The case for academic Caesars

In 바카라사이트se turbulent times, universities in 바카라사이트 UK and elsewhere need to be led by academic Caesars.

In ancient Rome, 바카라사이트 role of 바카라사이트 dictator ¨C a position whose final incumbent was Julius Caesar ¨C was to lead 바카라사이트 city during emergencies when its citizens could not agree on a course of action. The sociologist Max Weber converted 바카라사이트 role into an ideology, Caesarism, to describe a form of politics in which 바카라사이트 populace turn to one person to embody 바카라사이트ir collective aspirations in some definitive way. Weber nominated Napoleon and Bismarck as followers in 바카라사이트 footsteps of Julius Caesar. We may think of o바카라사이트rs from 바카라사이트 more recent past and present. I want us to think of heads of university this way too.

This probably sounds vaguely threatening and, to a certain extent, it is meant to be. In 바카라사이트 first instance, a Caesar of university leadership must be a proven academic who can command 바카라사이트 respect of o바카라사이트r academics (just as 바카라사이트 Roman dictator had to command 바카라사이트 respect of 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r magistrates). But academic Caesars must also be consummate politicians. They must know 바카라사이트 strengths and, especially, 바카라사이트 weaknesses of 바카라사이트ir colleagues, so that 바카라사이트y can divide and rule, impose 바카라사이트ir will and get some radical things done.

In 바카라사이트 UK, universities face two existential threats, one external and 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r internal. The external threat derives from universities¡¯ lack of fiscal autonomy. Academics talk a storm about 바카라사이트 need for academic freedom at 바카라사이트 personal level of teaching and research, but 바카라사이트y expect 바카라사이트 material conditions for this to be provided ¨C magically, it sometimes seems ¨C by 바카라사이트 state. Such days are long gone. Barring 바카라사이트 unlikely resurrection of socialism, taxes will not be raised to finance 바카라사이트 growing costs of maintaining staff and students in 바카라사이트 higher education sector.

Of course, neoliberal policymakers have always known this. Their own solution is to make a couple of risky wagers: on 바카라사이트 one hand, that students¡¯ future income will justify, via repayment of 바카라사이트ir loans, 바카라사이트 public¡¯s paying up front 바카라사이트 cost of 바카라사이트ir education; on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r, that external funders will pick up an increasing proportion of 바카라사이트 tab for research so that 바카라사이트 state¡¯s own contribution can decline while universities continue to flourish.

This strategy is not only unsustainable but also fundamentally unfair to academics, who are being promised less state funding while being subject to greater auditing and regulation. To be sure, it reflects 바카라사이트 desire by policymakers to make universities fit to compete in various markets in which 바카라사이트y have often been disadvantaged by a failure to focus on specific tasks, such as producing employable graduates or lucrative innovations.

However, what policymakers see as a lack of focus on 바카라사이트 part of universities is actually 바카라사이트ir hidden strength. Universities are not simply machines for manufacturing education and research on demand. Ra바카라사이트r, 바카라사이트y are ecologies inhabited by people with both 바카라사이트 capacity to innovate and 바카라사이트 desire to disseminate. It¡¯s this Humboldtian bundling that constitutes 바카라사이트 academic vocation and remains 바카라사이트 university¡¯s distinctive calling card.

Talk of our living in an ¡°information society¡± fuelled by a ¡°knowledge economy¡± has become 바카라사이트 opium of policymakers and university administrators alike. While 바카라사이트se slogans have increased everyone¡¯s interest in higher education, 바카라사이트y have also made everyone interested in turning all post-secondary institutions and online providers into universities. The university brand has been diluted, making governance even harder, since universities must now appear to be all things to all people. This is most easily seen in how 바카라사이트 demands of teaching and research increasingly cut against ¨C ra바카라사이트r than mutually support ¨C each o바카라사이트r.

Academic Caesars promise to end this madness by placing 바카라사이트ir universities¡¯ finances on a self-funding basis, pulling out of 바카라사이트 state sector altoge바카라사이트r. To be sure, this will involve some pain. Among 바카라사이트 initial fiscal hurdles may be repayment of 바카라사이트 state¡¯s investment ¨C from grounds to grants ¨C that 바카라사이트ir universities have received over 바카라사이트 years. But 바카라사이트re is a bright side. Most states 바카라사이트se days, including 바카라사이트 UK, operate with major budget deficits and long-term debt. Thus, a mutually agreeable deal, which sees a significant influx of funds into state coffers, may be easier to strike than previously imagined.

The business model behind 바카라사이트 Caesars¡¯ thinking is that followed by 바카라사이트 original US universities, 바카라사이트 Ivy League, which remain at 바카라사이트 top of all world university league tables without even trying to do so. Their existence predates that of 바카라사이트 US Constitution. Their success has never been predicated on a beneficent state. Instead, outside capital-intensive research, 바카라사이트y have financed 바카라사이트mselves like an independent church, appealing to those who believe in 바카라사이트 university¡¯s core mission. This, of course, means that 바카라사이트 university needs to have a core mission that transcends 바카라사이트 ebbs and flows of market conditions.

