On Maintaining Social and Moral Agency beyond Instrumental Managerialism in a Knowledge-Based Economy—A Sociological and Educational Perspective

This chapter examines transformations in the epistemic governance of higher education and research on education in Europe, and in how the production of scientific knowledge increasingly is constrained by utilitarian expectations and standards based on policymaking decisions. The chapter explains how new political technologies produce certain modes of representation, cognitive categories, and value judgments that support development of new forms of interaction between researchers, experts, and policymakers. By characterizing transformations of academic capitalism, the chapter examines how academics today are engaged in heterogeneous networks that legitimize new relationships and work conventions. The chapter draws on sociological and education theory in explaining these transformations’ consequences, not only on the generation of academic knowledge, but also on selves and identities within scientific communities. This epistemic governance undermines some moral components and leadership attitudes in an increasingly competitive and instrumental environment.