Thesis (M.A. (History)) --University of Limpopo, 2018 / Student activism is a global phenomenon which mostly refers to work by students to
cause political, environmental, economic, or social change. Most countries have
benefited tremendously from student activism. For example, the students have
played a central role in the independence and anti-colonial struggles in most African
countries. The dissertation focuses on an exploration of the role played by University
of the North student activism in the struggle against apartheid from 1968 to 1994.
This was a period which was characterised by an upsurge of the nationalist struggle
in South Africa led by political organisations such as the African National Congress
(ANC), the Pan Africanist Congress (PAC), Azanian People’s Organization (AZAPO)
the South African Communist Party (SACP) and United Democratic Front (UDF).
Student organisations such as South African Student Organisation (SASO),
University Christian Movement (UCM), South African National Students’ Congress
(SANSCO), Azanian Student Organisation (AZASO) and many others played a
significant role.
The dissertation deployed both primary and secondary sources. Secondary data was
derived from published and unpublished dissertations, journal articles, newsletters,
books and autobiographies. Primary information was obtained through archival
materials, official university documents, speeches and, unstructured and interactive
interviews in order to provide evidence for the nature and character of student
activism in the university.
Periodisation theory as articulated by Hollander, Rassuli, Jones and Farlow (2005)
was utilised to interpret and illuminate the political struggle activities of the student
activists. This theory was the most appropriate frame to tackle student activism
because it divides the chronological narrative into separately labelled sequential time
periods with distinct beginning and ending points.
The investigation reveals that the dominant ideology at the beginning of the period
under investigation was Black Consciousness inspired by Steve Biko. However with
the lapse of time this ideology was watered down by the liberal ideology which
underpinned the Freedom Charter. The student activists operated within
organisations such as SASO, UCM, AZASO, SANSCO and many others. The
dissertation also reveals that while the students were relatively successful in
mobilising the support of rural schools and communities, they also faced vicious
repression by the apartheid security establishment. The dissertation lays a solid
foundation for further critical historical investigation.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ul/oai:ulspace.ul.ac.za:10386/2417 |
| Date | January 2018 |
| Creators | Vuma, Sethuthuthu Lucky |
| Contributors | More, M. P. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | v, 119 [1] leaves |
| Relation |
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