Re: neoliberal university

Thank you for this.

Lots of people, of various political persuasions, see crises as an opportunity to impose measures they have actually favoured all along. Neo-liberals in particular have repeatedly--since Pinochet's Chile in the mid-1970s--used crises to implement "shock therapy" (cf., Naomi Klein, The Shock Doctrine, and The Battle for Paradise) to impose measures that benefit "the economy" and power-elites and almost always make the rich richer while imposing great suffering on poor and middle-income people (i.e., the majority). To give a lesser examples, those who have always favoured a guaranteed annual income or reduced taxes will encourage the government to implement one by continuing certain CoVid emergency measures.

As we come out of this CoVid crisis, there will be struggles on all levels over various types of reforms. Car-access to Stanley Park, on-line teaching, "emergency" violations of privacy that may become permanent, sick-leave for all, bail-outs for individuals, major corporations, and what are misleadingly called "small" businesses. Intellectuals--that's us--have an especially important role in helping people understand the implications of these "reforms." Particularly in terms of the quality of public services (like universities), the distribution of wealth as the economy recovers.

Let's do our duty, both within the university and beyond.

From: Yildiz Atasoy <yatasoy@sfu.ca>
Sent: Thursday, June 18, 2020 11:31:36 AM
To: academic-discussion@sfu.ca
Cc: SA Faculty
Subject: neoliberal university

Dear All,

This is an interesting read, if you have not seen it before:

https://academicmatters.ca/neoliberal-response-to-covid-19/

Best,

Yıldız

Dr. Yıldız Atasoy

Director, Centre for Sustainable Development

Professor, Sociology

Associate Member, the School for International Studies

Associate Member, Department of Geography

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