Higher education and public good

Abstract

What is the basis of sociability, or 'public goods'? How do we maintain and reproduce the collective human environment that is essential to our existence? The neoliberal hegemony in policy, which models erstwhile public activities in terms of economic markets and business logics; and also the ubiquitous cultural emphases on autarkic individual self-realization and competitiveness; have created new questions about the sustainability of social relations. We are constantly aware of the conditions of society, on a daily basis; yet we know very little about public goods, or 'the public good', in terms that can be recognised by social science. Although it is evident that higher education does not function in the manner of a capitalist market, and arguably can never so function (Marginson 2012c), methodological individualism, business models and market ideology have together blocked recognition of the public good or goods in higher education. How can we grasp the public good comprehensively? How do we move beyond a solely economic understanding of public goods, without setting aside production? How do we measure public goods while satisfying both inclusion and rigour? How common are public goods between social sites and across national borders? How can we enhance the incidence and value of public goods? Which institutions contribute to public goods and how? How does higher education contribute? Under what conditions? Arguably, research and conceptual development concerning the public functions of higher education institutions (HEIs) is important both in its own right and as a way into the larger problem of public goods.