Search results for: "academic labour"

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”

Is student learning a form of labour?

My question is: In undertaking a degree, does a student exchange their labour power for anything? i.e. Is student learning/studying a form of labour? These are just some initial notes. Comments welcome. Quoting from Chapter 6 of Capital: ‘The Sale and Purchase of Labour-Power’. Translation of online version differs from Penguin Classics/Fowkes version below. My … Continue reading “Is student learning a form of labour?”

Slides for ‘Academic Identities’ conference

Here are our slides for the Academic Identities conference, 8-9th July 2014, Durham. The abstract is also below. A paper will follow sometime this summer. Download these slides. In this paper we analyse ‘academic labour’ using categories developed by Marx in his critique of political economy. In doing so, we return to Marx to help … Continue reading “Slides for ‘Academic Identities’ conference”

The Co-operative University: Labour, property and pedagogy

My paper for the conference, Governing Academic Life is available for download and I welcome comments here or via email. Thank you. Abstract We are witnessing an “assault” on universities (Bailey and Freedman, 2011) and the future of higher education and its institutions is being “gambled.” (McGettigan, 2013) For many years now, we have been … Continue reading “The Co-operative University: Labour, property and pedagogy”

The university as a hackerspace (‘Friction’ conference)

A paper for ‘Friction: An interdisciplinary conference on technology & resistance‘, University of Nottingham, Thursday 8th May & Friday 9th May. In a paper published last year, I argued for a different way of understanding the emergence of hacker culture. (Winn 2013) In doing so, I outlined an account of ‘the university’ as an institution … Continue reading “The university as a hackerspace (‘Friction’ conference)”

Fragments of the working day

As I write, the fourth wall is crumbling.  I am sitting in my office towards the end of a winter’s day. I hear pigeons nesting outside my window, see my bookshelves reflected in the darkness of the glass. Today, I write to you as an academic from within an institution – ‘the university’ – which … Continue reading “Fragments of the working day”

Is the worker co-operative form suitable for a university? (Part 3)

In some earlier notes, I asked whether the worker co-operative form is suitable for a university in light of how the international co-operative movement defines the ‘character’ of worker co-operatives and the re-conceptualisation of academic labour that this organisational form would imply. I asserted that the university is already a means of production which capital employs … Continue reading “Is the worker co-operative form suitable for a university? (Part 3)”

Student as Producer (7)

See an introduction to this series of notes here. 7. Neary, Mike (2013) Student as Producer: a pedagogy for the avant-garde; or, how to revolutionary teachers teach? [v2] Paper presented at Walter Benjamin, Pedagogy and the Politics of Youth conference, London. [unpublished] In the 2010 article of the same title, the avant-garde Marxism of Benjamin … Continue reading “Student as Producer (7)”

Student as Producer (2)

See an introduction to this series of notes here. 2. Neary, Mike and Hagyard, Andy (2010) Pedagogy of Excess: An Alternative Political Economy of Student Life. In: The Marketisation of Higher Education and the Student as Consumer. Eds. Molesworth, Scullion and Nixon. Routledge, Abingdon, pp. 209-224. In this book chapter, Neary argues for “an alternative … Continue reading “Student as Producer (2)”

Student as Producer (1)

See an introduction to this series of notes here. 1a. Neary, Mike (2008) Student as producer – risk, responsibility and rich learning environments in higher education. Articles from the Learning and Teaching Conference 2008. Eds: Joyce Barlow, Gail Louw, Mark Price. University of Brighton Press. Centre for Learning and Teaching 1b. Neary, Mike and Winn, Joss … Continue reading “Student as Producer (1)”