[aha] Edu-Factory - Call for papers

[mfrancesca martinez tagliavia]

Call for papers - Edufactory Journal, No.     
Transforming Universities: Measure, Transition, Institution
'The old institutions are crumbling ...' - so began the introduction to the zero 
issue of Edufactory Journal on the double crisis of the university and the 
global economy. Paradoxically, one of the conditions of this double crisis is 
the global expansion of the university. The old institutions are crumbling but 
they are simultaneously trying to reinvent themselves, to transplant themselves, 
to network themselves. This issue of the Edufactory Journal will investigate two 
faces of this situation. The first section entitled 'Occupations' will examine 
the global transition of higher education with a focus on new institutions being 
established in different parts of the world. The second section entitled 
'Anomalies' will focus on struggles against the 'system of measure' that 
presides over the transition of universities. As the overall ambition of the 
issue is to understand the connection between the globalization of higher 
education and the imposition of measure, we also welcome contributions that 
critically analyse the connections between these processes.'Occupations' will 
examine the proliferation of new universities. Not only do we witness the 
founding of online universities but also the massive expansion of the education 
market in countries such as India, China, Egypt and Brazil. New knowledge spaces 
are being established in special economic zones and new kinds of partnerships, 
consortia and divisions of labour are being forged between higher education 
institutions across the world. The opening of offshore branch campuses 
accompanies the establishment of new kinds of private institutions and the 
forging of international university chains or networks under different corporate 
banners and branding techniques. With these developments appear new 
transnational forms of institutional governance, new kinds of trade relations, 
and new kinds of connections between universities and societies. There also 
arise new knowledge practices and conflicts as institutions negotiate their 
structures with regard to disciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and the 'conflict 
of the faculties'. The topic of 'new universities' is related to the question of 
transition. On one hand, we wish to enquire into the meaning and models of 
transition in concrete cases - for example, in the post-soviet world. On the 
other hand, if the concept of transition implies a non-historicist narration, we 
can also approach it as a space of possibility: that is to say, the permanent 
transition of capitalism also signals the possibility of new kinds of political 
thought and action. How do we read this possibility alongside the imperative to 
innovation, constant variation and adaptation that animates the globalization of 
higher education? And how do these changes produce new kinds of subjectivities 
and struggles in the production of knowledge?

There is a strict connection between the pressures on universities to produce 
innovation and adapt to change and the 'system of measure' that drives the 
emergent forms of higher education. The 'Anomalies' section will critically 
examine this 'system of measure', the struggles against it and efforts to invent 
alternatives to it. By the 'system of measure' we refer to an assemblage of 
techniques for quantifying, standardizing, counting, ranking, benchmarking and 
rigidly assigning value to academic production and labour . Peer review is an 
important element of the 'system of measure' as is the construction of 
university rankings, the calculation of economic impacts, the introduction of 
workload formulas, the conduct of research audits, the use of performance 
indicators and the deployment of metrics. These technologies not only quantify 
and hierarchize the field of higher education to ever higher degrees but they 
also seek to homogenize and individualize the production of living knowledge. 
Furthermore, they are key drivers in processes of institutional restructuring 
and the drawing of business plans for establishment of new higher education 
institutions. Struggles against the axing of academic programs or tuition fee 
hikes are directly struggles against the system of measure. This section of the 
journal will investigate such struggles as well as practices that thwart the 
'system of measure' through protest, resistance and the invention of 
alternatives.

The Edufactory Journal is a venue for experimentation with alternative forms of 
intellectual production that emphasize cooperation, self-organization and the 
refusal of measure. The journal embodies these principles in its processes and 
methods and not only its end products. We welcome contributions from authors who 
address the questions surrounding the global transition of higher education 
and/or take a critical approach to the 'system of measure'. Articles that tackle 
both of these tasks are especially welcome. All submissions must confirm to 
the style guide published on the journal's site. They will be collectively read 
by the editorial board in an open and collaborative manner.

Deadline for submissions is: 15 January 2011. Please send 
submissions to: n.puwar a gold.ac.uk , thejonnyroach a gmail.com , 
and raunig a eipcp.net