Dissident Knowledge in Higher Education: Resisting Colonialism, Neoliberalism, and Audit Culture in the Academy

Current global trends suggest a time of exciting possibility for scholars as critical, community-engaged, and participatory epistemologies come to the fore.

Yet, just as possibilities invite academics to broaden and deepen scholarship in ways unimagined a decade before, a parallel shift towards a neoliberal and accountability-focused culture – both in the academy and in society – imperils every new opportunity.

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In Dissident Knowledge, Noam Chomsky, Linda Tuhiwai Smith, Yvonna S. Lincoln, and others delve into the effects of colonialism, neoliberalism, and audit culture on higher education. They present promising avenues of resistance and show how to shape, reinvent, and construct life for faculty in institutions that serve as both a safe harbour and enforcer.

Marc Spooner is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Regina. He specializes in qualitative and participatory action research at the intersections of theory and action-on-the-ground. His interests include: homelessness & poverty; audit culture & the effects of neoliberalization & corporatization on higher education; social justice, activism, & participatory democracy. He has published in many venues including peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, government reports, and a wide variety of popularizations.  Together with colleagues at the U of R, he also co-hosts a popular education series that takes place in pubs—not on campus—entitled Talkin’ about School and Society. 

James McNinch is professor emeritus and former dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina.  His research and publications have focused on teaching and learning in higher education,  gender and sexual diversity, racism and white privilege, and the social construction of masculinity. 

Marc Spooner is an associate professor in the Faculty of Education, University of Regina. He specializes in qualitative and participatory action research at the intersections of theory and action-on-the-ground. His interests include: homelessness & poverty; audit culture & the effects of neoliberalization & corporatization on higher education; social justice, activism, & participatory democracy. He has published in many venues including peer-reviewed journals, book chapters, government reports, and a wide variety of popularizations.  Together with colleagues at the U of R, he also co-hosts a popular education series that takes place in pubs&;not on campus&;entitled Talkin&; about School and Society. 

James McNinch is professor emeritus and former dean of the Faculty of Education at the University of Regina.  His research and publications have focused on teaching and learning in higher education,  gender and sexual diversity, racism and white privilege, and the social construction of masculinity.