Overview
- Uses Marx's critical theoretical domain of alienation and applies to the identity of the academic
- Reflects on the possibilities for reproducing autonomy and new forms of subjectivity against and beyond the neoliberal University
- Links to wider debates of financialisation and marketisation of the higher education sector
Part of the book series: Marxism and Education (MAED)
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About this book
Higher education is increasingly unable to engage usefully with global emergencies, as its functions are repurposed for value. Discourses of entrepreneurship, impact and excellence, realised through competition and the market, mean that academics and students are increasingly alienated from themselves and their work. This book applies Marx’s concept of alienation to the realities of academic life in the Global North, in order to explore how the idea of public education is subsumed under the law of value. In a landscape of increased commodification of higher education, the book explores the relationship between alienation and crisis, before analysing how academic knowledge, work, identity and life are themselves alienated. Finally, it argues that through indignant struggle, another world is possible, grounded in alternative forms of organising life and producing socially-useful knowledge, ultimately requiring the abolition of academic labour. This pioneering work will be of interest andvalue to all those working in the higher education sector, as well as those concerned with the rise of neoliberalism and marketization within universities.
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Keywords
Table of contents (9 chapters)
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Front Matter
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The Terrain of Academic Labour
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Front Matter
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The Terrain of Academic Alienation
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Front Matter
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A Terrain for Overcoming Alienation
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Front Matter
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Back Matter
Reviews
“I believe this book to be written for a specific audience, one that is, just like academia in the UK continues to be, predominantly white and male. … the book appears to be a significant contribution in understanding the alienation of academics, the role academic labour plays in it, and how a categorical critique of the nature of academic labour is crucial to move beyond it.” (Svenja Helmes, Pedagogy, Culture & Society, February 11, 2020)
“It covers a lot of ground in 270 pages, drawing widely from contemporary Marxist theory as well as an extensive engagement with Marx’s original work. It provides a useful survey of the concept of alienation and argues for the continuing and contemporary relevance of Marxist theory and its basic categories of labour, value, the commodity, subsumption and soon. … For these reasons, this is a unique and ground-breaking monograph in the field of critical university studies.” (Joss Winn, Postdigital Science and Education, January, 2, 2019)
“It covers a lot of ground in 270 pages, drawing widely from contemporary Marxist theory as well as an extensive engagement with Marx’s original work. It provides a useful survey of the concept of alienation and argues for the continuing and contemporary relevance of Marxist theory and its basic categories of labour, value, the commodity, subsumption and soon. … For these reasons, this is a unique and ground-breaking monograph in the field of critical university studies.” (Joss Winn, Postdigital Science and Education, January, 2, 2019)
Authors and Affiliations
About the author
Richard Hall is Professor of Education and Technology at De Montfort University, UK, and a UK National Teaching Fellow.
Bibliographic Information
Book Title: The Alienated Academic
Book Subtitle: The Struggle for Autonomy Inside the University
Authors: Richard Hall
Series Title: Marxism and Education
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-94304-6
Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan Cham
eBook Packages: Education, Education (R0)
Copyright Information: The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2018
Hardcover ISBN: 978-3-319-94303-9Published: 10 September 2018
Softcover ISBN: 978-3-030-06828-8Published: 31 January 2019
eBook ISBN: 978-3-319-94304-6Published: 25 August 2018
Series ISSN: 2946-3114
Series E-ISSN: 2946-3122
Edition Number: 1
Number of Pages: XXVIII, 273
Topics: Educational Policy and Politics, Higher Education, Social Theory, Social Structure, Social Inequality, Educational Philosophy, Philosophy of Education