Deconstructing the University: Contemporary DEI, Neoliberal Rationalities, and the Abolition of the Administrative Apparatus

Abstract

The following chapters attempt to develop some working theories to combat capitalist exploitation and racist and gendered oppression in the university, culminating in a call for the abolition of the university’s administrative apparatus. The project is divided broadly into two parts, which are referential to each other, but maintain slightly different areas of focus. Part 1 details a preliminary critique of the political-economy of the contemporary neoliberal university, drawing influence from Marxian economics and structuralist theories of ideology, critiquing contemporary discourses of diversity, equity and inclusivity (DEI). Part 2 focuses more directly on issues pertaining to oppression and difference, maintaining a predominantly Marxist critique which situates racism and patriarchy as co-constitutive of capitalist social relations. The project’s conclusion, seeks to join the theoretical developments of Parts 1 and 2 into a singular political mission: abolition.