"Value for Money?" Perspectives from the Social Sciences on the Impact of Market-Driven Academia

In the context of an emerging global market society, European universities are gradually losing the support of States whose policies are largely determined by budgetary criteria. Although their mission seems unchallenged, their purpose is now clearly economic. From a broader perspective, namely the economic context in which the academia is embedded, the link between the university and the current economic vision that emanates from the dominant neoliberal discourse is considered. I will examine the ideological support of the current change within the university, its vectors of diffusion, and the potential risks it presents to democracy. As a case study, I analyse the consequences of academia’s market-oriented conversion focusing on the Theory of Social Representations and its theoretical polarity with “mainstream Social Psychology”. Even though the theoretical core of Moscovici’s work is an undoubtedly valuable contribution to the social sciences, its methodological incompatibilities with “what sells” leave it structurally ostracized, and its potential unfulfilled. This thesis explores the interplay of European sociopsychological tradition, its disciplinary legacy, and the market-oriented trends that have undoubtedly impacted the developmental paths the Theory has followed, thus identifying elements likely to be reported to the whole university world. For my theoretical framework, a Marxist perspective on education guides my understanding of the interests of ruling class elites, while Actor Network Theory helps uncover the underpinned dialectic between global market rules and the specific biography of the theory (de Rosa, A. S., forthcoming). The issue of governmentality and academic performativity is also examined, from a general perspective and through the specific case of Social Representations. These sections are complemented with an elaboration of the different rationalizing pressures of the dominant discourse as well as the ways the academic world resists it.