Regimes of performance: practices of the normalised self in the neoliberal university
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Date
2017-09-13Author
Morrissey, John
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Morrissey, John. (2017). Regimes of performance: practices of the normalised self in the neoliberal university. In Stephen Ball (Ed.), Foucault and Education: Putting Theory to Work. New York: Routledge.
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Abstract
Universities today inescapably find themselves part of nationally and
globally competitive networks that appear firmly inflected by neoliberal
concerns of rankings, benchmarking and productivity. This, of course,
has in turn led to progressively anticipated and regulated forms of
academic subjectivity that many fear are overly econo-centric in design.
What I wish to explore in this paper is how, emanating from prevailing
neoliberal concepts of individuality and competitiveness, the agency of
the contemporary academic is increasingly conditioned via ‘regimes of
performance’, replete with prioritised claims of truth and practices of the
normalised self. Drawing upon Michel Foucault’s writings on governmentality, and Judith Butler’s subsequent work on subjection, I use
findings from a series of in-depth interviews with senior university
managers at National University of Ireland, Galway to reflect upon the
ways in which academics can respond effectively to the ascendant forms
of neoliberal governmentality characterising the academy today. I
contemplate the key task of articulating broader educational values, and
conclude by considering the challenge of enacting alternative academic
subjectivities and practices.