The Good University

The higher education industry might seem like it's booming, with over 200 million students in universities and colleges worldwide and funds flowing in like never before. But the truth is that these institutions have never been unhappier places to work. Corporate-style management, cost-cutting governments, mobilisations by angry students and strikes by a disgruntled workforce have taken their toll - in almost every country around the world. It's no wonder that there is talk of 'universities in crisis.'
But what should a 'good university' look like? In this inspiring new work, Raewyn Connell asks us to consider just that, challenging us to rethink the fundamentals of what universities do. Drawing on the examples offered by pioneering universities and educational reformers around the world, Connell outlines a practical vision for how our universities can become both more engaging and more productive places, driven by social good rather than profit, helping to build fairer societies.

Raewyn Connell is Professor Emerita at the University of Sydney. She is a highly-cited researcher in social science and an experienced teacher who has worked in universities around the world. She remains an active trade unionist and advocate for workers' rights, student autonomy and educational reform. Her books include Masculinities (2005), Southern Theory (2007) and Gender: In World Perspective (2015).

Introduction
1. Making the Knowledge: Research
Being a researcher
The work of research
The knowledge formation
Research and truth
2. Learning and Teaching
The work of learning
The course being run
The work of teaching
3. The Collective Intellectual: University Workers
Intellectuals
Operations workers
Academic workers
Sustainability crisis
4. The Global Economy of Knowledge
Imperial science
Making a world university system
Making a worldwide workforce
Multiple knowledge formations and Southern theory
5. Privilege Machines
The dark side of the university
Making advantage happen
Breaching the walls
Machine limits
6. The University Business
The maelstrom
What enterprise universities sell
The managers
Telling lies about universities
Maelstrom reconsidered
7. Universities of Hope
Histories of invention
Contemporaries
Struggle and joy: lessons of experience
8. The Good University
The choice of futures
Criteria for a good university...
...and a good university system
Manifestos and visions
Taking action