N-Lighten Me

This episode presents the core ideas in the following book:

Kamal, M. (2016). Mulla Sadra's Transcendent Philosophy, Routledge

This episode discusses the edited book:

Fischer, L., Hasell, J., Proctor, J. C., Uwakwe, D., Ward-Perkins, Z. & Watson, C. (2017). Rethinking Economics, Routledge, Abingdon.

Unto This Last. Political Economy Essays of John Ruskin

This episode discusses the book Giroux, H. A. (2007) The University in Chains: Confronting the Military-Industrial-Academic Complex, Boulder: Paradigm Publishers.

This text presents a forceful critique of the post-9/11 transformation of higher education, arguing that the university is dangerously compromised by a Military-Industrial-Academic Complex and encroaching corporatisation. The author asserts that democratic principles are under assault as the academy is reduced to serving the interests of the national security state and corporate profit, prioritising instrumental knowledge over critical thought. Furthermore, the source details the pervasive militarisation of American society and popular culture, which normalises violence, authority, and fear, extending military values into civilian life, recruiting methods, and even educational curricula. Finally, the text highlights a concurrent right-wing ideological assault on universities, using rhetoric of "balance" to suppress dissent and critical scholars, particularly those addressing issues in Middle Eastern studies, further eroding the university's vital role as a democratic public sphere and site of resistance.

Based on the book: Deleuze, Guattari and the Schizoanalysis of Post-Neoliberalism,

This episode outlines the central challenge of applying Deleuze and Guattari's philosophy, noting that its lack of a systematic methodological core makes a clear definition difficult, thereby limiting its adoption in certain academic fields. The text then introduces several contributors who use schizoanalysis to critique the contemporary landscape, focusing on the shift from neoliberalism to the post-neoliberal condition. Key thematic areas explored by the authors include the critique of transhumanism as a neoliberal commodity, the contrast between disciplinary and control societies, and the development of a postanthropocentric critique of capitalism that encompasses both human and machinic surplus value. Ultimately, the collected essays reflect on how Deleuze and Guattari’s thought offers a cornucopia of reconstructive possibilities and "new weapons" for political and ethical resistance in this new and uncertain era, urging a shift from conventional knowledge towards an immanent belief in this world as a basis for radical ecology and collective action

This scholarly work

Camarinha Lopes, T. (2022) Law of Value and Theories of Value: Symmetrical Critique of Classical and Neoclassical Political Economy, Boston: BRILL.

offers a symmetrical critique of both the classical labor theory of value and the neoclassical utility theory of value, arguing that both share the fundamental error of naturalising commodity social relations. Instead of praising the former and dismissing the latter, the author contends that both theories are equally valid and limited because they fail to recognize capitalism as a historically specific, rather than natural, system. The core purpose is to introduce economists to Marxian political economy by demonstrating that Marx’s work is not merely a labor theory of value but rather a theory of the commodity that overcomes this naturalization error by linking the choice of value's qualitative variable to the theorist's position in class struggle. The text's structure reflects this symmetry, with parallel chapters dissecting the shared shortcomings of both post-classical approaches, which ultimately lead to the idealization of simple commodity production.

This academic text, likely a book or extended article titled "Neoliberalism and Race," meticulously details the racialized foundations and conceptual shifts within neoliberal thought from the mid-twentieth century onward. The author argues that post-World War II, as biological racism became less acceptable, neoliberal thinkers, including figures like Thomas Sowell, Wilhelm Röpke, and Charles Murray, deliberately recast theories of inequality by substituting cultural deficiency and family breakdown for biology as the root cause of poverty, particularly among non-Western and Black communities. The source highlights key areas where this racialized thinking was deployed, such as in early neoliberal development theory (blaming underdevelopment on culture rather than colonialism) and through the incorporation of eugenics and race science, exemplified by the influence of The Bell Curve and its authors on the broader neoliberal movement's fixation on genetic differences in intelligence. Ultimately, the text reveals how foundational neoliberal concepts, such as the critique of the welfare state and the idea of civilizational decline, were deeply infused with racialized anxieties and differentiation strategies, which often obscured their true nature through subtle cultural coding.

This academic volume, comprised of letters and essays, rigorously examines the enduring challenges faced by faculty of colour in predominantly white institutions, despite recruitment efforts to diversify the professoriate. The key themes revolve around experiences of discrimination, cultural taxation, emotional labour, and a presumed deficit of credibility that undermine their professional lives and sense of belonging. Through personal vignettes and research-based analysis, the text explores contentious interactions with colleagues, systemic biases embedded in student evaluations, and the political nature of the tenure process, all of which reflect a racialised and stressful academic environment. Ultimately, the volume aims to break the silence on these struggles, offering both a road map for survival and strategies for faculty of colour to thrive and flourish in the face of institutional opposition.

Here is the bibliographic information and a concise summary of the sources covered in this episode:

Source 1: My High Horse Is Dying: Agitating Internalized Neoliberalism in Higher Education With(Out) Compassion

Bibliographic Information: Killam, R. K. (2023). My High Horse Is Dying: Agitating Internalized Neoliberalism in Higher Education With(Out) Compassion. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 23(1), 35–61. https://doi.org/10.1177/15327086221107050.

