Challenges to Feminist Solidarity in the Era of New Public Management

Abstract

‘New Public Management’ (NPM) has been introduced into academia through various ‘reforms’ which have set up a quasi-market model in universities: there is a great deal more regulation, monitoring, and control, as well as a focus on the finances being brought into each department. In the face of this, certain work becomes illegitimate and unimportant, despite it having been previously an important part of an academic career. These reforms and the growth of short-term contracts have challenged feminist solidarity within academia and are making it more difficult to challenge the male-dominated nature of the field. Inequality is deepening and early career academics become increasingly dependent on more senior academics to get ahead, often living on little money and doing much of the work seen as less prestigious, including teaching. In this environment, this chapter asks what early career feminist academics can do to shore up the progress women have made into universities and academia but also whether, and how, they can continue to promote a feminist agenda of solidarity and equality in the changing academy.