6 - Excess Beyond Excellence: The University Beyond the Balance Sheet
Journal of Higher Education in Africa,
Vol. 5 No. 1 (2007): Journal of Higher Education in Africa
Abstract
This paper argues that there is an excess beyond the talk of excellence, that the University in its present drive for commodification and corporatisation cannot com- prehend. In outlining the conditions and effects of this excess, I will look at the non- symmetrical relation that plays itself out in teaching and learning as one of the sites of ethical practices. The notions adduced to analyse this core relation are those of charisma, transference and sublimation. I will outline the forms of exchange at work in the sites of this relation and analyse their differentiations and transformations. In as much as the teaching–learning relation encapsulates what is demanded psycho- logically and politically of a modern subject in a democratic order, jeopardising it in the name of efficiency, cost-cutting and an instrumentalised relationship to la- bour and commodity markets, means striking not only at the core of university education, but at the psychic and political foundations of a democratic order itself.
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- Camic, C., 1980, ‘Charisma: Its Varieties, Preconditions, and Consequences’, So- ciological Inquiry, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 5–23.
- Derrida, J., 1983, ‘The Principle of Reason: The University in the Eyes of its Pu- pils’, Diacritics, Fall, pp. 3–20.
- Freud, S., 1958[1912], ‘The Dynamics of the Transference’, in J. Strachey, A. Freud, A. Strachey, A. Tyson, A. Richards, eds., The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 12, London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis. pp. 99–108.
- Freud, S., 1958[1915], ‘Observations on Transference Love. Further Recommen- dations on the Technique of Psychoanalysis III’, in J. Strachey, A. Freud, A. Strachey, A. Tyson, A. Richards, eds., The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 12, London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis. pp. 159–171.
- Freud, S., 1985[1921], ‘Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego’, in A. Dickson, ed., Civilization, Society and Religion (Pelican Freud Library, Vol.12), J. Strachey trans., Harmondsworth, Penguin. pp. 91–178.
- Laplanche, J. and Pontalis, J.B., 1973[1967], The Language of Psychoanalysis, London: Karnac.
- Lepsius, R., 1986, ‘Charismatic Leadership: Max Weber’s Model and its Applica- bility to the Rule of Hitler’, in C.F. Graumann and S. Moscovici, eds., Changing Conceptions of Leadership, New York: Springer Verlag. pp. 53–64.
- Rancière, J., 1985[1974], ‘On the Theory of Ideology – Althusser’s Politics’, in R. Edgley and R. Osborne, eds., Radical Philosophy Reader, London: Verso. pp. 101–136.
- Readings, B., 1995, ‘The University without Culture?’ New Literary History, Vol. 26, pp. 465–492.
- Readings, B., 1996, The University in Ruins, Cambridge, Mass. and London: Harvard University Press.
- Shils, E., 1975, Center and Periphery: Essays in Macrosociology, Chicago: Uni- versity of Chicago Press.
- Simmel, G., 2003[1889], ‘Zur Psychologie des Geldes’, in O. Rammstedt et al., eds., Georg Simmels Philosophie des Geldes. Aufsätze und Materialien, Frank- furt a.M.: Suhrkamp, pp. 267-281.
- Smith, D. N., 1998, ‘Faith, Reason, and Charisma: Rudolf Sohm, Max Weber, and the Theology of Grace’, Sociological Inquiry, Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 32-60.
- Sohm, R., 1970[1892], Kirchenrecht, Vol. 1: Die Geschichtlichen Grundlagen, Berlin: Duncker and Humblot.
- Turner, S., 2003, ‘Charisma Reconsidered’, Journal of Classical Sociology, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 5–26.
- van Zyl, S. 1990, ‘Explaining Violence in South Africa: Some Psychoanalytic Con- siderations’, Paper presented to the Project for the Study of Violence Seminar Programme, Department of Applied Psychology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 31 October.
- Weber, M., 1967a [1919], ‘Politics as Vocation’, in H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, eds. and trans., From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 77–128.
- Weber, M., 1967b [1919], ‘Science as Vocation’, in H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, eds. and trans., From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 129–156.
- Weber, M., 1980[1922], Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Grundriss der verstehenden Soziologie, J. Winckelmann, ed., ‘Studienausgabe’, 5th edition, Tübingen: Mohr. Weber, M., 1978[1922], Economy and Society. An Outline of Interpretive Sociol- ogy, Volume II, trans. and ed. G. Roth and C. Wittich, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press.
