The Toxic University ― Zombie Leadership, Academic Rock Stars and Neoliberal Ideology

This book considers the detrimental changes that have occurred to the institution of the university, as a result of the withdrawal of state funding and the imposition of neoliberal market reforms on higher education. It argues that universities have lost their way, and are currently drowning in an impenetrable mush of economic babble, spurious spin-offs of zombie economics, management-speak and militaristic-corporate jargon. John Smyth provides a trenchant and excoriating analysis of how universities have enveloped themselves in synthetic and meaningless marketing hype, and explains what this has done to academic work and the culture of universities – specifically, how it has degraded higher education and exacerbated social inequalities among both staff and students. Finally, the book explores how we might commence a reclamation. It should be essential reading for students and researchers in the fields of education and sociology, and anyone interested in the current state of university management.

 

John Smyth is Visiting Professor of Education and Social Justice at the University of Huddersfield, UK. He is also Emeritus Research Professor of Education at Federation University, Australia, and Emeritus Professor of Education at Flinders University, Australia. He is author of 35 books, a former Senior Fulbright Research Scholar, recipient of several awards from the American Educational Research Association, and an elected Fellow of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia.