Brandist, C. (2017) The Perestroika of Academic Labour: The Neoliberal Transformation of Higher Education and the Resurrection of the ‘Command Economy’. Ephemera : Theory and Politics in Organization, 17 (3). pp. 583-608. ISSN 1473-2866
Abstract
This paper compares the changing function and organisation of higher education (HE) under neoliberal reforms, with particular focus on the UK, with those introduced by the Stalin regime in the 1930s and developed in the decades that followed. Although ideologically contrasting, many policies developed to subordinate HE and other state enterprises more directly to the accumulation of capital driven by competition are in many respects strikingly similar in each case. The historical development of each is examined, along with the political economy underlying them, highlighting the most important common features and differences. The proletarianisation of HE in the UK is shown to have encouraged the adoption of ‘spontaneous’ forms of resistance reminiscent of those workers adopted in the USSR to protect themselves from bureaucratic pressure. The paper suggests ways in which these forms of resistance might be incorporated into a more general struggle against the encroachment of neoliberalism.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2017 The Author(s). Article available under the terms of the CC BY-NC-ND 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/) licence |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Sheffield |
Academic Units: | The University of Sheffield > Faculty of Arts and Humanities (Sheffield) > School of Languages and Cultures (Sheffield) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Sheffield |
Date Deposited: | 22 Nov 2016 11:13 |
Last Modified: | 09 Mar 2018 12:01 |
Published Version: | http://www.ephemerajournal.org/contribution/perest... |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Ephemera Editorial Collective |
Refereed: | Yes |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:106757 |