Performance and accountability in ‘post-industrial society˚s: The crisis of British universities

In the first section the paper records some of the important changes that have been forced on British universities. These changes are referred to under the signs of ‘performance˚s and ‘accountability˚s. An attempt is made to analyse these signs as they figure in current policy discourse. The next section proposes an analysis of post-industrialism, which is both more cautious than the technocratic celebrants and more pessimistic. This analysis figures the work of Jean-Francois Lyotard and Jacques Derrida, relating it briefly to the modernity/post-modernity debate. Finally, predicated on a different reading of ‘post-industrialism˚s, the paper sets out some positive conclusions concerning the future role of the university.