From democracy to corporation

The ideal of a university has historically been that of a place of intellectual freedom — a space where ideas can be brought up, nurtured, exchanged, and challenged without restraint or repression, internal or external. This fostering of critical thinking and learning regardless of dominant political agendas or economic pressures has been absolutely crucial to create academic communities in which students, scientists and scholars can freely debate, research and learn about complex issues and — eventually, hopefully — engage in the betterment of society as a whole. 

Unfortunately, the University of Copenhagen (KU) has been drifting further and further away from this ideal. In fact, it has now been transformed into an undemocratic, corporate-style institution under the influence of external forces and agendas. Today, the KU leadership routinely employs intimidation measures against students and staff for expressing dissenting opinions, ranging from threats of expulsion to physical oppression and scare tactics.

How did we get here?

The University Law of 2003: “From idea to invoice”

In 2003, the Danish government passed a controversial legislation known as the Danish Universities Act (“Universitetsloven”), which was to completely change how Danish universities would run and operate. In contrast to the historical ideal of a university as an institution of free thought and learning, this legislation was driven by the political slogan “from idea to invoice”. Knowledge was now to be regarded as a product, with academic research being more relevant to businesses and – supposedly – to “help further economic growth, welfare, and societal development” (The University Act §3). 

One of the most drastic steps towards this transformation was a complete overhaul of how Danish universities were governed. Instead of the old model in which employees had direct influence on management decisions, the reform created a unified top-down management structure (“enstrenget ledelsessystem”) where heads of departments would be appointed by faculty deans, who would be appointed by the rectorate. Meanwhile, the overall direction of the university would be decided by a Board with a majority of “external members”, including business people with no actual connection to the university.

As a result, we find ourselves in a bizarre situation: although the university of Copenhagen is its staff and students, we have practically no say in how it operates and functions.

The dangers of centralized management

The consequences of these shifts are evident almost everywhere within the university today. Most importantly, all the real (budgetary, structural and financial) decision-making power at KU is centralized in the hands of very few people within the rectorate. Those are, in turn, “guided” by Board members. This can be quite troublesome because the external Board members bring their own political or profit-seeking agendas.

Centralization of power at a university can never be a good thing. For intellectual freedom to flourish, researchers and staff must have a say in how their work life is organized. At the moment, however, not only are university employees left without much of a say, but many are also downright afraid to speak out against management decisions.

In effect, it means that there is no real accountability. When people do speak up against management, they have no practical ways of holding them accountable for their decisions. Even in the face of widespread dissatisfaction among students and staff – such as with the recent administration reform or the lack of climate ambition in the new 2030 strategy – the university management has little incentive to listen. At the end of the day, the university management is left to operate more or less with impunity. So much so that it feels completely within its rights and defends the decision to violently clamp down on legitimate student protests and ignore outcries from both students and staff, as we have been seeing recently on a regular basis.

We are KU!

What can we do? It is about time we bring the power and control of the university back into the hands of staff and students. 

These days, numerous initiatives and campaigns are gaining momentum. New freedom movements among researchers in Denmark, widespread critique of the above-mentioned university law, researchers and students pushing for university management to stop contributing to climate breakdown or being complicit in genocide, just to name a few.

Now is the time to get involved in the fight for a more democratic, decentralized and engaged university. If you want to learn more about the #WeAreKU initiative, please take a look at our position paper. If you would like to join us, you can read more about how to get involved by subscribing to the newsletter or reach out at contact@weareku.dk.