The principle role of education is to prepare individuals to be “productive members of society”: literally to internalize the idea that a certain type of production is necessary and then to learn the behaviors and skills necessary to produce the commodities, technologies, or services that perpetuate industrial capitalist society.
In primary education (K-12th grade), this means that schools reproduce the repressive social order by teaching obedience and hierarchy (sit down, be quiet, repeat after me, etc). This type of schooling makes the job of rulers much easier because it is no longer necessary for them to rule by the threat of violence—they can instead produce subjects that have internalized the rules of society so entirely that they will police themselves and each other.
In secondary or higher education, colleges and universities teach the information and skills necessary to create workers or professionals that will ensure the continuation of production that is necessary for capitalism. As it says on the University of California Office of the President’s website: “Through our academic programs, UC helps create an educated workforce that keeps the California economy competitive. UC provides continuing education for Californians to improve their job skills and enhance the quality of their lives.” This may sound like a positive thing unless one starts to look closely at what “work” and “the economy” really mean and to question why one’s “quality of life” would possibly be tied into work, which is in fact interfering with the ability to determine the substance of one’s life.
Universities reproduce class stratification leaving most of the world's populace impoverished and marginalized. A university is not just producing any workers; they are producing the managers of this society; i.e. those who will manage the time, energy, and creativity of those below them. If we are ever to destroy class society, and with it the relationship of exploiter/exploited, we must attack the institutions necessary for producing class society.
As a research university, UCSC’s role is to develop technologies that benefit society. However, what this means is that technologies are developed that reproduce rigid and hierarchical social roles, alienate people from each other and the natural world, and enable those in power to increase their control over all life. Within the past few years this has become increasingly apparent at UCSC as the administration and regents pour money and resources into academic disciplines such as Engineering, Computer Science, and Biomedical Research, which are all career paths meant to develop ways for capitalism and government to run more efficiently. From oil drilling, to net-centric battle systems, to digitizing the human genome (where totalitarian applications are becoming increasingly plausible), UCSC is often at the forefront of developing technologies that have a devastating effect on our world.
Looking at UCSC from an architectural perspective, there is further indication that it serves as a tool of social control. A French architect once analyzed the design and layout of UCSC. He wrote that because of administrators' concerns over the student demonstrations and riots at UC Berkeley during the 60’s, UCSC was designed to have no central place to gather. It was built with various colleges (currently 10) dispersed throughout the land so that if there were student unrest at one college, it would be unlikely to spread to other colleges. As well, any rebellion would be easier to contain and thus control. He also wrote about how the design of specific buildings was made so that police forces could easily regain and prevent student occupations. However, while it may be somewhat successful in the prevention of large gatherings, it leaves a lot of possibility for smaller, spontaneous actions.