- Title
- Scholarly utilization of Liberation Archives at the University of Fort Hare, with a view to their transformative, emancipatory purpose
- Creator
- Booi, Vuyani Gweki
- Subject
- Archives
- Subject
- Documentation
- Date
- 2021-01
- Type
- Doctoral theses
- Type
- text
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/21157
- Identifier
- vital:47185
- Description
- The aim of the study is to assess the scholarly utilization of the liberation struggle archives in South Africa, and to determine their transformative and emancipatory purpose; focusing particularly on the archives at the University of Fort Hare, the historic alma mater of many liberation leaders. The objectives of this study are: to determine the purpose of the of deposit of documents in the archives, to investigate the ease of accessto the documents and their utilization, as well as to establish standards of assessment and to make recommendations for a more efficacious use of these valuable assets The nature of this study is interdisciplinary andcalls for the use of qualitative methodologies, including archival research and historic research. The primary sources for this research include administrative files, minutes, memos, reports, correspondence, newspaper articles, speeches, and audio-visual sources at the National Heritage and Cultural Studies Centre (NAHECS), at the University of Fort Hare. The analysis of organizational texts, citations and content analyses arethe tools that the researcher used. The study looks at the historiography of archives in general, with a focus on contested historical processes, and crossed purposes in theestablishment of political archives. The thesis draws on theoriesof the role of “liberation archives” in societies in transition to analyze the South African liberation archive as an alternative subtext, presenting distinct signposts of transformation of the national archival landscape. Key to the analysis and historiography of the South African liberation archives project is the role that the University of Fort Hare played, in cooperation with the liberation movements, including the African National Congress, the Pan African Congress, the Azanian People’s Organization /Black Consciousness Movement and the New Unity Movement, as well as the contribution made by individual prominent leaders of these organizations, in ensuring the liberation archives are housed at University of Fort Hare. The study provides an overview of the context in which the liberation archives were deposited at Fort HareUniversityand it identifies the objectives and expectations of the organizations in making this decision, including internal contestations and controversies that surrounded the Fort Hare Archives Project. The study discloses critical contestations over the project, evident in, (i.) the African National Congress (ANC) Archives dispute and its implications for the Liberation Archives at the University of Fort Hare (UFH), (ii). UFH`s attempts to resolve the dispute, (iii). the transfer of archives from the Center for Cultural Studies to the Fort Hare Library, the Commission of enquiry, or Task Team instigated to consider the significance of the dispute and controversy, key objectives, and key expectations for the liberation archives organizations and of the role of theUFH, for the transformative, emancipatory role of the archives. All these considerations bear crucial implications for the conclusion and recommendations of the study.The researcher argues that the historic speeches of Mr. Tambo and Mr. Mandela at UFHhad a significant impact on the considerations of the liberation organizations and their leaders regarding the placing of the archives atUFH, and it persuaded these organizations to see value and significance in choosing the university as the historic site where their liberation archives and materials ought to be housed. Despite good intentions regarding the value of these archives for decolonization of knowledge, there has been no systematic effort to encourage the integration of archival material into the curricula, learning materials, teaching, research or community engagement programs, where these documents are stored, in the rural Eastern Cape. There has been no internally driven strategy at Fort Hare to attract university academics and researchers to do in-depth research on the liberation archives. There are few incentives to encourage postgraduate students to undertake research on themes covered by the liberation archives. Because ofa lack of financial and material resources, personnel and instruments, there are few community engagement and outreach programs. The researcher recommends, on this basis, that the University of Fort Hare promote systematic research on the liberation archives, establish a research chair in liberation history studies; and that liberation archives be used as a vehicle to develop an emancipatory curriculum, where liberation archives are repositioned, especially in the Humanities and Social Sciences. UFH should also revive oral history on the liberation struggle as part of research that should transform scholarship.
- Description
- Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Social Science and Humanities, 2021
- Format
- computer
- Format
- online resource
- Format
- application/pdf
- Format
- 1 online resource (214 leaves)
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty of Social Science and Humanities
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
- Rights
- All Rights Reserved
- Rights
- Open Access
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UFH Department of Library & Information Science
| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details Download | SOURCE1 | BOOI VUYANI THESIS.pdf | 953 KB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details Download |