Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences
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The Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences has a strong focus in applied research and has a number of specialised research units including the Programme for Land and Agrarian Studies (PLAAS), the Entrepreneurship Development Unit (EDU), the Institute for Social Development (ISD), the African Centre for Citizenship and Democracy (ACCEDE) and the EMS Student Support and Research Unit (ESSRU).
Electronic theses and dissertations are available in the Electronic Theses and Dissertations Repository.
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Browsing by Subject "#FeesMustFall"
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Item Crisis management competencies: a university stakeholder perspective(John Wiley and Sons Inc, 2024) Pharaoh, Courtley D.; Visser, DirkSouth African universities faced an unforeseen crisis in the form of the #FeesMustFall (#FMF) movement. The executive management of the affected universities was criticized for how the crisis was handled. Due to the significant cost (over R1 billion) to the higher education sector, not just in fiscal losses, but the loss of life, the investment into crisis management would be justified. Crisis management is a business action that includes planning and organising to prepare for and to respond to threats to business activities. Reviewing the literature identified a void regarding the crisis management competencies needed by the Executive Management as perceived by stakeholders. This exploratory study made use of a mixed methodology research design. A self-administered questionnaire incorporating open-ended questions was used to identify and explore the competencies perceived by the stakeholders as important during times of crisis. Simple descriptive statistics were used to identify the top management competencies needed in a time of crisis as perceived by the stakeholders. This was compared with the findings in the literature. The study identified 10 management competencies perceived by stakeholders of which eight competencies are consistent with crisis management competencies found in the literature.Item Moving for education: A study of decoloniality and development in South Africa(University of the Western Cape, 2024) Tyhali, Azania SimthandileThe #FeesMustFall student movement in post-apartheid South Africa brought decolonisation back to the centre of the discourse challenging the institutional culture of the university and the commodification of education. The campaign was based on three pillars: pan-Africanism, black consciousness and black radical feminism, which symbolised the different levels of power that continue to dominate Africa. Many analyses of this movement have examined it in the context of South African student involvement in political action, but the educational situation has also affected African migrant students in South Africa. The aim of this study is to examine the migration aspirations, access to education, political engagement and precarity of students who have migrated to Cape Town from other African countries. Based on ethnographic research, focus group session and semi-structured interviews, the thesis analyses the socio-economic circumstances and migration experiences of 13 students from the DRC, Sudan, Rwanda, Nigeria and Zimbabwe. Drawing from a decolonial perspective, the study is a significant addition to research on education and development in South Africa.Item State and civil society: #FeesMustFall movement as a counter- hegemonic force? A case of the University of the Western Cape experience(University of the Western Cape, 2019) Mandyoli, Lindokuhle; Anciano, FionaThe #FeesMustFall (#FMF) movement is an important moment in South Africa as it provides insight into the evolution of the relations between state and civil society. An inquiry into the 2015/2016 student protests at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) shows the contradictions that persist in South African society twenty years after apartheid. The study examines the reaction of the state to the dissent embodied by #FMF demands. Drawing on Gramsci and Althusser the study develops a framework against which #FMF is assessed, in order to test whether the movement was counter-hegemonic, if so, to what extent. The assessment is done using a qualitative approach to the research; i.e. auto-ethnography, which relies on the experiences of the author, as a tool of data collection. The selection of this technique is informed by the proximity of the author to the protests, and scarcity of prior research done on the UWC #FMF case. Also, the study uses primary data such as media statements, media articles, YouTube videos, speeches, interviews and personal communications as a means to triangulate the auto-ethnographic data. The data gives insight into the origins of the movement at UWC, the motivations of, and the tactics employed by the leaders. The movement at UWC shuts down the campus, blocks national roads, marches to the airport and even disrupts exams in attempts to see its mission through; a mission of Fee Free Education. Finally, drawing on the framework from Gramsci and Althusser this study notes the persistence of contradictions such as access to higher education in democratic South Africa. It shows the battle for hegemony between the state and civil society and identifies the dominance of the state, and how it deals with those who challenge it. To this end, #FMF does embody some counter-hegemonic quality. However, the study also reveals how #FMF carries out its actions in the boundaries of hegemonic institutions such as the constitution and the university. Hence, the extent of #FMF’s counter-hegemony went as far as affecting the operations of the university and not the structure thereof. As such, #FMF, like other radical civil society agents of its kind, is an example of issue based and temporary counter-hegemony. Although significant, it is not necessarily that which would see the complete overthrow of the university, or the state for that matter.