Academic Labour, Unemployment and Global Higher Education: Neoliberal Policies of Funding and Management (Palgrave Critical University Studies)

Palgrave Critical Universities Studies Series Editor: John Smyth, University of Hudderfield, UK This book explores how the kinds of world-wide restructurings of higher education and research work that are underway today have not only increased employment insecurity in academia but may actually be producing unemployment both for those within academia and for graduate job-seekers in other sectors. Recent and current re-organisations of higher education and research work, and re-orientations of academic life (as students, researchers, teachers) generally, which are taking place around the world, achieve exactly the opposite of what they claim: though ostensibly undertaken to facilitate employment, these moves actually produce unemployment both for those within academia and for graduate job-seekers in other sectors Series Editor’s Preface 6 Contents 10 Notes on Contributors 14 Chapter 1: Introduction: Academia and the Production of Unemployment 18 References 36 Part I: The Political Economy of Higher Education Policy Initiatives Now 38 Chapter 2: The Implausible Knowledge Triangle of the Western Balkans 39 The Knowledge Economy as a Neoliberal Script 39 Epistemic Communities as Knowledge-Economy Scripters 43 Lisbon’s Bumpy Travels to the Western Balkans 47 Conclusion 51 References 52 Chapter 3: Human and Inhuman Capital, and Schooling: The Case of Slovenia 56 The History and Political Effects of Human-­Capital Theory 57 Capital, Profit, Wage 62 Human Capital and Education 65 References 69 Chapter 4: Privatising Minds: New Educational Policies in India 71 Introduction 71 State Conceptualisations of Higher Education 73 Higher Education: From Good to Goods 76 Privatisation of Higher Education and the Corporate Corpus 78 In Lieu of a Conclusion 88 References 90 Part II: Management and Leadership Against Academic Freedom 93 Chapter 5: ‘Academic Leadership’ and the Conditions of Academic Work 94 The Big Picture 95 Observations from the UK 104 References 114 Chapter 6: Not Working: Shared Services and the Production of Unemployment 116 What Is Shared Services? Management Theory and Academic Applications 117 Shared Services in Context 120 Lessons and Reflections 124 References 126 Part III: Generation Gaps and Economic Dependency in Academic Life 127 Chapter 7: Graduate Unemployment in Post-Haircut Cyprus: Where Have All the Students Gone? 128 The Evolution of Higher Education in Cyprus 129 The Haircut and Its Aftermath 132 Graduate Stories 133 Panayiotis Christodoulou, 26, Nicosia, Cyprus 134 The Value of a Degree versus Doing Jobs That Are Irrelevant to It 135 The Difficulties of Finding a Satisfying and Appropriate Job 136 Unemployment 137 The Future: Living in or Leaving Cyprus 139 Conclusion 141 References 142 Chapter 8: ‘Dare to Dare’: Academic Pedagogy in Times of Flattened Hierarchies 144 The Antinomies of the ‘Social’ 147 ‘Dare to Dare’ 150 Academia’s New Pedagogy 152 References 158 Chapter 9: Cannibalising the Collegium: The Plight of the Humanities and Social Sciences in the Managerial University 161 The Expanding Academy: Australian Higher Education Since World War II 162 The Rise of the Remote Technocrats 166 Taming Managerialism: Beyond the Taylorist University 169 Conclusion 173 References 174 Chapter 10: Between Career Progression and Career Stagnation: Casualisation, Tenure, and the Contract of Indefinite Duration in Ireland 176 Context: The Rise and Fall of the Public University 177 The Decline of Academic Tenure 179 Between Progression and Stagnation: The Case of Ireland 182 Coda 188 References 190 Part IV: The Scope of Collective Action in Academia 194 Chapter 11: Are University Struggles Worth Fighting? 195 Conceptual Framework 196 Case Study: A Spillover of University Struggle 201 References 207 Chapter 12: You’re Either a Flower in the Dustbin or the Spark That Lights a Fire: On Precarity and Student Protests 209 Introduction 209 A New Class in the Making? 211 Graduates with No Future 213 New Forms of Precarious Protest 216 First Steps in Coalition-Building: The UK Student Movement 219 Conclusion 220 References 221 Chapter 13: Whither Critical Scholarship in the Modern University? Critique, Radical Democracy, and Counter-Hegemony 223 Introduction 223 Critique 225 Critical Scholarship: State of Play 227 Counter-Hegemony 229 How Does This Work in the Academy? 