Neo-liberalizing Spaces and Subjectivities: Reinventing New Zealand Universities

• Published in: Organization (London, England) Vol. 12; no. 6; pp. 843 - 862
• Main Authors: Larner, Wendy, Le Heron, Richard
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: London, Thousand Oaks, CA and New Delhi SAGE Publications 01.11.2005; Sage Publications Ltd
• Subjects: Colleges & universities; Education; Education reform; Educational Reform; Globalization; Governance; Liberalism; Neoliberalism; New Zealand; Organization theory; Organizational Change; Organizational culture; Politics; Reforms; Reorganization; Society; Space; Studies; Subjectivity; Universities; New Zealand; spaces; neo-liberalism; governmentality; subjectivities; universities; governance
• ISSN: 1350-5084; 1461-7323
• DOI: 10.1177/1350508405057473

Consistent with an ongoing experience of neo-liberal experimentation, tertiary sector reform in New Zealand is being driven by the ambition to re-create universities in a qualitatively new form. We argue that, through calculative practices, New Zealand universities are being positioned and are positioning themselves in the neo-liberalizing spaces of university education. In turn, these calculative practices are giving rise to new views of the university and altering the behaviours of staff and students. We draw attention not only to the constitutive power of calculative practices, but also to the political contestations that surround them. Our conclusion is that, because of these contestations, the spaces and subjectivities of the neo-liberalizing university are multiple and contradictory. The attempted reinvention of New Zealand universities will have varied effects and give rise to multiple political forms.