Higher Education as a Gift and as a Commons
This paper takes as a starting point Lewis Hyde’s (2007, xvi) assertion that art is a gift and not a commodity: “Works of art exist simultaneously in two ‘economies’, a market economy and a gift economy. Only one of these is essential, however: a work of art can survive without a market, but where t...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group
2018-01-01
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| Series: | tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique |
| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/892 |
| _version_ | 1797713801078898688 |
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| author | Andreas Wittel |
| author_facet | Andreas Wittel |
| author_sort | Andreas Wittel |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | This paper takes as a starting point Lewis Hyde’s (2007, xvi) assertion that art is a gift and not a commodity: “Works of art exist simultaneously in two ‘economies’, a market economy and a gift economy. Only one of these is essential, however: a work of art can survive without a market, but where there is no gift there is no art.” I want to argue that the same claim should be made for those aspects of academic labour that refer to teaching and education. Education can survive without a market, but where there is no gift there is no education. However the gift that is part of all educational processes gets rather obscured in regimes where higher education is either a public good or a private good. In regimes of higher education as public good the gift gets obscured by the provision of a service by the state. In regimes of higher education as a private good (e.g. higher education in the UK) the gift gets even more obscured, obviously so. It is only in a third educational regime, where education is a common good (e.g. the recent rise of the free universities), that the gift character of education can properly shine. Whilst this should be celebrated, the notion of a higher education commons poses some severe challenges. The paper ends with an examination of possibilities of academic activists to rescue or even strengthen the gift-like character of education. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-12T07:42:12Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-1647c60f221f4a26baa06c8e16fd5b42 |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 1726-670X 1726-670X |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-12T07:42:12Z |
| publishDate | 2018-01-01 |
| publisher | Paderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique |
| spelling | doaj.art-1647c60f221f4a26baa06c8e16fd5b422023-09-02T21:11:37ZengPaderborn University: Media Systems and Media Organisation Research GrouptripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique1726-670X1726-670X2018-01-0116119421310.31269/triplec.v16i1.892892Higher Education as a Gift and as a CommonsAndreas Wittel0Nottingham Trent University, School of Arts and HumanitiesThis paper takes as a starting point Lewis Hyde’s (2007, xvi) assertion that art is a gift and not a commodity: “Works of art exist simultaneously in two ‘economies’, a market economy and a gift economy. Only one of these is essential, however: a work of art can survive without a market, but where there is no gift there is no art.” I want to argue that the same claim should be made for those aspects of academic labour that refer to teaching and education. Education can survive without a market, but where there is no gift there is no education. However the gift that is part of all educational processes gets rather obscured in regimes where higher education is either a public good or a private good. In regimes of higher education as public good the gift gets obscured by the provision of a service by the state. In regimes of higher education as a private good (e.g. higher education in the UK) the gift gets even more obscured, obviously so. It is only in a third educational regime, where education is a common good (e.g. the recent rise of the free universities), that the gift character of education can properly shine. Whilst this should be celebrated, the notion of a higher education commons poses some severe challenges. The paper ends with an examination of possibilities of academic activists to rescue or even strengthen the gift-like character of education.https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/892Academic LabourHigher EducationPolitical EconomyGiftCommonsLabourAlienation |
| spellingShingle | Andreas Wittel Higher Education as a Gift and as a Commons tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique Academic Labour Higher Education Political Economy Gift Commons Labour Alienation |
| title | Higher Education as a Gift and as a Commons |
| title_full | Higher Education as a Gift and as a Commons |
| title_fullStr | Higher Education as a Gift and as a Commons |
| title_full_unstemmed | Higher Education as a Gift and as a Commons |
| title_short | Higher Education as a Gift and as a Commons |
| title_sort | higher education as a gift and as a commons |
| topic | Academic Labour Higher Education Political Economy Gift Commons Labour Alienation |
| url | https://www.triple-c.at/index.php/tripleC/article/view/892 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT andreaswittel highereducationasagiftandasacommons |