Globalised and contextualised knowledge: allies or adversaries?

Abstract

The power of knowledge in the new millennium is unavoidable B information technology leaders know it, higher education futurists see it, and business/industry leaders experience it. In this rapidly emerging knowledge society there are diverse types of knowledge such as information and communication technologies, for example microprocessors, computers, telecommunications, opto-electronics, etc. Although developed countries have the capacity to deal with this techno-economic shift to a knowledge-based society, developing countries such as South Africa find it difficult to cope due to the lack of technological capacity as well as prominent socio-economical and educational problems. Therefore, establishing and maintaining higher education institutions of international quality become increasingly difficult and complex. One of the questions to be answered which will determine the proactive role for survival is the following: Should knowledge always be globalised or should developing countries first conform to the demands of Africanised knowledge?



South African Journal of Higher Education Vol.16(1) 2002: 48-52