This article considers the role of experiments in learning in movements to democratise higher education ‘under the rule of capital’ (Gutierrez, Navarro and Linsalata 2017). It focuses on the emergence of a new generation of ‘free universities’ in the United Kingdom, situating these in a historical tradition of educational experimentation and a current context of global movements for autonomy from the state, capital and dominating epistemologies. It argues that free universities can contribute to transforming the relationship between knowledge, university and society, but that these contributions are often invisible within the logic of the dominant institutional systems. Conceptualising the projects as struggles for autonomy renders these contributions visible and valuable for educational reformers working both within and independently of the university.

中文翻译：

---

'疯狂的勇气'

本文考虑了实验在“资本统治”下的高等教育民主化运动中的学习作用（Gutierrez、Navarro 和 Linsalata，2017 年）。它侧重于英国新一代“自由大学”的出现，将它们置于教育实验的历史传统和全球运动的当前背景下，以摆脱国家、资本和主导认识论的影响。它认为，自由大学有助于改变知识、大学和社会之间的关系，但这些贡献在占主导地位的制度体系的逻辑中往往是不可见的。