[These notes are jotted down long after I read the actual book; the details are more likely than not to contain errors.]
In the University in Ruins, Professors Bill Readings(!) argues that the origins of the modern research university lies in Germany, where the idea that a Culture can unite disparate polity polities took hold.
In his interpretation, the reason why there are so many influential German philosophers is not anything inherent in German culture as such. It is simply that, in the political environment at the time, a theme emerged that the Germans can be a people united not by politics or economics, but a High Culture as embodied in universities. Sources were cited to show how Kant and Hegel’s works fitted in the idea.
This stands in sharp contrast to the college education of Oxford and Cambridge, which never aspired to this idea of national culture. Indeed, for much of the 19th century, the dominant subject is Classics.
English Literature is a late challenger to the field: the idea that the works of Shakespeare embodies a kind of English genius, and therefore studying it is essential to English nationhood, never quite took hold.
But American Universities adopted the German model, and the parochial style of Oxford and Cambridge slowly died away in the 20th century. Wittgenstein stood at a point of transition: a PhD was considered necessary, so he was examined by Russell and Moore (neither of whom had a PhD). After a famous sham oral examination (with the Tractatus standing in as PhD thesis), Wittgenstein became Dr. Wittgenstein.
Professor Reading goes on to argue that in the Cold War, the American Research University took on a more immediate ideological, economic and political role.
A significant fraction in American Higher Education advocated for the Great Books Movement: in one of its centres, the University of Chicago, a Professor even wrote a book called “How to Read a Book”. This trend was however contested by others in the academia, e.g. those favouring Critical Legal Theory and other generally left-wing critics.
But taking a step back from this, Readings argues that huge funding was also poured into Higher Education in general, Arts and Sciences alike, in a cultural competition in the Cold War. The achievements in Culture was used as selling point for the Western capitalist order: serious scholarship was a sign of a mature society that was not grey, drab and uniform.
But with the end of the Cold War, the University has lost its cultural and political purpose.
Culturally, the idea of a High Culture unifying a nation has lost its hold. Readings observes that many advocates on the conservative end of the spectrum, e.g. those who support the Great Books movement, position themselves as a persecuted minority. They advocate for a return of the Humanities to the study of a Canon, which was increasing contested.
The left-wing critics of the Great Books Movement have largely won: it is hard now to accept there is only one Canon that defines the spirit of the nation. In the process, these critics have also created their own, often competing, brands of cultural power, often with their own political agendas.
On a broader scale, the American Government/Public lost interest in pouring public funds to “pure research” in order to win an ideological show-off with the Soviets. University education came to be seen as a private good, not a place for unifying citizens into the same High Culture. Different points and metrics were introduced to pursue a supposed “Excellence”, which on analysis is only a crude form of getting the most “likes” on a pre-WWW social media among existing academics.
A system of University ratings emerged and took hold. Universities and Faculties became subject to market logic: see who can publish in the most journals, get the most funding, get the most exciting results.
The competition was global, and the allegiance of the scholars became due to a faceless, international elite, not the communities they serve.
Whatever its effects on Science, the market logic as applied to Arts academia destroyed its cultural authority and social purpose. The university is now in ruins.
I remember reading this book soon after graduating, while still hankering for a vision of a life in university libraries. I do not know enough to form an objective judgment of its core arguments, but the University in Ruins came to me at the right place and the right time and was a pleasure to read.