The university in the knowledge economy

Pierre Bourdieu (in a televised conversation with the writer Gunter Grass) described the complexity of the times we live in and the challenges involved in unravelling their political meaning:

Later in their conversation, Bourdieu dismissed his critics as ‘dinosaurs’ (Bourdieu and Grass, 2002: 65). Where does public education and the role of the university in civil society fit in this changed neoliberal cultural landscape, called the ‘knowledge economy’? The Irish president, Michael D. Higgins, a distinguished public intellectual and social scientist, has pondered the future role of the university: ‘Are the great universities of the world, rather like the stones of monastic sites visited today, to become like them in time, merely tourist attractions of the future’ (The Irish Times, 8 June 2021). We are living through challenging times for higher education in the 21st century that will test the institutional sustainability of the university.

Public education encompasses education funded by the state, democratically accountable to the public and free and accessible to everybody. It is normally secular in ethos. As a cornerstone of an ethical civil society, public education is an embattled concept in a neoliberal society, where culture wars – between secular and traditional religious values – increasingly threaten the independence of schools to teach about diversity (for example Black history) and human rights. Books in school libraries are being banned – reminiscent of past cultural intolerances in Europe, such as book burnings in Nazi Germany. The American Library Association has stated that, in 2022, a record 1,269 demands were made to restrict or ban books and other materials in schools and libraries, up from 156 in 2020 (Los Angeles Times, 23 May 2023). Florida has passed the Stop Woke Act, seeking to curtail instruction in historic human-rights violations against minorities, such as slavery.