Universities and the Public Sphere

Knowledge Creation and State Building in the Era of Globalization

Brian Pusser, Ken Kempner, Simon Marginson, Imanol Ordorika

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2012
• Print ISBN:
  9780415878470
• eBook ISBN:
  9781136944123
• Topic: Education
• Subtopic: Education General

Universities have been propelled into the center of the global political economy of knowledge production by a number of factors: mass education, academic capitalism, the globalization of knowledge, the democratization of communication in the era of the Internet, and the emergence of the knowledge and innovation economy. The latest book in the International Studies in Higher Education series, Universities and the Public Sphere addresses the vital role of research universities as global public spheres, sites where public interaction, conversation and deliberation take place, where the nature of the State and private interests can be openly debated and contested. At a time of increased privatization, open markets, and government involvement in higher education, the book also addresses the challenges facing the university in its role as a global public sphere.

In this volume, international contributors challenge prevalent views of the global marketplace to create a deeper understanding of higher education's role in knowledge creation and nation building. In nearly every national context the pressures of globalization, neo-liberal economic restructuring, and new managerial imperatives challenge traditional norms of autonomy, academic freedom, access and affordability. The authors in Universities and the Public Sphere argue that universities are uniquely suited to have transformative democratic potential as global public spheres.

Table of contents

• Cover Page
• Half Title page
• International Studies in Higher Education
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Contents
• Illustrations
• Series Editors' Introduction International Studies in Higher Education
• Acknowledgements
• 1 Introduction and Overview of the Book
• 2 The “Public” Contribution of Universities in an Increasingly Global World
• 3 Power and Authority in the Creation of a Public Sphere Through Higher Education
• 4 The Global Sorting Machine An Examination of Neoracism Among International Students and Postdoctoral Researchers
• 5 Reconsidering the Realities of the International Student Market A Perspective from Japan and East Asia
• 6 University Rankings, Global Models, and Emerging Hegemony Critical Analysis from Japan
• 7 The Corporatization of national Universities in Finland
• 8 Negotiating Race and Gender Identity in the Knowledge Age The Case of South African Universities
• 9 The Broken Promise of Neoliberal Restructuring of South African Higher Education
• 10 Higher Education and the Public Sphere in Angola
• 11 Selling Out Academia? Higher Education, Economic Crises, and Freire's Generative Themes
• 12 Post-Neoliberalism The Professional Identity of Faculty Off the Tenure Track
• 13 The Chameleon's Agenda Entrepreneurial Adaptation of Private Higher Education in Mexico
• Contributors
• Index