Differentiating University Community Engagement: An African Tale in Civil Society – International Perspectives on University–Community Partnerships
University–Community Partnerships for Promoting Social Responsibility in Higher Education
ISBN: 978-1-83909-439-2, eISBN: 978-1-83909-438-5
Publication date: 24 July 2020
Abstract
Faculty members at public universities in different disciplines view civil society differently as they perform their function of creating partnerships with society. This chapter draws evidence from faculty members in public universities from one African country – Malawi. Drawing from Derrida’s (1978) concept of difference and West’s (1993) views of social theory, the chapter examines three approaches to community engagement (CE) with civil society. It concludes that the growing demands to attain difference in CE have resulted in oversupply of approaches that are often pitied against each other; hence, the hierarchies obscure the work CE is achieving.
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Acknowledgements
Acknowledgments
This research was supported by the Interdisciplinary Center for the Study of Global Change Compton Fellowship, University of Minnesota, University of Western Cape and Institute for Post School Studies with support from the Carnegie Cooperation of New York. Special thanks should also go to Prof. Andrew Furco and Prof. David Chapman for providing very important feedback. The staff and faculty at the three public universities in Malawi also deserve appreciation. The author would also like to thank the reviewers for their feedback and comments.
Citation
Nkhoma, N.M. (2020), "Differentiating University Community Engagement: An African Tale in Civil Society – International Perspectives on University–Community Partnerships", Sengupta, E., Blessinger, P. and Mahoney, C. (Ed.) University–Community Partnerships for Promoting Social Responsibility in Higher Education (Innovations in Higher Education Teaching and Learning, Vol. 23), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 169-184. https://doi.org/10.1108/S2055-364120200000023012
Publisher
:Emerald Publishing Limited
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