学术资本视角下德国大学之滑落(1870-1940)

The Decline of German Universities(1870-1940):An Academic Capital Perspective

学界谈及德国高等教育史,多聚焦于19世纪德国大学的崛起,鲜有论及德国大学是如何从辉煌走向衰落的。从学术资本的视角分析,德国大学滑落的起点恰恰是在俾斯麦执政、帝国崛起之时,国家官僚化的学术管理,学术组织发展的缺陷,教师队伍双轨结构的冲突,都显示出德国大学巅峰下的学术危机;一战前后,德国大学遭遇外部冲击,学术共同体面临生存困境,大学学术在动荡中不断衰减;希特勒时期,非雅利安学生和教师群体均受到种族或政治歧视,文化思想与学科专业在纳粹政权的反复摧残下,不断走向没落。与同时期美国大学相比较,两国大学学术资本的发展和积累判若云泥,由此世界高等教育的中心地位最终发生转移。

Researchers on the history of universities often talk about the rise of German universities in the 19th century,but seldom discuss their subsequent fall from glory.From an academic capital perspective,the decline of German universities,which coincided with the rise of German empire,was brought about by 1)the bureaucratic model of academic administration introduced after Otto von Bismarck(1815-1898)came to power in the latter half of the 19th century,2)increasingly disempowered academic organizations on campus,as well as 3)a two-tiered faculty system,which created an artificial dichotomy between professors and mere lecturers.During the period before and after World War I,despite all their efforts to survive the turmoil and hardships,German universities had been significantly weakened.Later,when Adolf Hitler(1889-1945)ruled Germany,non-Aryan students and faculty members in the university suffered immensely through various bouts of racial discrimination and political prosecution.As a result,many social sciences and humanities faculties in German universities were half-closed at that time.In contrast,their contemporary counterparts in the U.S.,namely American universities during the World War II,enjoyed a favorable environment for academic development and rapidly boosted their own academic capital.No wonder the global center of higher education had then shifted from Germany to the U.S.