Abstract

This article critically explores the consequences of the imposition of neoliberal ideology on a
transnational scale on the higher education system. Its particular focus is England where the
context of the „new managerialism‟ continues to dominate the „lifeworlds‟ of educators and
the educated, despite strong concerns about its efficacy. It will argue that practices introduced
in the name of „quality assurance‟ are having profoundly detrimental impacts for students,
academia and, ultimately, society. In particular, the last 30 years in the educational realm of
the UK have been characterised by the continuing displacement of critical understanding by
managerial „information‟. This has consequences in terms of leading to a „normalisation‟ of a
broad adaptation of people‟s subjectivities to so-called „market requirements‟. The article
concludes with the need to reclaim the purpose of education as a process for facilitating
critical thinking, respect and empathy - bare essentials for a democratic, socially-just and
socially-inclusive society – and that this challenge requires the development of strategies of
resistance to neoliberalism‟s „forced normality‟ at both the local and global level.