Book Review: Jandrić, Petar and Damir Boras (eds). 2015. Critical Learning in Digital Networks

In academia and beyond it is fashionable to claim to be critical and to name one’s own approach critical or even to take the form of critical theory. For example, searching in the Social Science Citation Index for the term critic (which includes search terms such as critical, critic, criticism) in the title of academic outputs for different timespans indicates this trend: 1986-1995 = 6,815 hits, 1996-2005 = 7,918 hits and 2006-2015 = 15,224 hits. Critique is a widely used and accepted term in academia. But what do we mean by critique, critical thinking and critical theory? There are several definitions of critique, and these vary in their understanding of critical thinking and come to quite different conclusions on both theoretical and political levels.Output Type: Book Revie

Academic Labour, Digital Media and Capitalism

The aim of this article is to contextualise universities historically within capitalism and to analyse academic labour and the deployment of digital media theoretically and critically. It argues that the post-war expansion of the university can be considered as medium and outcome of informational capitalism and as a dialectical development of social achievement and advanced commodification. The article strives to identify the class position of academic workers, introduces the distinction between academic work and labour, discusses the connection between academic, information and cultural work, and suggests a broad definition of university labour. It presents a systematic model of working conditions that helps to systematically analyse the academic labour process and to provide an overview of working conditions at universities. The paper furthermore argues for the need to consider the development of education technologies as a dialectics of continuity and discontinuity, discusses the changing nature of the forces and relations of production, and the impact on the working conditions of academics in the digital university. Based on Erik Olin Wright’s inclusive approach of social transformation, the article concludes with the need to bring together anarchist, social democratic and revolutionary strategies for establishing a socialist university in a commons-based information society

Theorising and Analysing Academic Labour

The aim of this article is to contextualise universities historically within capitalism and to analyse academic labour and the deployment of digital media theoretically and critically. It argues that the post-war expansion of the university can be considered as medium and outcome of informational capitalism and as a dialectical development of social achievement and advanced commodification. The article strives to identify the class position of academic workers, introduces the distinction between academic work and labour, discusses the connection between academic, information and cultural work, and suggests a broad definition of university labour. It presents a theoretical model of working conditions that helps to systematically analyse the academic labour process and to provide an overview of working conditions at universities. The paper furthermore argues for the need to consider the development of education technologies as a dialectics of continuity and discontinuity, discusses the changing nature of the forces and relations of production, and the impact on the working conditions of academics in the digital university. Based on Erik Olin Wright’s inclusive approach of social transformation, the article concludes with the need to bring together anarchist, social democratic and revolutionary strategies for establishing a socialist university in a commons-based information society

Zero-hour contracts are turning university lecturers off the job

First paragraph: There have been changes within higher education over the last few decades. Ongoing fee rises and an increasing focus on finances most recently. These changes have inevitably had an effect on working conditions and there is now a tendency towards casual and temporary employment across much of the higher education sector in the UK

Precarious, Always-On and Flexible: A Case Study of Academics as Information Workers (Forthcoming)

The higher education landscape has changed in the last decades. The neoliberal restructuring of universities has led to transformations such as reducing public expenditure, allocating resources based on competition and quasi-market disciplines. These structural transformations have also an effect on the working conditions, practices and relations of subjects within universities. Questions that need to be addressed: How do different working contexts and conditions in the academia shape feelings of autonomy, flexibility and reputation on the one hand and precariousness, overwork and dissatisfaction on the other? What are the broader political realities and potentials in terms of solidarity, participation and democracy at universities? I address these questions based on a theoretical analysis and qualitative interviews with precariously employed academics

Introduction: Academic Labour, Digital Media and Capitalism

The overall task of this special issue of tripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique is to gather critical contributions examining universities, academic labour, digital media and capitalism. The articles collected in this special issue (1) provide the context, history and theoretical concepts underlying academic labour, (2) analyse the relationship between academic work and digital media/new information and communication technologies/the Internet/social media, and (3) discuss the political potentials and challenges within and beyond higher education institutions

"I am a single mum. I don't feel like I can be as competitive as other people": Experiences of precariously employed staff at UK universities

Universities play a central role in informational capitalism. However, higher education institutions have undergone economic, political and cultural transformations leading to competition, market orientation and new management forms. These changes have effects on many levels, including the working conditions and practices of individuals involved in the information gaining process. This article aims to find out how the existing working conditions and practices at universities form meanings, identities and experiences of individuals by focusing on precariously employed academics. I address this question based on a theoretical analysis and qualitative interviews with casualised academic staff

