I’ve been following the student protests at the University of Johannesburg and the University of the Witwatersrand with some interest. I have been doing so not because there’s anything new on show, but purely for the theatre of this annual fracas. It was a bit surprising that it came around earlier this year — normally the open season for student fees is early February.

The book <i>Academic Mothers</i> is about women who are middle class, who have some form of access to child care, who live in a democracy and who have legal rights and protections. More specifically it is about academics who are mothers. It is about the freedoms that we have not yet achieved, writes Venitha Pillay.

Higher education legislation, along with the statutes and regulations of institutions, give students a say in governance and advisory bodies such as the council, senate, faculty boards and institutional forums. But there is a shocking dislocation between the rationale and historical contexts for such participation and the earnestness with which students view this co-responsibility, writes Chris de Beer.