Pulling the world of knowledge from the trap of capitalist economy warrants a shift towards restoring academic freedom.
Neoliberal approaches in higher education have largely failed, as: it has not led to greater efficiencies but to more bureaucracy; it has not led to greater liberties but to more constraints on teaching, research, and engagement; it has not led to more robust and autonomous institutions but to weakened institutions linked too closely to the immediate concerns of the day; and it has not led to new ways to grapple with the crises that face us but to treading farther down the same paths that created those crises. Prof. Lawrence Busch contends that as the capitalist economy promotes the marketing and branding of everything and everyone, pulling the world of knowledge out from the trap of the business model that aims at investing in education for getting a good job would warrant a shift towards restoring academic freedom.
Knowledge for Sale could not have appeared at a more important time, as it reflects the painful decline the institutions of higher learning are going through. At stake is the role of higher education as a crucial public good, which is being compromised under the influence of the markets. The crisis is so stark that its symptoms are spread all over: decline of humanities education, escalating student debt, and underpaid contract faculty. One would imagine that with the only knowledge worth pursuing is that which has more or less immediate market value, such a situation was bound to occur.
Lawrence Busch is not convinced, and challenges this market-driven approach. His thesis is based on the premise that most of the present-day problems – from climate change to water shortages, and from obesity to financial crises – would need new knowledge in addressing each of these issues. To imagine that market alone will resolve such issues is a fallacy worth challenging, because the market is neither inclusive nor transformative. It does alter consumptive habits only to the extent of minting profits, and almost always by externalizing costs of such a transition. Consider how market incentives in our food system promote diets that create obesity, thereby putting extra demands on medical institutions. Markets on their own cannot substitute institutions of higher education and research which co-create knowledge for the state to act upon.
Drawing a distinction between liberals of 18th and 19th centuries with neo-liberals of 20th and 21st centuries, the author explains that while the liberals had argued that the State should merely leave the market alone, the neo-liberals sought nation-states active involvement in the market instead. No surprise, therefore, that the market has intervened at individual and institutional levels by changing the rules of the game. Hence, markets and market-like competitions have replaced direct government intervention in promoting higher education and research.
Professor emeritus of sociology at Michigan State University, with research interests in environmental and agricultural research, Busch argues that education is a public good and that an educated citizenry is an essential component of functional democracy. Through an in-depth analysis on the influence of neo-liberalism the book provides a crucial rationale for defending higher education as an important public good, which ought to be protected from corporate control as defined by agents of privatization, deregulation, and commodification. For this to be realized, universities and research institutions must be remade as places where the future is neither already made in the mold of the market nor in which the market is to be avoided at all costs, but where many possible futures are proposed, debated, and discussed.
Among many cases of the kind, the case of 10-year lease agreement worth Canadian $7 million biotechnology research between Monsanto and the University of Manitoba illustrates how market influences research that may not necessarily be in the public interest. For three years, much to the dismay of many faculty members, the university administration unsuccessfully suppressed the news. This isn’t an isolated case of market influenced research. What is more, such dubious agreements erode public faith in research institutions.
Knowledge for Sale peels many layers of the crises, including individual researchers’ laid back attitude awaiting pay-checks to those who capitalize public resources to maximize personal goals. Such situations have created a ‘moral hazard’ for the public sector, which only helped create an opening for the market to make inroads through open competition for external grants and by tagging institutions as products in the market. Although there is some merit in this approach as it promises to increase efficiency, productivity and profits, it eventually undermines research, education, public engagement, and fails to contribute to promoting democracy. In the nutshell, public good gets compromised!
In making a case for the promoting and strengthening public good, Busch investigates four institutional core areas - administration, education, research, and extension – in enlisting specific proposals for change. Ranging from making research institutions secure places with attached conditions to making universities models of democratic discourse, the book challenges the pervasive idea that higher education needs to be run like a business. Citing successful initiatives at many universities and research institutions, Busch has drawn an actionable agenda at the core of which the leading question before the society at large is: what kind of universities and research institutes we want to help us come out of the wicked problems afflicting us?
For those in the spheres of academics, Knowledge for Sale offers substance to view the current predicaments while at the same time remaining brief and accessible.
Knowledge for Sale
by Lawrence Busch
The MIT Press, USA
Extent: 153, Price: $25.95
First published in Current Science, issue dated January 25, 2019.
By creating an assured market of committed consumers; Baba Ramdev has capitalized on consumer desire by marketing tradition as a product of modern convenience.
