With funding cuts well under way and many institutions already promising to charge the maximum 9, 000 pounds yearly tuition fee, university education for the majority is under threat. This book exposes the true motives behind the government’s programme and provides the analytical tools to fight it.
Widespread student protests and occupations, often supported by staff, unions and society at large, show the public’s opposition to funding cuts and fee increases. The contributors to this sharp, well-written collection, many of whom are active participants in the anti-cuts movement, outline what’s at stake and why it matters. They argue that university education is becoming increasingly skewed towards vocational degrees, which devalues the arts and social sciences – subjects that allow creativity and political inquiry to flourish.
Released at the beginning of the new academic year, this book will be at the heart of debates around the future of higher education in the UK and beyond, inspiring both new and seasoned activists in the fight for the soul of our universities.
Table of Content
INTRODUCTION
1. An Introduction to Education Reform and Resistance by Des Freedman
Part 1: THE CHANGING IDEA OF THE UNIVERSITY
2. The Idea of the University by John K. Walton
3. What is a University Education For? by Neil Faulkner
4. Fighting for the University’s Life by Nick Couldry
Part II: CURRENT CHALLENGES AND FUTURE VISIONS
5. Economic Alternatives in the Current Crisis by Aeron Davis
6. Re-Imagining the Public Good by Jon Nixon
7. The War Against Democracy and Education by Nick Stevenson
Part III: CRITICAL PEDAGOGY
8. The University as a Political Space by Alberto Toscano
9. The Academic as Truth-Teller by Michael Bailey
10. Impoverished Pedagogy, Privatised Practice by Natalie Fenton
Part IV: STUDENT POLITICS
11. Students Revolts Then and Now by John Rees
12. The Politics of Occupation by Feyzi Ismail
13. Achievements and Limitations of the UK Student Movement by Ashok Kumar
Part V: INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES
14. Beyond the Swindle of the Corporate University by Henry A. Giroux
15. Education Reforms in a European Context by Marion von Osten
16. International Students and the Globalisation of Higher Education by Kirsten Forkert
PART VI THE MANIFESTO
Demands on Government
Demands on Universities
Signatories to the Manifesto
Notes on contributors
Index
About the author
Des Freedman is Professor of Media and Communication Studies at Goldsmiths, University of London and an editor of the journal Global Media and Communication. He is the co-editor of The Assault on Universities (Pluto, 2011), and author of The Politics of Media Policy (Polity, 2008), Television Policies of the Labour Party (Routledge, 2003) and War and the Media (Sage, 2003).
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