Editorial Power

Abstract

This journal is an instrument of power. It represents the values and interests of contemporary Western culture in terms of research, education and popularization. Though shrouded behind a veil of honesty, objectivity and scientific impartiality, academic publications, like any other, are merchandise: their physical format and the structure of their contents are the result of a long process of adaptation to the publishing market under contemporary capitalism, which clearly includes the knowledge capital produced by public universities. As with all institutions in our society, universities have a clear agenda whose primary objective is the uninterrupted growth of productivity and consumption. They must seek out and work in conjunction with the plans of major public and private enterprises and successfully place their graduates at these enterprises. Historically, the products of our disciplines – buildings, cities and, in more recent times, objects and landscapes – have more or less been successfully inserted into the market structures that represent power.