Fighting for Academic Freedom by Challenging University Governance Structures

Fifteen years ago Associate Professor Tor Halvorsen (UiB) and Professor Peter Vale (University of Johannesburg and Rhodes University) took the initiative to establish the Southern African-Nordic Centre (SANORD), which currently has more than forty member institutions in Southern Africa and the Nordic countries. The purpose of the collaboration is to build research communities within these institutions, and to address challenges of innovation and development in both local and global contexts. The research topics include societies, governments, corporations and education.

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Analysing the deficiencies of university governance

The book One world, many knowledges. Regional experiences and cross-regional links in higher education builds on a SANORD conference held at Rhodes University in December 2009, on the topic ‘Inclusion and Exclusion in Higher Education’. But the publication is also the result of the fifteen year-long collaboration between the two editors.

– We’re both interested in the future of the universities and the question of knowledge. The book is a summary of a long collaboration between the two of us, says Peter Vale.

The 13 chapters of the book discuss a range of topics, including the plight of the social sciences and the humanities within the new university management regime, apartheid’s enduring legacy of social exclusion in South African higher education, inclusion and exclusion in Zimbabwe’s and Mozambique’s educational systems, as well as SANORD’s role in fostering international collaboration.

A sanctuary for independent research

In many ways, SANORD itself constitutes an example of how academics can build an arena where they are free to pursue their research interests, independent of imperatives imposed by universities, which are driven by incentives such as funding and international ratings.  

– SANORD is interesting, because it is atypical of university cooperation today. Many places such activities go through the routines and regularisations of OECD style university management, which is market oriented. SANORD is in accordance with how universities used to work – and it shows how good it used to be, says Vale.

– SANORD is a success thanks to the cooperation between the member universities, and the focus is cooperation between people who make each other better. It’s based on interesting knowledge and solidarity, says Halvorsen.

The two emphasise that this collaborative structure does not represent a break with the past, but a continuation of more than forty years of mutual understanding between universities. In their view the new management regime constitutes a new and unwelcome obstacle to the free and innovative research which the book exemplifies.

–  This book demonstrates the value of cooperation between academics independent of governance structures. These researchers would not meet under the normal regime, in which the priorities are publication points and international ratings. We don’t respond to the competitive element, so here it’s not about universities trying to position themselves. It’s about collaboration between independent researchers, not strategic research mandated from above, says Halvorsen.  

Promoting the humanities for social change

The two emphasise the importance of ensuring that universities take the humanities seriously:

– Most universities become more similar, and they strive for the same kind of knowledge. But we think difference is important, says Halvorsen.

– History, language and philosophy, the classical studies all matter. They matter as much as physics, chemistry and biotechnology, Vale adds.

This is not only important for the universities themselves, but also for national and international governance structures. Halvorsen emphasises that more than ninety per cent of ministers in developing countries have studied economics at American institutions, and that human rights advocates are equally uniform in their backgrounds. This narrows the perspectives on global challenges among decision makers. As such SANORD serves to challenge the hegemony of current approaches to development.  

One world, many knowledges is the first in a series of SANORD books. Two other publications are currently being planned. The first of these will be based on the SANORD Symposium in Aarhus, Denmark, which was organised in June 2012.

The second book will build on the conference ‘Towards the end of the Millennium Development Goals Era: What contribution have our universities made?’, to be held in Lilongwe, Malawi in December of this year. The deadline for abstracts is 15^th of June.

Click here for more information on the conference in Malawi.