Fort Hare at its centenary: University functions in post-apartheid South Africa

ABSTRACT

This paper explores the range of functions undertaken by the University of Fort Hare (UFH) over its 100-year history and in what ways it has carried these out. Drawing on the framework developed by Castells on the functions performed by universities, the paper shows that UFH’s role in three of these functions – namely, in the production of values for individuals and social legitimation for the state, in the formation of the dominant elite, and in the training of the labour force – has shifted and changed along with the different imperatives and conditions of the colonial, apartheid and post-1994 democratic eras in South Africa. By contrast, UFH’s role in the production of scientific knowledge is a relatively recent development, but one which has strengthened rapidly.

KEYWORDS:

• University functions
• knowledge production
• elite selection
• training the labour force
• higher education
• South Africa

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

ORCID

Tracy Bailey http://orcid.org/0000-0002-2984-814X