Abstract
‘Progress is shaped by the ability to question, to criticize and to enquire. Ensuring progress is one of the responsibilities of Academia’. Could there be any future for non-conformist, heterodox, non-marketable knowledge, next to transforming truth value into the market truth value of knowledge, as was the tendency over the last decades? And what will be its impact upon criteria of excellence? The enjoyment of academic freedom requires the autonomy of the university. European countries have witnessed exciting developments in achieving a common space of convergence in higher education and research. But to encourage creativity there is definitely a need for more differentiation among universities, rather than uniformity. Autonomy is that degree of self-governance necessary for effective decision-making by universities in relation to their academic profile, work and standards. However, self-governance must be consistent with systems of public accountability. Universities must show that they are responding to the needs of society and they must perform according to standards of excellence and creativity in teaching and research. However, the balance, if there is any, has to be questioned. Should a shift of the role of the State be envisaged and should different types of governance be developed in order to counter the statement that academic freedom of higher education staff has decreased? Does a new relationship between government and university require the establishment of a modest set of ‘principles of good governance’ to reduce the overdetailed university regulations? And how to ensure that the search for creativity will also strengthen academic integrity? These questions are decisive for the future mission of the University.
Highlights
It’s obvious that the reform of the University throughout the centuries occurred only with huge difficulty and mostly not under the impulse of academia
Does the University fulfil that mission?. European universities have their roots in civic society – which has been gradually controlled by the State
They became, in a certain sense, ‘state organs’, not immune to the ‘market’ of which they became, in some respects, a part of. This development is in line with the growing diversification of the mission of universities, which reinforces their hybrid character
Summary
Could there be any future for non-conformist, critical, non-marketable knowledge, and for professors, researchers and students pursuing it? If not, can we still call a university an institution that only produces competent conformists and never competent rebels, and that only regards knowledge as a commodity and never as a public good?. In response to the question, on 5 April 2011 an appeal to academics, coordinated by the University of Fribourg, was launched on ‘Renewing research and teaching in finance, economics and management to better serve the common good’.3. The authors of this appeal were deeply concerned that more than three years since the start of the financial crisis – which highlighted the pitfalls, limitations, dangers. S116 Jan De Groof and responsibilities of mainstream thought in economics, finance and management – the quasi-monopolistic position of such thought within the academic world remains largely unchallenged This situation reflects the power that the proponents of mainstream thought continue to have on university teaching and research. These thoughts bring me to one of the most intriguing fundamentals of the university: academic freedom – a guardian of Democracy by excellence
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