About | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline Law Journal Library | HeinOnline
LOG IN
LOG IN

27 J. Juris 335 (2015)
The Modern University, Ltd.

handle is hein.journals/jnljur27 and id is 81 raw text is: THEJOURNALJURISPRUDENCE The Modern University, Ltd. Dr Tom Frost* Lecturer in Legal Theory University of Sussex Today, the university in the United Kingdom (UK) appears to be being led far from its educational, egalitarian roots. It appears to be a corporate beast, increasingly marketised, commodified and commercialised. In recent years, many words have been written on this matter.' In this article, I wish to consider how these perceived changes could affect a cherished notion for academics - academic freedom. I connect the marketisation of UK higher education to the (comparatively) recent economic changes in the structure of capitalism, and the rise of neoliberal economic theory. This article contends that the modern shift to commercialisation and bureaucratisation in the university is not a new trend. Going back several hundred years' State and market control in rationalising learning has been constant. The university should be seen as the precursor to the modern corporation, rather than its antithesis. The historically marketised elements of the university have simply been accentuated in modernity. Changes in the nature of capitalism have led to a change in the structure of corporations, which now operate in a system of competition rather than exchange. The effects of this change have made their mark in higher education. In this system, the work of the * I would like to thank the careful and detailed readings made, and comments offered, by Jo Bridgeman, John Child, Colin Murray, Amir Paz-Fuchs and Aoife 0' Donoghue. This paper was originally presented at the Critical Legal Conference 2012 in Stockholm, Sweden. I am very gratefully for the feedback received from the conference participants. Any remaining errors or mistakes remain my own. 1 See, for example, Mike Molesworth, Richard Scullion and Elizabeth Nixon (eds.), The Markeisation of Hegher Education and the Student as Consumer (London: Routledge, 2011), (2015) J. Juris. 335

What Is HeinOnline?

HeinOnline is a subscription-based resource containing thousands of academic and legal journals from inception; complete coverage of government documents such as U.S. Statutes at Large, U.S. Code, Federal Register, Code of Federal Regulations, U.S. Reports, and much more. Documents are image-based, fully searchable PDFs with the authority of print combined with the accessibility of a user-friendly and powerful database. For more information, request a quote or trial for your organization below.



Short-term subscription options include 24 hours, 48 hours, or 1 week to HeinOnline.

Purchase Access

Contact us for annual subscription options:

Contact Us

Already a HeinOnline Subscriber?

Log In

profiles profiles most