Tim Highfield (2016) Social Media and Everyday Politics

The book represents the outcome of the author’s research during his PhD and postdoctoral study at the Queensland University of Technology, Australia, from 2008 to 2015. Tim Highfield has recently been appointed assistant professor at the University of Amsterdam[1]. The book engages with an empirical and theoretical study on social media and everyday politics. Highfield’s empirical study mainly consists of digital research methods and his theoretical angle is rooted in Cultural Studies. The book consists of seven chapters, each of which focuses on specific aspects of everyday social media and politics.   [1] See: http://www.uva.nl/en/profile/h/i/t.j.highfield/t.j.highfield.htm

Teorizando y analizando el trabajo académico

Translation of: Allmer, Thomas (2018). Theorising and Analysing Academic Labour. TripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique 16 (1): 49-77. https://doi.org/10.31269/triplec.v16i1.86

Teorizando y analizando el trabajo académico

El objetivo de este artículo es contextualizar históricamente a las universidades dentro del capitalismo y analizar teórica y críticamente el trabajo (labour) académico y el despliegue de los medios digitales. Se sostiene que la expansión de la universidad en la postguerra puede considerarse como medio y resultado del capitalismo informacional, y como el desarrollo dialéctico del ascenso social y la mercantilización avanzada. El artículo busca identificar la posición de clase de los trabajadores académicos, introduce la distinción entre dos formas de trabajo (work y labour) académico, discute la conexión entre lo académico, la información y el trabajo (work) cultural, y sugiere una definición amplia del trabajo (labour) universitario. Presenta también un modelo teórico de las condiciones de trabajo que ayuda a analizar sistemáticamente el proceso de trabajo académico y ofrece una perspectiva general de las condiciones de trabajo en las universidades. Asimismo, el escrito postula la necesidad de considerar el desarrollo de las tecnologías de la educación como una dialéctica de continuidad y discontinuidad, y discute el cambio de naturaleza de las fuerzas y relaciones de producción, así como el impacto en las condiciones de trabajo de los académicos en la universidad digital. Basándose en el enfoque inclusivo de la transformación social de Erik Olin Wright, el artículo concluye con la necesidad de juntar estrategias anarquistas, socialdemócratas y revolucionarias para establecer una universidad socialista en una sociedad de la información basada en los comunes.The aim of this article is to contextualise universities historically within capitalism and to analyse academic labour and the deployment of digital media theoretically and critical-ly. It argues that the post-war expansion of the university can be considered as medium and outcome of informational capitalism and as a dialectical development of social achievement and advanced commodification. The article strives to identify the class position of academic workers, introduces the distinction between academic work and labour, discusses the con-nection between academic, information and cultural work, and suggests a broad definition of university labour. It presents a theoretical model of working conditions that helps to systemat-ically analyse the academic labour process and to provide an overview of working conditions at universities. The paper furthermore argues for the need to consider the development of education technologies as a dialectics of continuity and discontinuity, discusses the changing nature of the forces and relations of production, and the impact on the working conditions of academics in the digital university. Based on Erik Olin Wright’s inclusive approach of social transformation, the article concludes with the need to bring together anarchist, social demo-cratic and revolutionary strategies for establishing a socialist university in a commons-based information society.O objetivo deste artigo é contextualizar historicamente as universidades dentro do capitalismo, bem como analisar teoricamente e criticamente o trabalho acadêmico e a implantação de mídias digitais. Argumenta-se que a expansão da universidade na pós-guerra pode ser considerada como um meio e resultado do capitalismo informacional e como o desenvolvimento dialético da ascensão social e da mercantilização avançada. O artigo procura identificar a posição de classe dos trabalhadores acadêmicos, introduz a distinção entre duas formas de trabalho (labour e work), discute a conexão entre os acadêmicos, a informação e o trabalho (work) cultural e sugere uma definição ampla do trabalho (labour) univeritario. Também apresenta um modelo teórico de condições de trabalho que ajuda a analisar sistematicamente o processo de trabalho acadêmico e oferece uma perspectiva geral das condições de trabalho nas universidades. Além disso, o documento postula a necessidade de considerar o desenvolvimento de tecnologias educacionais como uma dialética de continuidade e descontinuidade, e discute a natureza mutável das forças e relações de produção, bem como o impacto nas condições de trabalho dos acadêmicos da universidade digital. Com base na abordagem inclusiva da transformação social de Erik Olin Wright, o artigo conclui com a necessidade de combinar estratégias anarquistas, social-democratas e revolucionárias para estabelecer uma universidade socialista em uma sociedade de informação comum.El presente artículo es una traducción de: Allmer, Thomas (2018). "Theorising and Analysing Academic Labour". TripleC: Communication, Capitalism & Critique 16 (1): 49-77.Facultad de Trabajo Socia