Democracy, knowledge and critique: rethinking European universities beyond tradition and the market

In many European countries, universities are asked to become more market-oriented. Those who oppose this trend mostly invoke a traditional university ideal to make their case. This paper aims to look for a third way to conceptualise a university that is neither market-oriented nor traditionalist. I...

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Main Author: Wim Weymans
Format: Article
Language:English
Published: UCL Press 2010-06-01
Series:London Review of Education
Online Access:https://uclpress.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.1080/14748460.2010.487329
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author Wim Weymans
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description In many European countries, universities are asked to become more market-oriented. Those who oppose this trend mostly invoke a traditional university ideal to make their case. This paper aims to look for a third way to conceptualise a university that is neither market-oriented nor traditionalist. It finds such an alternative by looking at a democratic culture in which knowledge remains indeterminate and subject to debate. It concretely demonstrates that this alternative view allows us to identify problematic aspects of contemporary discourses on universities, as exemplified by the European Commission's discourse. It ends by arguing that the alternative vision is more in tune with the grassroots reality of research and education than the market-oriented view.
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spelling doaj.art-1cb5fa9423cf4622ba05547ea7ad79882023-02-23T11:08:11ZengUCL PressLondon Review of Education1474-84601474-84792010-06-01811712610.1080/14748460.2010.487329Democracy, knowledge and critique: rethinking European universities beyond tradition and the marketWim WeymansIn many European countries, universities are asked to become more market-oriented. Those who oppose this trend mostly invoke a traditional university ideal to make their case. This paper aims to look for a third way to conceptualise a university that is neither market-oriented nor traditionalist. It finds such an alternative by looking at a democratic culture in which knowledge remains indeterminate and subject to debate. It concretely demonstrates that this alternative view allows us to identify problematic aspects of contemporary discourses on universities, as exemplified by the European Commission's discourse. It ends by arguing that the alternative vision is more in tune with the grassroots reality of research and education than the market-oriented view.https://uclpress.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.1080/14748460.2010.487329
spellingShingle Wim Weymans
Democracy, knowledge and critique: rethinking European universities beyond tradition and the market
London Review of Education
title Democracy, knowledge and critique: rethinking European universities beyond tradition and the market
title_full Democracy, knowledge and critique: rethinking European universities beyond tradition and the market
title_fullStr Democracy, knowledge and critique: rethinking European universities beyond tradition and the market
title_full_unstemmed Democracy, knowledge and critique: rethinking European universities beyond tradition and the market
title_short Democracy, knowledge and critique: rethinking European universities beyond tradition and the market
title_sort democracy knowledge and critique rethinking european universities beyond tradition and the market
url https://uclpress.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.1080/14748460.2010.487329
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