The Commodification Process of Higher Education and the Changing Nature of Academic Labour in Turkey

Abstract

This article explains the effects of commodification on the quality of academic labour occurring in Turkey's higher education system and related research processes. The nature of academic labour is examined firstly as a unique form of labour that produces all kinds of skilled labour power employed in capitalist production processes, and secondly in relation to the role of academic labour in surplus value production in the context of Turkey's experience of private sector foundation universities during the past 20 years and the recent transformations witnessed in public sector universities. Universities, which used to educate and provide staff for the higher social layers of society, have become places where the labour-capital conflict manifests itself more transparently than ever before.