The author reviews the main elements of Richard Münch’s academic capitalism theory. By introducing categories like “audit university” or “entrepreneurial university,” the German sociologist critically sets the present academic management model against the earlier, modern-era conception of academic research as an “exchange of gifts.” In the sociological and psychological sense, the latter is a social communication structure rooted in traditional social lore, for instance the potlatch ceremonies celebrated by some North-American Indian tribes which Marcel Mauss described. Münch shows the similarities between that old “gift exchanging” model and the contemporary one with its focus on the psychosocial fundamentals of scientific praxis, and from this gradually derives the academic capitalism conception. His conclusion is the critical claim that science possesses its own, inalienable axiological autonomy and anthropological dimension, which degenerate in result of capitalism’s “colonisation” of science by means of state authority and money (here Münch refers to Jürgen Habermas’s philosophical argumentation). The author also offers many of his own reflections on the problem, which allows Münch’s analyses to be viewed in a somewhat broader context.
The paper deals with the properties and microstructure of Reactive Powder Concrete (RPC), which was developed at Cracow University of Technology. The influence of three different curing conditions: water (W), steam (S) and autoclave (A) and also steel fibres content on selected properties of RPC was analyzed. The composite characterized by w/s ratio equal to 0.20 and silica fume to cement ratio 20%, depending on curing conditions and fibres content, obtained compressive strength was in the range from 200 to 315 MPa, while modulus of elasticity determined during compression was about 50 GPa. During three-point bending test load-deflection curves were registered. Base on aforementioned measurements following parameters were calculated: flexural strength, stress at limit of proportionality (LOP), stress at modulus of rapture (MOR), work of fracture (WF), and toughness indices I₅, I₁₀ and I₂₀. Both amount of steel fibres and curing conditions influence the deflection of RPC during bending.