What is ‘academic labour’?

If the university is a means for the production of knowledge, determined by capital, the mode of production, I also need to be clear about the role and nature of labour within the contemporary university. The term ‘academic labour‘ is widely used, but I have not found an adequate analysis of its form and content … Continue reading “What is ‘academic labour’?”

Review of Richard Hall (2018). The Alienated Academic. The Struggle for Autonomy Inside the University.

Originally published in Postdigital Science and Education. ~ As he writes, the fourth wall is crumbling. He is sitting in his office towards the end of a winter’s day. Outside the window he hears people making promises on the pavement, cars passing like waves breaking in the distance. He sees his bookshelves reflected in the … Continue reading “Review of Richard Hall (2018). The Alienated Academic. The Struggle for Autonomy Inside the University.”

Review: Negotiating Neoliberalism. Developing Alternative Educational Visions

Below is an extended pre-print of a book review for Power and Education journal. The first half talks directly about the book; the remainder tries to offer a critical response. Rudd, Tim and Goodson, Ivor F. (Eds.) (2017) Negotiating Neoliberalism. Developing Alternative Educational Visions. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. This book, comprised of 13 peer-reviewed chapters, presents a coherent … Continue reading “Review: Negotiating Neoliberalism. Developing Alternative Educational Visions”

Co-operative university ’roundtable’ at the Co-operative College

Last week, I attended a ’roundtable’ event at the Co-operative College that focused on co-operative higher education. The Agenda was as follows: Dan Cook, author of Realising the Co-operative University (2013) has written up some notes of the meeting which you can read on his blog.  There is still much work to do but last week’s event felt … Continue reading “Co-operative university ’roundtable’ at the Co-operative College”

Special Issue of Workplace Journal on ‘Marx, Engels and the Critique of Academic Labor’

Karen Gregory and I have edited a special issue of Workplace: A Journal for Academic Labor, which focuses on the contribution that Marx and Engels’ work can make to the critical study of academic labour. This is also something I explored in my earlier article for Workplace, ‘Writing about academic labor‘. In addition to editing the … Continue reading “Special Issue of Workplace Journal on ‘Marx, Engels and the Critique of Academic Labor’”

Against Academic Identity

Mike Neary and I have a short article published in the ‘Points for Debate’ section of the Higher Education Research and Development journal. We were invited to write it following our contributions at the Academic Identities conference in Durham, 2014. The full article is reprinted below.  POINTS FOR DEBATE Against academic identity ‘Academic identity’ is a … Continue reading “Against Academic Identity”

From research student to academic: thinking about and preparing for academic work

From research student to academic: thinking about and preparing for academic work from Joss Winn At the request of students, I’m running a session at our doctoral study school next week on the ‘transition’ (that makes it sound smoother than it actually is) from doctoral student to an academic career. It’s allowed me to read … Continue reading “From research student to academic: thinking about and preparing for academic work”

Beyond public and private: A model for co-operative higher education

Below is a grant application which has recently been funded (£4525) by the Independent Social Research Foundation. It’s a ‘flexible grant for small groups‘ and the group in this case is the Social Science Centre (SSC).  If you’re interested in following our project and even contributing, please subscribe to project updates and join our project mailing list. Thank you. Beyond public … Continue reading “Beyond public and private: A model for co-operative higher education”

Research and resistance

Below are some notes for something I’m writing but have decided not to use, mainly because I’m relying too heavily on Postone’s extensive though singular critique of Habermas. I originally wrote it reflecting on the ‘Seven principles towards a strategy for scholar activism’ as set out by The Autonomous Geographies Collective. One of the principles (#4) is ‘Be aware of our … Continue reading “Research and resistance”

Labour, property and pedagogy: Theory and practice for co-operative higher education

Earlier this week, I gave a paper at the EU-funded UNIKE conference: Universities in the knowledge economy: Perspectives from the Asia-Pacific and Europe. The theme of the conference is outlined as follows: “What is the place of universities in the emerging ‘ecology’ of higher education systems that straddle industry, government and the public sphere? How are … Continue reading “Labour, property and pedagogy: Theory and practice for co-operative higher education”