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Founded in 1895 by the socialist Fabian Society, the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) was created with the aim to contribute to the betterment of society (LSE web1). The founding fathers, and particularly Mr. and Mrs. Webb, were entrepreneurs intent on fighting social injustice through the creation of an institution dedicated to research and the dissemination of knowledge focused on the improvement and management of society. The Webbs’ entrepreneurial spirit played out in the various fields of entrepreneurial intention. The main interest for the Fabians was social justice, but their approach was also aimed at influencing those in (political) power through the production of scientific knowledge and the training of the coming generations. In true entrepreneurial fashion the Fabians solicited philanthropic funding as well as political support, which allowed for the rapid expansion and consolidation of the School as an adjunct entity of the University of London. The remarkable rise of the LSE as a research centre becomes evident in the fact that only ten years after its foundation it already hosted 69 (38%) of the 181 post-graduate researchers employed in the whole of England (LSE web2).
During the turbulent decades between 1910 and 1950, LSE managed to consolidate its institutional standing in British higher education. In fact, the School pioneered and established several new knowledge fields, such as geography, anthropology, and international relations, as university level disciplines. Following WWII, the political mission of the School was increasingly realised as a growing number of graduates became members of London’s political elite [i]. With the support of these graduates, the School’s director and his Beveridge Report is understood by many to be the foundational block for the creation of the British welfare state. In this period the School also became one of the key intellectual sites for the discourse (and theoretical defeat) of the communist planned-economy versus capitalistic free markets (see also chapter 1 section on knowledge entrepreneurship, (Hull, 2002)). Based on (these) intellectual accomplishments, the School continued to grow alongside its burgeoning reputation. These positive trends continued until under the political reforms of the Thatcher era, when the School lost it direct policy shaping influence, as the profound and well-articulated arguments against the dismantling of the welfare state uttered by LSE’s stakeholders were received as counter-productive. The School became known as a meeting-point for free-thinkers and the alternative culture that developed in London during the 1960’s and 1970’s. After this intellectual dynamism followed a period of organisational disorder and political neglect.
The School’s more recent development can be characterized as a success of observation and interpretation in the competitive economic and intellectual business race in the higher education sector. The global competition for the most elite student body and their contingently elite pocketbooks eventually led to a streamlined bureaucracy and more effective education. During this transformation, the LSE developed a business model which guaranteed its economic stability and its promise of a high academic standard. Arguably, the School has - in harmony with, or maybe as trend-setter for, the general public - lost its idealistic roots and vision. But it has managed to develop and maintain an exceptional global reputation based on its successful training of outstanding politicians, economists and researchers.
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[i] Despite its socialist Fabian roots the School has produced predominately social-liberal and libertarian politicians and political advisors (LSE web)
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