Unit 8: Advocacy in Shaping Policy - #FeesMustFall and #UPrising

Vocabulary and key concepts regarding the #FeesMustFall movement and its impact on university and national policy.

FeesMustFall

A movement that started as a reaction to tuition increases but evolved into a national policy conversation regarding language policy, decolonisation, and access.

Immediate demand at UP

The specific requirement for no tuition fee increases in $2016$.

Medium of instruction demand

A call for the end of Afrikaans as a medium of instruction as part of broader transformational goals.

SRC (Student Representative Council)

Formal institutional channels that the protest emerged outside of to be more democratic and inclusive.

Communication tools used

WhatsApp and Twitter were used to bypass formal channels and influence policy discourse.

Policy intervention

The act of occupying university space to force institutional listening and influence national fee debates.

National response

The decision to implement a $0\%$ fee increase as a result of the movement's pressure.

Institutional response at UP

The university began revising its language policy and the Council became more open to student engagement.

Political party capture

An influence that #UPrising successfully avoided, contributing to its strength as an advocacy movement.

Collective leadership

A strength of the movement characterized by being flexible and rooted in student realities rather than elite structures.

Gendered tensions

A limitation of the movement where female leaders were marginalised in decision-making processes.

Fragmentation and burnout

Key risks and limitations that affected the long-term sustainability of the movement.

Structural change limitation

The observation that disruption alone could not secure deep change without necessary follow-up.