In a Nutshell: This critical autoethnography explores the pervasive nature of internalized and systemic neoliberalism in US higher education, which necessitates conforming to norms like efficiency and competition, leading to widespread "normalized suffering" among students and professionals. The work critiques the adherence to homo economicus ideals and uses the author's experience as a career counsellor to illustrate these pressures. It posits that compassion—defined as recognizing and responding to suffering—can serve as a critical organizing principle and agitator to disrupt and transform neoliberal dominance in the university context.

Source 2: The Challenges of Minoritized Contingent Faculty in Higher Education

Bibliographic Information: Chun, E., & Evans, A. (2024). The Challenges of Minoritized Contingent Faculty in Higher Education. Purdue University Press.

In a Nutshell: This book examines the precarious working conditions of non-tenure-track (NTT) or contingent faculty, who now comprise the majority of the instructional workforce. It traces the creation of the two-tiered faculty model to neoliberal trends, the erosion of state funding, and increased administrative control, which systematically devalues teaching and limits academic freedom. The study highlights that minoritized contingent faculty face double marginalization due to their unstable employment status, coupled with exclusion based on intersectional identities (such as race, gender, and disability), resulting in stress, low pay, and isolation. The authors propose structural policy changes and increased union power to address these inequities and improve the faculty talent framework

Source 3: Managing racism? Race equality and decolonial educational futures

Bibliographic Information: Ali, S. (2022). Managing racism? Race equality and decolonial educational futures. The British Journal of Sociology, 73(5), 923–941. https://doi.org/10.1111/1468-4446.12976.

In a Nutshell: This paper analyses persistent racial inequalities in UK Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) despite extensive anti-discrimination legislation. It examines anti-racist (AR) and decolonial (DC) initiatives, arguing that the rise of managerialism and audit cultures allows racism to flourish because these regulatory frameworks focus on identities but fail to account for the complex ways racism is maintained in knowledge production. The author suggests that for educational social justice to be achieved, the focus must shift from superficial "Equality, Diversity, and Inclusion" (EDI) agendas toward recentralizing racism and reengaging difference.

Three articles are under review and conversation.

Racial Capitalism, Rearticulation, and the Commodification of Difference in the Neoliberal Academy

The bibliographical details for the sources used are as follows:

1. Iftikar, J. S. (2017). Articulated Racial Projects: Towards a Framework for Analyzing the Intersection Between Race and Neoliberalism in Higher Education. Journal of Critical Scholarship on Higher Education and Student Affairs, 3(1), 146–157.

   • Note: The author, Jon S. Iftikar, introduces the articulated racial projects framework derived from Stuart Hall’s theory of articulation and Omi and Winant’s racial formation theory.

2. Liera, R., & Rodgers, A. J. (202X). “I’m a Needed Commodity in the Academy”: Racial Capitalism and the Positioning of Race as Capital in the Faculty Job Market. The Review of Higher Education, xx(x), 1–XXX.

   • Note: The authors, Román Liera and Aireale J. Rodgers, analyze the experiences of racially minoritized PhD candidates navigating racial commodification in the academic job market, guided by racial capitalism and interest convergence. The publication details contain placeholders for the volume, issue, and pagination (Volume xx, No. x, pp. 1–XXX) and the year (202X).

3. Lawless, B., & Chen, Y.-W. (2017). Multicultural Neoliberalism and Academic Labor: Experiences of Female Immigrant Faculty in the U.S. Academy. Cultural Studies ↔ Critical Methodologies, 17(3), 236–243.

   • Note: The authors, Brandi Lawless and Yea-Wen Chen, explore how neoliberal ideologies, particularly multicultural neoliberalism and universal meritocracy, shape the academic experiences and subjectivities of female immigrant faculty members in the U.S. academy.

The three sources collectively offer an abstract insight into how market-driven ideologies, particularly neoliberalism and racial capitalism, infiltrate and fundamentally restructure higher education, primarily through the systematic commodification and exploitation of racial and immigrant identities. This synthesis reveals a critical tension: institutions are publicly committed to diversity and progress, yet their underlying practices perpetuate racial hierarchy and structural inequality. The Rearticulation and Commodification of Difference The core theoretical contribution shared across these texts is the understanding that contemporary racism in higher education is not a remnant of the past but a rearticulation or recombination of existing racial and economic elements into new formations.

1. Articulated Racial Projects: This framework argues that the intersection between race and neoliberalism should be understood as a structure of interconnected racial projects. Neoliberalism functions as a hegemonic racial project that utilizes racial subprojects, such as colorblindness and diversity, to reshape systemic race-related issues. For instance, neoliberal colorblindness articulates with market-centered elements like rational consumption and entrepreneurism, often relying on the notion of "meritocracy" to individualize success and failure and thus downplay institutional racism.

2. Racial Capitalism and Interest Convergence: The academic job market operates on racial capitalist logics, transforming race, non-whiteness, and racial difference into capital or items to be bought and sold. This commodification is fueled by interest convergence, meaning that racial progress (like hiring faculty of color) is only pursued and achieved when it aligns with or advances the interests of the dominant white majority or the institution's market value.

3. Multicultural Neoliberalism: This concept describes the ideological system where multicultural subjects are acknowledged and accepted based on principles of self-reliance, individualism, and competition (meritocracy), while simultaneously undermining collective action or meaningful social change.