ABSTRACT
One compelling story of post-Fordist, experiential consumption sees the contemporary consumer as a Romantic daydreamer using the resources of the market to imagine the ‘good life’ (see Campbell 1987; McCracken 1988). This is quite different from the rational, utility-maximising consumer who ensures that markets meet society’s needs, so the implication is that markets actually respond to elaborate and individualised fantasies. In this chapter we consider how marketised higher education (HE) may operate as a resource for students’ day - dreams, and in doing so may facilitate, or support socialisation into contem porary ‘work and spend’ culture. We do this by reflecting on the stories students tell about their experiences of university and their dreams for the future.
