Public Scholarship, Public Intellectuals, and the Role of Higher Education in a Time of Crisis

Abstract

Despite its importance to developing the formative culture necessary to a working democracy, higher education in North America is under attack by the apostles of neoliberalism. No longer viewed as a source of enlightenment or a democratic public sphere, neoliberals see higher education as a threat because it can produce inspired and critical citizens. They are intent upon turning higher education into an adjunct of business culture. Giroux argues that neoliberalism is the enemy of social justice, and if it is to be challenged, educators must create alliances to challenge the politics of neoliberalism on a global level. In part, for academics, this means reinvigorating and rethinking their role as public intellectuals and what it means to create the spaces of resistance within higher education that make public scholarship possible. By rethinking the role of academics as public intellectuals, Giroux argues that it is also crucial to reclaim the part that education has played historically in educating students to develop critical literacies and civic capacities that deepen their abilities to function as engaged and critical citizens. Giroux extends the reach of education beyond formal schooling to the larger cultural spheres and analyzes the role of what he calls public pedagogy, a term that engages the pedagogical functions of a wide variety of cultural sites and digital platforms. As public intellectuals, Giroux argues that academics can work both inside and outside of higher education addressing both students within academia and a much broader audience outside of traditional schooling.