ABSTRACT
This chapter studies the transformations of research universities under intellectual monopoly capitalism. In a context where a few corporations have monopolized the capacity to plan and profit from knowledge, conforming intellectual monopolies, we suggest that research universities play a crucial role that required a twofold transformation. We conceptually distinguish between 1) the transformation of academic labour, adapting itself to capitalist production processes, and 2) the adoption of business or enterprise features, that have led universities to also turn knowledge into intangible assets. We identify different degrees of bargaining power to decide the conditions of those exchanges. Thus, we argue that research universities’ adoption of corporate features can be better understood as a differentiated process. While a few can be even conceived as academic intellectual monopolies, most research universities subordinate to corporate (and academic) intellectual monopolies. We argue that academic intellectual monopolies participate in the organization and control of (global) innovation networks, thus profiting from their results. At the same time, most research universities exchange research results and research capacity in a subordinated way, without garnering significant intellectual rents from their innovative contributions.
