The university in dissent

"The rise of corporatism in the North American University was charted by Bill Readings in the mid nineteen-nineties book The University in Ruins. The intervening years have seen the corporate university grow and extend to the point where its evolution into a large business corporation is seemingly complete. This book examines the factors contributing to the transformation of the university from a site of culture and knowledge to what might be termed an 'information factory', and explores strategies for how, in Readings' words, members of the academic community might continue to 'dwell in the ruins of the university' in a productive and authentic way. Drawing on the work of critics and philosophers such as, amongst others, Barthes, Derrida, Lyotard and Deleuze, The University in Dissent suggests that this can only be achieved subversively through the development of a community of philosophers who are prepared to challenge and critique the mission statement of the 'university of excellence' from within, focusing on how scholarly and academic writing will develop in this new era Summarising, contextualising and extending previous understandings of the rise of corporatism and the subse