Sometimes a critical review demonstrates the very argument of the book it seeks to rebut. Lorna Marsden says early on that she wants to use her piece to “reinvent” our study of the university, Planet U: Sustaining the World, Reinventing the University. But what she proposes won’t take us where we need to go. And that’s the problem.
Marsden graciously acknowledges that Planet U is a “good read.” From there, her criticisms are legion, though often not well-founded. She says we quote only “a few Canadians.” Yet, of the 76 people in the text, 32 are Canadian. She says we cite best practices but only at a “general level” and we “make no reference” to the experiences of hundreds of universities. Yet the book is crammed with detailed examples from dozens of universities in Canada, the U.S. and Europe. She bemoans our lack of discussion of two voluntary declarations. Yet it has been the failure of universities to implement such rhetorical declarations that makes Planet U so necessary.
Marsden would rather have a technical manual for facilities managers than the Planet U critique. But our book also offers lots of “how-to” examples—from colleges using vacant land for urban agriculture to student U Passes to reduce car use, to a whole new planning structure for the university. We cite many universities doing good things to learn from.
Marsden is right on the need for new research. We could use a “companion volume.” Indeed, we need a whole new literature. Again, however, we identify many places—books, journals, organizations—beginning to do just that work.
The real difference is that Marsden does not take seriously our larger concerns—of a world hurtling toward an ecological chaos of our own making, of a productivist growth economy that resists rational redirection, of a “higher education industry” that is both a product and creator of this situation. With such differences, Marsden appreciates neither the need nor potential for universities to help spark transformative change. That is what Planet U is about.
“Instead of decrying the problems of modern society, and trying to locate them in history,” writes Marsden, we should simply provide the technical data. History and social theory are not relevant; critical analyses of power and knowledge are not legitimate. As if Michel Foucault never existed, Marsden urges that we just let the managers manage.
Data is important, but so too is structure. Planet U problematizes the university with its huge influence, resources and expertise in a world that badly needs its help. It certainly does not accept that it should accommodate itself to an unreflective globalization of fast food multinationals driving an economistic ideology of consumer choice.
To those who do try to understand the historic problems of modernity, Planet U is an optimistic book. It seeks new ways to break out of our state of macro gridlock. One strategy we propose is “comprehensive local innovation.” Thus might the “planetary university” begin to transform its city and region with a range of expertise, and a globally networked reach, that is not afforded to local governments.
Marsden is right that partnerships are needed with regulators. But meaningful progress will not happen unless we also remake our outdated structures of governance, especially the university. Our strategies—corporate innovation, “democratic experimentalism,” regional revitalization, social movement mobilization—are certainly not “revolutionary tactics.”
For Marsden, the basic challenges identified in Planet U do not exist—so there is no need for the book’s solutions. And that’s the problem.
Michael M’Gonigle
Victoria, British Columbia
Justine Starke
Vancouver, British Columbia
