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The neurotic academic: anxiety, casualisation, and governance in the neoliberalising university

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  • Vik Loveday

Abstract

Based on empirical research conducted with academic staff working on fixed-term contracts, the article explores the subjective experience of anxiety in the UK’s ‘neoliberalising’ higher education (HE) sector. As HE undergoes a process of marketisation, and the teaching and research activities of academics are increasingly measured and scrutinised, the contemporary academy appears to be suffused with anxiety. Coupled with pressures facing all staff, 34% of academic employees are currently working on a fixed-term contract and so must contend with the multiple forms of uncertainty associated with their so-called ‘casualised’ positions. While anxiety is often perceived as an individualised affliction for which employees are encouraged to take personal responsibility, the article argues that it should be conceptualised in two ways: firstly, as a symptom of wider processes at work in the neoliberalising sector; and secondly, as a ‘tactic’ of what Isin [(2004). The neurotic citizen. Citizenship Studies, 8 (3), 217–235] refers to as ‘neuroliberal’ governance. The article concludes by proposing that the figure of the ‘neurotic academic’ is emblematic of the contradictions facing the contemporary academy.

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  • Vik Loveday, 2018. "The neurotic academic: anxiety, casualisation, and governance in the neoliberalising university," Journal of Cultural Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 11(2), pages 154-166, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:jculte:v:11:y:2018:i:2:p:154-166
    DOI: 10.1080/17530350.2018.1426032
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    Cited by:

    1. Ambrasat, Jens & Fabian, Gregor, 2023. "Who benefits from job security? Job satisfaction and performance in academia," SocArXiv 7j2pt, Center for Open Science.
    2. Jessica Wren Butler, 2021. "Legibility Zones: An Empirically-Informed Framework for Considering Unbelonging and Exclusion in Contemporary English Academia," Social Inclusion, Cogitatio Press, vol. 9(3), pages 16-26.
    3. Papoulias, Stan (Constantina) & Callard, Felicity, 2022. "Material and epistemic precarity: It's time to talk about labour exploitation in mental health research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 306(C).
    4. Maria do Mar Pereira, 2021. "Researching gender inequalities in academic labor during the COVID‐19 pandemic: Avoiding common problems and asking different questions," Gender, Work and Organization, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 28(S2), pages 498-509, July.
    5. Rhys J. Williams, 2022. "The effect of casual teaching on student satisfaction: evidence from the UK," Education Economics, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 30(1), pages 91-111, January.
    6. Annie Irvine & Nikolas Rose, 2024. "How Does Precarious Employment Affect Mental Health? A Scoping Review and Thematic Synthesis of Qualitative Evidence from Western Economies," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(2), pages 418-441, April.

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