ABSTRACT
This chapter contextualizes the creation and impact of the Joint Enrichment Project (JEP), a South African nongovernmental organization and pioneer in youth development for over twenty years (1986–2008), the decades directly before and after South Africa's 1994 transition to universal democracy. The emergence, relevance, and role of JEP—and the youth development sector in South Africa—are discussed in the broader context of the historically contested grounds of black education. Competing views of education, in particular the processes and purposes of learning, had been at the intersection of oppression and resistance to apartheid for decades by the time JEP was formed. Using learning as a lens for understanding history, this chapter presents an overview of Bantu Education, followed by a history of resistance to Bantu Education policies and practices through the 1980s as discourse about language, learning, and identity became a terrain for the anti-apartheid struggle. The chapter highlights experiences of several individuals who later became JEP directors, connecting their experiences to historical events leading to youth development work in South Africa, specifically JEP's formation, vision, and impact.
