Academic Capitalism in Architecture Schools
Academic Capitalism in Architecture Schools
”This chapter examines the current situation that many universities worldwide are facing due to globalisation, which is of transitioning from institutions for education (Foucault’s ‘pre modern or medieval university’) to entrepreneurial businesses (the ‘modern university’). The modern university is governed by a neoliberal system of production and consumption of students, staff, knowledge and research for the purpose of improving nation economies. Looking particularly at schools of architecture, it discusses employability, 24-hour work and entrepreneurship in relation to marketization and economization. It tracks the inequalities that arise from the neoliberalisation of public universities on teaching content, an administrative-directed work, workloads, wellbeing and gender. The chapter argues that the shift to entrepreneurial architectural education needs to be challenged through a ‘feminist politics for resistance’ so as to not undermine higher education. Those resistances should aim to actively challenge, at every opportunity, rather than acquiesce to ‘academic capitalism’.”