Tackling knowledge ‘like a business’? Rethinking the modernisation of higher education in Poland

Abstract

The year 1989 marked the official end of communist rule in Poland and the replacement of ‘Gosplan’ by new instruments for liberal-democratic governance. In terms of the economy this heralded a departure from Gosplan’s five-year planning cycles, performance targets and the ‘propaganda of success’. Paradoxically, however, 27 years later, the marketisation of higher education in Poland has been accompanied by a continuation of Gosplan thinking. This is manifested in a neoliberal vision of the modern, ‘corporate’ university as a largely utilitarian enterprise, but subject to a style of performance management strongly resonant of the Soviet era. This article analyses the thinking, ideas and ideologies that have shaped contemporary higher education in Poland. It is contended that the rise of the ‘corporate university’ signals the twilight of the Humboldtian tradition and raises questions about what the corporate ideal of ‘excellence’ may mean for the future of the university.

Keywords:

• Modernisation
• Humboldtian tradition
• Gosplan thinking
• Bologna Process
• corporate university

Notes

1. The departure from Kudrycka’s (2008) reference to ‘science’ made in the title of our article is deliberate in seeking to reflect a broader remit of the Polish ‘Ministry of Science and Higher Education’ (Ministerstwo Nauki i Szkolnictwa Wyższego, MNiSW) signalled by the use of the Polish word ‘knowledge’ (nauka) rather than ‘science’. The Polish word ‘nauka’ in the name of the ‘Ministry of Knowledge’ (MNiSW), encompasses knowledge in the more inclusive sense referring to both the natural sciences and the humanities.

2. According to Dakowska (2014), the transformations of the Polish HE system were similar to those in other Soviet Bloc countries, particularly in aiming to give higher education more autonomy and, in tune with neoliberal narratives promoted by organisations such as the OECD and the World Bank, pursuing competitiveness in the international HE market. Dakowska also points to a lack of more detailed investigation into how reforms developed at the international and European levels have been designed and implemented in Eastern Europe.

3. The assertion that 'there is no alternative' underpinned Margaret Thatcher's politics of no alternatives (McLean 2001) and was used to push through controversial public policies on the grounds of economic viability. The ensuing neoliberal dismantling of the welfare state in Britain has been characterised by the focus on economic priorities (Hall 2011).