ABSTRACT
In this chapter, the authors explain the dangers of the consumerist model and develop alternative possibilities for describing student identity by arguing for a new pedagogy for higher education (HE), a pedagogy based on relational dynamics and derived from a synthesis of critical theory and psychoanalysis. Disciplinary engagement in HE necessitates study of the impact of the discipline on society in ways that have the potential to turn “the abstract concept of social citizenship into a practical reality”. This is a challenge to managerialist approaches that have emerged as a result of neo-liberal policies seeking to position HE as preparation for employment rather than the pursuit of knowledge for the benefit of personal and social development. The authors argue against the unreliable and false information that has been used to present the marketisation of UK HE as an opportunity for raising academic standards, and develop an argument for promoting an alternative pedagogy of HE based on psychoanalytic and critical theory.
