A Culture of Structural Violence 

Fees Must Fall 2016 and Stellenbosch Universities Management Response

With the Fees Must Fall Movement reignited, and rightly so, it has been a curious wait to see how management would handle the pressure of another protest. Would they be able to engage peacefully with students, to listen, negotiate or simply ‘add on’ the issues which they raise? This culture of simply ‘adding on’ is deeply ingrained in academia, institutions and even internationally. Where positivism rules, meaning that there is a policing of the rules, and where constructivism has not been introduced to change the situation. This policing of the rules by universities has meant that there have been significant hindrances to positive change for social justice which are advocated for in these protests. The lack of relational thinking in this instance has meant that in order for management to police the rules mean that they can ‘legitimately’ use structural violence.

Structural violence as a noun is the relationship of actors in a system which is based on a perceived or structurally embedded incompatible goals or values (Weigert, 2008). More importantly, this is formed along patterns in the components of a social system that constrains human behaviour even though it creates human actors (Weigert, 2008). One of the more concerning factors of this structure is the characteristic of violence which is used to harm or threaten others to achieve some goal or hinder the goals of others because of an unequal distribution of power and resources (Weigert, 2008).

This rings strongly given what took place yesterday, if not this week, in the library at Stellenbosch University. Though South Africa has had a culture of violent protest (Shuttle & Lukhele, 2015) it equally had a history of the use of force by the state and other actors to suppress these protests. Just as much the culture of violent protest is ingrained in South Africa there is a culture in the use of ‘legitimate force’ by both the state and other institutions to repress these protests. Even when they are peaceful protests.

This blog implores the management of these institutions to be retrospective and consider other means of addressing protesting students and not allowing the use of force in situations which are uncomfortable for them. The sit-in in the library started on Monday where the students requested that our Rector, Wim De Villiers, come and see them personally. It was peaceful even if it was disruptive to other students which were not protesting. The response later given by the university is a clear indication of who holds the reigns of structural power and that the use of force was legitimate in their eyes. The students had attempted to enter into dialogue with the management of Stellenbosch University but this was met with silence. Illustrating to the observer that the issues of fees which was raised was not within the circle of power and their interests. Then there was the deployment of the infamous ‘men in black’.

The Men in Black hail back to a time where the South African Apartheid state had made use of their army in order to patrol and police areas in which oppressed peoples lived. The act of employing private security, a private army, in itself is an act of violence. Not the physical manifestation of violence but the threat of violence. Couple this with the accusations of sexual harassment this threat of violence becomes inherently gendered in its nature. Womxn on campus throughout the year have complained and in cases informed management of the behaviour of the men employed to protect buildings and not bodies. The bodies of students have been disregarded and played down to not being the responsibility of the university. The End Rape Culture protest has only served to highlight how little the bodies of womxn are included or even acknowledged within the universities management system. Rape has been reported, thanks to this movement, more than it has ever been and yet still the response of the university has been lacking. I would go as far to say that it has just swept these issues under the rug in order to save face. Systemic sexism and structural violence have never played out more clearly than yesterday (16/09/16) in the library where violence against men and womxn were rampant. In terms of structural power, the use of violence was used to reinforce the power of the university management over that of students. Womxn in particular according to sources, media and informants, were worse off in some cases than men. Womxn were reported to be bleeding, the physical harming of bodies and specifically of womxn’s bodies as well as queer bodies, illustrate that structural violence is more harmful to these groups of individuals. It actively seeks through the use of power and violence to quell defiant voices.

The university management had not even bothered, at the very least, to enter into negotiations with protesting students and simply opted to send a letter. This letter had stated that in no uncertain terms that the students which were occupying the space were to leave the space in five minutes as their ‘right’ to be in the library was being revoked. I would like to highlight the use of the word ‘right’, through the university revoking their ‘right’ to be in a particular space reinforces the structure of power where, all the interests, dialogue and power are held at the top. Looking at the broader issue of rights this statement could be viewed as simply, property right or it could be viewed as an act which hails back to a time where rights could be given and taken away in the blink of an eye. This institution, where there is a clear structure of power with its culture hails back to a time where oppression was the modus operandi.

Changing an institutional culture in itself is not an easy task, with continuing student protest, advocating for social justices and aiming to bring about institutional change, institutions like the university managment need to be introspective. Introspective in their power and its violence, their ability to listen and even more importantly to learn to negotiate with those which are seemingly lower down in the power structure. This can be done through employing constructivism as means through which to look at rules, realise their intersubjective realities and that relational thinking will improve the experience for all.