Description
Book SynopsisTakes on the government's agenda of university cuts and fee increases
Trade Review'The corporatising of universal education is one of the most insidious and dangerous attacks on the very notion of human rights. This book calls us to arms. Every student, every educator who cares should read it' -- John Pilger
'This is an essential book. The future of our universities is up for grabs and the manifesto will play a huge role in providing alternatives at a time when the government says there aren't any' -- Clare Solomon, President of the University of London Union (ULU) and editor of Springtime (2011)
'Universities are the new front line in the battle between the market and society. Students are being groomed for a life of debt on a learn-to-earn treadmill. Campuses are being commercialised at every turn. The Assault on Universities tells the story of what's happening to higher education, why and what we do about it' -- Neal Lawson, chair of Compass and author of All Consuming
'A timely and astute defence of the university that breaks free from the unimaginative pattern that can see education as only either a corporate or a private good. The manifesto shows what can be done to revive and expand our universities restoring their social mission' -- Professor Paul Gilroy, London School of Economics
'A valuable contribution to ongoing global conversations about the possibilities of social, political and economic justice and the central role of cultural institutions and practices, especially education, in them' -- Lawrence Grossberg, Morris Davis Distinguished Professor of Communication Studies and Cultural Studies at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION
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
