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Understanding the Crisis in Higher Education in Zimbabwe

Critical Explorations

  • Chapter
Critical Perspectives on Neoliberal Globalization, Development and Education in Africa and Asia

Abstract

The problems facing the formerly colonized countries today generically referred to as the “South”, have come to be associated with Western or developed nations’ agendas and projects. Colonialism, development, and currently neoliberal globalization, it can be argued, have been Western/Northern hegemonic manoeuvres to extract the much required natural resources to satisfy hyperconsumerist aspirations and ways of living (Black, 2007; Willis, 2005). Harvey (2003) describes neoliberal globalization as the new imperialism where accumulation by dispossession is the main characteristic, and Tikly (2004) also refers to neoliberal globalization as imperialism, a form of Western global hegemony. Similarly, other scholars such as Moyo and Yeros (2007), Bond (2001) and Mamdani (2008) explain Zimbabwe’s current problems, specifically in higher education, on the West and its project of domination of the countries of the South. This is manifested in the radical economic policies forced upon the South, on countries like Zimbabwe, by the World Bank/International Monetary Fund (IMF) inspired structural adjustment policies (SAPs) and more recently, the Poverty Reductions Strategy Papers (PRSPs).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. University of Alberta, Graduate Student and Great Zimbabwe University, Alberta, Zimbabwe

    Munyaradzi Hwami (Instructor)

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  1. Munyaradzi Hwami
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  1. University of Alberta, Canada

    Dip Kapoor

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Hwami, M. (2011). Understanding the Crisis in Higher Education in Zimbabwe. In: Kapoor, D. (eds) Critical Perspectives on Neoliberal Globalization, Development and Education in Africa and Asia. SensePublishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6091-561-1_7

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