How do we understand academic freedom today? Does it still have relevance in a global
reconfiguring of higher education in the interests of the economy, rather than the public
good? And locally, is academic freedom no more than an inconvenient ideal, paid lip service
to South Africa’s Constitution as an individual right, but neglected in institutional practice?
This book argues that the core content of academic freedom—the principle of supporting and
extending open intellectual enquiry—is essential to realizing the full public value of higher
education. John Higgins emphasizes the central role that the humanities, and the particular forms of
argument and analysis they embody, bring to this task.
Each chapter embodies the particular force of a critical literacy in action, one which brings
into play the combined force of historical inquiry, theoretical analysis, and precise attention
to the textual dynamics of all statement so as to challenge and confront the received ideas of
the day. These provocative analyses are complemented by probing interviews with three key
figures from the Critical Humanities: Terry Eagleton, who discusses the deforming effects of
managerialism in British universities; Edward W. Said, who argues for increased recognition of
the democratizing force of the humanities; and Jakes Gerwel, who presents some of the most
recent challenges for the realization of a humanist politics in South Africa.
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This book argues that the core content of academic freedom—the principle of supporting and
extending open intellectual enquiry—is essential to realizing the full public value of higher
education. John Higgins emphasizes the central role that the humanities, and the particular forms of
argument and analysis they embody, bring to this task.
Les mer
"Must universities starve themselves to death in order to stand up for their principles? Noted cultural critic John Higgins has written a book about much more than what Americans call ‘academic freedom.' Taking up a perspective that is defiantly located 'offshore,' Higgins shows in brilliant and intriguing detail how the humanities in post-apartheid South Africa have suffered both from American-style corporate instrumentalism and from what he calls 'applied nationalism' and how much democracy stands to lose thereby. This is a world-scale contribution to the university’s never more than partially realized challenge of figuring out what cultural literacy should be and how it can be defended."
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Produktdetaljer
ISBN
9781611485981
Publisert
2014-09-02
Utgiver
Vendor
Bucknell University Press
Vekt
435 gr
Høyde
225 mm
Bredde
156 mm
Dybde
21 mm
Aldersnivå
P, 06
Språk
Product language
Engelsk
Format
Product format
Heftet
Antall sider
272
Forfatter
Foreword by