232 Conclusion 233 References 234 Chapter 14: Academics as Workers: From Career Management to Class Analysis and Collective Action 238 References 251 Index 254 "Series Editorâ#x80;#x99;s Preface"--"Contents"--"Notes on Contributors" -- "Chapter 1: Introduction: Academia and the Production of Unemployment" -- "References" -- "Part I: The Political Economy of Higher Education Policy Initiatives Now" -- "Chapter 2: The Implausible Knowledge Triangle of the Western Balkans" -- "The Knowledge Economy as a Neoliberal Script" -- "Epistemic Communities as Knowledge-Economy Scripters" -- "Lisbonâ#x80;#x99;s Bumpy Travels to the Western Balkans" -- "Conclusion" -- "References" -- "Chapter 3: Human and Inhuman Capital, and Schooling: The Case of Slovenia" -- "The History and Political Effects of Human-ÂƯCapital Theory" -- "Capital, Profit, Wage" -- "Human Capital and Education" -- "References" -- "Chapter 4: Privatising Minds: New Educational Policies in India" -- "Introduction" -- "State Conceptualisations of Higher Education" -- "Higher Education: From Good to Goods" -- "Privatisation of Higher Education and the Corporate Corpus" -- "In Lieu of a Conclusion" -- "References" -- "Part II: Management and Leadership Against Academic Freedom" -- "Chapter 5: â#x80;#x98;Academic Leadershipâ#x80;#x99; and the Conditions of Academic Work" -- "The Big Picture" -- "Observations from the UK" -- "References" -- "Chapter 6: Not Working: Shared Services and the Production of Unemployment" -- " What Is Shared Services? Management Theory and Academic Applications" -- "Shared Services in Context" -- "Lessons and Reflections" -- "References" -- "Part III: Generation Gaps and Economic Dependency in Academic Life" -- "Chapter 7: Graduate Unemployment in Post-Haircut Cyprus: Where Have All the Students Gone?" -- "The Evolution of Higher Education in Cyprus" -- "The Haircut and Its Aftermath" -- " Graduate Stories" -- "Panayiotis Christodoulou, 26, Nicosia, Cyprus." Front Matter....Pages i-xvi Introduction: Academia and the Production of Unemployment....Pages 1-20 Front Matter....Pages 21-21 The Implausible Knowledge Triangle of the Western Balkans....Pages 23-39 Human and Inhuman Capital, and Schooling: The Case of Slovenia....Pages 41-55 Privatising Minds: New Educational Policies in India....Pages 57-78 Front Matter....Pages 79-79 ‘Academic Leadership’ and the Conditions of Academic Work....Pages 81-102 Not Working: Shared Services and the Production of Unemployment....Pages 103-113 Front Matter....Pages 115-115 Graduate Unemployment in Post-Haircut Cyprus: Where Have All the Students Gone?....Pages 117-132 ‘Dare to Dare’: Academic Pedagogy in Times of Flattened Hierarchies....Pages 133-149 Cannibalising the Collegium: The Plight of the Humanities and Social Sciences in the Managerial University....Pages 151-165 Between Career Progression and Career Stagnation: Casualisation, Tenure, and the Contract of Indefinite Duration in Ireland....Pages 167-184 Front Matter....Pages 185-185 Are University Struggles Worth Fighting?....Pages 187-200 You’re Either a Flower in the Dustbin or the Spark That Lights a Fire: On Precarity and Student Protests....Pages 201-214 Whither Critical Scholarship in the Modern University? Critique, Radical Democracy, and Counter-Hegemony....Pages 215-229 Academics as Workers: From Career Management to Class Analysis and Collective Action....Pages 231-246 Back Matter....Pages 247-252 This book explores how the kinds of world-wide restructurings of higher education and research work that are underway today have not only increased employment insecurity in academia but may actually be producing unemployment both for those within academia and for graduate job-seekers in other sectors. Recent and current re-organizations of higher education and research work, and re-orientations of academic life (as students, researchers, teachers) generally, which are taking place around the world, achieve exactly the opposite of what they claim: though ostensibly undertaken to facilitate employment, these moves actually produce unemployment both for those within academia and for graduate job-seekers in other sectors.--Publisher's description