Collectively oppressed and unequal: University students' perceptions of quality of life

In 2015, a clarion call for radical social transformation sounded at South African universities. Rooted in a narrative of an urgent need to decolonise universities through radical and revolutionary change, students highlighted a sense that the status quo within South African universities perpetuates racialised patterns of exclusion and inequality. For them, this repression undermines the social and economic inclusion of black students in contemporary South Africa society. the argue that life for them had not necessary improved under democratic and dominant rule by the African National Congress (ANC). Their narrative emphasised the exclusionary structure of universities, symbolised in colonial statutes like that of Cecil Jon Rhodes. (#RhodesMustFall) and driven ideologically by "apartheid culture" (OpenStellenbosch) that does not advance an African philosophical and intellectual project, rendering African identity and lived experiences of oppression and continued economic and social marginalisation to the periphery of society.

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Publication Details

Journal
Human Science Research Council SA
Published
2026-05-22
DOI
https://doi.org/10.14749/32364816
Primary Topic
African cultural and philosophical studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Collectively oppressed and unequal: University students' perceptions of quality of life

Human Sciences Research Council
Human Science Research Council SA
African cultural and philosophical studies
article

Collectively oppressed and unequal: University students' perceptions of quality of life

Human Sciences Research Council
article en

Abstract

In 2015, a clarion call for radical social transformation sounded at South African universities. Rooted in a narrative of an urgent need to decolonise universities through radical and revolutionary change, students highlighted a sense that the status quo within South African universities perpetuates racialised patterns of exclusion and inequality. For them, this repression undermines the social and economic inclusion of black students in contemporary South Africa society. the argue that life for them had not necessary improved under democratic and dominant rule by the African National Congress (ANC). Their narrative emphasised the exclusionary structure of universities, symbolised in colonial statutes like that of Cecil Jon Rhodes. (#RhodesMustFall) and driven ideologically by "apartheid culture" (OpenStellenbosch) that does not advance an African philosophical and intellectual project, rendering African identity and lived experiences of oppression and continued economic and social marginalisation to the periphery of society.

Human Science Research Council SA
Reduced inequalities
Openalex Percentile: Top 2%
African cultural and philosophical studies
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Collectively oppressed and unequal: University students' perceptions of quality of life — Human Sciences Research Council · Human Science Research Council SA (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS