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| Students must act, or watch university privatisation become irreversible | Students must act, or watch university privatisation become irreversible |
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| Almost exactly three years ago, on 6 February 2010, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts was founded at a conference in University College London, in opposition to the then-New Labour government's cuts to education and the National Union of Students' abandonment of free education as a core principle. | Almost exactly three years ago, on 6 February 2010, the National Campaign Against Fees and Cuts was founded at a conference in University College London, in opposition to the then-New Labour government's cuts to education and the National Union of Students' abandonment of free education as a core principle. |
| Now, with the student movement of 2010 having seemingly dissipated in November into a washed-out park in south London, the front line of the fight for education must shift, in terms both of its aims, and, most vitally, how it relates to a broader movement against markets and privatisation. The retrial of Alfie Meadows – a victim of police violence in 2010 – illustrates the farcical and costly legacy of the political policing that has emerged as a response to the student movement. | Now, with the student movement of 2010 having seemingly dissipated in November into a washed-out park in south London, the front line of the fight for education must shift, in terms both of its aims, and, most vitally, how it relates to a broader movement against markets and privatisation. The retrial of Alfie Meadows – a victim of police violence in 2010 – illustrates the farcical and costly legacy of the political policing that has emerged as a response to the student movement. |
| Last week, students at the University of Sussex staged an occupation against the planned outsourcing of 10% of the university's workforce – an almost unprecedented move that will leave Sussex with overwhelmingly privatised catering, waste disposal and other auxiliary services. There is little or no objective justification for this type of outsourcing aside from the likelihood that it will depress the wages of the most underpaid workers on campus. Despite this, and despite the overwhelming support of trade unions and students for the occupation, the university's management has responded in a familiarly heavy-handed way. | Last week, students at the University of Sussex staged an occupation against the planned outsourcing of 10% of the university's workforce – an almost unprecedented move that will leave Sussex with overwhelmingly privatised catering, waste disposal and other auxiliary services. There is little or no objective justification for this type of outsourcing aside from the likelihood that it will depress the wages of the most underpaid workers on campus. Despite this, and despite the overwhelming support of trade unions and students for the occupation, the university's management has responded in a familiarly heavy-handed way. |
| Cases like Sussex illustrate the keenness with which university managements across the country are implementing the government's reforms. The tripling of tuition fees and the much more fundamental privatisation in the higher education white paper – an agenda that was itself partially driven by vice chancellors – were an attempt to turn higher education from a public service into a marketised private benefit. Implicit within this agenda was the localised transformation of universities themselves: away from a conception of academic or critical community, and towards a model in which managerial governance, research and admissions are directly linked to private business models. | Cases like Sussex illustrate the keenness with which university managements across the country are implementing the government's reforms. The tripling of tuition fees and the much more fundamental privatisation in the higher education white paper – an agenda that was itself partially driven by vice chancellors – were an attempt to turn higher education from a public service into a marketised private benefit. Implicit within this agenda was the localised transformation of universities themselves: away from a conception of academic or critical community, and towards a model in which managerial governance, research and admissions are directly linked to private business models. |
| Across the country, there is evidence that this is being more aggressively pursued than ever before. At University College London, managers are seeking to implement a masterplan for the institution, which will transform the college's appearance. Luxury apartments and a "social lounge for visitors" will displace the history department; and, most tellingly, the plans will increase the office space for managerial and estates departments fivefold – from 5% to 25%. | Across the country, there is evidence that this is being more aggressively pursued than ever before. At University College London, managers are seeking to implement a masterplan for the institution, which will transform the college's appearance. Luxury apartments and a "social lounge for visitors" will displace the history department; and, most tellingly, the plans will increase the office space for managerial and estates departments fivefold – from 5% to 25%. |