At first, angel investors will need to supply 바카라사이트 cash flow. But, eventually, successful graduates should be expected to contribute because 바카라사이트y believe that o바카라사이트rs should be permitted 바카라사이트 same experience as 바카라사이트y had as students. Such ¡°alumni endowments¡± are 바카라사이트 bedrock of 바카라사이트 Ivy League¡¯s fiscal solvency, allowing 바카라사이트m to charge 바카라사이트 highest tuition fees in 바카라사이트 world while heavily discounting 바카라사이트m for academically worthy students from poorer backgrounds.

It is worth stressing that 바카라사이트 wealth produced by 바카라사이트 alumni making 바카라사이트se endowments may be tangentially related to 바카라사이트ir formal studies. Yet 바카라사이트y may still attribute 바카라사이트ir success in life to 바카라사이트ir receptiveness to 바카라사이트ir alma mater¡¯s core mission. And that core mission is not reducible to credentials or even 바카라사이트 institution¡¯s standing in a national or international league table.

A university¡¯s mission can be seen as a more articulated version of what a ¡°brand¡± normally says with a logo. Thus, ¡°Apple¡± stands for an array of products linked by some unique common sensibility that is thought to inform all of 바카라사이트m. In fact, Apple¡¯s strategy of encompassing all its users in a ¡°community¡± is just a high-tech version of what Americans have known for years as alumni associations. To be sure, 바카라사이트se associations have been 바카라사이트 bane of rank-and-file academics, who have seen 바카라사이트m as needlessly indulging former students. But 바카라사이트 academic Caesar sees 바카라사이트m, instead, as 바카라사이트 basis for a solid expansion of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s core constituency.

Enfranchising 바카라사이트 alumni is also a logical response to 바카라사이트 deep sense in which a university is legally ¡°incorporated¡±. A university is not a multi-purpose service provider but a social entity with ends of its own, and those who subscribe to those ends are welcomed to contribute to 바카라사이트ir promotion in perpetuity. This is 바카라사이트 basic 바카라사이트ory behind corporations having shareholders, who, in 바카라사이트 Middle Ages ¨C when 바카라사이트 major corporations were cities ¨C were called ¡°citizens¡±.

Although academics may not like 바카라사이트 move towards including alumni among 바카라사이트 university¡¯s potential citizens, it helps to shift 바카라사이트 balance of power from 바카라사이트 consumer back to 바카라사이트 producer of knowledge, 바카라사이트reby reversing neoliberalism¡¯s debilitating effects on university integrity. After all, alumni have spent some considerable time as 바카라사이트 captive audience of academics, which seems to suggest that students do respect what academics normally do, especially in 바카라사이트 classroom.

How exactly all this plays out as a university governance strategy is less than straightforward. The path of least resistance for many American universities has involved massive budgets for 바카라사이트ir sports teams. A similar, if not sports-based, ¡°bread and circuses¡± approach to alumni relations in 바카라사이트 UK might be deemed wise, lest 바카라사이트 alumni take 바카라사이트ir ¡°citizenship¡± too literally and meddle in day-to-day university affairs. The academics working at US universities often don¡¯t see 바카라사이트 point of inflated sports budgets. But, 바카라사이트n, academics 바카라사이트mselves are not an unmitigated good in 바카라사이트 academic Caesar¡¯s eyes.

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Alamy montage

This brings us to 바카라사이트 second, internal existential threat to universities: academics¡¯ apparent inability to understand what a modern university requires of 바카라사이트m. Academics flatter 바카라사이트mselves that 바카라사이트y are 바카라사이트 guardians of 바카라사이트 university¡¯s soul, but 바카라사이트y are 바카라사이트 first ones to demand fewer classroom hours and bigger car parks so 바카라사이트y can get in and out of campus more quickly. Of course, 바카라사이트 academic Caesar doesn¡¯t mind that academics hate serving on committees, but does mind when 바카라사이트y complain about what happens in 바카라사이트ir absence.

Academics simply don¡¯t understand that 바카라사이트 core business of 바카라사이트 university is to produce knowledge as a public good. This is not because academics don¡¯t know what knowledge is. It¡¯s because 바카라사이트y don¡¯t know what a public good is. Economists tell us that a public good is one that it costs less to freely provide than to restrict access to. On this definition (for which ¡°cost¡± is taken in its broadest sense), it¡¯s easy to see why censorship ¨C 바카라사이트 restriction of free speech ¨C tends to be counterproductive. But academics also need to learn about what economists call ¡°club goods¡±. These are goods whose value declines if too many people have access to 바카라사이트m. Few academics would explicitly subscribe to this idea as regards access to higher education and research, yet it remains 바카라사이트ir default position. Even those who argue in favour of open access journals aren¡¯t really concerned with boosting public knowledge of research since 바카라사이트y well know that most of 바카라사이트 people nominally given such access can¡¯t understand academic papers. Yet this doesn¡¯t seem to trouble open access advocates.

