Rethinking Science and Commodifying Knowledge

Abstract

Several commentators have remarked that universities are now under constant pressure to promote the commodification of knowledge produced by faculty and students. Although academic opinion on the implications of the drive to commodification remains divided, there is a general consensus that at the very least it has the potential to change the conditions for conducting science. This article provides an analysis of the debate and practices associated with the commodification of knowledge produced in universities. The article concludes that the commodification of knowledge is part of a global process of commodifying everything and that academics are both promoters and victims of the commodification of knowledge.