Davarian L. Baldwin | Beyond Corporatization

Davarian L. Baldwin | Beyond Corporatization: The University Campus as a Unique Site of Capitalization The notion of corporatization is illustrative in its explanatory power to diagnose current frustrations with higher education. But is it enough? With Hyde Park in mind, this talk will explore the 800-pound gargoyle in the room by exploring higher education’s current state as not one of corruption but of capitalization. How can we understand the unique formulation of university, in policy and practice, as especially conducive for suppressing liberatory possibilities, both on campus and in its host community? At the same time, how might the unique condition of “the campus” be deployed to serve new forms of knowledge and social transformation? Dr. Davarian L. Baldwin is an internationally recognized historian, cultural critic, and public advocate. He is the Paul E. Raether  Distinguished Professor of American Studies and Founding Director of the Smart Cities Research Lab at Trinity College in Hartford, Connecticut. His academic and political commitments have focused on global cities and particularly the diverse and marginalized communities that struggle to maintain sustainable lives in urban locales. Baldwin is the award-winning author of several books, most recently, In the Shadow of the Ivory Tower: How Universities Are Plundering Our Cities, and served as the consultant and text author for The World of the Harlem Renaissance: A Jigsaw Puzzle (2022). His commentaries and opinions have been featured in numerous outlets from NBC News, BBC, and HULU to USA Today, The Washington Post, and TIME magazine. Baldwin was named a 2022 Freedom Scholar by the Marguerite Casey Foundation for his work in racial and economic justice. This event was presented by 3CT and co-sponsored by the Pozen Family Center for Human Rights; the Committee on Environment, Geography and Urbanization; the Center for the Study of Race, Politics, and Culture; the Mansueto Institute for Urban Innovation; Chicago Studies; the Department of Race, Diaspora, and Indigeneity; the Department of Political Science; the Department of Anthropology; and the Department of Sociology. — Recorded September 30, 2025. All rights to the words and ideas expressed in this video are retained exclusively by their authors. If you would like to reuse a segment of this video, please contact the Chicago Center for Contemporary Theory to request permission.