Neo-liberalizing Spaces and Subjectivities: Reinventing New Zealand Universities

In: Organization: the interdisciplinary journal of organization, theory and society, Volume 12, Issue 6, p. 843-862

Abstract

Consistent with an ongoing experience of neo-liberal experimentation, tertiary sector reform in New Zealand is being driven by the ambition to re-create universities in a qualitatively new form. We argue that, through calculative practices, New Zealand universities are being positioned and are positioning themselves in the neo-liberalizing spaces of university education. In turn, these calculative practices are giving rise to new views of the university and altering the behaviours of staff and students. We draw attention not only to the constitutive power of calculative practices, but also to the political contestations that surround them. Our conclusion is that, because of these contestations, the spaces and subjectivities of the neo-liberalizing university are multiple and contradictory. The attempted reinvention of New Zealand universities will have varied effects and give rise to multiple political forms.