Articulating “Responsivity” in Context: Re-making the M.A. in Composition and Rhetoric for the Electronic Age

The Spatial Concomitance of Former Bantu Universities with Uneven Regional Development in a Democratic South Africa

“…Conversely, the nineteenth century modern knowledge factory university is associated with the growth of scientific research "experimentation" and transcendence of purely academic to practical technical disciplines, with the expressed purpose of meeting the needs of industry through applied research (Mowery, Nelson, Sampat and Ziedonis, 2004;Youtie and Shapira, 2008). In this mode, the university hopes to mimic the manufacturing assembly-line production system; and, it is forward-looking and positioned as "a factory of new knowledge" (Mowery et al, 2004;Shapira and Youtie, 2004;Youtie and Shapira, 2008;Bramwell and Wolfe, 2008;Knievel and Sheridan-Rabideau, 2009). On its part, the knowledge hub involves post-modern evolution for advancement of innovation and acquisition of capabilities for regional development impacts, made possible by the extended state funding of basic research (Mowery et al, 2004;Shapira and Youtie, 2004;Youtie and Shapira, 2008;Tilak, 2011).…”

“…Whereas partly deregulated, higher education systems continue to be dominated by state funding as public utilities (Altbach and Levy 2006;Bramwell and Wolfe, 2008;Knievel and Sheridan-Rabideau, 2009;Tilak, 2011). Whereas the market is not trusted in the funding of basic research knowledge generation, state capitalism governance provides that the visible hand of the state supplements the invisible hand of the market (Glemarec and Puppim de Oliveira, 2012).…”

“…Paradoxically, corporatization, privatization and commercialization have equally marked a shift in "jurisdiction power of universities from central to local control"; and, they are expected to strengthen these institutions' "connections with local governments and local industries" (Hong, 2008, p.593). However, "lived" experiences from Europe and China have conclusively demonstrated that marketization and transition from the Keynesian welfare state to neoliberalism is associated with uneven regional development and increasing inequality (Hong, 2008;Bramwell and Wolfe, 2008;Knievel and Sheridan-Rabideau, 2009). But the relationship of universities and regional development is more complex and reciprocal.…”

“…As modern growth theory stresses the importance of human capital in innovation, economic productivity and development (Fedderke, de Kadt and Luiz, 2003, p.377), higher education institutions came to be "regarded as the 'engine of development in the new world economy'" (Castells, 1994, p.14 cited in Tilak, 2011, p.4) wherein their inputs and outputs involve a specialised form of human capital. With the transition of the economic context from craft production, industrial mass production to post-industrial knowledge-driven economies, higher education and research institutions, particularly universities, too had to evolve from being storehouses of knowledge through knowledge factories to knowledge hubs (Shapira and Youtie, 2004;Youtie and Shapira, 2008;Bramwell and Wolfe, 2008;Knievel and Sheridan-Rabideau, 2009;Marginson, 2010). According to Marginson (2010, p.6979) "higher education and research carry much of the future potential of humanity and their benefits are maximized when they flow freely across the world".…”

“…The theoretical template for evaluation of the Bantu Universities' evolution from storehouse of knowledge to actively participated in perpetuating spatial structures of strong concentrations of knowledge power, effective synergies with industry and attraction of talented researchers (Knievel and Sheridan-Rabideau, 2009;Marginson, 2010). Hence, globalization of higher education research knowledge involves "indigenization", wherein foreign culture is incorporated into indigenous cultures, simultaneously with "normalization and standardization" to the global (Xiaoming and Haitao, 2000 cited in Marginson, 2010).…”