Transforming the Game : Democratizing the publicness of higher education and Commonwealth in neoliberal times

Journal article


Coles, Romand. (2014). Transforming the Game : Democratizing the publicness of higher education and Commonwealth in neoliberal times. New Political Science. 36(4), pp. 622 - 639. https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2014.954799
AuthorsColes, Romand
Abstract

This article argues that neoliberalism should be understood as a game-transformative set of practices in which the objective of each move is not only to gain the upper hand in the established game, but rather to repeatedly change the basic configuration of the game itself to further enhance its power. In the face of this assault on democratic commonwealth in higher education and elsewhere, many progressives are stuck in a primarily defensive frame according to which the objective is to resist losses and re-establish conditions that facilitate a less asymmetrical political game. This political stance harbors little democratic promise because it is insufficiently attentive to neoliberal game-transformative practices. To rejuvenate vital and mutually supportive relationships between public higher education and democracy, we must co-create a radically democratic game-transformative pedagogical and political practice in which we intensify and expand the meaning of publicness and publics. The article explores Northern Arizona University's Action Research Teams initiative as one prefiguration of this possibility.

Year2014
JournalNew Political Science
Journal citation36 (4), pp. 622 - 639
ISSN0739-3148
Digital Object Identifier (DOI)https://doi.org/10.1080/07393148.2014.954799
Page range622 - 639
Research GroupInstitute for Social Justice
Publisher's version
File Access Level
Controlled
Permalink -

https://acuresearchbank.acu.edu.au/item/8v1w5/transforming-the-game-democratizing-the-publicness-of-higher-education-and-commonwealth-in-neoliberal-times

Restricted files

Publisher's version

  • 94
    total views
  • 0
    total downloads
  • 2
    views this month
  • 0
    downloads this month
These values are for the period from 19th October 2020, when this repository was created.

