Academic freedom, corporate higher education, and the place of the university

Universities are undergoing major transformations in response to diverse, conflicting pressures. This article analyses one such case: the University of Tasmania’s transformation agenda and public and academic reactions to it that were strong enough to prompt a state parliamentary inquiry. Drawing on qualitative analysis of 151 written submissions to that Inquiry, we ask: What is the university as an idea? How are academic freedom and autonomy understood in relation to that idea? How is neoliberal corporatism positioned in these debates? We situate the analysis in broader discussions about the role and future of higher education and in geographical debates about place, institutional transformation, university-city relations, and the emotional politics of contested change. We document how submissions reveal deep attachments to the idea of the university, alongside starkly opposing views on the direction of change. We argue that public debate about university transformation is manifestly a geographical debate about where the university belongs, how it should be governed, and what kinds of public, academic, civic, and affective relations it should sustain. These tensions highlight challenges for institutional governance and public trust. If considered creatively as well as critically, such tensions offer opportunities to renew how universities and higher education are understood.