ABSTRACT
In this article, Michael Peters articulates knowledge socialism as an alternative orientation to the more well-known terms of knowledge economy and knowledge capitalism. In the course, Peters gives a holistic account of the history of knowledge capitalism and socialism, as seen in the context of higher education and university life over time. Knowledge capitalism for Peters reflects a profound transformation of knowledge in relation to the recent phase of information technology use and digital capitalism. Influenced by Jean-Francois Lyotard, knowledge socialism can be seen as an alternative view informed by ‘post-structural Marxism’. Knowledge socialism entails a critique of the ownership and privatisation strategies encouraged under knowledge capitalism. Knowledge cultures are significant in this context, as cultures under knowledge capitalism meet in the unequal setting of the global, technological information and knowledge marketplace. As Peters argues, knowledge socialism is fundamental to traditions of university life, which is marked by the free exchange of ideas, enhanced by peer review. Meanwhile, knowledge capitalism hides its exclusivity, and its implications of scarcity and competition, under the name of innovation, despite the limits exclusion places on innovation in idea creation. The essay thus gives a systematic view of the way economic and technological values intersect in the contemporary era, while reflecting on the state of current understanding of ideology, capitalism, socialism, and culture.
