Between the Managerial and the Democratic University: Governance Structure and Academic Freedom as Sites of Political Struggle
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.26522/ssj.v9i2.1149Keywords:
university governance, academic freedom, managerialism, democratic universityAbstract
In this article we argue that the university cannot fully contribute to democratic life without being both an institution whose governance is collegial and based on principles of equality, equity, inclusion, transparency, and accountability, and a vector of critical thinking closely linked to academic freedom. Based on this understanding of the ‘democratic university,’ we seek to highlight some of the key tensions between the ‘managerial university’ and the democratic university, as reflected in institutional structures, regulations, legal frameworks, and principles. In order to achieve this objective, we identify two sites of political struggles from which it is possible to examine the interaction between a managerial and a democratic conception and practice of the university. The first of these sites is the bicameral governing structure, membership, rules, and regulations of the University of Ottawa. The second site is academic freedom in Canada, which we will discuss by comparing the Canadian Association of University Teachers’ (CAUT) Statement on Academic Freedom (CAUT, 2011) with the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada’s (AUCC) Statement on Academic Freedom (AUCC, 2011). By stressing the necessary link and positive relationship between democratic governance and academic freedom, the article offers a normative evaluation of the impact the managerial reengineering of Canadian universities has had on the possibility and practice of a more democratic university.References
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Pollitt, C., & Bouckaert, G. (2011). Public management reform: A comparative analysis – New public management, governance, and the neo-Weberian state. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Readings, B. (1996). The university in ruins. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Rouillard, C. (2003). From cynicism to organizational disillusion: New public management as confusing factor. Choices, Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP), 9(6), 20-38.
Rouillard, C., & Giroux, D. (2005). Public administration and the managerialist fervour for values and ethics: Of collective confusion in control societies. Administrative Theory and Praxis, 27(2), 330-357.
Scott, J.W. (2014). The limits of academic freedom. In J.L. Turk (Ed.), Academic freedom in conflict: The struggle over free speech rights in the university (pp. 110-123). Toronto: James Larimer.
Turk, J.L. (Ed.). (2000). The corporate campus: Commercialization and the dangers to Canada's colleges and universities. Toronto: James Larimer.
Turk, J.L. (Ed.). (2014a). Academic freedom in conflict: The struggle over free speech rights in the university. Toronto: James Larimer.
Turk, J.L. (2014b). Introduction. In J.L. Turk (Ed.), Academic freedom in conflict: The struggle over free speech rights in the university (pp. 11-20). Toronto: James Larimer.
Turner, C. (2013). The war on science: Muzzled scientists and wilful blindness in Stephen Harper’s Canada. Vancouver: Greystone Books.
AUCC (Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada) (now Universities Canada). (2011). Statement on academic freedom. Retrieved from http://www.univcan.ca/media-room/news-and-commentary/canadas-universities-adopt-new-statement-on-academic-freedom/
AUCC (Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada). (2015). About us: Membership and governance. Retrieved from http://www.univcan.ca/about-us/membership-and-governance/
Bissonnette, L., & Porter, J.R. (2013). L’Université québécoise : Préserver les fondements, engager des refondations. Quebec City: Government of Quebec. Retrieved from http://www.mesrs.gouv.qc.ca/fileadmin/administration/librairies/documents/chantiers/ChantierLoiCadreDesUniversites.pdf
Brown, W. (2015). Undoing the demos: Neoliberalism’s stealth revolution. New York: Zone Books.
CAUT (Canadian Association of University Teachers). (2011).
CAUT policy statements: Academic freedom. Retrieved from http://www.caut.ca/about-us/caut-policy/lists/caut-policy-statements/policy-statement-on-academic-freedom
CAUT (Canadian Association of University Teachers). (2014). CAUT by-law number 1. Retrieved from http://www.caut.ca/docs/default-source/by-law/caut-by-law-number-1-(2014-11)6e8c33f1c6ef6d389810ff00005eecd3.pdf?sfvrsn=2
CBCnews Saskatoon (2014, May 14-15). Prof. Robert Buckingham fired after criticizing Saskatchewan university plan. Retrieved from http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/saskatoon/prof-robert-buckingham-fired-after-criticizing-saskatchewan-university-plan-1.2642637
Chan, A.S., & Fisher, D. (2008). The exchange university: Corporatization of academic culture. Toronto: University go Toronto Press.
