Peter Wilby has written an interesting take on what EP Thompson’s expose of Coventry University as the ‘business University’ that was published as Warwick University Ltd in 1970 in the Guardian means for the 2020s:
He points out that unlike in the late 1960s when Universities mainly relied on State funding in the 2020s every University is a business. Members of the UCU, the union that organises in further and higher education understand the point very well.
Wilby expresses concern about the extent of Chinese funding in UK Universities. I agree with the concern to the extent I firmly believe that Universities should not be businesses but institutions committed to a liberal education funded by public investment.
There is an undercurrent of Sinophobia about Wilby’s point though. As a socialist I’m no more of a fan of the Chinese system than Thompson himself was. That said I tend to think that Chinese influence in UK higher education is less about specific control and more about extending a sphere of influence and edging out the US.
I would hardly be a veteran hirsute Marxist if I didnt feel a smidgeon of sympathy with China’s reported aim of rooting out incorrect thinking in the academy but we are in the UK not Beijing.
The influence of business in UK Universities is significant and its not interested in rooting out incorrect thinking. If a subject is not contributing in a measurable way to the bottom line funding stops and so does the study of the subject. There is no space for thinking correct, or incorrect.
As in 1970 when it comes to the business University the main enemy is at home.
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