Schapira offers a discursive, historical and philosophical analysis of higher education crises, analyzing primary documents such as the Port Huron Statement (1962). Universities have been the sites of student protests since 1229 at the University of Paris. Malcontent students and professors, meddling politicians, and neoliberal, efficiency-minded bureaucrats continue to kindle battles at revered institutions. The primary focus is on US settings, but Schapira also covers global conflicts, including Britain’s New Public Management scheme, which envisions universities as subject to a managed economy approach. Schapira draws on analyses by Jacques Derrida and especially Emmanuel Kant, who posited a normative ideal of the university philosophy faculty as enlightened governance “that takes upon itself the role of managing ... sources of perpetual conflict.” Schapira discusses the late-19th-century German model of governance, incorporating Wissenschaft and Bildung. He identifies the conflicts within universities' missions to be "humanistic enclaves," centers for civic and vocational training, and knowledge factories. Is there a university of excellence, as the subtitle suggests? A challenging examination of a foundational pillar of society. Recommended. Advanced undergraduates through faculty.

Choice Reviews

In this sharp, cogent book, Michael Schapira has provided a very different way to think about crisis in the university. Setting up a series of key oppositions in the history of the university, Schapira helps us to revalue conflict as the lifeblood of university life, not a problem to be fixed with better management or better vision. A brilliant tactical turn in the struggle for the university.

Stefano Harney, professor of strategic management education, Singapore Management University

With impressive scope and keen insights, Schapira provides a piercing analysis of the university across eras. His work is essential reading for those looking to make sense of these institutions today—and consider their potential for tomorrow.

Winston C. Thompson, associate professor of educational studies and philosophy, Ohio State University

In what other institution than a university can reasonable people hammer out the ever-conflicting demands of the state for efficiency and compliance, and of the scholarly pursuit of truth for its own sake? In this erudite and provocative book, Michael Schapira argues that this conflict is what has kept universities alive for so many centuries, as it still does today. Long may it continue!

Tim Ingold, Professor Emeritus, University of Aberdeen

Amidst questions regarding the relevancy of higher education, including concerns about its focus, function, financing, and structures of governance, this book could not be timelier. Shapira contextualizes the main ideas of the university, discussing their external forces and internal tensions, and their aspirations, both yesteryear and now, and leads us into a hopeful future.

Daniel S. Hendrickson, president, Creighton University

The university is in crisis. What it means to know this, and what responsibilities that knowledge brings, are the crux of Michael Schapira’s lucidly synthetic, philosophically precise account of the conflicts that define our institutions. Read this, and reclaim the university from the managerialism that feeds crisis by neutralizing critique.

Reinhold Martin, professor of architecture, Columbia University