About accountants and translators: reshaping community engagement in South African psychology

Abstract

In this article, we review four key historical processes that shape community engagement and that open up spaces for its further development: The long history of tensions and cooperation between those within and outside the ‘ivory tower’, the continuing corporatisation of academic and professional life, the drive for free access to academic publications, and the drive towards decoloniality. We position community engagement as potentially disruptive to the epistemological and political status quo and present ‘four aphorisms’ for critical community engagement: Charity begins at home; it is (not) all about the money; it is all about knowledge; and you need a translator more than an accountant.