Elusive inclusion – South Africa’s continuing struggle
Thursday, May 30, 201912:00 PM - 1:30 PM (Pacific)
Goldman conference room
Encina Hall East, 4th floor
Room E409
Abstract:
Efforts are underway in South Africa to turn around a decade of governance reversal. But progress in addressing an underlying cause of the reversals remains very limited – extreme, racially-tinged inequality, with missing ladders of opportunity into the middle class. In this seminar, Brian Levy will explore some interactions between shortfalls in inclusion and institutional pressures, including an in-depth focus on one key challenge – improving the learning outcomes of South Africa’s poorly performing system of basic education. The findings from his recent co-authored book, The Politics and Governance of Basic Education: A Tale of Two South African Provinces suggest that a narrow focus on ‘fixing the bureaucracy’ can only go so far. Re-balancing focus away from narrowly top-down approaches towards the evocation of agency offers a variety of added possibilities for creative and constructive action.
Speaker Bio: