The Theatre of Fast Knowledge: Performative Epistemologies in Higher Education¹

1. An earlier version of this paper, entitled “Performative Epistemologies: The Theatre of Fast knowledge” was presented at The Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, Annual Conference, 2004, Oxford, U.K. See proceedings: http://ioewebserver.ioe.ac.uk/ioe/cms/get.asp?cid = 8821

Abstract

All the world's a stage, And all the men and women merely players. They have their exits and their entrances…

—Shakespeare, As You Like It, Act 2, Scene 7.

If a man does not keep pace with his companions, perhaps it is because he hears a different drummer. Let him step to the music which he hears, however measured or far away.

—Henry David Thoreau, Walden, “Conclusion.”

Notes

1. An earlier version of this paper, entitled “Performative Epistemologies: The Theatre of Fast knowledge” was presented at The Philosophy of Education Society of Great Britain, Annual Conference, 2004, Oxford, U.K. See proceedings: http://ioewebserver.ioe.ac.uk/ioe/cms/get.asp?cid = 8821

A new refereed electronic journal called Fast Capitalism, edited by Ben Agger started up in 2004 (http://www.uta.edu/fastcap/). It “addresses the impact of information and communication technologies on self, society and culture in the 21st century. Bridging the social sciences and humanities, the journal welcomes disciplinary and interdisciplinary work.” Direct submissions to Ben Agger, Department of Sociology and Anthropology, Box 19599, University of Texas at Arlington 76019 or to [email protected].

This conceptualisation is developed from Figure 1, “The Knowledge Economy as an Emerging International System,” in M. A. Peters (2003).

Some theorists have emphasised “speed” as a dimension of contemporary post-Fordist capitalism, e.g., David Harvey (1989) who talks of “space-time compression.” See also the work of the French theorist, Paul Virilio (1985) who writes of “space-time technologies”.

Definition and data taken from Andam (2003).

Knowledge, while non-rivalrous, can be excluded from certain users, which is the other property of a pure public good, through the protection of intellectual property. The term intellectual property emerged only in the nineteenth century where its modern use was determined in court judgements defining copyright. In this sense “intellectual property” was not meant to be a “property right” in the general sense of the term but rather referred to a US federal policy that “granted a limited trade monopoly in exchange for universal use and access” (Vaidhyanathan S. 2001, 21).

Ritzer's original article of the same title was published in 1983. For his response to critics see Ritzer (1994 1999).