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<b>Minor Compositions Podcast Episode 25 Shaping for Mediocrity</b><br>
<br>
For this episode, in light of the current sector wide university
crisis in the UK, we present the recording of a seminar with Ronald
Hartz, David Harvie, and Simon Lilley about their book Shaping for
Mediocrity.<br>
<br>
In 2021, as part of a programme called Shaping for Excellence,
bosses at the University of Leicester made redundant numerous
scholars in what was simultaneously an attack on academic freedom
and trade union organisation. The authors of Shaping for Mediocrity
not only had front-row seats in the campaign against these mass
redundancies, they were in the ring – both as targeted employees and
as trade union officers and negotiators. Shaping for Mediocrity
tells the inside story of these attacks and the campaign against
them. It situates this story within a longer history of struggle to
make the university a place where critical thinking is possible,
showing how events in Leicester are both reflective of higher
education in the UK following four decades of neoliberal ‘reform’
and a particularly egregious instance of the increasingly
authoritarian management of public institutions such as
universities.<br>
<br>
The crisis in our universities has only worsened since 2021.
Three-quarters of institutions are predicted to face financial
problems in 2025, dozens are undergoing some form of restructuring
and thousands of university workers risk losing their livelihoods.
In this recordings, three of Shaping for Mediocrity’s authors –
Ronald Hartz, David Harvie and Simon Lilley – will be discussing
their book and exploring the possibilities for resisting mediocrity
and remaking the university. <br>
<br>
Ronald Hartz is Research Assistant at Technische Universität
Ilmenau, Germany. He is interested in organisation and management
studies, alternative forms of work and organisation, and the
discursive constitution of organisations. Recently, he became
interested in the critical exploration of the transformation of
higher education.<br>
<br>
David Harvie was, until 2021, associate professor of finance and
political economy at the University of Leicester and Communications
officer and, for nine days before his dismissal, vice-chair of
Leicester UCU. He is now a deprofessionalised intellectual and a
founding member of inCommons. He’s approaching the end of a two-year
term as UCU’s (national) honorary treasurer.<br>
<br>
Simon Lilley is Professor of Organisational Studies and Management
and Director of Research for Lincoln International Business School,
University of Lincoln, U.K. Simon has a first degree in Psychology
from University College London and a PhD from the University of
Edinburgh. He has previously taught at the Universities of
Edinburgh, Manchester, Glasgow, Keele, Lancaster, Leicester, the
University for Humanist Studies, Utrecht and the International
Business School, Budapest. His primary research interests are around
Organisation Studies, Social Studies of Science and Technology,
Social Studies of Finance, and Digitalisation.<br>
<br>
Intro / outdo music: Mission of Burma - Academy Fight Song (1980)<br>
<br>
The Minor Compositions podcast is in made in collaboration with
Firefly Frequencies: <a class="moz-txt-link-freetext" href="https://fireflyfrequencies.org">https://fireflyfrequencies.org</a>
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