Page 55 - Šolsko polje, XXIX, 2018, no. 1-2: The Language of Neoliberal Education, ed. Mitja Sardoč
P. 55
m. olssen ■ neoliberalism and laissez-faire: the retreat from naturalism
principles upon which classical liberalism was founded upon? In whose
interests ought the government to act in legislating laws for society? In
creating the conditions for competitive market behaviour, is the state re-
flecting the interests of the whole society or of particular groups in the
society? Is it appropriate to subject higher education institutions, such
as universities, to market norms of competition as a general strategy of
administration and governance? In what ways is education not like oth-
er consumer commodities? What are the costs and benefits of such poli-
cies in relation to education? The neoliberals said that academics, teach-
ers and educators were not subject to reliable standards of accountability,
but, could accountability be organized that didn’t involve the competitive
restructuring of the entire system of education? Do competitive norms
conflict with those norms that are deemed to be important in education?
What is the difference between treating education as a market commodi-
ty, as opposed to treating it as a public good? Do supply-side funding pol-
icies, such as student fees, exercise conservative pressures on curriculum
planners? If so, in what ways? What other effects might they have? Given
the relatively modest salaries that are paid to academics and educators, to
what extent are academic change-management strategies, such as restruc-
turing, which were initially introduced for those in management on very
high incomes, acceptable to use in education institutions? To what extent
are managers any less biased or subject to ‘provider-capture’ than academ-
ics? Have managers or educators and academics become more or less pro-
fessionalized over the last thirty years? Is there a conflict of interest be-
tween professional managers on the one hand and educators on the other?
References
Buchanan, J. (1975) The Limits of Liberty: Between Anarchy and Leviathan.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cornelissen, L.S. (2017a) The Market and the People: On the
Incompatibility of Neoliberalism and Democracy. A thesis submitted
in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the University of Brighton
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, December, 2017.
Cornelissen, L.S. (2017b) How Can the People Be Restricted?: The Mont
Pelerin Society and the Problem of Democracy, 1947–1998. History of
European Ideas 43(5), pp. 507–524.
Cornelissen, L.S. (2017c) The Secularization of Providential Order: F. A.
Hayek’s Political-Economic Theology. Political Theology, 18(8), pp.
660–676.
53
principles upon which classical liberalism was founded upon? In whose
interests ought the government to act in legislating laws for society? In
creating the conditions for competitive market behaviour, is the state re-
flecting the interests of the whole society or of particular groups in the
society? Is it appropriate to subject higher education institutions, such
as universities, to market norms of competition as a general strategy of
administration and governance? In what ways is education not like oth-
er consumer commodities? What are the costs and benefits of such poli-
cies in relation to education? The neoliberals said that academics, teach-
ers and educators were not subject to reliable standards of accountability,
but, could accountability be organized that didn’t involve the competitive
restructuring of the entire system of education? Do competitive norms
conflict with those norms that are deemed to be important in education?
What is the difference between treating education as a market commodi-
ty, as opposed to treating it as a public good? Do supply-side funding pol-
icies, such as student fees, exercise conservative pressures on curriculum
planners? If so, in what ways? What other effects might they have? Given
the relatively modest salaries that are paid to academics and educators, to
what extent are academic change-management strategies, such as restruc-
turing, which were initially introduced for those in management on very
high incomes, acceptable to use in education institutions? To what extent
are managers any less biased or subject to ‘provider-capture’ than academ-
ics? Have managers or educators and academics become more or less pro-
fessionalized over the last thirty years? Is there a conflict of interest be-
tween professional managers on the one hand and educators on the other?
References
Buchanan, J. (1975) The Limits of Liberty: Between Anarchy and Leviathan.
Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
Cornelissen, L.S. (2017a) The Market and the People: On the
Incompatibility of Neoliberalism and Democracy. A thesis submitted
in partial fulfillment of the requirements of the University of Brighton
for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, December, 2017.
Cornelissen, L.S. (2017b) How Can the People Be Restricted?: The Mont
Pelerin Society and the Problem of Democracy, 1947–1998. History of
European Ideas 43(5), pp. 507–524.
Cornelissen, L.S. (2017c) The Secularization of Providential Order: F. A.
Hayek’s Political-Economic Theology. Political Theology, 18(8), pp.
660–676.
53
