Ivy and Industry-CL

Capitalism has always been one of America's signature attributes; its principles, rules and rhetoric are an essential part of the country's most vital institutions, including academia. Newfield's dense history shows that, beginning in the late 19th century with the rise of the university as an autonomous institution, the languages of the market and of the university have overlapped--to varying degrees of success and damage. That a force as powerful as America's market economy should have influenced the structure of the research university seems as inevitable as it is obvious; and so, though Newfield's accounting of this process is detailed and well researched, it is hardly groundbreaking. Newfield lays a foundation for exploring the technical relationship between research universities and the corporate entities whose financial support, governing models and culture have influenced them, but soon focuses in on his real target: the professional middle class. Research universities have served the needs of commerce by producing an educated managerial class, but as Newfield notes,""humanism and management are tied together in conflict."" A professor of English by trade, Newfield offers a concise and thoughtful consideration of literary criticism's radical response to the industrial world, insightfully concluding that the liberal arts and business culture are also inextricably linked. The university, like the industry to which it is faithfully wed, has played a vital role in shaping this nation, and Newfield, by dissecting that relationship, has made a valuable contribution to the understanding of our culture.