of the university itself as a place of political education (for students and nonstudent youth alike) and as a battleground between students and police. It considers the introduction of violence into student protests, the regional expansion of school and then youth politics beyond the crucible of the university, and the refashioning of social structures (like arbitrating in witchcraft accusations and domestic disputes) in homeland villages by politicized youth. It further contributes new insights into the formation and emergence of the ANC Youth League in the 1990s, and suggests that understanding student organisations and events during the 1970s and 1980s, in particular, sheds light on the shape of South African youth politics today.

Magister Educationis - MEd / This study investigates the attitudes of students and student leaders towards democracy in terms of their demand for democracy, their perception of the supply of democracy, and their awareness of and participation in politics. Existing literature does not provide any conclusive explanation as to how and to what extent higher education contributes to democracy. Mattes and Mughogho (2010) argue that the contribution of higher education to support for democracy in Africa is limited while other scholars such as Bloom et al. (2006), Hillygus (2005), and Evans and Rose (2007a, 2007b) maintain that higher education impacts positively on support for democracy. The study follows the conceptualisation and methodology of previous studies based on the Afrobarometer public opinion surveys into the political attitudes of African mass publics (Bratton, Mattes and Gyimah-Boadi, 2005; Mattes and Bratton, 2003; 2007), and of students in African universities (Luescher-Mamashela et al., 2011; Mwollo-Ntalimma, 2011). The survey uses a stratified random sample of third-year undergraduate students at the University of Botswana. Furthermore, it isolates the subgroup of student leaders to investigate whether active participation in student politics influences support for democracy

Magister Administrationis - MAdmin / The study of student politics in Africa has evolved in the last decade from a focus on non-institutionalised student activism and student movements to institutionalised student political participation in institutions of higher education. Thus it followed a development route in which student leadership had to find new ways in which to organise their movements in institutional, national and continental political organisations to influence policy and remain relevant in students’ lives. Since this study focuses on one particular dimension of this change, the study seeks to understand the relationship between student leaders in Makerere University, Kampala, and political parties in Uganda. The specific focus of the study is on highlighting the reasons for establishing and maintaining the relationship; the arrangements necessary for the relationship to exist, and how the relationship impacts on the ability of student leaders to represent students’ interests. Following an analysis of the relevant literature in line with the topic, it was decided that a mixed methods approach would be suitable for the study. Hence in-depth interviews were conducted with student leaders and leaders of national political parties and an online survey targeting all undergraduate students at Makerere University was done (as part of a larger study). Theoretically, the study adopted a framework originally proposed by Schmitter and Streeck (1999), and adapted it to study the relationship between student leaders and political parties, drawing also on the insights of studies that had previously used adaptations of the same framework to study student leadership in other contexts. The study found a continuing historical relationship between student leaders of Makerere University and political parties in Uganda. It found that a significant number of students are members of a political party, whereby student leaders are most likely not only to be ordinary party members, but party leaders. Political parties use the student guild elections to recruit new members. As part of being members of a political party, student leaders tend to be more influential in weak political parties, in contrast to a ruling party which is more influential in student politics given its ability to provide access to government resources. Moreover, the relationship is such that student leaders from Makerere University are most likely to end up in powerful political positions in the country (e.g. Byaruhanga, 2006; Mugume and Katusiimeh, 2014); this situation corresponds to the reasons that student leaders give for establishing relationships with political parties in the first place, as most student leaders have future political ambitions. The most influential organisations in student politics appear to be political parties, followed by cultural groups on campus. The study also highlights weaknesses in formal institutional governance structures given that student leaders believe their problems are better addressed in personal networks with members of university management staff than through the committee system. The relationship between student leaders and political parties generally leads to positive developments such as student leadership training in democratic politics; consequently they are even able to satisfy their personal interests in the process. It is further argued that students who are not in leadership positions mostly gain indirectly from the benefits that student leaders may derive from their relationship with political parties. For example, student leaders may govern their organisation better. However the evidence also strongly shows that such indirect gains are highly compromised in cases where student leaders have future political ambitions, as they may sacrifice the students’ interests in order to maintain their good reputation in the party. Since most student leaders aspire to be politicians in future, the study concludes by acknowledging that the relationship between student leaders and political parties has some positive consequences to students not involved in leadership, but they are outweighed by negative consequences. Hence it is argued in the conclusion that, taking into account the scope of this study, the relationship is largely a distraction to the student leaders rather than assisting them in enhancing their ability to represent students’ concerns.

