Testing transgressive thinking: the 'Learning through Enlargement' initiative at UNISA

Abstract

To contribute to the discussion about the role, place and significance of the South African university in the country's political economy in the context of the discussion about decolonisation, the author undertakes a critical assessment of an important initiative begun at the University of South Africa (UNISA): the South African Research Chairs Initiative (SARChI) in Development Education (DE). Their purpose is to promote high-level research. Acknowledging the authors biases, as he was a founding participant of this project, he foreground the significance of the initiative while also identifying the challenges both within it and around it. The analysis is stimulated by the concern of Escobar and by the need to show how South Africans are contributing to the larger global discussion on the role of the modern university in processes of social development.