Neoliberalism, working-class subjects and higher education

Abstract

This is a moment of post neo-liberalism in which aspiration and the constant working on qualifications is seen as a central trope of current modes of governance of higher education, alongside the contrary evidence about working-class students' access to universities in the UK and elsewhere. It is claimed that working-class children lack aspiration, which they appear not to have gained despite all the attempts and government policies. This paper explores the issue of working-class students going on to higher education by thinking about the centrality of fantasy and imagination, using the work of Felix Guattari to bring together working-class imagination and imagining the university of the future.