Abstract
In this book, an expanded version of the Clark Kerr Lectures he delivered in 2012, Neil Smelser proposes a few directions for understanding how the contemporary university has changed and, as a result, which new tasks cross its path. The first chapter has a specific focus, being entitled ‘Dynamics of American universities’, and lays out the theoretical foundations of Smelser’s arguments. After a personal note contextualizing the context of his lecture, the author follows up with a short section entitled ‘Apologia’, briefly delineating what orients the problems he will present next:
I get a picture of urgency and crisis. We are being starved by the public and the politicians, tenure is disappearing with the proletarianization of the academic labor force, the idea of the university is being eroded by the forces of the market and corporatization, and we are being threatened by the spectacular growth of online, for-profit organizations of questionable quality. (p. 2)
Nevertheless, Smelser believes that exactly because of that he should proceed in another direction to address these issues, starting with a historical overview of higher education, focusing specifically on universities (Chapter 1), followed by an account of developments that resulted from these changes as well as from continuities (Chapter 2), in order to conclude with a broad overview about what should be expected today and in the near future (Chapter 3). He explains how the idea of a ‘social system’ (p. 3) guides his theoretical view, and he considers it especially appropriate for the study of higher education. 1
Taking into account the multiple and various functions either attributed to or expected from institutions of higher education, Smelser proposes to observe disparities between the way in which such functions are treated, which leads to the statement that ‘institutions of higher education, both in their functions and in their relations with external agencies, exhibit notable levels of ambiguity, nonspecificity, and “taken-for-grantedness.” In my estimation these have been great institutional advantages for colleges and universities, essential for their freedom, autonomy, and adaptability’ (p. 7). According to Smelser, education in general has effectively been accompanied by a moral claim, because a central part of its activity consists in transmitting certain values. In light of the type of liaisons among its various functions, social condition and this heritage, he is able to address one central contemporary theme: how growth and change relate to and influence each other.
Growth appears as a hallmark in the development of American higher education throughout the last century and a half, according to Smelser. This growth, he argues, must be understood by examining structural (i.e. societal) changes as well as quantitative and qualitative indicators. The two main results of this exploration are: ‘(a) the “choice” of directions of structural change is constrained by external restrictions and opportunities, and (b) the different kinds of social change ramify in different directions, and express themselves in distinctive anomalies and contradictions, status hierarchies, strategic adaptations, and patterns of competition and conflict’ (p. 12). Trying to better and more rigorously understand this process, he conceives a systemic concept of ‘structural accretion’ that guides the rest of his interpretation throughout the book, defined as ‘incorporation of new functions over time without, however, shedding existing ones (deletion) or splitting into separate organizations’ (p. 13). This turns out as especially important because it enables us to assess a (historically) more-or-less uncritical bias of the university towards various tasks. Smelser reminds us that teaching itself has hardly changed yet the institutions, most notably those called ‘universities’, entangled themselves in a growing number of tasks – in fact, this was slowly taken as the cornerstone for being named a ‘university’. Recalling Clark Kerr’s concept of the ‘multiversity’, he cites a brief list of examples to support the idea of structural accretion; among the elements making this development easier is institutional continuity, something particular to higher education, especially universities, given their relative autonomy, and the existence of tenure, which consolidates persons inside institutions.
Institutional design is deemed somewhat contradictory, because departments appear as its trait and present, as they counterbalance the power of the German and European ‘authoritarian’ tradition of professorial chairs, a source of rigour to the flexible disciplinary culture. When looking at accretion in detail, Smelser emphasizes the multiple overload, in terms of quantity and variety of work, that has been increasingly assigned to faculty. They are called upon to engage in an increasing range of activities pertaining to academic life, without relinquishing any of their former responsibilities. It is curious that this caused a type of differentiation among faculty that had the consequence that academic activities such as student advising slowly evolved and was transferred to skilled administrative people, especially because it did not garner the necessary attention from the faculty.
Chapter 2, ‘The dynamics ramify: Academic politics, conflict, and inequality’, goes deeper into the issues. It begins by focusing on three aspects considered especially important for understanding the instabilities resulting from growing accretion: ‘(a) the python-and-goat principle, (b) economic fluctuations, and (c) competitors for finite resources’ (p. 42). The first one relates to waves of quantitative pressures that, in the case of American universities throughout the last decades, originated largely from demographic changes or public policies (e.g. the G.I. Bill) that increased the demand for higher education and provoked (often unwanted or unnecessary) growth. A similar logic applies to the second aspect, because the ‘come-and-go’ rhythm of such fluctuations makes it more difficult to adequately budget for the necessary resources and therefore tends to generate inflationary pressures inside institutions, who over-hire and – especially in the case of faculty – are not able to rely on sufficient turnover. Finally, competition is felt in a more intense way in higher education because its secondary position in national resources, combined with the autonomy it bears, requires it to recalibrate its own budget through raising tuition and fees. This causes a big disparity in political costs of growing versus shrinking. The main consequence is the growing importance of organizational management, as seen by the many new administrative roles and manuals that emerged during the transition from the 20th to 21st century. Smelser offers ‘an interpretation of the changed structure of governance as mainly structural and systemic in character’ (p. 60, emphasis in original). In this respect, internal and external disputes and influences have been instrumental in solidifying accretion and therefore multiplying the tasks assigned to universities, even those originally designated as research oriented.
Chapter 3, ‘Contemporary trends: Diagnoses and conditional predictions’, considers possible next moves. Although the first two chapters dealt with Panglossian and Cassandrian alternatives, Smelser makes it clear that his conclusions try to evade such views, foremost because of their frequent oversimplifications. Although he lists a long and diverse trends (see pp. 79–80) in contemporary higher education, it is possible to identify an overwhelming presence of ‘profit-seeking’ and of ‘vocationalism’ in these examples. Smelser writes:
I emphasize the accountability phenomenon to underscore a paradox: that at precisely the same time that state legislatures were initiating the annual decreases of educational budgets, they were simultaneously taking steps to increase the intrusiveness of states in the governance process. One might attempt to resolve this paradox by claiming that states were doing both of these for the same reason: a loss of faith and confidence in the nation’s system of higher education and its institutions. Be that as it may, the historical episode reveals a larger, more pervasive paradox or contradiction: as states’ responsibility (in the form of public and financial support) has withered . . . their governance of these institutions has remained virtually the same or perhaps increased. (pp. 88–89, emphasis in original)
Smelser closes with a few comments on the persistence (or not) of tenure as well as its relation to academic freedom. The book is certainly an original contribution, representing an effort to avoid the trap of moral claims, and treat pressing issues from a rigorous sociological viewpoint, albeit with a focus on the American university.