Universities and the Public Sphere: Knowledge Creation and State Building in the Era of Globalization ed. by Brian Pusser, Ken Kempner, Simon Marginson, and Imanol Ordorika (review)
Buy Issue for $25 at JHUP- Universities and the Public Sphere: Knowledge Creation and State Building in the Era of Globalization ed. by Brian Pusser, Ken Kempner, Simon Marginson, and Imanol Ordorika
Those who believe that higher education institutions should be more than competition- and market-driven enterprises may welcome Universities and the Public Sphere: Knowledge Creation and State Building in the Era of Globalization as a valuable contribution to the articulation of universities as independent spaces for critique and analysis. The editors have assembled contributions that are intellectually ambitious yet accessible to a broad readership. The chapters present conceptual discussions that transcend national, regional, and disciplinary boundaries while remaining connected to diverse local settings.
Universities and the Public Sphere discusses stories of unintended consequences, inconspicuous connections, and rarely imagined possibilities in the face of the prevailing neoliberal status quo in higher education. The title and subtitle reveal the commitment by contributors and editors to "the university's role in creating public goods, social justice, and a more egalitarian society" (p. 1).
Chapters 2 and 3 set the conceptual foundation for the book. In Chapter 2, Simon Marginson argues that universities, in their pursuit of status competition, are straying from their social contribution and, consequently, becoming irrelevant. Marginson reminds us of the somber fate of those social institutions that have become expendable, dismantled, and replaced. Against such a backdrop, the reader is likely to follow closely Marginson's discussion of the public good and the public sphere. The chapter is a call for steering away from status competition and for promoting more egalitarian collaboration.
In Chapter 3, Brian Pusser explores the relationships among the main forces of higher education as a public sphere, namely "the State, neoliberal market policies, the institution themselves, and the efforts of social actors" (p. 31). According to Pusser, it is the balance of these four forces that will determine the possibility of a public [End Page 127] sphere in higher education; alliances are crucial and the few elite institutions that are still in a position to do so must remain spaces for dialogue, intellectual inquiry, and courageous critique.
The concepts discussed in Chapters 2 and 3 come to life as Mayumi Ishikawa, in Chapter 6, presents a critical narrative of Osaka University's involvement with the Times Higher Education Supplement University Rankings. Ishikawa argues that such a case study illustrates the emergence of institutional elitism at a global scale that becomes superimposed on national structures. The price to pay for global visibility through rankings is, again, sacrificing local needs and priorities.
Jenny Lee and Brendan Cantwell, on the one hand, and Akiyoshi Yonezawa and Hugo Horta, on the other, explore—in Chapters 4 and 5 respectively—different aspects of global mobility. Lee and Cantwell examine the role of "neoracism—a system of national hierarchy that is attached to individuals" (p. 48) in the treatment and experiences that international students and postdoctoral researchers face within global research universities in the West. To maintain their status, global research universities attract the legendary best and brightest students and scholars from around the world. Lee and Cantwell shed light on what the best and brightest face upon their arrival.
Even though Yonezawa and Horta rely heavily on market language—usually without subjecting it to critical scrutiny—their analysis presents a valuable account of the gaps between implementation and discourse in internationalization policies in Japan. Chapters 4 and 5 emphasize the need for interrogating the established common sense of student and scholar mobility in higher education.
In Chapter 7, Jussi Välimaa analyzes how universities in Finland, long regarded as national institutions and beacons of national independence have mutated into "public corporations" (p. 102). Välimaa situates this transition within an insightful historical analysis that connects the transformation of Finnish universities to contextual economic challenges. Välimaa argues that the shock of globalization has made the corporatization of universities not only conceivable but seemingly necessary. One of the greatest effects of...
