Higher Education Student Political Capabilities: A Decolonial Perspective on Student Activism

This paper critically examines the transformative role of student activism, represented by movements like #FeesMustFall and #RhodesMustFall, in advancing social justice within South African higher education. Using the capabilities approach, as articulated by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum as the theoretical framework, the paper examines how these movements became crucial platforms for the development of political capabilities – or freedoms to express political ideas, engage in protests, capabilities for dialogue, practical reasoning, voice, emotional expression, contextual knowledge, and the capability for physical well-being. Amartya Sen with his emphasis on deliberative processes offers insights into how students reach a consensus on what they value, while Martha Nussbaum’s approach provides the grounds from which a list of students’ valued capabilities and functionings can be used as a minimum threshold for equity and decolonisation. Through these movements, students have advocated for the decolonisation of higher education and challenged historical and cultural inequities in South African higher education. Employing qualitative in-depth interviews with five activist organisers, 14 student-participants and two university staff with knowledge of student governance at one South African university, the study explores the development and constraints of political capabilities - within the academic context. It underscores the intersectionality and collective nature of student activism, highlighting agency in addressing and reforming entrenched disparities. As the paper is developed from student voices, it highlights youth’s contribution to discourse on decolonisation. Most importantly, issues they talk about speak to global discourse on social justice. Hence, we cannot ignore their voices when designing policy to advance social and epistemic justice in society.