John Hawkins and Deane NeubauerIFE 2020

23 Feb-6 March 2009

The pervasive ideology of contempoary globalization is neo-liberalism

Developed out of Reagan-Thatcherism, but has spread widely with countries borrowing selectively from it to suit their local purposes.

Rule of the market--freedom for capital, goods and services

Market self-regulating allowing trickle down notion of wealth distribution

Reducing public expenditures--e.g. health and education

Decreased taxation (especially on upper incomes) to promote investment and consumption

Deregulation to allow market to self regulate Privatization of public enterprise (from water to

internet) Changing perceptions of public and community good

to individual and individual responsibility(Martinez and Garcia, 1997)

Grew out of liberal traditions of a market society (as opposed to state dominated) to provide opportunities for private capital.

A public good was one intended for all by virtue of citizenship in state.

The public good is the benefit derived from the whole of society by a given activity, e.g. the health of its population, security from external threat, etc.

Higher education a private good, tied to religious organizations before the mid-19th century.

Invention of the Land Grant University in the mid 19-the century to provide public higher education

Growing sense within progressive tradition of education as contributing to the public good—underlying notions of general education

Private education supported by individuals or groups exists in the private sector--under state charter (regulation ranges from limited to relatively comprehensive.)

Public Education First at state level--presumption of a “state pays” role. Different developmental course--some state public

universities become among the best, e.g. Virginia, Michigan, Wisconsin, Minnesota, California

Significant expansion from 1960’s on with creation of multi-level university systems: research universities, state colleges, community colleges.

Reduced funding in 1980s and again in late 1990’s Funding crisis: impose managerialism, raise student fees,

develop stronger external funding, entrepreneurial activity. All of which equals a move toward the private sector.

Private Education--Increasing secular trend over 19th century; creation of the “modern scientific university”; special role of liberal arts colleges--social role of “reproduction of elites.”

Emphasis on “general education” from Harvard in 1829 on.

Capitalist tradition of giving to private education

Post-war complexity of higher education development: Elite, Mass, and Convenience Institutions, and role of public/private investment

Who authorizes and assures quality? Unique role of US associational model. Increased federal role in process.

The cost of higher education. GI Bill, Student Loans, Tuition costs--the theory of educational investment as a public good (hand out)

The alignment issue and the vocationalization of higher education: what should HE be for?

The down sides of managerialism (loss of tenure-track faculty, dependence on business and government for finance, loss of academic freedom.)

Different traditions of absolutism Absence of sovereignty assignment to “the people” Ideas of “public” inseparable from government Strong tradition of invested governmental

bureaucracies Higher education’s purpose to meet needs of the

state, e.g. Meiji Restoration Complex history of colonialism, imperialism and

subsequent institutional creations of both public and private sectors

Sense that “the duties, rights and privileges” of the private sector have been delegated from governmental authority

Issues of quality strongly linked to administrative authority

Declining public budgetary support-cost shifting and user charges

Managerialism and academic capitalism as tools for running universities

The alignment issue: how do university outcomes align with economic needs?

Pressures to “vocationalize” the curriculum Differential internal financing--shorting non-

economic aligned disciplines Shift in discourses away from those of the

liberal tradition. In light of current global financial meltdown,

where has neo-liberalism led us?

Carries the “logic” of a consumer society and commodification: s/he who can pay, gets.

“Quality” referenced against what the market is willing to pay for. Vocational reductionism.

Content of higher education follows market, including private research funding--who does “pure research” in such a relationship?

Non-vocationally oriented subjects get ignored.

Issues of differentiated and expanded access: with massification, who gets what under what conditions?

The Globalization of Research--who does what? Where does the funding come from?

Social Mobility--the differential “value” of higher education to different classes of “consumers”

Decentralization and autonomy--who benefits from “liberalization of control?”

Higher Education ranking behavior as an introduction of a market mechanism—coupled with idea of “globally competitive universities.”

Can there be some irreducible meaning to “the public good” that might be associated with higher education? What would it be?

Can we derive essential elements of public and private sectors that cover the range of differences between Asian and non-Asian experiences?

Is neo-liberalism a particular form of “privatization” as it is applied to higher education? Are there significant differences between the emergence of neo-liberal regimes in the west and the eclectic borrowings of neo-liberal elements in Asia?

Does public higher education always contribute to “the public good”? Under what circumstances might it be viewed as non-contributory?

Are there irreducible roles for the state in HE? Will the global financial crisis result in a new

interventionist role for the state? Given the many different ways of discussing public /

private may we not need a new language to talk about what is going on in HE?

What is the role and function of higher education and its transformative functions, for both the individual and society? How does one get the leadership necessary in this new context?

Need to differentiate the missions of individual institutions. When the market fails, how will the state step in to regulate in order to protect higher education institutions which are now dependent upon the market for funding.