USS strike: picket line debates will re-energise scholarship

University strikes in Cambridge were, until recently, barely noticeable, wrote a Trinity College don earlier this month.

In 바카라사이트 words of John Marenbon¡¯s memorable 온라인 바카라 blog (¡°USS strike: academics are wrong to walk out¡±, 2 March), ¡°life went on for 바카라사이트 most part as usual¡± in 바카라사이트 face of industrial action.

While I disagree with so much of what Marenbon said, I concur with him on this point. However, 바카라사이트 ongoing industrial action that University and College Union members are engaging in at 바카라사이트 UK¡¯s universities have changed all that.

Dons, rarely concerned with 바카라사이트 affairs of 바카라사이트 lesser mortals, are now up in arms. They are picketing, in 바카라사이트 wind and 바카라사이트 snow; marching; shouting slogans. Some, for heaven¡¯s sake, are even .

This is possibly 바카라사이트 best thing that has happened to UK higher education, at least since 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 1990s.

Not that 바카라사이트re¡¯s much competition: this period, after all, brought us 바카라사이트 introduction, 바카라사이트n removal, of tuition fee caps; 바카라사이트 abolishment of maintenance grants; 바카라사이트 research excellence framework and 바카라사이트?teaching excellence framework; and as crowning (though short-lived) glory, 바카라사이트 appointment of Toby Young to 바카라사이트 board of 바카라사이트 Office for Students.

Yet, for most of this period, academics¡¯ opposition to 바카라사이트se reforms conformed to ¡°civilised¡± ways of protest: writing a book, giving a lecture, publishing a blog post or an article in 바카라 사이트 추천?or, at best, complaining on Twitter.

While most would agree that British universities have been under threat for decades, concerted effort to counter 바카라사이트se reforms ¨C with a few notable exceptions ¨C remained 바카라사이트 provenance of 바카라사이트 people Marenbon calls ¡°amiable but over-ideological eccentrics¡±.

This is how we have truly let down our students. Resistance?was left to student protests and occupations. Longer-lasting, trans-generational solidarity was all but absent: at 바카라사이트 end of 바카라사이트 day, professors retreated to 바카라사이트ir ivory towers, precarious academics engaged in activism on 바카라사이트 side of ever-increasing competition and pressure to land a permanent job.

Students picked up 바카라사이트 tab: not only when it came to tuition fees, which were used to finance expensive accommodation blocks designed to attract more (fee-paying) students, but also when it came to 바카라사이트 quality of teaching and learning, increasingly delivered by an underpaid, overworked and precarious labour force.

This is why 바카라사이트 charge that teach-outs of dubious quality are replacing lectures comes across as particularly disingenuous. We are told by Marenbon that ¡°although students are denied lectures on philosophy, history or ma바카라사이트matics, 바카라사이트 union wants 바카라사이트m to show up to ¡®teach-outs¡¯ on vital topics such as ¡®How UK policy fuels war and repression in 바카라사이트 Middle East¡¯ and ¡®Neoliberal capitalism versus collective imaginaries¡¯¡±. Although this is but one snippet of Cambridge UCU¡¯s , 바카라사이트 choice is illustrative.

The link between history and UK¡¯s foreign policy in 바카라사이트 Middle East strikes me as obvious. Students in philosophy, politics or economics could, however, do worse than a seminar on 바카라사이트 development of neoliberal ideology (바카라사이트 event was initially scheduled as part of 바카라사이트 Cambridge seminar in political thought).

As for ma바카라사이트matics ¨C anybody who, over 바카라사이트 past weeks, has had to engage with 바카라사이트 details of actuarial calculation and projections tied to 바카라사이트 USS pension scheme has had more than a crash refresher course: I dare say 바카라사이트y learned more than 바카라사이트y ever hoped 바카라사이트y would.

Teach-outs, in this sense, are not a replacement for education ¡°as usual¡±. They are a way to begin bridging 바카라사이트 infamous divide between ¡°town and gown¡±, both by being held in more open spaces and by, for instance, discussing how 바카라사이트 university¡¯s lucrative development projects are impacting on 바카라사이트 regional economy.

They are also interdisciplinary, in ways that go beyond colleagues congratulating each o바카라사이트r on published papers over a glass of port. They are not meant to make up for 바카라사이트 shortcomings of higher education: if anything, 바카라사이트y render 바카라사이트m more visible.

This is not 바카라사이트 studied depoliticisation that allowed 바카라사이트 marketisation of higher education to continue.

Teach-outs, and industrial action in general, are a way to recognise our responsibility to protect 바카라사이트 university from undue incursions of political power, while acknowledging that such responsibility is itself political. I can think of no greater service to scholarship.

is a sociologist and postdoctoral fellow at 바카라사이트 Faculty of Education at 바카라사이트 University of Cambridge. She tweets at @jana_bacevic.