This thesis sets out to investigate the students at Uppsala university’s self-image and the image that they had of the Swedish population at the start of the 1790s. During this time the Swedish state was fearful of the Swedish students and their political opinions due to, amongst several reasons, the involvement of French students during the French revolution. The students at this time were also regarded in two different ways, firstly as youths, secondly as the future power wielders in the state bureaucracy. Due to these aspects the students view of themselves, and the population were regarded as political and dangerous. The problem this thesis aimed to investigate was therefore to investigate what exactly these opinions were.  The research has shown that students often portray themselves as the future teachers and saviors of the country. They do this by creating an image of a population that is uneducated and subject to both prejudice and oppression. In the narrative they create, they portray a conceptual ruling elite that is made out to represent the old, wicked ways that the students are going to save the population from through their virtues. The influence of social classification and influence from the French Revolution is adamant throughout the entire pamphlet and provides an opportunity to understand the students’ opinions in a larger contemporary framework. The findings in this thesis can aid in understanding an early power relationship between those who are governed and those who govern. Showing how the students, who would become the future societal elites, may have viewed those whom they would later on wield power over

<p>Students in African universities have a long history of political involvement at the institutional level and in national politics. The present study investigates the political opinions of students in Tanzania with respect to (1) their attitudes towards democracy and how these attitudes could be explained, (2) student satisfaction with the way their university and their country, Tanzania, are governed, and (3) whether student leaders (SL) have more democratic attitudes than students who are not in formal student leadership positions (SNL) and if there are other relevant groups that can be identified whose political attitudes differ significantly from those of other groups. The study draws on the work of Bratton, Mattes and Gyimah-Boadi (2005) and employs a survey questionnaire adapted from the Afrobarometer. Using survey data collected at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, a number of questions are investigated, and related hypotheses are tested in order to determine the extent to which students understand and demand democracy, how they perceive the supply of democracy, and what their attitudes are towards university governance and national politics in general.</p>

<p>Students in African universities have a long history of political involvement at the institutional level and in national politics. The present study investigates the political opinions of students in Tanzania with respect to (1) their attitudes towards democracy and how these attitudes could be explained, (2) student satisfaction with the way their university and their country, Tanzania, are governed, and (3) whether student leaders (SL) have more democratic attitudes than students who are not in formal student leadership positions (SNL) and if there are other relevant groups that can be identified whose political attitudes differ significantly from those of other groups. The study draws on the work of Bratton, Mattes and Gyimah-Boadi (2005) and employs a survey questionnaire adapted from the Afrobarometer. Using survey data collected at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, a number of questions are investigated, and related hypotheses are tested in order to determine the extent to which students understand and demand democracy, how they perceive the supply of democracy, and what their attitudes are towards university governance and national politics in general.</p>

Magister Educationis - MEd / Students in African universities have a long history of political involvement at the institutional level and in national politics. The present study investigates the political opinions of students in Tanzania with respect to (1) their attitudes towards democracy and how these attitudes could be explained, (2) student satisfaction with the way their university and their country, Tanzania, are governed, and (3) whether student leaders (SL) have more democratic attitudes than students who are not in formal student leadership positions (SNL) and if there are other relevant groups that can be identified whose political attitudes differ significantly from those of other groups. The study draws on the work of Bratton, Mattes and Gyimah-Boadi (2005) and employs a survey questionnaire adapted from the Afrobarometer. Using survey data collected at the University of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania, a number of questions are investigated, and related hypotheses are tested in order to determine the extent to which students understand and demand democracy, how they perceive the supply of democracy, and what their attitudes are towards university governance and national politics in general. / South Africa

Thesis (Ph.D.(History)) -- University Of Limpopo, 2022 / The problem under investigation in this thesis is centred on the complex changes and transformation in student activism at the University of Limpopo (UL) during the period 1968-2015. The overreaching objectives of the study were to unpack the changing conceptualisation of student politics, tactics and strategies deployed in realising student needs and interests in the creation of South Africa’s contested transition from the openly racist apartheid system to a liberal democratic regime enshrined in the 1996 constitution. Periodisation theory, which conceptualises and frames development or change and transformation of historical phenomena as unfolding in terms of distinctive time periods, was used to provide historical insight into the evolution of student activism. The cognitive merits and possibilities of periodisation theory were enhanced by integrating Altbach’s Theory of Student Activism, which stresses the Importance of recognising and grasping the unique characteristics of student activists and their organisations in higher education systems. The resultant theoretical framework produced a cognitive structure which provided the researcher with concepts and ideation to make sense of the difficult and complex reconfiguration demanded, especially by the transition. The methodology utilised in the study involved collecting and analysing data from both primary and secondary sources. The primary data was acquired from a sample of former students who were registered at UL during the period covered by the study. The Thematic Content Analyses (TCA) approach distilled themes embedded in the data collected. An overreaching finding of the study is that while it was relatively easy for Black students to conceptualise and decode the nature of oppression and struggle in an openly racialised system, such as apartheid, the ascendance to state power of Black leaders of liberation movements, some of whom were militant student activists prior to 1994, created a political landscape which made it difficult for students to decode what was required to deepen liberation and freedom. Some of the difficulties manifested themselves inter alia in the scandalous vandalisation of University resources, such as libraries, cars and classrooms. More than twenty years into “democracy”, however, student activists began to penetrate and decode deeper layers of oppression, hidden by the dense fog of liberal democracy, which needed to be dismantled. It is in this sense that the thesis views the eruption of the 2015 #Fees Must Fall movement and the accompanying curriculum decolonisation battles in South Africa as constituting a revolutionary landmark in the evolution of student activism. Student activists since 2015 seemed to have come to the realisation that liberal democratic rights and freedoms were incapable of dismantling white supremacy (racism), which is at the heart of the subjugation and oppression of Black people in South Africa and beyond. The thesis recommends, inter alia, that the relative invisibility of the role of women in studies of this nature is troubling and that historians must urgently solve this lacuna