Artificial Intelligence in the Capitalist University

Artificial Intelligence in the Capitalist University: Academic Labour, Commodification, and Value

 

A new book by John Preston

New York: Routledge

https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003081654

eBook ISBN9781003081654

 

ABSTRACT

Using Marxist critique, this book explores manifestations of Artificial Intelligence (AI) in Higher Education and demonstrates how it contributes to the functioning and existence of the capitalist university.

Challenging the idea that AI is a break from previous capitalist technologies, the book offers nuanced examination of the impacts of AI on the control and regulation of academic work and labour, on digital learning and remote teaching, and on the value of learning and knowledge. Applying a Marxist perspective, Preston argues that commodity fetishism, surveillance, and increasing productivity ushered in by the growth of AI, further alienates and exploits academic labour and commodifies learning and research. The text puts forward a solid theoretical framework and methodology for thinking about AI to inform critical and revolutionary pedagogies.

Offering an impactful and timely analysis, this book provides a critical engagement and application of key Marxist concepts in the study of AI’s role in Higher Education. It will be of interest to those working or researching in Higher Education.

 

The book is free to read on Creative Commons, @ https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/oa-mono/10.4324/9781003081654/artificial-intelligence-capitalist-university-john-preston

 

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

@ Academia: https://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

@ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn-Rikowski

The Funnelling: Higher Education for Labour-power Production in the Shadow of Covid-19

 

The Funnelling: Higher Education for Labour-power Production in the Shadow of Covid-19

This paper – recently published in The Journal for Critical Education Policy Studies – is now available at ResearchGate and Academia.

Abstract

This article explores how the UK Conservative Government’s Department for Education is taking advantage of the Covid-19 pandemic to restructure higher education in England towards labour-power production. There is nothing new in UK governments seeking to reshape higher education for labour-power development. But under cover of apparent concern for students’ well-being in the pandemic, the consequences for higher education institutions viewed as slacking or heel-dragging regarding their labour-power production drives have never been greater following the publication of Establishment of a Higher Education Restructuring Regime in Response to Covid-19 (DfE, 2020a): market exit and closure. The Great Interruption in labour-power production generated by Covid-19 can pose the question of whether we continue to assent to our labour-power being shaped for capital, or whether we redirect flows of labour-power development in directions of post-capitalist futures. 

Keywords: Covid-19, higher education, labour-power, educational restructuring, Great Interruption

@ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/354723043_The_Funnelling_Higher_Education_for_Labour-power_Production_in_the_Shadow_of_Covid-19 and http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn-Rikowski

@ Academia: https://www.academia.edu/53201438/The_Funnelling_Higher_Education_for_Labour_power_Production_in_the_Shadow_of_Covid_19 and http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

 

Glenn Rikowski

London

18 October 2021

SCHOOLS OF WAR

 

SCHOOLS OF WAR

This is an article I have written with Alisson  Slider do Nascimento de Paula, and it was published today in the ‘Journal of Pedagogical Sociology and Psychology’. You can see, and download the article (free, open access) at: https://www.j-psp.com/article/schools-of-war-10993.

ABSTRACT: In his classic ‘The Condition of the Working Class in England’ (1845), Friedrich Engels argued that workers engaged in industrial action gained knowledge of economic processes, tactical awareness in struggles and grasped the value of solidarity in the face of employers‟ assaults on pay and working conditions. These struggles constituted “schools of war”; significant learning experiences for workers, argued Engels. Yet schools of war can take other forms, such as struggles against the capitalisation of education; educational institutions becoming sites of capital accumulation and preparation for capitalist work. In this sense, education has become a battleground as its privatisation, commodification, marketisation, commercialisation and monetisation have gathered pace in many countries since the second half of the twentieth century. This article argues that there are two main fronts in the war over the penetration of education by capital in contemporary society: the business takeover of education, as educational institutions become value- and profit-making sites; and the reduction of education to labour-power production. It explores these two fronts of war in terms of education policies in England and Brazil and argues for the establishment of forms of education beyond capitalist states and capital’s commodity forms.

