Academic Life and Labour in the New University

Academic Life and Labour in the New University PDF

Author: Ruth Barcan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-23

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1317185943

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What does it mean to be an academic today? What kinds of experiences do students have, and how are they affected by what they learn? Why do so many students and their teachers feel like frauds? Can we learn to teach and research in ways that foster hope and deflate pretension? Academic Life and Labour in the New University: Hope and Other Choices addresses these big questions, discussing the challenges of teaching and researching in the contemporary university, the purpose of research and its fundamental value, and the role of the academy against the background of major changes to nature of the university itself. Drawing on a range of international media sources, political discourse and many years’ professional experience, this volume explores approaches to teaching and research, with special emphasis on the importance of collegiality, intellectual honesty and courage. With attention to the intersection of large-scale institutional changes and intellectual shifts such as the rise of transdisciplinarity and the development of a pluralist curriculum, this book proposes the pursuit of more ethical, compassionate and critical forms of teaching and research. As such, it will be of interest not only to scholars of cultural studies and education, but to all those who care about the fate of the university as an institution, including young scholars seeking to join the academy.

Academic Life and Labour in the New University

Academic Life and Labour in the New University PDF

Author: Ruth Barcan

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2016-03-23

Total Pages: 258

ISBN-13: 1317185951

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What does it mean to be an academic today? What kinds of experiences do students have, and how are they affected by what they learn? Why do so many students and their teachers feel like frauds? Can we learn to teach and research in ways that foster hope and deflate pretension? Academic Life and Labour in the New University: Hope and Other Choices addresses these big questions, discussing the challenges of teaching and researching in the contemporary university, the purpose of research and its fundamental value, and the role of the academy against the background of major changes to nature of the university itself. Drawing on a range of international media sources, political discourse and many years’ professional experience, this volume explores approaches to teaching and research, with special emphasis on the importance of collegiality, intellectual honesty and courage. With attention to the intersection of large-scale institutional changes and intellectual shifts such as the rise of transdisciplinarity and the development of a pluralist curriculum, this book proposes the pursuit of more ethical, compassionate and critical forms of teaching and research. As such, it will be of interest not only to scholars of cultural studies and education, but to all those who care about the fate of the university as an institution, including young scholars seeking to join the academy.

Vulnerability and the Organisation of Academic Labour

Vulnerability and the Organisation of Academic Labour PDF

Author: Graham Ferris

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2024-09-20

Total Pages: 165

ISBN-13: 1040127967

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Vulnerability theory identifies structural and institutional factors that build or undermine the resilience of individuals and organisations. This volume uses vulnerability theory to explore how the organisation of the teaching and research activities of universities impact the resilience of academics and also how these activities themselves are impacted by contemporary developments in universities and educational policy. The starting point of enquiry is that neither academics nor universities are invulnerable, and that urgent attention is needed to reverse developments that undermine their resilience. The contributions focus on universities in the US and UK, legal education in the UK, criminal justice in the UK, Brazilian legal education, research in deprived communities, and the ethics of medical professionals. This broad range of subjects is connected by use of vulnerability theory to interrogate academic practices and universities as organisations which should build resilience in their workforce and communities and in so doing secure their own resilience, but which far too often fail to do so, and actually undermine resilience. It is argued this is not due to malefic intentions but to institutional features of the sector and society. Of immediate interest to anyone who works in, studies at, or relies upon the research mission of universities, and to those involved in the management of universities, this book will also be relevant to policy analysts and policymakers, who will find value in the reframing of vital issues in higher education policy by vulnerability theory, allowing a more realistic and productive policy environment to develop. This book was originally published as a special issue of The Law Teacher.

Life for the Academic in the Neoliberal University

Life for the Academic in the Neoliberal University PDF

Author: Alpesh Maisuria

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2019-10-08

Total Pages: 112

ISBN-13: 1000732568

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Life for the Academic in the Neoliberal University investigates the impact of neoliberalism on academics in today’s universities. Considering the experiences of early career researchers as well as more experienced academics, it outlines the changing nature of working life in the university precipitated by the reality of de-professionalisation, worsening conditions of employment, and general precarious existence. The book traces the dramatic shift in the role and function of universities and academics over the last forty years. It considers how capitalist neoliberalism drives universities to operate like businesses in a cut-throat financialised education market place. Uniquely the book then provides a possible alternative in the form of the National Education Service (NES) and what this alternative system could look like. Thought-provoking and relevant, this book will be of use to postgraduate students as well as new, emerging, and established academics interested in the current state of higher education, academic life, and possibilities for the future.