| Meanwhile, the university is busy colonising the site of a housing estate in Newham in a plan that will evict 700 residents and destroy a local school. Alongside the spectre of the first wave of students paying £9,000, universities and communities are being literally reshaped to serve the market. | Meanwhile, the university is busy colonising the site of a housing estate in Newham in a plan that will evict 700 residents and destroy a local school. Alongside the spectre of the first wave of students paying £9,000, universities and communities are being literally reshaped to serve the market. |
| Opposition to these proposals should be as important and widespread as opposition to the fee rise, but they also show the need for a shift towards more radical and direct local antagonism. Those who want to fight the privatisation of universities can no longer afford to focus simply on immediate parliamentary goals, or on "winning the next general election" for education. No major political party is about to offer a return to public education. | Opposition to these proposals should be as important and widespread as opposition to the fee rise, but they also show the need for a shift towards more radical and direct local antagonism. Those who want to fight the privatisation of universities can no longer afford to focus simply on immediate parliamentary goals, or on "winning the next general election" for education. No major political party is about to offer a return to public education. |
| The idea of free education, funded by progressive taxation as a social good, has, in the space of 10 years, become an almost unutterably radical demand in the corridors of power. This is not because it is too expensive – in fact the new funding system saves very little – or because opposition parties simply do not yet have the will to reverse Tory policies. It is because the scale of the economic crisis, and the consensus for deep cuts, has narrowed what the present political class can deliver. | The idea of free education, funded by progressive taxation as a social good, has, in the space of 10 years, become an almost unutterably radical demand in the corridors of power. This is not because it is too expensive – in fact the new funding system saves very little – or because opposition parties simply do not yet have the will to reverse Tory policies. It is because the scale of the economic crisis, and the consensus for deep cuts, has narrowed what the present political class can deliver. |
| This crisis for education, and for the broader welfare state, may never end. The idea that has underpinned so much of the common logic of many trade unions and the NUS has been that losing ground to the government's marketising austerity agenda could be slowed down and then countered whenever Labour won an election. In reality, by then many universities – and many parts of the NHS – will have become irreversibly privatised; and there is no sign that any Labour government would seriously commit to reversing it anyway. | This crisis for education, and for the broader welfare state, may never end. The idea that has underpinned so much of the common logic of many trade unions and the NUS has been that losing ground to the government's marketising austerity agenda could be slowed down and then countered whenever Labour won an election. In reality, by then many universities – and many parts of the NHS – will have become irreversibly privatised; and there is no sign that any Labour government would seriously commit to reversing it anyway. |
| With no let-up likely either from the economic crisis or government policy, the subjective experience of students will become far more generalised than it has been for the past three years. Most students are now part of a generation that can expect to have inadequate housing for decades; to be jobless and to work well past the age of 70; and to be weighed down by unpayable debt. | With no let-up likely either from the economic crisis or government policy, the subjective experience of students will become far more generalised than it has been for the past three years. Most students are now part of a generation that can expect to have inadequate housing for decades; to be jobless and to work well past the age of 70; and to be weighed down by unpayable debt. |
| An essential ingredient of any resurgent student movement will be radical and confrontational campaigns such as the Sussex occupation, which are capable of challenging privatisation and the logic of the market as it is happening. If students can, as part of a broader movement, grasp the opportunity to build radical and sustainable modes of organisation that address the wider crises of housing, indebtedness and the welfare state, they will have the power to change the world far more fundamentally than had been previously thought. If, on the other hand, we fail to renew ourselves and continue to hope for economic recovery and social democracy, we may find ourselves waiting forever. | An essential ingredient of any resurgent student movement will be radical and confrontational campaigns such as the Sussex occupation, which are capable of challenging privatisation and the logic of the market as it is happening. If students can, as part of a broader movement, grasp the opportunity to build radical and sustainable modes of organisation that address the wider crises of housing, indebtedness and the welfare state, they will have the power to change the world far more fundamentally than had been previously thought. If, on the other hand, we fail to renew ourselves and continue to hope for economic recovery and social democracy, we may find ourselves waiting forever. |
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