In August, a volume with communications from the biannual Colloquiums of Glion was published, led by the University of Geneva, Switzerland, addressing the challenges faced by public universities in this small Swiss town.
The idea that the university is a fifth force is appealing and pertinent. Given the three classical powers of the state – executive, legislative and judicial – and a press that must meticulously and objectively monitor the abuse of other powers (as well as the economic one), there will be a fourth power, a fifth power. The university system was added at a time when major platforms (you know: Amazon, Facebook, Twitter, Google) were breaking the rules of the game.
The idea of the fifth power has already been proposed Ignatius Ramonet Twenty years ago through Le Monde Diplomatique, which could only expose abuses of power and not in the service of the greater interests of its owners and companies, only by reference to a real media power. With the business model blurred, weakened, and depressed after the advent of the Internet, the press and media do not appear to be in a position to perform the critical function required in these times of digital glory and when derived results are almost obediently accepted.
One of the authors of this collective book argues that the rise of these platforms and the heavy use of algorithms undermine the function of universities as a fifth power, as guardians of a shared knowledge culture and as agents of new knowledge. Disinformation, hoaxes and self-seeking campaigns circulate freely between networks and streets without a counterweight to science and truth. The result is also the destruction of the common democratic culture based on scientific reliance: let’s think about climate change, for example, and the inability to articulate a serious and calm discussion around polarization and really pressing issues. .
Another chapter proposes the impetus of so-called knowledge diplomacy, capable of harnessing all the results of research produced by the university system, in order to diligently apply the possible fifth power that can help guide the world towards a common and common goal. Spain should not remain indifferent to this incipient debate, because it is the very essence of democracy that is at stake.