Glenn Rikowski

@ ResearchGate: http://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn-Rikowski

SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS

 

SOME RECENT PUBLICATIONS

 

These recent publications can be found at ResearchGate and Academia:

 

Rikowski, G. (2021) An Interview with Glenn Rikowski. Rethinking Critical Pedagogy, Vol.2 Issue 1, March.

At ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/350487423_An_Interview_with_Glenn_Rikowski

At Academia: https://www.academia.edu/45641960/An_Interview_with_Glenn_Rikowski

 

Rikowski, G. (2021) Crisis. In: S. Themelis (ed.) Critical Reflections on the Language of Neoliberalism in Education: Dangerous Words and Discourses of Possibility. London: Routledge.

At ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/347109171_Crisis

At Academia: https://www.academia.edu/45079016/Crisis

 

Rikowski, G. (2020) Critique of the Classical Theory of Education Crisis (Critica de Theoria Clássica de Crise da Educação). Trabalho & Educação, Vol.29 No.3, pp.16-67, September-December. (English with Portuguese Abstract).

At ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/348349675_Critique_of_the_Classical_Theory_of_Education_Crisis_Critica_de_Theoria_Classica_de_Crise_da_Educacao

At Academia: https://www.academia.edu/44897543/Critica_de_Theoria_Cl%C3%A1ssica_de_Crise_da_Educa%C3%A7%C3%A3o_Critique_of_the_Classical_Theory_of_Education_Crisis_  

 

Rikowski, G. (2020) The Psychology of Capital. In: Stankovic Pejnović, V. & Matić, I. (Eds.) New Understanding of Capital in the 21^st Century. Belgrade: Institute for Political Studies.

At ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346627387_The_Psychology_of_Capital

At Academia: https://www.academia.edu/44634483/The_Psychology_of_Capital

 

Rikowski, G. (2020) Educação e Tragédia do Trabalho. In: A. Slider do Nascimento de Paula, F. Ferreira Costa, Kátia Rodrigues Lima & K. Costa Pereira (Eds.) CRÍTICA, TRABALHO E POLÍTICAS EDUCACIONAIS NO CENÁRIO DO CAPITALISMO MUNDIALIZADO, Chapter 6, Marilia: Lutus Anticapital. (Portuguese).

At ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/345747254_Educacao_e_Tragedia_do_Trabalho

At Academia: https://www.academia.edu/44480217/Educacao_e_Tragedia_do_Trabalho

 

Glenn Rikowski

London, 10^th May 2021

ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn-Rikowski  

 

The Psychology of Capital

 

THE PSYCHOLOGY OF CAPITAL

This is my latest article, published in New Understanding of Capital in the 21^st Century, edited by Vesna Stanković Pejnović and Ivan Matić, and published by the Institute for Political Studies, Belgrade, December 2020.

 

ABSTRACT:

There is an antagonistic dynamic within the human in contemporary society: the struggle of labour and capital, the capital relation, is within us. This is the psychology of capital, which also entails that the class struggle – as the capital relation – also runs through us and fractures and divides our personhoods. It is argued that this monstrous psychology must be dissolved within capital: there is no outside or beyond to appeal to. We must side against ourselves as currently constituted. This can be achieved through forming and strengthening alternatives within and alien to capital, in collective and communising practices, and intellectual attacks. The argument has significant consequences for class and freedom in the project of leaving capital behind.

Keywords: capital, psychology, class, freedom, dissolution, alternatives, communisation

It is now available at ResearchGate and Academia:

The Psychology of Capital @ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/346627387_The_Psychology_of_Capital

The Psychology of Capital @ Academia: https://www.academia.edu/44634483/The_Psychology_of_Capital

 

***END***

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski at ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski at Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski

 

CRISIS

 

CRISIS

I have an article, Crisis, forthcoming in the following book:

Glenn

London, 17^th November 2020

 

Critical Reflections on the Language of Neoliberalism in Education
Dangerous Words and Discourses of Possibility

 

Edited By 

Spyros Themelis

 

ISBN 9780367629564

December 29, 2020 Forthcoming by Routledge

252 Pages

 

Book Description

Recognizing the dominance of neoliberal forces in education, this volume offers a range of critical essays which analyze the language used to underpin these dynamics.

