Subordinating Democracy: The effects of fiscal retrenchment and university-business partnerships on knowledge creation and knowledge dissemination in universities

Abstract

In public policy discussions in modem, developed societies, "knowledge," "economic development," and "democracy" are often juxtaposed as though the relationships among and between them are unproblematic, non-conflictual and mutually supportive. Yet the nature of these relationships has been the subject of critical examination and heated debate for some time.' Does "economic development" necessarily go hand in hand with "democratic life?" More to the point, what versions of "economic development" and "democratic life" are being referenced? Or to put it another way, are all specific projects to advance "economic development" compatible with particular versions of "democratic life?" Equally important, what is the precise relationship between "knowledge," on the one hand, and either economic development or democratic life on the other? In the language of statistical correlation, for example, are the relationships between knowledge and economic development, and knowledge and democratic life, positively correlated does the growth of knowledge lead to increased measurements of both economic development and democratic life? Does more of one necessarily lead to more of the others? I do not intend to engage in the debates about, nor resolve, all of these questions in this paper. Rather, I intend only to explore a current, concrete instance which illustrates the potentially contradictory and conflictual character of the relationships between knowledge, economic development and democratic life. My purpose in reasserting at the beginning the problematic character of these relationships, is to challenge the taken-for-granted version of these relationships that is embedded in public policy discourses that are currently guiding the development of higher education systems in many economically advanced societies of the West. It is especially important to note that the concrete instance I will explore does not involve "developing" or "third world" societies, in which the articulation between knowledge, economic development and democratic life could be considered incomplete if at all underway. Instead, it involves events taking place in the so-