Co-research into higher education – theory and practice

Higher education research holds a specific status as a field of knowledge production that emerged from particular state interests in expanding and controlling the sector. Today, most of the knowledge produced by higher education researchers serves (directly or indirectly) either governments or capital to expand their control and infiltrate the reality of higher education. This paper explores different modes of producing knowledge about the sector and the ways in which this knowledge reshapes it from within, alongside its main actors. Co-research (Italian: conricerca), a method developed within Italian Marxism, effectively avoids the false opposition between knowledge production and movement, between theory and practice. It embodies Marx’s concept of praxis and bridges knowledge production with the organization of counter-subjectivity. The aim of co-research is not simply to collect ‘objectified’ knowledge about a given issue or group, but rather to activate knowledge-generating processes that contribute to shaping specific student or worker subjectivities and the strengthening and development of autonomous political organizations through which they fight for their interests. This paper discusses both the theory and history of co-research, as well as examples of the practical application of this method within the context of contemporary student university struggles in Poland (2023-2024). Special attention is paid to two recent examples of co-research practice summarised in two extensive volumes written and published in 2024 by Polish students: Jowita zostaje. 10 dni ruchu studenckiego and Kamionka zostanie. Rok studenckich okupacji. These books document and analyze the student occupation protests in defense of public student dormitories. In discussing the theory and practice of co-research, we also refer to the recent history of student resistance to the progressive sell-off of public universities, the transformation of students into precarious student-workers, and their efforts to realize the dream of the university as the common good.