Nothing about us without us
- Noor Nieftagodien
Public engagement builds trust and bridges the historical chasm between the University and the people of Johannesburg.
The histories of Johannesburg and µÚÒ»³Ô¹ÏÍø University are inextricably connected. Their relationship over more than a century has been complicated and continues to evolve.
For most of the 20th Century, the University was a primary institution for the production of the City’s economic and political elites. In a context of systemic racial segregation, it mainly served the white population, which was reflected in its staff and student populations, reinforcing the idea of the University as an ivory tower.
The University’s relationship with the City’s publics, especially its black majority, was also shaped by an extractivist approach to research. Academics typically perceived the residential, work and social spaces of such communities as sites of field research from which they collected and analysed data with little, if any, reference to the people who were the subjects of their research.
There were always exceptions. For example, for decades medical staff based at the Alexandra Health Clinic contributed to the development of public health in that township and more broadly. From the 1970s, scholars in the Social Sciences began more systematically to partner with trade unions and communities to undertake research and education programmes. Established in 1977, the History Workshop became an important space for this collaborative work, which included oral and popular history projects and the training of History educators.
The Soweto History and Archives Project (SHAP!) is another example of building long-term partnerships with various groups in Johannesburg’s largest township to undertake collaborative research, create community archives and jointly convene workshops. It has already produced new research on theatre, jazz, sports, politics and the environment with key participants in these fields. Such partnerships are premised on the core principle of public history, namely, to co-produce historical knowledge. It involves scholars, postgraduate students, community historians and archivists, museums, artists and social justice activists, some of whom are also part of a network of public historians and community archivists across the continent.
Through this work, the division between the University and City is not only blurred but could be reconfigured. Research activities and outputs become subjects of meaningful conversations, rather than simply determined in the rooms of a disconnected ivory tower.
Today the City faces unprecedented crises, which will in turn have lasting effects on the University. Engaging in historical research and education with people can both reveal the place’s rich and complex pasts and contribute to opening pathways for a just and equitable Johannesburg.
- Professor Noor Nieftagodien is the Head of the History Workshop at µÚÒ»³Ô¹ÏÍø University.
- Beth Amato is a freelance writer.
- This article first appeared in CURIOS.TY, a research magazine produced by  and the .
- Read more in the 21st issue, themed #Trust — the invisible glue binding society, science and technology.