Building A Radical University

A history of the University of East London

As leaders of a 'people's university', part of the vast post-1960s expansion in British higher education, UEL's first generation of educationalists was committed to innovation and to creating a new democratic identity for their institution. They were also determined to extend access to higher education to those previously excluded, and to offer East Londoners, at a time of social deprivation and political turbulence, the vocational education to meet their aspirations.

In this book, leading figures in UEL's history describe its radical accomplishments across a broad range of subject areas including Architecture, Cultural Studies, Fashion Textiles, Independent Studies, Law, and Refugee Studies. These chapters, including three by former students, evoke the excitement of an environment in which there was so much opportunity to invent, to do things differently. The book is an excellent and detailed resource for all those with an interest in the history and future of higher education in the UK, and particularly the legacy of polytechnics and new universities.

At a time of intense marketisation in the UK's higher education sector, this book insists on the possibility of democratic educational innovation and renewal.