The discursive construction of academic capitalism in HE: the case of Catalan university websites

Abstract

ABSTRACT Academic capitalism is about how progressively more academic activity is valued according to its capacity to accumulate human, financial and corporate capital. It is on the increase in Higher Education (HE) worldwide and in this article we examine its implantation in Catalan universities. We begin with an exploration of the bigger picture, focussing on the impacts of neoliberalism on HE worldwide, leading to the arrival of the ‘toxic university,’ as part of the rise of academic capitalism. We then provide a critical account of these transformations in European universities. Against this backdrop, we examine the webpages of state-run universities in Catalonia, highlighting their relationships with the business sector. Our key finding is that academic capitalism is alive and well in the construction of a certain worldview within these universities, according to which knowledge is only valid if it is marketable, researchers are entrepreneurs and HE and research are at the service of global capitalism and neoliberal rationalities. We conclude with comments on possible remedies in the current situation, arguing that any measures taken on a local level are not likely to be transformative if nothing is done to change how the global economy functions.