How Biopower Puts Freedom to Work: Conceptualizing ‘Pivoting Mechanisms’ in the Neoliberal University

Fleming, P

How Biopower Puts Freedom to Work: Conceptualizing ‘Pivoting Mechanisms’ in the Neoliberal University

Fleming, P

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Publisher:: SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Human Relations, 2022, 75, (10), pp. 1986-2007
Issue Date:: 2022-01-30

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Fleming, P https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6838-7190
dc.date.accessioned	2022-12-06T01:12:38Z
dc.date.available	2022-12-06T01:12:38Z
dc.date.issued	2022-01-30
dc.identifier.citation	Human Relations, 2022, 75, (10), pp. 1986-2007
dc.identifier.issn	0018-7267
dc.identifier.issn	1741-282X
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/164143
dc.description.abstract	Academics working in the neoliberal university embody a key tension. They enjoy substantial occupational freedoms and yet endure formidable levels of control. The two attributes are not necessarily opposed. Michel Foucault’s concept of biopower explains why. Unlike disciplinary power (modelled after the prison, factory, school, etc.), biopower operationalizes significant freedoms in order to render workers productive. Studies examining how employers achieve this have several limitations that this article seeks to remedy. Biopower does not frame or subjectify employee agency but pivots it instead. I develop the concept of ‘pivoting mechanisms’ and illustrate its utility with respect to academic labour in the neoliberal university. This provides a more nuanced explanation of how biopower can infiltrate professional autonomy and sheds light on its troubling effects in higher education today.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
dc.relation.ispartof	Human Relations
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/00187267221079578
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
dc.rights	Peter Fleming, How biopower puts freedom to work: Conceptualizing ‘pivoting mechanisms’ in the neoliberal university, Human Relations (75, 10) pp. Copyright © 2022. DOI: 10.1177/00187267221079578.
dc.subject	1503 Business and Management, 1608 Sociology, 1701 Psychology
dc.subject.classification	Business & Management
dc.title	How Biopower Puts Freedom to Work: Conceptualizing ‘Pivoting Mechanisms’ in the Neoliberal University
dc.title.alternative	How Biopower Puts Freedom to Work: Conceptualizing ‘Pivoting Mechanisms’ in Biopolitical Organizations
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	75
utslib.for	1503 Business and Management
utslib.for	1608 Sociology
utslib.for	1701 Psychology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Business/Management Discipline
utslib.copyright.status	open_access	*
pubs.consider-herdc	false
dc.date.updated	2022-12-06T01:12:37Z
pubs.issue	10
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	75
utslib.citation.issue	10

Abstract:

Academics working in the neoliberal university embody a key tension. They enjoy substantial occupational freedoms and yet endure formidable levels of control. The two attributes are not necessarily opposed. Michel Foucault’s concept of biopower explains why. Unlike disciplinary power (modelled after the prison, factory, school, etc.), biopower operationalizes significant freedoms in order to render workers productive. Studies examining how employers achieve this have several limitations that this article seeks to remedy. Biopower does not frame or subjectify employee agency but pivots it instead. I develop the concept of ‘pivoting mechanisms’ and illustrate its utility with respect to academic labour in the neoliberal university. This provides a more nuanced explanation of how biopower can infiltrate professional autonomy and sheds light on its troubling effects in higher education today.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/164143