In 2025, we commemorate the 10th anniversary of South African students’ calls for free
decolonised higher education, propelled by digitally networked student movements and
campaigns such as #RhodesMustFall and #FeesMustFall. We invite scholars, higher
education practitioners, (former) activists, participants and observers, and storytellers to
contribute their insights, diverse perspectives, research, and reflections on the 2015/16
student moment, its aftermath, impacts, and significance.
Anticipated themes / sections:
• History, causes and conditions in which the movements emerged
• Case studies of specific campus movements, campaigns and events
• The strategies and tactics of the movements
• Sustaining movements over time and wellbeing of activists
• Solidarity, positionality and intersectionality
• Translocal and international resonance of the movements
• The conceptual and theoretical contributions of the movements
• The political and policy impact of the movements
• The methodological and pedagogical impact of the movements
• The personal and biographical impact of the movements on individuals and groups
• Critical self-reflections and autobiographies from activists
Submissions can take the form of research articles; reflective practice accounts; creative
writing; visual essays and art; autoethnographic, personal narratives and testimonials;
transcripts; manifestos and declarations.
