Creating a New Public University and Reviving Democracy ― Action Research in Higher Education

Public universities are in crisis, waning in their role as central institutions within democratic societies. Denunciations are abundant, but analyses of the causes and proposals to re-create public universities are not. Based on extensive experience with Action Research-based organizational change in universities and private sector organizations, Levin and Greenwood analyze the wreckage created by neoliberal academic administrators and policymakers. The authors argue that public universities must be democratically organized to perform their educational and societal functions. The book closes by laying out Action Research processes that can transform public universities back into institutions that promote academic freedom, integrity, and democracy.

Morten Levin is Professor Emeritus of Industrial Economics and Technology Management at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim, Norway. With degrees in Mechanical Engineering, Operations Research, Sociology, he has worked as an action researcher on processes and structures of social change.