Chance opportunities and trivial advantages can make a lot of initial difference to any initiative. It can even convert unobtrusive action into potential business opportunity. That is what explains the prodigious journey of Baba Ramdev, from a small time yoga guru to a big time business brand. Everything seemed to have worked in his favor, from his unstinted faith in the curative powers of yoga to his innate desire for promoting collective good, as he packaged healthcare and spirituality into a marketable product worth over Rs. 10,000 crore. Its phenomenal rise has turned out to be the most disruptive force in the consumer market.
How could a yoga guru derail the bandwagon of established consumer brands? How has the detached guru become a phenomenon in the world of profit? More by default than design, the breath control exercises were positioned as a quick fix antidote to the fast-moving-consumer-ailments like diabetes, obesity, and blood pressure that helped the yoga guru build a vast following of middle income constituency straddled with mounting medical bills. The healing crusade was bound to prosper as the thirty minute breath control exercises enlivened the hopes of those who sought healthcare without frequenting the doctors.
What began as an instinctive move to demystify age-old yogic practices ended up capturing the collective psyche of health conscious people across the country! The evidence-based real-life stories beamed through television spurred demand for its cheap ayurvedic formulations. Television indeed created a springboard for the high-profile yoga guru to build a huge spiritual enterprise. Control over airwaves connected him to the world of marketing and finance, the new links created political economies that support and sustain such enterprises. The remarkable journey of the yoga guru is as exceptional as the enterprise he has created.
The Baba Ramdev Phenomenon captures the incredible journey of a school drop-out Ram Kishen becoming the irresistible Yoga Guru Ramdev. With a current strength of 10 lakh active followers, brand Patanjali aims to clock sales of Rs 40,000 crore by 2018-19, and reach an imposing figure of Rs 100,000 crore by 2020. Given that the entire packaged consumer products market in the country is an estimated Rs 3.2 lakh crore a year, and that brand Patanjali sales have more than doubled each year, garnering a significant share of the market may not be improbable for India’s buzziest brand. Operating at 10 per cent profit margin, as opposed to 20 per cent for most other brands, brand Patanjali is out to invert the consumer product market anytime soon.
Other than astute upmanship and smart business acumen, what may have worked in favor of brand Patanjali that other leading brands find it hard to emulate? Three aspects are worth taking note: first, much before launching its ayurvedic and herbal products Baba Ramdev had created an assured market of committed consumers; second, it capitalized on consumer desire by marketing tradition as a product of modern convenience; and third, by courting controversies frequently Baba Ramdev has continued to remain in the mind space of his followers.
Easy to read, Kaushik Deka provides a racy journalistic narrative on the early life of the yoga guru, and his subsequent rise, rise and rise as a brand that is usurping a lion’s share of the packaged consumer products market. That it is doing so to end the hegemony of multinational companies has evoked feelings of national pride among its loyalists. Having risen from grassroots with hands on experience, both Baba Ramdev and his associate Acharya Balkrishana are trained to engage in the entire production process, and therefore offer their moral and spiritual responsibility for every product produced by Patanjali. This lends additional credibility for their products in the market. However, the book leaves you seeking more behind yogi’s demeanor
.
With market for herbal and ayurvedic products growing, and competition in the packaged consumer products becoming cut-throat, it will be interesting to see how long can Patanjali hold its place in the market on the strength of its emotional nationalistic appeal. That Baba Ramdev has successful created a niche for brand Patanjali in the social and political landscape of the country is one part of the story, how far can yogic practices continue to backstop its growing business model is another story worth pursuing? Interesting would be to see if brand Ramdev can defy the dictum ‘what goes up must come down’?
The Baba Ramdev Phenomenon
by Kaushik Deka
Rupa Publications, New Delhi
Extent: 184, Price: Rs 295
This review was first published in The Hindustan Times, Oct 21, 2017.
Systems and rules are for the fools, and it needs power of imagination to fool the system.
Piyush Pandey’s writing is like an onion with endless layers that seamlessly unravel clues in simplicity of everyday living. Such is the beauty of his writing that it takes the reader along, making he or she traverse the distance as if it has been one’s own.
The only difference being that we allow memories of encounters with the likes of cobblers and carpenters to fade away. He, instead, retrieves them at short notice to seek imaginative insights and fresh perspectives. He does it with ease and ability because he hasn’t allowed the ‘child’ in him to die, which has made him an extraordinary ‘man’, albeit an ad-man.
Pandeymonium is loaded with intriguing insights and creative ideas, offering subtle but profound reflections on how indeed professionals must guide their lives. Aren’t a vast majority trapped in preconceived notions and unknown fears to break new ground, lamenting instead that the system sucks their creative energies? Don’t be scared of systems and processes, echoes Piyush, there are ways to fool them. This reminds me of veteran journalist and distinguished editor Pran Chopra who often used to say “Follow the rules to break the rules”. Systems and rules are for the fools, and it needs power of imagination to fool the system.
