Student politics in Africa in the twenty-first century

Abstract

Analytically, this chapter draws on a framework established originally by Phillip G. Altbach in his study of student activism in India and globally, which has Student Politics in Africa been systematized and partially applied in a number of recent studies. Taking a historical and sociological approach in this chapter, the framework helps us understand why student politics in Africa changed in a particular way over the longue duree. Methodologically, the database that grounds the arguments in this chapter has been generated by two systematic reviews of authoritative scholarly literature on student politics in Africa. The two reviews were conducted in 2005 and 2022 respectively, to compare the evidence between student politics, representation, and activism in the twentieth century and the first two decades of the twenty-first century. They provide the material to synthesize broad continuities and discontinuities that give the chapter its empirical grounding. The most important changes impacting student politics across most African countries in the twenty-first century are: 1. The changing national political environments and socio-economic development 2. The changing size, nature, and institutional landscape of higher education 3. The expansion, transformation, and fragmentation of institutional and national student bodies 4. The changing political character of student governments and organizations 5. The changing role of student representation in university governance 6. Technology and the changing repertoire of student political agency 7. The changing student political discourse on African higher education These changes are interrelated and reflect the large-scale political, social, and economic transformations that African societies have undergone with their impact on student politics. Analysts from different contexts may arrive at slightly different lists. As a high-level overview across the continent, these changes are at least among the most important and impactful in their effect on student politics in the first twenty years of the twenty-first century.