THE UNIVERSITY AND THE CAPTIVE MIND

by:
Wan Ahmad Fayhsal bin Wan Ahmad Kamal
(Fellow at HAKIM)


Abstract

The role of the university in this modern age has become central to new discourse that goes by the name of ‘globalization’ and 'development'. This discourse seeks to dominate our daily life, particularly in the so-called developing countries. Most intelligent people will agree that the challenge of globalization and development must be considered seriously in order to preempt any pitfalls to the country and its citizens. The university as one of the major stakeholder in the process and outcome of this globalization project is being redefined according to the governing agenda of the globalization phenomena, resulting in dramatic changes to its structure, substance and, most importantly, its purpose. The fruit of these changes is what the late Professor Dr. Syed Hussein Alatas has observed a few decades before, namely, in the rise of the ‘captive mind’. The impact of the ‘captive mind’ is analyzed with a view to circumvent and curtail the spread as much as we would do likewise in the case of a devouring wildfire.

Keywords: university, globalization, development, captive mind, captor mind

Introduction

As we progress into the new millennia, the various fields of knowledge generated by the university have expanded in terms of quantity (facts, data and the like) and quality (perhaps not in the sense of ‘wisdom’ but rather in terms of its ‘presentation’). This knowledge expansion is a good thing if we look upon it superficially but perhaps not necessarily so if we were to consider it from all angles, tangible and intangible. The main reason for this (hopefully healthy dose of) skepticism is the growing empirical evidence that the governing ideas of the university such as ‘progress’, ‘development’ and ‘globalization’ promising an earthly utopia of plenty without want have rather delivered existential nightmares for most people in the so-called Third World.