Public University: Extreme Capitalism and Branding. Assembling a Motley Puzzle

The state, faced with the democratisation of access to higher education, is obliged to finance other activities of the university, or of the universities that depend on it, equitably and wrongly. In addition, this funding raises the question of the university’s autonomy from public and political authorities. The private sector could, insofar as a competitive economic climate is concerned, contribute by funding higher education, but not without a quid pro quo. Its funding would therefore be directed mainly towards the work of research laboratories, from which it would expect tangible and lucrative results. Between the state and private sectors, the intermediate position is occupied by the “Economic Public Enterprises” and the “Public Establishments of an Industrial and Commercial Nature”. This sector, which is supposed to represent a transitional stage towards the privatisation of public enterprises, and where the enterprises belonging to it enjoy financial autonomy, could be, albeit temporarily, an effective actor in the process of branding the university, through actions of sponsorship, funding of research work, and partnerships in general. Although the integration of ‘EPICs’ and ‘EPEs’ into the branding process of universities seems feasible, the same cannot be said for internal branding, for which the adoption of a system of subcontracting in administrative management does not seem to be imminent for the Algerian public university