<editorial board> CFP Edufactory Journal No. 1

[Jon Solomon Su Zhean]

Call for papers - Edufactory Journal, No. 1

Transforming Universities: Measure, Transition, Institution

http://www.edu-factory.org

‘The old institutions are crumbling ...’ - so began the introduction to 
the zero issue of Edufactory Journal on the double crisis of the 
university and the global economy. Paradoxically, one of the conditions 
of this double crisis is the global expansion of the university. The old 
institutions are crumbling but they are simultaneously trying to 
reinvent themselves, to transplant themselves, to network themselves. 
This issue of the Edufactory Journal will investigate two faces of this 
situation. The first section entitled ‘Occupations’ will examine the 
global transition of higher education with a focus on new institutions 
being established in different parts of the world. The second section 
entitled ‘Anomalies’ will focus on struggles against the ‘system of 
measure’ that presides over the transition of universities. As the 
overall ambition of the issue is to understand the connection between 
the globalization of higher education and the imposition of measure, we 
also welcome contributions that critically analyse the connections 
between these processes.

‘Occupations’ will examine the proliferation of new universities. Not 
only do we witness the founding of online universities but also the 
massive expansion of the education market in countries such as India, 
China, Egypt and Brazil. New knowledge spaces are being established in 
special economic zones and new kinds of partnerships, consortia and 
divisions of labour are being forged between higher education 
institutions across the world. The opening of offshore branch campuses 
accompanies the establishment of new kinds of private institutions and 
the forging of international university chains or networks under 
different corporate banners and branding techniques. With these 
developments appear new transnational forms of institutional governance, 
new kinds of trade relations, and new kinds of connections between 
universities and societies. There also arise new knowledge practices and 
conflicts as institutions negotiate their structures with regard to 
disciplinarity, interdisciplinarity and the ‘conflict of the faculties’. 
The topic of ‘new universities’ is related to the question of 
transition. On one hand, we wish to enquire into the meaning and models 
of transition in concrete cases - for example, in the post-soviet world. 
On the other hand, if the concept of transition implies a 
non-historicist narration, we can also approach it as a space of 
possibility: that is to say, the permanent transition of capitalism also 
signals the possibility of new kinds of political thought and action. 
How do we read this possibility alongside the imperative to innovation, 
constant variation and adaptation that animates the globalization of 
higher education? And how do these changes produce new kinds of 
subjectivities and struggles in the production of knowledge?

There is a strict connection between the pressures on universities to 
produce innovation and adapt to change and the ‘system of measure’ that 
drives the emergent forms of higher education. The ‘Anomalies’ section 
will critically examine this ‘system of measure’, the struggles against 
it and efforts to invent alternatives to it. By the ‘system of measure’ 
we refer to an assemblage of techniques for quantifying, standardizing, 
counting, ranking, benchmarking and rigidly assigning value to academic 
production and labour . Peer review is an important element of the 
‘system of measure’ as is the construction of university rankings, the 
calculation of economic impacts, the introduction of workload formulas, 
the conduct of research audits, the use of performance indicators and 
the deployment of metrics. These technologies not only quantify and 
hierarchize the field of higher education to ever higher degrees but 
they also seek to homogenize and individualize the production of living 
knowledge. Furthermore, they are key drivers in processes of
institutional restructuring and the drawing of business plans for 
establishment of new higher education institutions. Struggles against 
the axing of academic programs or tuition fee hikes are directly 
struggles against the system of measure. This section of the journal 
will investigate such struggles as well as practices that thwart the 
‘system of measure’ through protest, resistance and the invention of 
alternatives.

The Edufactory Journal is a venue for experimentation with alternative 
forms of intellectual production that emphasize cooperation, 
self-organization and the refusal of measure. The journal embodies these 
principles in its processes and methods and not only its end products. 
We welcome contributions from authors who address the questions 
surrounding the global transition of higher education and/or take a 
critical approach to the ‘system of measure’. Articles that tackle both 
of these tasks are especially welcome. All submissions must confirm to 
the style guide published on the journal’s site 
<http://www.edu-factory.org/edu15/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=379&Itemid=54>.
They will be collectively read by the editorial board in an open and 
collaborative manner.

Deadline for submissions is: 15 January 2011. Please send submissions
to: n.puwar at gold.ac.uk <mailto:n.puwar at gold.ac.uk> This e-mail address 
is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 
, thejonnyroach at gmail.com <mailto:thejonnyroach at gmail.com> This e-mail 
address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to 
view it , and raunig at eipcp.net <mailto:raunig at eipcp.net>

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