The Emergence of the University: A Case Study of the Founding of the University of Paris from a Neo-Institutionalist Perspective

This case study of the founding of the University of Paris shows how a shift in the logics of medieval education promoted the institutionalisation process that led Paris to become the model university for all subsequent European universities. As a theoretical basis for the analysis of the case, I use an institutionalist framework and complement it with Bourdieu’s notions of capital and field. More specifically, I take a closer look at how old and new institutional logics interact, how ‘change agents’ are structurally embedded, and how it is possible for an institutional logic to emerge without a corresponding institution