The emergence of the operational university: Networks, liquidity and academic capitalism

Abstract

This article aimed to explore how new forms of capital and organization of human life have contributed to the construction of a fertile scenario for the consolidation of an operational, competitive and heteronomous university within the context of academic capitalism. First, we draw a parallel between Boltanski and Chiapello’s “new spirit of capitalism”, Castells’s “network society” and Bauman’s “liquid modernity”, exploring issues related to the breakdown of human and labor relations. Building on the contributions of these authors, we discussed the consequences of such transformations for the university by portraying the Operational University as an expression of the net-reticular society. Finally, we analyzed such changes from the perspective of the theory of academic capitalism, exploring their origins and contemporary expressions in Brazil; as well as the ways through which a network of actors inside and outside university have been engaged in the process of redefining the boundaries between public and private. We hope this study may contribute to advance in the understanding of the current situation of Brazilian higher education by subsidizing the debate/combat concerning the university’s deconfiguration deepened in the academic capitalist context.