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Prof Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Research and Internationalisation, and Prof Saleem Badat, Research Professor in the UFS Department of History, launch a new book honouring Ruth First’s activist legacy and scholarly impact.

On 16 July, during the Free State Arts Festival, the University of the Free State (UFS) launched Research and Activism: Ruth First & Activist Research, an incisive edited volume by Professors Vasu Reddy, Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Research and Internationalisation at the UFS, and Saleem Badat, Research Professor in the UFS Department of History

The event was facilitated by Prof Christian Williams, Associate Professor of Anthropology, with Prof Reddy delivering the keynote address and Dr Lazlo Passemiers, Senior Lecturer in History, serving as respondent.

The important new work pays tribute to Ruth First - South African freedom fighter, journalist, intellectual, and scholar-activist, who’s unflinching pursuit of justice continues to resonate. Far from a closed chapter in South Africa’s struggle history, First’s legacy remains a compelling call to action for contemporary scholars, activists, and institutions: to confront injustice, speak with conviction, and pursue research rooted in ethical action. 

 

A legacy of fearless scholarship

Ruth First’s activism was grounded in refusal to remain silent in the face of injustice. As a tenacious investigative journalist and public intellectual, she exposed the systemic violence of apartheid and challenged power through sharp incisive analysis and courageous advocacy. Her life, and her assassination by apartheid operatives in 1982, exemplify the personal and political costs of speaking truth to power.

Prof Vasu Reddy reflected that First “theorised, analysed, and connected the dots between racism, capitalism, and oppression, and refused to dilute her message for mass appeal.” Her words”, he said, “unsettled because they were true. Her activism “compels us to speak courageously, think critically, and act ethically. She turned ideas into instruments of liberation.”

 

Beyond the ivory tower 

With contributions from 17 scholars, the volume examines themes ranging from climate justice and activism in Marikana to the ethics of legal practice, community engagement, and the role of the university in social transformation. 

Prof Reddy emphasised that Ruth First’s example disrupts the traditional notions of academia. “Universities must be engines of social change, not ivory towers,” he argued. “Her legacy reminds us that activist research is about standing with the marginalised, and not merely studying them.” 

Dr Passemiers echoed this view, describing First as one of South Africa’s foremost examples of blending impactful activism with rigorous scholarship. “Her activism was often transnational, connecting South Africa’s liberation struggle with broader regional movements. This perspective is especially relevant today, as many of our challenges transcend national borders.”

He added that the book should be required reading for students in the social sciences and humanities, as it “challenges misconceptions about activist research and shows how scholarship can contribute meaningfully to public life, beyond academic debate.”

 

Redefining academic activism 

Prof Christian Williams underscored one of the book’s central provocations: to set a litmus test for genuine activist research. He argued that activism and scholarship can compete with one another, but should, following First’s example, be intersecting commitments. “There is no true academic neutrality,” he noted.

Members of the audience also touched on related themes pertaining to the role of universities in society, responding to the book’s content as narrated at the launch. For example, the collection interrogates how universities often claim to be ‘engaged’ while aligning primarily with business, the state, and elite interests. True activist research, the contributors argue, must connect with social movements and confront power, not shy away from it. Members of the audience reflected on this point, considering what it means for researchers to do activist research amidst attacks on social justice-oriented programmes in higher education globally. 

In Prof Reddy’s final comments, he returned to the importance of First for debates about the university’s role. “This is unfinished business. The story of Ruth First, and of activist scholarship, is not fully told”, says Prof Reddy. As he noted, Research and Activism offers both a tribute to Ruth First and a powerful reminder of the work still to be done. “Her life triggers us to think deeply about real-world issues, not as abstract concepts but as urgent matters of justice and humanity.”

Research and Activism: Ruth First & Activist Research is available for free download via the ESI Press website.

News Archive

Teacher professionalism and status under Commonwealth radar
2010-03-26

 
From the left are: Ms Simone De Cormarmond, Chairperson: Commonwealth Foundation; Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, University of the Free State (UFS); Mr Samuel Isaacs, CEO: SAQA; and Dr Carol Anne Spreen, Lecturer at the University of Maryland, USA).
Photo: Ian van Straaten


International delegates attending the 5th Annual Commonwealth Teacher Research Symposium held at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein this week unanimously agreed that more research still had to be done on issues of recognition, registration and standards affecting teachers and teaching across Commonwealth countries.

This two-day gathering of researchers, officials and representatives of regional international organisations and higher education institutions agreed that issues of teacher migration, the professionalism of teachers, teacher preparation and the use of teaching standards, as well as the comparability and recognition of teacher qualifications should be further researched.

The delegates agreed on the following based on the research and data that were presented and shared with all the participants:

Teacher migration is recognised as an increasing global phenomenon that requires ongoing research in the Commonwealth.
Recognising that inequalities and differences within and across Commonwealth countries exist, and considering that fair and ethical treatment in the international recruitment of teachers is an important cornerstone of the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol.

Teacher training, the recognition of teacher qualifications, the professional registration of teachers and the development of professional teacher standards should be actively encouraged through ongoing pan-Commonwealth research.

An increased acknowledgement of the role of the professionalisation of teachers through an improved understanding of teacher qualifications and standards.
There should be a specific research focus on teacher preparation and the use of teaching standards.

An increased comparability and recognition of teacher qualifications across Commonwealth countries should be actively encouraged.
Advocacy of teachers’ rights, effective protection of the vulnerable teacher, and appropriate strategies should be promoted to uplift the status of teachers and teaching as a profession.

The Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol, amongst other things, aims to balance the rights of teachers to migrate internationally against the need to protect the integrity of national education systems, and to prevent the exploitation of the scarce human resources of poor countries.

Delivering his keynote address at the symposium, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, decried the quality of professional qualifications in South Africa.

“We have become very good at manufacturing outcomes. We actually have become very good at giving an impression of having achieved particular outcomes without having achieved them at all,” he said.
“So what does it mean to talk about outcomes in an unequal country with unequal resources? What does it mean to talk about qualifications when we do not trust the outcomes?”

He suggested that the teaching profession should be subjected to a peer review mechanism and that the practice of setting minimum standards should be dealt away with because it results in minimum outcomes.

Dr Carol Anne Spreen, lecturer at the University of Maryland in the USA, proposed that countries should improve the quality of their own teachers instead of importing teachers from other countries.

The research symposium was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and hosted by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the UFS.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
26 March 2010

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