Combining essays from over 20 internationally renowned contributors, this text offers a critical examination of key terms which have become increasingly central to educational discourse. Each essay considers the etymological foundation of each term, the context in which they have evolved, and likewise their changed meaning. In doing so, these essays illustrate the transformative potential of language to express or challenge political, social, and economic ideologies. The text’s musings on the language of education and its implications for the current and future role of education in society make clear its relevance to today’s cultural and political landscape.

This exploratory monograph will be of interest to doctoral students, researchers, and scholars with an interest in the philosophy of education, educational policy and politics, as well as the sociology of education and the impacts of neoliberalism.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction

Part I. Endangering words

[1]. Crisis

Glenn Rikowski

 

[2]. Neoliberal globalization

Spyros Themelis

 

[3]. Social value

Ewen Speed

 

[4]. Alienation

Inny Accioly

 

[5]. Hegemony

Alpesh Maisuria

 

[6]. Immiseration

Richard Hall

 

[7] Commodity

Joss Winn

 

[8]. Social mobility

Spyros Themelis

 

[9].Social Inclusion

Angela Cator

 

[10]. Markets

Dionysios Gouvias

 

[11].League tables and Targets

Patrick Yarker

 

[12]. Managerialism

Richard Hall

 

[13]. Employability

Tom G. Griffiths and Bill Robertson

 

[14] Ability

Patrick Yarker

 

 

Part II. Words of possibility

 

[15]. Essence

Grant Banfield

 

[16]. Reflexivity

Elisabeth Simburger

 

[17]. Utopia

Tom G. Griffiths and Jo Williams

 

[18]. Hope

Hasan Hüseyin Aksoy

 

[19]. Social movements

Laurence Cox

 

[20]. Revolutionary Pedagogy

Peter McLaren

 

[21]. Alternative education

Richard Hall

 

[22]. Youth

Sandra Gadelha and Claudiana Alencar

 

[23]. Educators

Maria Chalari and Eleftheria Atta

 

[24]. School

José Ernandi Mendes

 

[25]. Post-Critical Education

Juan Ramón Rodríguez Fernández

 

[26]. Educational Commons

Yannis Pechtelidis

 

[27]. Socialism

Dave Hill

　

Conclusion: Stammering

Mike Neary

 

Spyros Themelis is Associate Professor in the School of Education and Lifelong Learning, University of East Anglia (UEA), UK.

See details at Routledge: https://www.routledge.com/Critical-Reflections-on-the-Language-of-Neoliberalism-in-Education-Dangerous/Themelis/p/book/9780367629564

Amazon.co.uk: https://www.amazon.co.uk/Critical-Reflections-Language-Neoliberalism-Education/dp/0367629569

***END***

Posted here by Glenn Rikowski:

Glenn Rikowski @ Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski 

Glenn Rikowski @ ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

 

Education and the Tragedy of Labour

EDUCATION AND THE TRAGEDY OF LABOUR

 

 Glenn Rikowski

 

 

This Draft paper of mine, Education and the Tragedy of Labour – completed on 25^th June 2020 – can now be found at Academia, in the ‘Drafts & Pre-prints’ section, at:

https://www.academia.edu/43678143/Education_and_the_Tragedy_of_Labour

 

Abstract:

The argument of this paper is that, insofar as education is tied to the social production of labour-power in capitalism, or is infused with the business takeover of education, then, by default, it is in a tragic condition. This argument is pursued in conjunction with an exploration of some aspects of the literature on tragedy. The tragedy of labour results from the opposition between labouring for value production and capital's profit system, and labouring for ourselves - individually and collectively - for human desires, needs and enhancement. Radical alternatives are required for the latter, otherwise education is doomed to be tied to capital's prerogatives. 

Glenn Rikowski at ResearchGate: https://www.researchgate.net/profile/Glenn_Rikowski

Glenn Rikowski at Academia: http://independent.academia.edu/GlennRikowski