Managerialism with Soviet characteristics and global higher education: legacies and paradoxes of university transformations

This chapter examines the origins of the Soviet style university administration, and the reverberations of its practices in the global context of higher education. While the Soviet managerialism of the 20th century differs from its successor, 21st century neoliberal managerialism, features that are common to them, including corporate surveillance, ideological hegemony, and freedom suppression, find fertile ground in societies and universities that are prone to an authoritarian style of governance. In post-Soviet contexts, managerialism has unique cultural characteristics that combine colonial and anti-intellectual legacies, making it particularly appealing to corporate powers cultivating the norms of exploitative capitalism in academia. Critical inquiry into university transformations spearheaded by the Soviet characteristics of managerialism is sorely lacking. This paper calls for rethinking the cultural and political legacies of higher learning in a world challenged by undemocratic and revanchist forces.