31 August 2018
University World News has published an article written by Mark Paterson and Nico Cloete on protecting universities’ knowledge-production mandate.
This article resulted from a Science Fridays @Stellenbosch meeting on 27 July during which Spanish sociologist Manuel Castells was speaking.
Professor Castells, along with co-authors Professors Johan Muller and Nico Cloete talked to the concluding paragraph in the Afterword of their book ‘Castells in Africa: Universities and Development’:
Universities cannot simply mobilise against destructive politics; they also have to protect their mission as beacons of innovation, ideas and equality, without surrendering everything to activism. Ultimately, the convergence between the shift to a new form of economic organisation, the acceleration of the technological revolution, and the legitimation of political institutions, has a site in society: higher education. This is why the university is simultaneously a decisive battlefield and our hope for a better future in the midst of the current darkness.
The event was organised by the university’s Centre of Excellence in Scientometrics and Science, Technology and Innovation Policy (SciSTIP).
Castells lecture at CREST (fltr): Prof Johann Mouton; Professor Nico Cloete, Professor Cheryl de la Rey and Prof Manuel Castells.
