In third year MIT we spend a significant amount of time discussing the idealistic notion of a public sphere. We hypothosize about how to create one, what makes it democratic and if it would ever succeed. Unfortunately, the more time I spend thinking about this issue, the less likely it seems to be.
Robbins and Webster explore emergence of Taylorism as a method of production and its effects on communication throughout the past century in their reading the times of the technoculture. It really made me consider all of the areas of our life (which we feel like we have total autonomy over) that have been over-powered by efficiency and productivity.
The university experience, in its ideal form, is supposed to be one of enlightenment, learning and discovery. However; as we have discussed in class, the North American structure for post-secondary school seems to be more about becoming a consumptive and productive member of society.
Take for example…
· Classroom power-structures
· Corporate partnerships (like Coca-cola and Western)
· Utilitarian architecture (esp. since the 1960s)
· The hierarchy of faculties
· The surveillance of student behaviour
One thing I look forward to discussing in the coming weeks, is methods of resistance, or perhaps instances of university structures that are fighting the taylorism of education.
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