Abstract

The past two decades have significantly transformed how universities are led, organised, and operated. One of the reform agendas in universities is the culture of entrepreneurship. This chapter interrogates contemporary public university reforms, commonly packaged under the aegis of ‘entrepreneurial’ universities, and how these have affected academic freedom. Although several studies have hailed these reforms as building blocks for an established knowledge economy, more needs to be said about their potential to derail academic freedom. This chapter employs the Triple Helix thesis/theory to critically analyse the prospect of new public management (NPM) and entrepreneurial reform agenda to curtail academic freedom in African universities. The chapter draws its findings mainly from secondary sources, such as newspaper articles/periodicals, government and civil society reports, archival documents and academic publications. The chapter argues that the current university reforms, which policymakers have enthusiastically embraced, are the antithesis of academic freedom because they introduce tensions, contradictions, and paradoxes that can potentially negatively affect the scholarship culture, especially in public universities.

Original language	en
Pages (from-to)	109-123
Publication status	Published - 2024