In search of new identity: universities in the era of political and economic hegemony

Abstract

With the passage of globalization, modernity, and the information age, on the one hand, and decline of the nation state, death of distance, unbundling of territoriality, demise of the golden age of intellectual freedom, and commodification of knowledge, universities are in search of new identities all over the world. The issue of identity crisis of modern universities is directly connected with the decline or reformulation of the nation state and the decline or transformation of the social, cultural, and political project of modernity. With the transformation of the power−knowledge equation, the role of universities as the generators of knowledge and custodians of socio-cultural traditions is bound to get changed. Though the global transformations in economics and politics are visible, it is very difficult to visualize and conceptualize the changes occurring at the level of the power–knowledge realm. This paper seeks to make an in-depth study of the relationship between power and knowledge by focusing on the role of universities in the era of political and economic hegemony.

Keywords:

• universities
• new identity
• political economy
• economic hegemony