Universities, the Market and the State: Knowledge in the modern and postmodern universities

Stephen Ward

Abstract

The determinants of the knowledge generated and taught by universities should be a matter for debate and contest, and no more so than in the present context of the marketisation of higher education and variable student fees. These are key times in the history of universities for the knowledge they produce and society they serve. Mass higher education has seen changes in the role of universities in their relationship between government and society. This paper explores the traditional relationship between the state and university knowledge by examining the university’s medieval origins, in modernism and the effects of the postmodern market context. It argues that the financial discourse around university fees and government commitment to neo-liberal economic theory is marginalising the debate which should be held about the nature of university knowledge and the effects of the free market upon higher education.

Ward, S. (2012) Universities, the Market and the State: Knowledge in the modern and postmodern universities. Educationalfutures, [online] Vol. 4(2). Available at: https://educationstudies.org.uk/?p=571 [Accessed 19 Apr, 2024].

Keywords

higher education policy, tuition fees, universities, university knowledge

Volume

Volume 4(2) 2012

Full Text

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