Jante Universitet

                            THE WRITING ON THE WALL   The trilogy “Jante Universitet” offers a comprehensive critique of the Danish university system, showing the wide-ranging consequences of New Public Management to a country’s educational standards and its economy.      HANDBOOK AND NOVEL-LIKE STORY   The trilogy offers the unique combination of a handbook and an authentic story. The novel-like story line is based on the experiences of a German professor, documented over a 3-year period at a Danish university.  As a systematic handbook, “Jante Universitet” can be read within two hours using the clearly marked “short cuts”. The individual episodes depict the absurdities of everyday life at a university, from departmental structures and petty intrigues through a scandalous teaching strategy to the questionable management methods of administrators who have total power over the academic staff.  The handbook is a tool for those who are interested in and have responsibility for university education – not only in Denmark, but in all countries where New Public Management has begun to negatively impact higher education.     VOLUME 3: TOTALITARIAN STRUCTURES  A totalitarian regime does not tolerate criticism. Office arrest is one of the sanctions such a regime will use as punishment for a critical professor – for example in Denmark.  This is what Professor Liane realizes after having rightfully criticized the scandalous standards at Jante University. The tricks used by the management to bully the critical professor and drive her out of her position would be fitting for a crime novel – or a Kafkaesk story, in which human rights and a democratic legal system disappear into thin air.  TOTALITARIAN STRUCTURES comprises several little books in one volume. Six chapters present a concise analysis of the New Public Management system and its fatal consequences for education and society. A unit of five chapters illustrates why legal security stands on shaky ground in Denmark. The systematic introductions to the six seasons in the book offer you a short cut to the basic criticism.     BACKGROUND   The trilogy is based on the so-called “Koldau Case” that caused a major scandal in Denmark in 2012, concerning  • the right of university staff to freedom of speech,  • the mismanagement of and totalitarian structures within Danish universities,  • the low standards of university education in the humanities  • the disastrous consequences of the Danish University Law of 2003.