The Alienated Academic

The Alienated Academic PDF

Author: Richard Hall

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2018-08-25

Total Pages: 273

ISBN-13: 3319943049

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Higher education is increasingly unable to engage usefully with global emergencies, as its functions are repurposed for value. Discourses of entrepreneurship, impact and excellence, realised through competition and the market, mean that academics and students are increasingly alienated from themselves and their work. This book applies Marx’s concept of alienation to the realities of academic life in the Global North, in order to explore how the idea of public education is subsumed under the law of value. In a landscape of increased commodification of higher education, the book explores the relationship between alienation and crisis, before analysing how academic knowledge, work, identity and life are themselves alienated. Finally, it argues that through indignant struggle, another world is possible, grounded in alternative forms of organising life and producing socially-useful knowledge, ultimately requiring the abolition of academic labour. This pioneering work will be of interest and value to all those working in the higher education sector, as well as those concerned with the rise of neoliberalism and marketization within universities.

Academic Labour, Unemployment and Global Higher Education

Academic Labour, Unemployment and Global Higher Education PDF

Author: Suman Gupta

Publisher: Springer

Published: 2016-05-27

Total Pages: 252

ISBN-13: 1137493240

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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.

Mapping Precariousness, Labour Insecurity and Uncertain Livelihoods

Mapping Precariousness, Labour Insecurity and Uncertain Livelihoods PDF

Author: Emiliana Armano

Publisher: Routledge

Published: 2017-04-07

Total Pages: 236

ISBN-13: 1317100832

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The condition of precariousness not only provides insights into a segment of the world of work or of a particular subject group, but is also a standpoint for an overview of the condition of the social on a global scale. Because precariousness is multidimensional and polysemantic, it traverses contemporary society and multiple contexts, from industrial to class, gender, family relations as well as political participation, citizenship and migration. This book maps the differences and similarities in the ways precariousness and insecurity in employment and beyond unfold and are subjectively experienced in regions and sectors that are confronted with different labour histories, legislations and economic priorities. Establishing a constructive dialogue amongst different global regions and across disciplines, the chapters explore the shift from precariousness to precariat and collective subjects as it is being articulated in the current global crisis. This edited collection aims to continue a process of mapping experiences by means of ethnographies, fieldwork, interviews, content analysis, where the precarious define their condition and explain how they try to withdraw from, cope with or embrace it. This is valuable reading for students and academics interested in geography, sociology, economics and labour studies.

Universities and Academic Labour in Times of Digitalisation and Precarisation

Universities and Academic Labour in Times of Digitalisation and Precarisation PDF

Author: Thomas Allmer

Publisher: Taylor & Francis

Published: 2023-09-08

Total Pages: 135

ISBN-13: 1000936902

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This book provides a critical perspective on the digitalisation of universities and precarisation of academic labour. While research and teaching become more virtual and digital at universities, academic labour is becoming more and more casualised and temporary. This book aims to analyse and theorise academic labour and study the experiences academic workers have made at universities that are shaped by economic, political and cultural contexts. It will be a valuable tool for international scholars and students of subjects such as media, communication and cultural studies, sociology, education, management and labour studies. The insights will also be of particular relevance for unions and other initiatives that are concerned about the working conditions at universities.

The Labour of Words in Higher Education

The Labour of Words in Higher Education PDF

Author: Sarah Hayes

Publisher: BRILL

Published: 2019-01-28

Total Pages: 178

ISBN-13: 9004395377

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The Labour of Words in Higher Education: is it Time to Reoccupy McPolicy? critically examines a widespread tendency in university policy to attribute the academic labour of staff and students to strategies, technologies and socially constructed buzz phrases.

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