Collective editorial on the neoliberal university

James Riding,Kirsi Pauliina Kallio,Heather Magusin,Noora Pyyry,Ida Marie Henriksen,Michael Jones,Ragne Øwre Thorshaug,Hongyang Tao,Edward H Huijbens,Jodine Ducs,Hilde Refstie,Adriane Peak,Lawrence D Berg,Ariele Parker,Murray Derksen,Alexander Brackebusch,Eli Smeplass,Pegah Behroozi,Thomas Sætre Jakobsen

doi:10.11143/fennia.88578

James Riding, Kirsi Pauliina Kallio + Show 17 more

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.11143/fennia.88578

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Abstract

This collective editorial on the neoliberal university follows eight days of strike action at sixty UK universities called by the University and College Union (UCU) in two separate legal disputes, one on pensions and one on pay and working conditions. Anticipating the recent labor strike after previous industrial disputes in 2018 at UK universities, the work included here emanates from two dialogues at the Nordic Geographers Meeting (NGM) in summer 2019, a public meeting called Protest Pub and a conference session on the neoliberal subject and the neoliberal academy. After an opening statement by the editors, this collective endeavor begins with the urgent collaborative action of graduate students and early-career academics and is followed by reflections on life in the neoliberal academy from those involved in the dialogues at the NGM 2019 in Trondheim. Additionally, the editorial introduces the content of the present issue.

Highlights

In the immediate aftermath of eight days of strike action at sixty UK universities concerning legal disputes regarding pensions, pay and working conditions, we offer a collective editorial on the fight for the soul of the university campus
For in the neoliberal university, the academic subject is an individual profile with a portfolio of research, highly mobile and online, rendering the place in which one resides and the people one shares a corridor with redundant as the platform university comes into view
As part of the session, panelists and audience members were asked to relay their ideas and experiences in the form of this collective editorial in order to continue a critical debate on the neoliberal academy and academic publishing

Summary

Collective editorial on the neoliberal university

This collective editorial on the neoliberal university follows eight days of strike action at sixty UK universities called by the University and College Union (UCU) in two separate legal disputes, one on pensions and one on pay and working conditions. Anticipating the recent labor strike after previous industrial disputes in 2018 at UK universities, the work included here emanates from two dialogues at the Nordic Geographers Meeting (NGM) in summer 2019, a public meeting called Protest Pub and a conference session on the neoliberal subject and the neoliberal academy. After an opening statement by the editors, this collective endeavor begins with the urgent collaborative action of graduate students and early-career academics and is followed by reflections on life in the neoliberal academy from those involved in the dialogues at the NGM 2019 in Trondheim. The editorial introduces the content of the present issue

Opening statement on collective action

KIRJOITTAJA JAMES RIDING FENNIA REFLECTIONS SECTION EDITOR

Young scholars as neoliberal subjects

Comments on the neoliberal university

Enchantment and academia

Collective editorial on the neoliberal academy