Export as

Related outputs

Reimagining fugitive democracy and transformative sanctuary with black frontline communities in the underground railroad
Haro, Lia and Coles, Romand. (2019). Reimagining fugitive democracy and transformative sanctuary with black frontline communities in the underground railroad. Political Theory. 47(5), pp. 1 - 28. https://doi.org/10.1177/0090591719828725
Biocultural polymorphic fields, receptive agency and symbiotic evolution beyond the anthropocentric wave
Coles, Romand. (2018). Biocultural polymorphic fields, receptive agency and symbiotic evolution beyond the anthropocentric wave. Theory and Event: an online journal of political theory. 21(2), pp. 495 - 507.
The pragmatic vision of visionary pragmatism: The challenge of radical democracy in a neoliberal world order: Visionary pragmatism: Radical and ecological democracy in neoliberal times Romand Coles, Duke University Press, Durham, 2016, 240 pp., ISBN: 9780822360643
Coles, Romand and Susen, Simon. (2018). The pragmatic vision of visionary pragmatism: The challenge of radical democracy in a neoliberal world order: Visionary pragmatism: Radical and ecological democracy in neoliberal times Romand Coles, Duke University Press, Durham, 2016, 240 pp., ISBN: 9780822360643. Contemporary Political Theory. 17(2), pp. 250 - 262. https://doi.org/10.1057/s41296-018-0196-5
Book Symposium: Paul Apostolidis, William Connolly, Jodi Dean, and Jade Schiff comment on Romand Coles’s book Visionary Pragmatism
Apostolidis, Paul, Connolly, William E., Dean, Jodi, Schiff, Jade and Coles, Romand. (2017). Book Symposium: Paul Apostolidis, William Connolly, Jodi Dean, and Jade Schiff comment on Romand Coles’s book Visionary Pragmatism. Democratic Theory. 4(1), pp. 79 - 108. https://doi.org/10.3167/dt.2017.040105
Eleven Theses on Neo-Fascism and the Fight to Defeat It
Haro, Lia and Coles, Romand. (2017). Eleven Theses on Neo-Fascism and the Fight to Defeat It. Theory and Event: an online journal of political theory. 20(1), pp. 100 - 115.
Catalyzing ecologies of transformative community partnerships
Coles, Romand. (2017). Catalyzing ecologies of transformative community partnerships. In In C. Dolgon, T. D. Mitchell and T.K. Eatman (Ed.). The Cambridge Handbook of Service Learning and Community Engagement pp. 147 - 157 Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781316650011.015
Visionary pragmatism : Radical and ecological democracy in neoliberal times
Coles, Romand. (2016). Visionary pragmatism : Radical and ecological democracy in neoliberal times Duke University Press.
Walt Whitman, Jane Bennett, and the paradox of antagonistic sympathy
Coles, Romand. (2016). Walt Whitman, Jane Bennett, and the paradox of antagonistic sympathy. Political Research Quarterly. 69(3), pp. 621 - 625. https://doi.org/10.1177/1065912916656458
The new environmentalism of everyday life: Sustainability, material flows and movements
Schlosberg, David and Coles, Romand. (2016). The new environmentalism of everyday life: Sustainability, material flows and movements. Contemporary Political Theory. 15(2), pp. 160 - 181. https://doi.org/10.1057/cpt.2015.34
Transforming the game: Democratizing the publicness of higher education and Commonwealth in neoliberal times
Coles, Romand. (2016). Transforming the game: Democratizing the publicness of higher education and Commonwealth in neoliberal times. In In S. F. Schram (Ed.). Neoliberalizing the university: Implications for American democracy pp. 198 - 215 Routledge.
Environmental political theory and environmental action research teams
Coles, Romand. (2016). Environmental political theory and environmental action research teams. In In T. Gabrielson, C. Hall and J. M. Meyer and D. Schlosberg (Ed.). The Oxford handbook of environmental political theory pp. 131 - 143 Oxford University Press.
Transformational ecotones: The craftsperson ethos and higher education
Coles, Romand and Scarnati, Blase. (2015). Transformational ecotones: The craftsperson ethos and higher education. In In H. C. Boyte (Ed.). Democracy's education: Public work, citizenship, and the future of colleges and universities pp. 115 - 125 Vanderbilt University Press.
Radical future pasts? An anti-introduction
Coles, Romand and Reinhardt, Mark. (2014). Radical future pasts? An anti-introduction. In In R. Coles, M. Reinhardt and G. Shulman (Ed.). Radical future pasts: Untimely political theory pp. 1 - 35 The University Press of Kentucky.
Journeys to farther shores: Intersecting movements of poetics, politics, and theory beyond Utopia
Haro, Lia and Coles, Romand. (2014). Journeys to farther shores: Intersecting movements of poetics, politics, and theory beyond Utopia. In In N. Kompridis (Ed.). The aesthetic turn in political thought pp. 113 - 141 Bloomsbury Publishing.
"It's the 'We', Stupid", or reflections toward an ecology of radical democratic theory and practice
Coles, Romand. (2013). "It's the 'We', Stupid", or reflections toward an ecology of radical democratic theory and practice. Theory and Event: an online journal of political theory. 16(1), pp. 1 - 7.
The promise of democratic populism in the face of contemporary power
Coles, Romand. (2012). The promise of democratic populism in the face of contemporary power. Good Society. 21(2), pp. 177 - 193.
The neuropolitical habitus of resonant receptive democracy
Coles, Romand. (2011). The neuropolitical habitus of resonant receptive democracy. Ethics & Global Politics. 4(4), pp. 273 - 293. https://doi.org/10.3402/egp.v4i4.14447
The wild peace (not) of John Howard Yoder : Reflections on Nonviolence - A brief history
Coles, Romand. (2011). The wild peace (not) of John Howard Yoder : Reflections on Nonviolence - A brief history. Conrad Grebel Review (print). 29(3), pp. 22 - 41.
To make this emergence articulate: The beautiful, the tragic-sublime, the good, and the shapes of common practice
Coles, Romand. (2011). To make this emergence articulate: The beautiful, the tragic-sublime, the good, and the shapes of common practice. In In R. W. Grant (Ed.). In search of goodness pp. 107 - 128 The University of Chicago Press.
Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet : Reflections on a secular age
Hauerwas, Stanley and Coles, Romand. (2010). Long live the weeds and the wilderness yet : Reflections on a secular age. Modern Theology. 26(3), pp. 349 - 362. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1468-0025.2010.01612.x