Imagining the university

1. Sub-brand to go here Imagining the university Ronald Barnett Invited seminar, Ljubljana, February, 2012 r.barnett@ioe.ac.uk Centre for Higher Education Studies

2. This talk • ‘Imagining the University’ - an examination of the idea itself • What is it to imagine the university? • What are the forms of the imagination – in imagining the university? • What is the role of/ the possibilities for the imagination? - and its limitations • What is its structure • And what is its prospects?

3. A missing imagination? • Starting reflection: that the current debate as to the idea of the university is hopelessly impoverished • Dominated by considerations of the market, competition, customerisation, ‘knowledge-for-sale’, audit, regulation .. • 3 tacit (or not so tacit) ideas: • The Entrepreneurial University • The Corporate University • The Bureaucratic university • A dominant discourse • NB – tensions here; perhaps even spaces.

4. Hopelessly impoverished? • Impoverished since • Narrow, dominant • Lacking considerations of global and even personal wellbeing; or even possibility • Lacking a care for the potential of the university – and the challenges upon the university – in the C12 • But also ‘hopelessly’ – lacking hope; visions of the future • Hope that things could come out better for the university • Or even differently, in fundamental ways

5. Undue pessimism • NB: pessimism not without its merits – (Joshua Dienstag) • But unremitting bleakness even within much contemporary scholarship • ‘Commodification’ • ‘Neo-liberalism’ • ‘Quality regimes’ • ‘Managerialism’ • ‘Performativity’ • ‘The regulative/ evaluative state’ • Not undue optimism • Believe matters could go better – grounded optimism • Positive possibilism • But what is possible? Not likely but possible

6. Feasible utopias • Identifying possibilities • Not neutral • But value-laden • Utopian – probably will not be reached • But not out of reach • Already instances embryonically visible • Empirical warrant (G&D) • A muted pessimism - things could go better

7. A critical project of the imagination • Large role for the imagination • Concept of ‘the imaginary’ • Taylor – building on traditions, collective sediments • Kearney – imagination based on narratives; a psycho-phenomenology of the imagination • Sartre – more one of building the future; of willing the future • A strike for freedom • A critical project – identified shortcomings in the present • Articulation of imaginative concepts - critical standards

8. Responsible anarchism • The imagination and responsibility: a complex set of relationships • The imagination should, firstly, be anarchic; it should fly, unconstrained, to envision new possibilities and to find a new language (new ‘conceptual grammars’ – Morley) • Guided by responsibility, responsiveness to counter-values, new ideas are created, imagined; searching for a poetry of the university • But then this imagination needs to be restrained by ‘responsibility’ in/to the real world: head in the clouds and feet on the ground • The anarchic imagination has to be responsible; even poets have to live in the real world • (This amounts to an exercise in ‘imaginative critical realism’ – being real and being critical but also being imaginative.)

9. (Some) Ideas of the university • The metaphysical university • The research university • The entrepreneurial university • The neoliberal university • The postmodern university • The bureaucratic university • The networked university • The liquid university • The therapeutic university • The soulless university • The ecological university • NB: the formal structure of each phrase is the same – but they vary considerably in their imaginative weight.

10. Imagining the university • The romantic imagination • The empirical imagination • The ideological imagination • The hopeful imagination • The dystopian imagination • The utopian imagination • ie reaching towards a structure of the imagination; • And a layered structure at that.

11. The romantic imagination • The metaphysical university • The liberal university • The civic university • The service university • The research university

12. The empirical imagination • The bureaucratic university • The corporate university • The marketised university • The commodified university • The capitalist university • The performative university

13. The ideological imagination • The entrepreneurial university • (The enterprise university) • The accessible university (the ‘open’ university) • The European university • The global university • The postmodern university

14. The hopeful imagination • The borderless university • The networked university • The liquid university [Bauman] • The supercomplex university • The therapeutic university • The edgeless university (Bradwell)

15. The dystopian imagination • The soulless university • The subservient university • The selfish university • The self-important university NB Problem – the dystopian university has already arrived (the ideological and the actual)

16. Ideas of the university – a framework (3 axes) • Endorsing – Critical • Surface – Deep • Pessimism – Optimism eg ‘Entrepreneurial University’ – endorsing/ deep/ optimistic ‘Edgeless University’ – critical/ surface/ optimistic ‘Capitalistic University’ – critical/ deep/ pessimistic

17. Critical questions – and a challenge • Can we find/ identify/ imagine ideas and forms of the university that do not succumb unduly to ideology? • After all, ‘We cannot jump out of our psychological and sociological skins’ (Gellner) • Can we avoid undue pessimism on the one hand, and seduction by ‘the self-images of the age’ (MacIntyre) on the other hand? • - and so we return to our initial hope/ idea of ‘feasible utopias’ Challenge – is that of imaginative ideas that are critical/ deep/ & optimistic - This is where feasible utopias would be found • Is there space for such ideas to be realised in the twenty-first century? • Or has the space for the university so shrunk that such ideas (even if they could be forthcoming) could not be realised?

18. The utopian imagination • The anarchic university/ the iconoclastic university • The authentic university • The dialogical university • The ecological university • The perverse university • The public university (Masschelein/ Simons) • The socialist university (Peters) • The foolish university (Kavanagh) • The wise university (Maxwell) • The virtuous university (Nixon) • The theatrical university (Parker)

19. Criteria of adequacy - Range (theory/ ideas/ practice/ policy) • Depth (structures/ experience/ ideas) • Feasibility (power/ organization) • Ethics (flourishing – human/ organizational/ societal/ global) • Continuing possibilities/ emergent properties • Severe tests, but they will extend imaginative ideas • - and help to provide a legitimation of the imagination • - supplying potency and efficaciousness to the imagination

20. The Ecological University(or: Prospects of/ for the imagination) [A case study] • Sees itself within and as part of a global ecology • Does what it can to enable the world to flourish (not just to ‘sustain’ it) • Has a care/ concern (H) for the world • Is active/ is engaged with the world; reaches into the world • Puts its knowledges to work in the interests of the world This imaginary university passes muster against all of the tests of adequacy (previous slide) - of range, depth, feasibility, ethics and possible emergence.

21. Conclusion • We need to imagine the university anew • (The imagination is prior to the imaginary) • We need lots of imaginative ideas – and daring, bold thinking; identifying the best in all possible worlds: ie, utopian thinking • But there is a responsibility on the imagination – to identify feasible ideas of the university – ie, feasible utopias • Feasible utopias are neither unduly optimistic nor unduly pessimistic • - but hold out critical standards against which to test emerging ‘universities’ and to steer us towards positive possibilities – positive possibilism. • The university just could help us towards a better world – • The imagination isn’t a sufficient condition – but it is a necessary condition. Institute of Education University of London 20 Bedford Way London WC1H 0AL Tel +44 (0)20 7612 6000 Fax +44 (0)20 7612 6126 Email info@ioe.ac.uk Web www.ioe.ac.uk