LOCATING INDIAN UNIVERSITIES IN KNOWLEDGE SOCIETIES
A Critique
Keywords:
Change, Higher Education, India, Knowledge Production, Knowledge Societies, Research, University, TeachingAbstract
Knowledge societies characterize a defining feature of the present era. Veering away from their initial connotation of ‘scientific temper and reasoning,’ today, they assume a new meaning in which the basis of economy, polity, and social action is knowledge. In the post-capitalist, post-industrial societies, knowledge has become the foundation of industrial productivity and social wellbeing. The crux of knowledge production has been shifting from the traditional disciplinary contexts promoted by academic interests in the universities to its applications for better productivity and wellbeing. Nevertheless, productivity and usefulness are accorded an epistemological appeal in defining what counts as ‘knowledge’. In this context, the present paper discusses the changes in knowledge production and dissemination processes in knowledge societies and their implications for universities in India.
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