Inclusion as Social Justice (Theory and Practice in African Higher Education)

Inclusion as Social Justice: Theory and Practice in African Higher Education discusses the extent to which education enables equitable social access for diverse student populations in the context of historical sidelining of indigenous knowledge systems and epistemic injustice of colonial epistemologies in Africa. The goal is to theoretically unpack the social differentials and micro-inequities that practically disempower diverse students in African higher education. To this end, the book features aspects of diversity such as gender, rurality, refugee status and disability in general, with hearing and visual impairment as prime illustrations. It is argued that despite the ethically defensible and socially just policy and structural interventions for transforming higher education meant to redress the legacy of colonial injustices, urban universities present epistemological equity challenges for students from rural communities. Similarly, the opaque fate of students displaced from their home countries and currently studying in universities in host countries is analyzed. The book illustrates the access case for gender and disability in higher education using empirical studies and examples from Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Zimbabwe and South Africa. Challenges facing students in higher education in these countries and the strategies the students devise to succeed in the institutions are analyzed.