The Spaces of Graduate Student Labor: The Times for a New Union

Abstract

This paper offers a critical analysis of how pressures to “corporatize” universities are affecting graduate student employees and public higher education in the United States. The argument is that the corporatization of universities is a not a new phenomenon, but is occurring in a very different political, economic, and technological context than in previousdecades. After addressing the definition of corporatization with regard to universities in general and those in the state of Washington in particular, the paper discusses the author's perceptions of the activities and spaces of universities and how the university and the people who work there are connected to larger economic processes and power relations. The paper provides the author's perspective on the current situation of graduate student employees in relation to processes of corporatization, and focuses on the ambiguities of the double identity of graduate student employees and how this relates to current struggles to form graduate student employee unions. The paper considers ways that graduate student employee unions reflect a desire to change the ways that “business” is conducted on university campuses, and could work to build coalitions across employee divides. The paper concludes by outlining some thoughts on the role of academics in addressing pressures to corporatize higher education and suggesting possible ideas for action in the struggle to keep public universities open and democratic.