ABSTRACT
The marketisation of higher education was not welcomed by everyone. In particular, the reconfiguration of students as customers sparked widespread criticism. One of the most common criticisms against the concept of the customer has been that it allegedly had a negative impact on the students' self-understanding and their idea of education. The concept of the student as customer has raised widespread criticism from within academia. The criticism was primarily concerned with either the pedagogical situation or the power relations within the institution of higher education. Much of the criticism against the customer model as well as the alternative metaphors of the client or co-producer primarily tried to resurrect academic authority. In contrast to that, alternative metaphors like partner or change agent were not only aimed at regaining academic authority but also questioned the form of power that the notion of the customer implied as well as the students' role within the institutions of higher education.
