A socially just curriculum reform agenda

In 2015 a social movement swept across the South African higher education sector fuelled by the anger of the 'born free' generation, the youth born since 1994. The movement spread beyond South Africa's borders finding solidarity in other parts of the globe. At the time of writing it does not appear to be abating. The demands are wide ranging and the tactics at times controversial. As the days, weeks, months pass the picture is likely to get messier as the movement becomes stage to a host of diverse and contradictory larger political agendas. Nonetheless, the movement has put a spotlight on the global academy that, like the society of which it is a part, is increasingly characterized by inequality. At its core the movement is calling for a more socially just higher education system. This call is profoundly dissonant to the dominant neoliberal discourses currently shaping higher education. Against the backdrop of these discourses and the unprecedented pressures on higher education curricula, this special issue is dedicated to exploring what a socially just curriculum reform agenda might involve. The importance of this task is illustrated in Millar's contribution (2016). She brings into sharp focus the ways in which curriculum reform is driven by instrumentalist purposes. In this case policy-makers are co-opting interdisciplinarity as the solution to the demand for graduates who can 'solve societies' big problems. This instrumentalism glosses over the epistemic complexities of interdisciplinarity both from the point of view of academics responsible for their design and delivery, as well as for students who may ultimately be ill-served by these narrowly driven agendas.