Selling Out Higher Education

Abstract

The expansion of neo-liberal capitalism globally suggests an especially dangerous turn at the current historical moment, one that threatens both the substance of democracy as fundamental to the most basic freedom and civil liberties, and the very meaning of higher education. As the power of nation states and civil society to impose or make corporate power accountable is reduced, politics as an expression of democratic struggle is deflated and ethical responsibility appears irrelevant. As neo-liberal capitalism substitutes market relations for the rule of justice and law, it becomes more difficult for educators, students, and citizens to address pressing social and moral issues in systemic and political terms. This article addresses the fundamental shift in society regarding how we think about the relationship between corporate culture, higher education, and democracy. Specifically, it argues that one of the most important indications of such a change can be seen in the ways in which we are currently being asked to rethink the role of higher education. Underlying this analysis is the assumption that the struggle to reclaim higher education must be seen as part of a broader battle over the defense of public goods, and that at the heart of such a struggle is the need to challenge the ever-growing discourse and influence of neo-liberalism, corporate power, and corporate politics. The article concludes by offering some suggestions as to what educators can do to reassert the primacy of higher education as an essential sphere for expanding and deepening the processes of democracy and civil society. A new form of domination is emerging in our times that breaks with the orthodox method of rule-by-engagement and uses deregulation as its major vehicle: 'a mode of domination that is founded on the institution of insecurity -domination by the precariousness of existence.'[1]The imbalance of wealth and democracy in the United States in unsustainable. [2] The ascendancy of neo-liberalism and corporate culture into every aspect of American life not only consolidates economic power in the hands of the few, it

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“…This interpretation of social inclusion foregrounds notions of participation and engagement. The critical pedagogy theories are examples of educational theories grounded in the principles of social justice (Freire, 1970;Giroux, 2003;Kincheloe, Steinberg, & Hinchey, 1999;Kincheloe, Steinberg, & Villaverde, 1999) though these critical education theorists also support emancipation, empowerment and human potential as further discussed below.…”

“…Discourses inspiring such perspectives include adult developmental psychology theories that propose higher stages of human reasoning (Commons & Richards, 2002;Cook-Greuter, 2000;Sinnott, 1998), critical and transformative pedagogies of hope that reverse the focus on disadvantage and deficit and look towards positive development, lifelong and life-wide learning and empowerment (Bassett, 2005;Freire, 1995;Giroux, 2003;Hart, 2001;Kincheloe, Steinberg, & Hinchey, 1999;Montuori, 1997;Visser, 2000), postcolonial development theories that resist the westernisation and homogenisation of diverse cultures (Jain & Jain, 2003;Jain, Miller, & Jain, 2001) and discourses regarding multicultural histories, and positive futures visioning (Gidley, 2001(Gidley, , 2005.…”

Discourses of education and constitutions of class: public discourses on education in Swedish PBS television

“…Ball, Goodson, & Maguire, 2007;Biesta, 2009;Bunar, 2009;Buras & Apple, 2005;Forsey, 2009;Giroux, 2003;Hartley, 2008;Harvey, 2005;Lindblad & Popkewitz, 2004). In line with Ball (2006), one can argue that these neoliberal educational reforms are manifested in new forms of governance and new professional subjectivities for teachers, students and parents.…”

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“…As suggested by Timlin et al (2010), Garnett et al (2008) and the relevant HEFCE, HEA and government documents (HEA, 2008;HEFCE, 2006;DIUS 2008a), the realisation of the objectives of higher skills policy are just as much about cultural change as the availability of funding or the delivery of appropriate activity. "Higher Education at Work" draws attention to the potential of a culture clash between employers and institutions on the basis that "the cultures and norms in the different sectors are different" (DIUS, 2008a, p. 27), a recognition of the salience of perspectives that view greater industrial involvement as a threat to academic freedom and the pursuit of knowledge for its own sake (Delanty, 2001;Giroux, 2003).…”