The Postmodern University?: Contested Visions of Higher Education in Society

There is a widespread awareness that universities are changing radically. There are many more students, many more universities, a constant complaint about lack of resources, and continual debate about declining standards. This book brings together leading intellectuals from Britain and the USA to examine what is happening in higher education. Their concern is not how to manage the changes but how best to conceptualize and understand them. They explore the place of universities in the contemporary society and address the issue of whether it is useful to affix the label postmodern to the contemporary university. This book signposts the major directions in which universities are moving, and provides the reader with tools for a better understanding of today's university.