Neo-liberalism..

          Approximately five years ago I can remember struggling to determine what I wanted to do with my life. I had never really found anything that made me want to commit myself to it for the next 40+ years, and as graduation rapidly approached I was terrified of my future. My father being the pragmatic thinker that he is, insisted that I just find a job that gives me great benefits and relinquish the idea that I would take up an occupation that reflected my passions. I was completely obdurate to his sentiments and continued to search for an occupation that would satiate my desire to help change the world.  Luckily I had a mentor who also happened to be one of five Black female faculties on my entire campus steer me towards the Ronald E. McNair Post-Baccalaureate Achievement Program. For those not familiar with the program, it was implemented to increase the attainment of PhD degrees by students of marginalized groups. At the time I had never considered or desired to obtain a PhD, but my mentor insisted that I apply, and because I venerated her wisdom, I obliged. That was the best decision of my life. It was in that program that I discovered my love of teaching, and knew that my purpose in life was to help cultivate independent thinkers. I knew that would be less likely to occur in public education, but that it was possible in higher education, or so I thought. 

            The privatization of higher education obviates the need for aspiring academics like me.  The intention of the university to be the space where students are taught to think critically about the world around them is bordering obsolescence thanks to neo-liberalism. By treating students as consumers and professors as purely actors in place to facilitate the process of students being transformed into employees as opposed to thinkers, is detrimental to everyone involved. It marginalizes minorities in academia, and sends the message that academia only values those whose pedagogical practices coincide with capitalistic ideals. As Mohanty so eloquently put it “The capitalization of knowledge is one of the most profound ways that universities serve as a catalyst for the onward march of global capitalism” (173), and as we have learned in previous classes, global capitalism serves as a breeding space for inequalities. 

Neo-liberalism also works to silence various cultural perspectives that bring issues of race, sexual orientation, gender, and class to the forefront as evident in the case of SUNY New Paltz and the sex conference being held there in 2001. Many, including Governor George E. Pataki and a university trustee publicly castigated Dr. Roger Bowen for allowing the university to be a space for open dialogue about sexuality as it relates to sexual orientation. Critics believed that the university was not the proper venue to hold such conversations, and questioned the leadership of Bowen for allowing this to occur. In Twilight of Equality Lisa Duggan repudiated neo-liberalism because the constructions of its policies are rooted in identity and cultural politics. I absolutely agree, and by failing to acknowledge that everyone that is not white, male and rich is being affected.