This paper suggests that scholarship on the affective life of neoliberalism in academia needs to exercise more caution when it invokes the notions of "neoliberal subjects" and "neoliberal affects." It is argued that this scholarship needs to expand its conceptual and theoretical vocabulary to recognize the multiplicities of new…

The Russian invasion of Ukraine, on 24th February 2022, was met with widespread condemnation across Europe, with many universities and higher education-focussed national and regional organisations issuing their own public statements about the invasion and subsequent conflict and, in some cases, taking specific action in relation to one or both of…

Purpose: This article aims to address the response from the higher education (HE) sector in the United Kingdom (UK) to the full-scale war in Ukraine which started in 2022. Design/methodology/approach: Relying on theoretical ideas of neoliberalism and the collection and thematic analysis of relevant official communications from six UK universities,…

This document records testimony from a hearing held to examine the real impact of Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI) on college campuses. Member statements were presented by: (1) Honorable Burgess Owens, Chairman, Subcommittee on Higher Education and the Workforce Development; and (2) Honorable Suzanne Bonamici, a Representative in Congress…

The rise in populism and movements that threaten trust in science and expertise has been labeled a post-truth world. What challenges does this environment present for higher education, and how should it respond? This article examines the characteristics of a post-truth world and how that challenges the fundamental purposes of higher education. It…

Released in the wake of postwar concerns over European totalitarianism, "Higher Education for American Democracy" offered a blueprint for a more socially inclusive college experience--one that could help bolster informed and thoughtful civic participation throughout the nation. Much of the six-volume report commissioned by President…

This paper examines the ways in which administrators, academics and students living under conditions of authoritarianism come to imagine the university's political possibilities and horizons. To this aim, we first consider how alternative imaginaries are constructed and contained at Bogaziçi University, where the parameters of political…

The balance wheel hypothesis--a classic tenet of USA state-level policy analysis that suggests state funding for higher education varies in response to macroeconomic cycles--has held up to scrutiny over time. However, new social conditions within the Republican Party, namely growing hostility toward independent institutions, call for a more…

The link between higher education and participation in and attitudes toward democracy is well-documented in the literature. Those with a college degree are more likely to vote, more civically active, and politically knowledgeable. They are also less likely to favor authoritarian political stances. While the aspects of higher education--whether…

The challenges that campuses face when it comes to free speech and inclusion are part of a larger debate in the United States over the role of diversity, equity, and inclusion in education. Since 2021, Republican state lawmakers have introduced an avalanche of "educational gag orders"--legislation to ban a vague set of so-called divisive…

In the wake of the triumphant university student movement that took place 17 years ago, in defense of Article 16 of the Greek Constitution -- a provision which stipulates that higher education should be accessible at no cost and should be provided exclusively by public institutions -- the right-wing conservative government of New Democracy has…

This study of how higher education leaders see the free speech phenomenon, i.e., how they are experiencing and responding to free speech issues, is significant because universities, perhaps more than any other democracy's institutions, are considered to have a special responsibility for safeguarding democratic values, such as free speech. The…

The term 'Global Britain' was widely used by the UK government between 2016 and 2021 to signal its ambition to reorient the nation's foreign policy on departure from the European Union. There was, however, considerable uncertainty about what the term meant beyond this, with some commentators suggesting that it denoted a de-prioritising of…

In "Getting Education Right," Rick Hess and Mike McShane argue that America has too long suffered from the absence of a robust, coherent, and principled conservative vision for educational improvement. The book both diagnoses a problem and offers a solution. The problem? The right has too narrowly focused on school choice, campus speech,…

In this paper, we focus on non-monetary and potential societal benefits of higher education and ask whether the higher education experience fosters political interest, internal political efficacy, and participation irrespective of completing a degree. Increasing enrolment rates in higher education also increase the number of higher education…