Primarily written for advertising professionals, as the title page suggests, the straight-from-the-heart narrative of experiences can capture the attention of any avid reader. Quick to read and easy to grasp, it is a book about letting big ideas fly on the wings of imagination. It is a book on generating and shaping convincing ideas. It is a book about building relationships with those with whom you have nothing in common. Finally, it is a book about going underwater and marveling
at the iceberg that you don’t get to see otherwise.
Each of his award-winning creations has an interesting story lurking behind. Be it the series of Fevicol commercials or numerous Vodafone Zoozoos, Piyush has applied his cricketing skills to step out of the crease to score the maximum. For stepping out, one needs to be confident about the idea. Quite often, a lot of professionals are insecure about their idea. The less you share the idea, the less the possibility for a good idea to become great. The caveat, however, is to use those sounding boards with whom you can share and confide. The genesis of a big work comprises a big heart, big vision, big belief and big faith.
Pandeymonium brings together the power of ideas and perceptions to win clients and the audiences. Having demonstrated it through his work, the author wonders why should anyone feel deprived when one’s own learning has given some important weapons — the power of imagination, the power of your pen, and the power to communicate effectively. Important as it is, to be sure about one’s idea is not to worry about accusations and suspicions.
Born into a family with eight siblings, Piyush spent his formative years in Jaipur before moving out to do his master’s at St Stephen’s College, Delhi. A passionate cricketer, having played in the Ranji Trophy, he integrated all his experiences of life in carving out a prestigious position in the ad world. Sporting a prominent Walrus mustache
, his weary smile on the cover page reflects a face of creative conviction and satisfaction.
Piyush’s autobiographical journey is all about small experiences, interactions and encounters in life. Each experience is worth its weight in gold, provided one knows how to draw insights from it. The take home message from the book is that we each have a story to tell, but the story can only be great if the story is humane in nature and can touch hearts.
Pandeymonium
by Piyush Pandey
Penguin, New Delhi
Extent 244, Price Rs 799
This review was first published in Deccan Herald on December 20, 2015.
In a free market economy the incentive to externalize costs is so huge that the seller and the buyer get into an unapologetic understanding to get away with it.
Cheaper products are a marketing gimmick. Enticing nonetheless, deep discounts on popular brands release pent-up demand too. Less expensive means people buy more than what they really need or want. ‘Cheapness' has been an enigma. While one avoids buying anything considered 'cheap', striving for cheaper and cheaper stuff remains alluring. So much so that after a real bargain the stuff is showcased to friends and family for guessing its real 'price'. Lowest possible price paid for a quality product is exhibited as an individual's shopping prowess.
'Cheapness is an illusion', says Michael Carolan, who teaches sociology at the Colorado State University, USA. The real cost of low price is alarmingly high because low price neither reflects the real cost of production nor accounts for all (environmental) factors contributing to the production process. Be it cheap food or free plastic bags and an affordable car or a smart computer, the true cost of the product is not paid by the buyer but by the society at large.
The shopper may not pay at the time of purchase but eventually one has to, as initially externalized cost and risks of production finally get socialized. Given the egregious economy wherein the sellers and buyers do not fully pay for their good fortune, it is left for the future generations to foot the inflated bills. The cumulative cost to future generations, a UN study estimated in 2008, could be as high as US$2.2 trillion on account of environmental damages caused by some 3,000 largest publicly traded corporations in the world.
Come to think of it, cheap in itself could be terribly expensive in the long run. But in a free market economy the incentive to externalize costs is so huge that both, the seller and the buyer, get into an unapologetic understanding to get away with it. It offers a comparative advantage to both, however, at tremendous cost to those who have to pay for it now or later. Carolan questions the economics status quo, arguing that a system that socializes costs for the benefit of few can do little to actually enhance well-being for the majority.
Cheaponomics is a revelation! Drawing on a wide range of examples, Carolan unfolds the compulsive economy of cheaper goods which create a false sense of consumer celebration by making large social and income inequalities tolerable. Cheaper products reduce choice but encourage over consumption, adding to urban chaos through mass wastage. Over-consumption is at the root of present-day crises, from growing urban trash to mounting atmospheric emissions.
Carolan concludes an engaging story with a set of practical recommendations. Governments ought to incentivize accurate pricing and enable affordability as the key to price rationalization in the market. Real cost may make goods expensive in the short term but not over the long term as these would be designed to last longer and avoid wastage. Affordability is about enabling, about capabilities and holistic well-being rather than the shallow freedom of cheap goods!
Cheaponomics
by Michael Carolan
Earthscan/Routledge, UK
Extent: 320, Price: £15.99
