‘When the hurley-burley's done, when the battle's lost and won’: exploring the value and appropriation of silence and quietude in academia

Su, Feng and Wood, Margaret and Alerby, Eva and Da Re, Lorenza and Felisatti, Ettore (2021) ‘When the hurley-burley's done, when the battle's lost and won’: exploring the value and appropriation of silence and quietude in academia. European Journal of Higher Education, 12 (3). pp. 277-292. ISSN 2156-8235

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Abstract

The intensification of the working life of academics in the corporate world of higher education shaped by new public management, is the backdrop for an exploration of the appropriation of opportunities for silence and quietude through the operation of internalised disciplines of self-imposed control. The paper includes a review of selected literature on the effects of neoliberal education policy reform on the working lives of academics in higher education. Specifically it considers the intensity and pressures and the possibilities for academics to find silence, quietude and respite from the 'hurley-burley', allowing them to 'stand back’ from this for a time. The influence of dominant market rationalities in higher education on academic working life is explored, with a particular focus on three national contexts – England, Sweden and Italy. Two vignettes illustrate some of the possibilities and limitations of silence and quietude in academic working life. In the paper, the authors have also examined how the value of such opportunities can be eroded when subjugated for the purposes of the neoliberal academy and the drive for efficiency and performativity.

Item Type:	Article
Additional Information and Comments:	This is an Accepted Manuscript of an article published by Taylor & Francis in European Journal of Higher Education on 25th May 2021, available online: https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/21568235.2021.1930566?src=&"
Keywords:	Silence, quietude, higher education, performativity, academics
Faculty / Department:	Faculty of Education and Social Sciences > School of Education
Depositing User:	Frank Su
Date Deposited:	26 May 2021 11:39
Last Modified:	12 Nov 2024 11:46
URI:	https://hira.hope.ac.uk/id/eprint/3297

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