The autonomy of knowledge and the decline of the subject: Postmodernism and the reformulation of the university

The article pertains to how one might employ postmodern assumptions in the study and analysis of comparative higher education. The text first critique s the idea of modernism by way of a discussion about postmodernism. The aut hor then analyzes the implications of postmodernism for comparative higher education research. In doing so, the author outlines five tenets of postmod ernism that revolve around alternative ways of thinking about knowledge pro duction and identity construction. The premise of the text is that postmode rnism offers a different interpretation from modernism about the twin ideas of knowledge and identity. The author concludes by offering suggestions ab out how postmodernism might reorient the work of comparative higher educati on research. Accordingly, the goal of the text is to delineate competing co nceptions of reality with regard to knowledge production, identity, and the role of the university.