The Structural Transformation of Higher Education: Between Market Logic and Neo-Feudal Hierarchies

Across the globe, the higher education and research sector is changing rapidly. As it continues to expand along the elite-mass-universal trajectory described by Martin Trow, it is subject to unprecedented structural reforms and transformations. These changes are often captured in a framework variously labelled ‘academic capitalism’, ‘marketization’ or ‘entrepreneurialism’, with the common denominator that the market is the new central principle of academic practice. The goal of this conference is to critically test and possibly challenge this conceptual framework, and to explore conceptual alternatives.