Neo-liberalisation, universities and the values of bureaucracy. Issue 1 (January 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nash, Kate
• Is Part Of: Sociological review. Volume 67:Issue 1(2019)
• Page Start: 178
• Page End: 193
• Publication Date: 2019-01
• Subjects: academic autonomy -- audit culture -- collegiality -- education -- street level bureaucrats; Sociology -- Periodicals; 301
• DOI: 10.1177/0038026118754780
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0038-0261

Abstract

Neo-liberalisation of universities is advancing through a bureaucratic revolution. 'Marketising bureaucracy' advances neo-liberalisation through audit and rankings in the name of ensuring value for money and consumer choice. However, bureaucracy in universities is not total, just as neo-liberalisation is a project which advances on an uneven terrain of values. This article argues that to exercise academic autonomy, to continue to value education, we must learn to distinguish between 'marketising' and 'socialising' bureaucracy. Socialising bureaucracy encodes the ethos of impartiality in practices that support academic judgement – both against marketisation and against abuses of collegiality.