ABSTRACT
L. Morrish argues that university management is like a Ponzi Scheme which fraudulently endows investors with riches, not on the basis of enhancing productivity, rather the flow of money is only guaranteed when new investors are persuaded to join the scheme. In the US, new departments of black studies were inaugurated, along with women’s studies, whilst in the UK, critical humanities which placed class, race, gender and sexuality more centrally into the university curriculum, were located largely within departments of cultural studies. The university presents student as consumer, but acts on student-as-unit-of-revenue. The university presents student as consumer, but acts on student-as-unit-of-revenue. Students pay market, or even inflated, rates for campus accommodation, in campus shops, for graduation, and foot the bill for upgraded sports and teaching facilities. The competition for students has made universities re-order their priorities from promoting knowledge to the promotion of self and ‘brand’ and universities have increased their focus on marketing accordingly.
