Envisioning Knowledge Exchange in a Gift Economy

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Bibliographic Details
Title: Envisioning Knowledge Exchange in a Gift Economy
Language: English
Authors: Leslie W. Lewis
Source: Prospects. 2024 54(2):433-439.
Availability: Springer. Available from: Springer Nature. One New York Plaza, Suite 4600, New York, NY 10004. Tel: 800-777-4643; Tel: 212-460-1500; Fax: 212-460-1700; e-mail: customerservice@springernature.com; Web site: https://link.springer.com/
Peer Reviewed: Y
Page Count: 7
Publication Date: 2024
Document Type: Journal Articles
Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education
Postsecondary Education
Descriptors: Knowledge Management, Economics, Access to Information, Social Exchange Theory, Shift Studies, Higher Education, Court Litigation, Content Analysis
DOI: 10.1007/s11125-023-09662-9
ISSN: 0033-1538
1573-9090
Abstract: Key to a new contract for education is understanding that knowledge is not scarce, it is not a commodity, and it does not belong in a market economy. Instead, knowledge exchange is gift exchange, and education, when not thwarted or constricted, demonstrates its abundance. The abundance of knowledge operates in ways similar to the abundance of nature, as described by the ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer in her essay "The serviceberry: An economy of abundance". We can therefore draw productive parallels between education and the new agroecology, which recognizes the intertwining nature and importance of the diversity of life and the gifts that come from the synergy of that diversity. Just as monoculture farming gives way to holistic farming, monoculture learning must also give way to a paradigm shift. Helping us envision this shift are arguments made in a court case in the US brought by the Department of Justice against 23 universities, including those in the Ivy League (US v Brown, 1992 and 1993). Through ideas expressed in court in defense of admissions practices, we can see how the cooperation necessary for a new education paradigm might be constructed. This essay invites us to more fully envision this new paradigm by focusing on the key shift that happens when knowledge exchange is understood to be gift exchange.
Abstractor: As Provided
Entry Date: 2024
Accession Number: EJ1435541
Database: ERIC
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Abstract:Key to a new contract for education is understanding that knowledge is not scarce, it is not a commodity, and it does not belong in a market economy. Instead, knowledge exchange is gift exchange, and education, when not thwarted or constricted, demonstrates its abundance. The abundance of knowledge operates in ways similar to the abundance of nature, as described by the ecologist Robin Wall Kimmerer in her essay "The serviceberry: An economy of abundance". We can therefore draw productive parallels between education and the new agroecology, which recognizes the intertwining nature and importance of the diversity of life and the gifts that come from the synergy of that diversity. Just as monoculture farming gives way to holistic farming, monoculture learning must also give way to a paradigm shift. Helping us envision this shift are arguments made in a court case in the US brought by the Department of Justice against 23 universities, including those in the Ivy League (US v Brown, 1992 and 1993). Through ideas expressed in court in defense of admissions practices, we can see how the cooperation necessary for a new education paradigm might be constructed. This essay invites us to more fully envision this new paradigm by focusing on the key shift that happens when knowledge exchange is understood to be gift exchange.
ISSN:0033-1538
1573-9090
DOI:10.1007/s11125-023-09662-9