What is the point of academics (1968-2018)?

The activity of academics is increasingly being shaped by contradictory requirements: to invest in administrative and pedagogical activities; to participate in the race for funding, internationalization and publication. At the same time, the progressive specialization of knowledge and expertise has eroded the symbol of a universal intellectual (born in France at the time of the Dreyfus affair) to the benefit of "specific intellectuals" (Mr. Foucault), experts in their field but struggling to promote a generalist vision of the social order. The transformations in the contemporary public debate (political field, media) have also changed the conditions for the production and reception of academic position.

Organized in May 2019, on the occasion of the celebration of the 50th anniversary of the Université Paris-Dauphine, this study aims to assess these transformations: how working conditions for academics have changed since 1968 and what impact on the university's missions - first and foremost the dissemination of knowledge and the training of students with reflective and critical capacities. If retreating into an ivory tower is no longer a solution in a period when values of knowledge and trust is in decline in the use of reason, how can we think the contribution of intellectuals to contemporary public debates? Is it necessary to (re)invest political debate? Can social media replace the more traditional channels of debate? What publication strategy should be pursued? How can we better share the fruits of research? Is expertise with public authorities the only way?