TRANSFORMATION OF THE PUBLIC SPHERE AND THE CHALLENGE OF UNIVERSITY INNOVATION

Abstract

INTRODUCTION. From the very beginning of universities, and more clearly so with the arrival of modernity, the notion of public (as opposed to private) has been continuously changing. METHOD. To analyze historical patterns of universities we review literature on the development and transformation of university models, and literature about private/public relations in different countries and regions of the world. RESULTS. In the first section we present a schematic overview of these long term changes and show how the public nature of medieval universities first becomes identified with the state and later on, more restrictedly, with public financing. In this context, it is argued, the Latin-American model of university emerges as an anomaly: it confuses the corporate interest of this institution with the public interest and the latter with the role of state as benefactor. The second section addresses the new realities of university funding and its growing privatization. A multidimensional framework for analysis is offered; once applied to Latin American universities, and to Chilean universities in particular, and in international perspective it shows that complex changes are taking place along the public/private continuum. DISCUSSION. We concludes that the Latin-American state (or public) university faces a critical period. On the one hand, its material bases are being eroded and, on the other hand, its traditional culture acts as an obstacle to become a more entrepreneurial or innovative institution. Nonetheless, there are sufficient examples to indicate that state universities can reshape their organization, management and governance, create new links with their environment, and change their institutional culture.