- Young, R., 1992, ‘The Idea of a Chrestomathic University’, in R. Rand, ed., Logomachia: The Conflict of the Faculties, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 97–126.
References
Camic, C., 1980, ‘Charisma: Its Varieties, Preconditions, and Consequences’, So- ciological Inquiry, Vol. 50, No. 1, pp. 5–23.
Derrida, J., 1983, ‘The Principle of Reason: The University in the Eyes of its Pu- pils’, Diacritics, Fall, pp. 3–20.
Freud, S., 1958[1912], ‘The Dynamics of the Transference’, in J. Strachey, A. Freud, A. Strachey, A. Tyson, A. Richards, eds., The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 12, London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis. pp. 99–108.
Freud, S., 1958[1915], ‘Observations on Transference Love. Further Recommen- dations on the Technique of Psychoanalysis III’, in J. Strachey, A. Freud, A. Strachey, A. Tyson, A. Richards, eds., The Standard Edition of the Complete Psychological Works of Sigmund Freud, Vol. 12, London: The Hogarth Press and the Institute of Psycho-Analysis. pp. 159–171.
Freud, S., 1985[1921], ‘Group Psychology and the Analysis of the Ego’, in A. Dickson, ed., Civilization, Society and Religion (Pelican Freud Library, Vol.12), J. Strachey trans., Harmondsworth, Penguin. pp. 91–178.
Laplanche, J. and Pontalis, J.B., 1973[1967], The Language of Psychoanalysis, London: Karnac.
Lepsius, R., 1986, ‘Charismatic Leadership: Max Weber’s Model and its Applica- bility to the Rule of Hitler’, in C.F. Graumann and S. Moscovici, eds., Changing Conceptions of Leadership, New York: Springer Verlag. pp. 53–64.
Rancière, J., 1985[1974], ‘On the Theory of Ideology – Althusser’s Politics’, in R. Edgley and R. Osborne, eds., Radical Philosophy Reader, London: Verso. pp. 101–136.
Readings, B., 1995, ‘The University without Culture?’ New Literary History, Vol. 26, pp. 465–492.
Readings, B., 1996, The University in Ruins, Cambridge, Mass. and London: Harvard University Press.
Shils, E., 1975, Center and Periphery: Essays in Macrosociology, Chicago: Uni- versity of Chicago Press.
Simmel, G., 2003[1889], ‘Zur Psychologie des Geldes’, in O. Rammstedt et al., eds., Georg Simmels Philosophie des Geldes. Aufsätze und Materialien, Frank- furt a.M.: Suhrkamp, pp. 267-281.
Smith, D. N., 1998, ‘Faith, Reason, and Charisma: Rudolf Sohm, Max Weber, and the Theology of Grace’, Sociological Inquiry, Vol. 68, No. 1, pp. 32-60.
Sohm, R., 1970[1892], Kirchenrecht, Vol. 1: Die Geschichtlichen Grundlagen, Berlin: Duncker and Humblot.
Turner, S., 2003, ‘Charisma Reconsidered’, Journal of Classical Sociology, Vol. 3, No. 1, pp. 5–26.
van Zyl, S. 1990, ‘Explaining Violence in South Africa: Some Psychoanalytic Con- siderations’, Paper presented to the Project for the Study of Violence Seminar Programme, Department of Applied Psychology, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, 31 October.
Weber, M., 1967a [1919], ‘Politics as Vocation’, in H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, eds. and trans., From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul. pp. 77–128.
Weber, M., 1967b [1919], ‘Science as Vocation’, in H.H. Gerth and C. Wright Mills, eds. and trans., From Max Weber: Essays in Sociology, London: Routledge and Kegan Paul, pp. 129–156.
Weber, M., 1980[1922], Wirtschaft und Gesellschaft. Grundriss der verstehenden Soziologie, J. Winckelmann, ed., ‘Studienausgabe’, 5th edition, Tübingen: Mohr. Weber, M., 1978[1922], Economy and Society. An Outline of Interpretive Sociol- ogy, Volume II, trans. and ed. G. Roth and C. Wittich, Berkeley, Los Angeles and London: University of California Press.
Young, R., 1992, ‘The Idea of a Chrestomathic University’, in R. Rand, ed., Logomachia: The Conflict of the Faculties, Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press. pp. 97–126.