Côté, J.E., & Allahar, A. (2011). Lowering higher education: The rise of corporate universities and the fall of liberal education. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Côté, M., Day, R.J., & de Peuter, G. (Eds.). (2007). Utopian pedagogy: Radical experiments against neoliberal globalization. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Council of Ontario Universities. (2012). Interprovincial comparison of university revenues. Retrieved from http://cou.on.ca/papers/interprovincial-comparison-of-university-revenue/
Council of Ontario Universities. (2011). Innovative ideas: Improving efficiency at Ontario universities. Retrieved from http://www.cou.on.ca/publications/reports/pdfs/innovative-ideas---improving-efficiency-at-ontario
Enteman, W.F. (1993). Managerialism: The emergence of a new ideology. Madison, WI: University of Wisconsin Press.
Exworthy, M., & Halford, S. (Eds.). (1999). Professionals and the new managerialism in the public sector. Buckingham, UK: Open University Press.
Fearon, J.D. (1998). Deliberation as discussion. In J. Elster (Ed.), Deliberative democracy (pp. 44-68). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Gabbert, M.A. (2014). The right to think otherwise. In J.L. Turk (Ed.), Academic freedom in conflict: The struggle over free speech rights in the university (pp. 89-109). Toronto: James Larimer.
Ginsberg, B. (2011). The fall of the faculty: The rise of the all-administrative university and why it matters. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Giroux, D., & Karmis, D. (Eds.). (2015). Introduction to Défaire/refaire l’université: Essai de tout dire. Les Cahiers de l’idiotie, 6.
Government of Ontario. (1965). The University of Ottawa Act, S.O. 1965, C.137. Retrieved from http://web5.uottawa.ca/www4/emarket/dev/admingov/university-act.html
Gutmann, A. (1987). Democratic education. Princeton: Princeton University Press.
Harney, S., & Moten, F. (2013). The undercommons: Fugitive planning and Black study. Brooklyn, NY: Autonomedia.
HEQCO (2015). The Ontario University Funding Model in Context. Retrieved from http://www.heqco.ca/SiteCollectionDocuments/Contextual%20Background%20to%20the%20Ontario%20University%20Funding%20Formula-English.pdf
Hofstadter, R. (1955). The age of the college. In R. Hofstadter & W.P. Metzger (Eds.), The development of academic freedom in the United States (pp. 1-274). New York: Columbia University Press.
Horn, M. (1999). Academic freedom in Canada: A history. Toronto: University of Toronto Press.
Hudon, P.-A., & Rouillard, C. (2015). Critical management studies (CMS) and public administration: Reinterpreting democratic governance using critical theory and poststructuralism. Canadian Public Administration, 58(4), 527-548.
Menand, L. (Ed.). (1996). The limits of academic freedom. In L. Menand (Ed.), The future of academic freedom (pp. 3-20). Chicago: The University of Chicago Press.
Mills, N. (2012). The corporatization of higher education. Dissent Magazine (Fall issue). Retrieved from http://www.dissentmagazine.org/article/the-corporatization-of-higher-education
Nelson, C. (2010). No university is an island: Saving academic freedom. New York: New York University Press.
OCUFA (2015) Budget 2015 continues erosion of public funding for Ontario universities. Retrieved from http://ocufa.on.ca/blog-posts/politics/budget-2015-continues-erosion-of-public-funding-for-ontario-universities/
Pollitt, C., & Bouckaert, G. (2011). Public management reform: A comparative analysis – New public management, governance, and the neo-Weberian state. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Readings, B. (1996). The university in ruins. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
Rouillard, C. (2003). From cynicism to organizational disillusion: New public management as confusing factor. Choices, Institute for Research on Public Policy (IRPP), 9(6), 20-38.
Rouillard, C., & Giroux, D. (2005). Public administration and the managerialist fervour for values and ethics: Of collective confusion in control societies. Administrative Theory and Praxis, 27(2), 330-357.
Scott, J.W. (2014). The limits of academic freedom. In J.L. Turk (Ed.), Academic freedom in conflict: The struggle over free speech rights in the university (pp. 110-123). Toronto: James Larimer.
Turk, J.L. (Ed.). (2000). The corporate campus: Commercialization and the dangers to Canada's colleges and universities. Toronto: James Larimer.
Turk, J.L. (Ed.). (2014a). Academic freedom in conflict: The struggle over free speech rights in the university. Toronto: James Larimer.
Turk, J.L. (2014b). Introduction. In J.L. Turk (Ed.), Academic freedom in conflict: The struggle over free speech rights in the university (pp. 11-20). Toronto: James Larimer.
Turner, C. (2013). The war on science: Muzzled scientists and wilful blindness in Stephen Harper’s Canada. Vancouver: Greystone Books.
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