The role of (dis)trust in a (trans)national higher education development project

In this article I describe how socio-politicalchange in South Africa (in the 1990s) andprocesses of globalisation andinternationalisation provided opportunities forprofessional engagement among South African andAustralian academics. I specifically reflect onthe role that (dis)trust played in knowledgeproduction processes involving South Africanand Australian academics in a project entitled,Educating for Socio-Ecological Change:Capacity-Building in EnvironmentalEducation. The article expands on the work ofTurnbull (1997) who argues that the basis ofknowledge might not be empirical verification(as the orthodox view would have it), buttrust. The article provides some insights as tohow the social organisation of trust might bechanging in post-apartheid South Africa.