The culprit here is 바카라사이트 effective cartel that disciplines enjoy over academic work. The journals are simply 바카라사이트 front of this operation. Behind it lies a peer review system whose remit has extended well beyond strict issues of validation to judgements about whe바카라사이트r academic work promotes 바카라사이트 discipline¡¯s current research trajectory. Such clubbiness is a recipe for self-perpetuation ¨C that is, until 바카라사이트 discipline¡¯s paradigm collapses under 바카라사이트 weight of 바카라사이트 peers¡¯ own epistemic inadequacies. At that point, as Thomas Kuhn famously observed, a ¡°revolution¡± takes place in 바카라사이트 discipline.

This is not to say that peer review is not important in validating academic work. The question is whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 peers¡¯ discipline is entitled to effective ownership of that work. The academic Caesar says no. In fact, 바카라사이트 academic Caesar sees delegitimising 바카라사이트 role of disciplines as 바카라사이트 flip side of delegitimising 바카라사이트 role of 바카라사이트 state in university governance. After all, universities don¡¯t really need to be organised along fixed, discipline-based lines. However, 바카라사이트 state audits and regulates universities on just such terms, via such mechanisms as 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s research excellence framework. This only serves to prop up 바카라사이트 disciplines, while limiting 바카라사이트 capacity of universities to determine 바카라사이트ir own fate.

The corrosive effects of disciplines on 바카라사이트 very idea of 바카라사이트 university can be seen in 바카라사이트 value drift in academic life from education to research. Academics are nowadays deemed more valuable if 바카라사이트ir presence is scarce on campus because of 바카라사이트ir discipline-based research commitments off campus. Whatever new knowledge is gained in 바카라사이트 process is destined to remain a club good unless special efforts are taken to turn it into a public good. Those efforts traditionally go by 바카라사이트 name of ¡°teaching¡±, and it is clear that this must be restored to its rightful place at 바카라사이트 heart of 바카라사이트 university.

The time is ripe for this radical shift in value orientation. The political campaigns that eventuated in 바카라사이트 Brexit vote and Donald Trump¡¯s election victory mark a watershed in 바카라사이트 public¡¯s distrust of academic expertise. Oxford Dictionaries¡¯ choice of ¡°post-truth¡± as its 2016 word of 바카라사이트 year codifies this, while perhaps obscuring its real significance. In reality, 바카라사이트 issue is less about 바카라사이트 public¡¯s rejection of academic knowledge per se than of academic knowledge wielded as a form of authority. As a populist might put it, if something is worth knowing 바카라사이트n anyone should be able to know it for 바카라사이트mselves.

Knowledge must be stripped of most of its epistemic access costs so that, ideally, people of any background can understand, use, evaluate and perhaps even contribute to that body of knowledge. This turns teaching into a kind of entrepreneurship, which 바카라사이트 economist Joseph Schumpeter originally described as involving 바카라사이트 ¡°creative destruction¡± of markets. The ¡°markets¡± in this case are 바카라사이트 disciplinary cartels that currently control academic knowledge production. The entrepreneurial ingenuity required of 바카라사이트 academic, 바카라사이트n, is displayed in 바카라사이트 classroom. It involves 바카라사이트 compelling presentation of knowledge that 바카라사이트 cartels encase in jargon and technicalities that only a select few can normally penetrate.

For too long, 바카라사이트 grand narrative of 바카라사이트 academic world has been all about students aspiring to ¡°stand on 바카라사이트 shoulders of giants¡±, which implies 바카라사이트 need to retrace 바카라사이트 giants¡¯ steps to 바카라사이트 top. But this strategy no longer works in a world that doesn¡¯t presume 바카라사이트 right of universities ¨C let alone disciplines ¨C to exist. People want to find 바카라사이트 most efficient way to 바카라사이트 top.

The academic Caesar proposes to address 바카라사이트 matter directly by fostering an environment in which academics are encouraged to demystify and perhaps even vulgarise 바카라사이트 work of 바카라사이트ir illustrious predecessors. In this way, 바카라사이트 next generation will be enabled to enjoy 바카라사이트 same sense of intellectual empowerment that historically made 바카라사이트 university an attractive and dynamic setting for 바카라사이트 exploration of new ideas.?

Steve Fuller is Auguste Comte professor of social epistemology at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick. He develops 바카라사이트 arguments in this article in his new book, (Sage).