Re: AUT: Universities under siege, etc...

[benjamin rosenzweig <lumpnboy@xxxxxxxxx>]

Ovetz PhD thesis is on the same site, and is also
worth a look.

benjamin

--- Nick Schwellenbach <schwellenbach@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:

> possibly of interest?
>
> Turning Resistance into Rebellion: Student Movements
> and the
> Entrepreneurialization of the  Universites
>
> by Robert Ovetz
>
> Capital and Class 58 Spring 1996
>
>
http://www.utwatch.org/archives/ovetz/TurningResistanceIntoRebellion.pdf
>
>
> -Nick
>
>
> On Thu, 21 Oct 2004 13:47:37 -0700, Chris Hurl
> <munkah@xxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
> > hey guys,
> >
> > I just thought I'd jump in here, although my
> discussion remains confused and
> > tangential.
> >
> > While I still regard universities are a critical
> area of struggle, I do
> > think we have to be realistic about the
> possibilities struggle.  So, as
> > Peter asks, "Is it just too much to ask of people
> who are already besieged?"
> >   In actively attempting to organize students, I
> ask myself this question
> > everyday.
> >
> > Up here in British Columbia, universities are
> being attacked on every level.
> >   Tuition fees have more than doubled over the
> past two years.  Student
> > needs-based grants have been eliminated.  The
> Federal Government is seeking
> > to triple the level of commercialization of
> campuses over the next few years
> > and publicly funded research insititutions are
> following like lapdogs.  The
> > Social Science and Humanities Research Council
> just shotgunned through a
> > proposal to move away from funding individual
> researchers in order to seek
> > greater collaboration with community (ie.
> business, government) groups.
> >
> > The critical response to all these initiatives
> have been mediated through
> > institutionalized avenues such as student unions,
> university committees,
> > etc.  And the critical response has either been
> reactionary (ie.  reduce
> > tuition fees, reinstate grants) or falling back on
> the liberal argument for
> > the free exchange of ideas, which I find to be
> enormously limiting.  Those
> > who argue for the free exchange of ideas fail to
> see how any concessions
> > that have been made to enable any sort of "free
> exchange" were the product
> > of struggles in the university in the 1960s-70s.
> Rather than seeking to
> > reestablish these movements, these folks generally
> prefer to adopt motions
> > in their various committees and send them off
> expecting that they can invoke
> > some sort of change.
> >
> > Yesterday, I helped present over 38,000 petitions
> demanding a "reduction of
> > tuition fees" to the provincial legislature.  As
> we sat through question
> > period and the petitions were simply accepted and
> thrown on the table,
> > people were disappointed.  They asked me, "Is that
> it?" and I responded,
> > "Well what do you expect?".  The irony is that
> student unions and the
> > national student federation in the country expect
> that petitions, letter
> > writing and even a mass demonstration will put
> pressure on the government.
> > Meanwhile, most students aren't even aware that a
> student union, let alone a
> > national federation exists.  There is a deep
> disconnect between the
> > institutions advocating on behalf of students and
> students themselves, just
> > like the labour movement.  Although resistance is
> arising in unexpected
> > areas, which remain disconnected from more
> coordinated overt struggles.
> >
> > I remain conflicted in terms of how to proceed.
> On the one hand, I think it
> > is necessary to mobilize students towards mid-term
> strategies that call for
> > something like the "massification" of education,
> rather than simply saying
> > that tuition fees should be reduced.  But even
> mass mobilization on such
> > bread and butter issues remains tedious.  I am
> certain that pushing such an
> > agenda with my local student union would be highly
> contentious.  In fact, as
> > the university is imploding on its own ivory
> tower, students are
> > increasingly coming from upper class families and
> have no interest in
> > pursuing these issues.  In fact, they actively
> fight against them.  The
> > progressive liberals entrenched in the student
> union leadership and
> > bureaucracy would argue that this isn't
> "realistic" and actively sabotage
> > any attempt to move in this direction with all
> their resources.  For those
> > who are increasingly being pushed out, they are
> simply trying to stay afloat
> > and do not have the time or energy to pursue a
> sustained mass mobilization.
> >
> > I have always thought that student struggles are
> inherently limited and need
> > to expand to other areas.  I just helped organize
> a conference where I
> > sought to bring students together with other
> people that are being hit hard
> > by the government, ie. indigenous, rural,
> anti-poverty, labour struggles,
> > etc.  And yet I remain skeptical.  To what extent
> can students actually
> > become involved in these struggles?  When I try
> organizing around these
> > issues on campus only five or ten people show up.
> If I try organizing
> > through the student union, it becomes watered down
> to the point of
> > meaninglessness.
> >
> > Talking to activists in other areas, it seems very
> similar problems are
> > being experienced.  There seems to be no
> privileged entry point into
> > struggle.  It all seems the same.  A rank-and-file
> coalition bringing
> > together "radical" activists from different areas
> (ie. students, workers,
> > etc) has been quite active in my city.  And yet
> they are marginalized along
> > these different institutional avenues.  At a
> recent student union meeting, I
> > was told that they "betrayed our trust".
> >
> > So, I guess what I am saying is that the
> university as an "autonomous"
> > insititution, a "monastery" (as one prof told me)
> has never really existed.
> > The institutions that are advocating on behalf of
> students/faculty are
> > pretending that it already exists and needs to be
> preserved.  For any real
> > struggle to arise in my university, the liberal
> myth of "university
> > autonomy" must be disavowed, but so do the
> institutions that perpetuate this
> > myth.  However, in disavowing these presumptions,
> our arguements are
> > actively marginalized on many levels.  I always
> thought that the way to go
> > was to seek out how students in their everyday
> lives actively negate this
> > myth and build from there. This is a perspective
> that I think autonomous
> > marxism provides.  But I still find it difficult
> to elaborate a concrete
> > response.  I ramble.
> >
> > confusedly,
> >
> > chris
> >
> > >From: Peter van Heusden <pvh@xxxxxxxxxxxx>
> > >Reply-To: aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > >To: aut-op-sy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
> > >Subject: Re: AUT: Universities under siege,
> etc...
> > >Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 11:30:21 +0200
> >
> >
> > >
> > >Thiago Oppermann wrote:
> > >
> > >>We shouldn't react to the traditional
> exceptionalism of
> > >>universities by
>
=== message truncated ===



		
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