Book Review of "Academic Capitalism in the Age of Globalization"

Abstract

Cantwell, Brendan & Kauppinen, Ilkka (Eds.) (2014). Academic Capitalism in the Age of Globalization. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Pages: 296. Price: 34.95 USD (paper).Academic Capitalism in the Age of Globalization acts as a scholarly interrogation of the theory and practice of academic capitalism within the context of globalization. Brendan Cantwell and Ilkka Kauppinen assemble an international team of leading scholars that reexamine the theory of academic capitalism and analyze the intersection of academic capitalism and globalization. Drawing on scholarship from Sheila Slaughter, Larry Leslie, and Gary Rhoades, the text situates various aspects of higher education - student recruitment, classroom instruction, faculty research, administrative governance, and the control of intellectual property - within a political economy consequent to the market and state. The authors explore how institutions and the political economy are interrelated, referencing key categories such as time, academic labour, and knowledge as a commodity within different (inter-) national settings.Cantwell and Kauppinen (Chapter 1) extend, refine, and challenge research and practice associated with academic capitalism and outline two recent and significant contributions to scholarship in academic capitalism theory. First, the authors present a conceptual framework to study the shift in institutional policy from public to private welfare and competitive regimes. Second, they offer methodological tools for tracking (re-) formation of interconnectedness in postsecondary institutions, considering intellectuals, institutions, and networks. The authors explore academic capitalism within the context of knowledge-driven economies as both a concept and analytic tool. Discourse throughout the text draws on classical Marxian and Weberian thought and Foucauldian notions of government and regime and globalization theory.Slaughter (Chapter 2) assesses the explanatory power of academic capitalism within the context of globalization - a thought project on how elite United States institutions are networked with global actors. Slaughter examines how knowledge actors shape, and are shaped by, various global flows and contexts. She argues that networks are new forms of governance; and policy entrepreneurship is a way of examining the role of agency in policy creation and dissemination - and ultimately network legitimization.Jussi Valimaa (Chapter 3) situates academic capitalism within a broad historical context - from medieval European roots to contemporary globally networked postsecondary institutions. Valimaa reinforces the shift in institutional and individual roles in global knowledge production and dissemination. This is especially prevalent during university revolutions (p. 33) when knowledge producers have been challenged by novel ideas, technologies and polices. He emphasizes administrative roles in the context of academic work, organizational structure, and relationships to society, and the influence of technology in knowledge production and work within academia. The establishment of a knowledge-networked society (Valimaa, 2012) promotes open access to knowledge.Judith Walker (Chapter 4) focuses on academic capitalism and time. This perspective opens new means of theorizing academic capitalism as a temporal, structural and behavioral process. Walker cites massive open online courses (MOOCs), which appear uncapitalistic - almost entirely free and for no credit, but embody the tenet of post-Fordist, neoliberal academic capitalism - entrepreneurial in sprit and based on a partnership model. Modern global capitalism has moved from industrial production based economies to service and knowledge based economies. This is due to developments in technological innovations and changes in capitalism and the rise of global outcomes.Chapter 5 examines technology transfer and intellectual property. Jacob H. Rooksby and Brian Pusser discuss how academic capitalism and technology transfer expose institutions to increased financial risk and revenue generation. …