Anti-Universities, Archives and Abolitionism: Alternative Models to the University
Authors: Franklin, I.
Publication Date: 06/05/2026
Publisher: SAGE Social Science Space
Abstract:The current crisis in higher education—marked by defunding, marketisation, and the devaluation of the humanities —demands a rethinking not just of institutions, but of the very idea of education itself. In this context, countercultural and grassroots educational experiments offer alternative models worth revisiting. One such example is the Anti-University of London, founded in 1968 with a radical ethos, articulated by Joe Berke: “The […] universities are dead. They must be destroyed and rebuilt in our own terms.” This sentiment resonates today, as scholars and activists seek ways to sustain critical inquiry and public engagement beyond the increasingly commodified university.
This piece proposes to explore how archives of dissent—like those held by the MayDay Rooms in London or the Blinken OSA Archivum in Hungary—can serve as platforms for public scholarship and creative practice. Through initiatives like the MayDay Rooms' “Archiving from Below” series and the new EU-funded ACTIVATE project (which preserves and mobilizes archives of political and social dissent), these institutions embody a form of “countering education.” They provide both content and methodology for reimagining the university: participatory, locally embedded, and politically engaged.
In the wake of university cuts, closures, and ideological repression—as seen in Hungary’s forced exile of Central European University—these archives have shown how to move beyond preservation towards pedagogy, to become active sites of knowledge production. The article will argue that in the face of institutional decline, such “counter-institutions” might play a crucial role in keeping alive the emancipatory potential of education and countering monopolies of knowledge.
Source: Manual