Rebecca's Thoughts

There is a page on TikTok called Education Forum that is currently on part 58 of its series “Absolutely Useless College Degrees” (the name of the series often changes, but this is the most consistent title given)[1]. I think this series, and the response to it, reflects much of the discussions found in Chapter 6 of Wendy Brown’s book Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution but I also think that this mentality isn’t exclusive to just neo-liberals but rather modern American Conservatism as a whole. I think this can be seen through the growth of what is often perceived as “liberal studies” and classes like women and gender studies, identity studies, colonial studies, and things like critical theory, all considered “useless” or “controversial” by members on the right. These classes often replace what American Conservatives see as the backbone of traditional liberal arts and classes that promote classical, western knowledge. In this series, Education Forum sees degrees like History, Political Science, English, and Regional Studies as being obsolete as they perceive these jobs as having little monetary potential. This is in comparison to degrees like Construction Management, Accounting, Engineering, and other vocational trades which are seen as having high potential.

When looking at neoliberalism and Wendy Brown’s book, I think it is important to understand to what extent neoliberalism threatens democracy. In chapter six, “Educating Human Capital,” there is a lot of discussion about human capital and what this commodification means for post-secondary education in America. This is further explored through the discussion of why people get university degrees; do people get degrees to learn, or to get a job and money? Brown argues that there is a direct connection between the state of postsecondary education and the state of democracy. She discusses this through the corporatization of postsecondary institutions and how that impacts the education people receive[2]. This is seen in the last two pages of the chapter and the idea that an educated population can make judgements about the things going on around them and the government as an institution[3].

Additionally, education plays into people perception of crisis and how it is dealt with. I think it is important to understand that the sub-par mortgage crisis of 2008 and the reasons for it are complicated and hard for the average person to understand. The whole system around sub-par lending and the trading of mortgage backed securities is complicated and not something the average person has to deal with daily. I think this contributes to how and why this was able to happen for so long, and why no one was really able to stop it. There seems to be a gap between knowledge held by people running the banks and those in government. Leading up to the crash in 2007, many Americans had faith in financial institutions and that the loans that they were receiving were sustainable and good when the opposite was the reality[4]. This gap between perception and reality played a huge role in letting the crisis happen.

A lack of democracy through the allocation of neoliberal policies allowed for and facilitated the 2007/2008 crisis, and a lack of democracy essentially allowed the banks to continue on with business after the crisis. When the people who once ran the banks are appointed to make regulations[5] and bail-out their friends, I don’t think they should be labelled as “crisis-fighters” and I think that is a failing of government for allowing it to happen. When people vote I think they expect the people who get elected to make the decisions, but that is often not the case, rather, it is people with their own interests making decisions for themselves, and I think that is the true failing of democracy.

[1] @education.forum, https://www.tiktok.com/@education.forum?lang=en.

[2] Wendy Brown, “Educating Human Capital,” chapter 6 in Undoing the Demos: Neoliberalism’s Stealth Revolution (New York: Zone Books, 2015). https://erikafontanez.files.wordpress.com/2019/10/w.-brown-undoing-the-demos.pdf

[3] I have many problems with this chapter in Brown’s book. Although I do see value in a university education, there are many barriers to entry. This isn’t necessary only regarding the cost of post-secondary education but also in terms of literal accessibility to those with disabilities (visible/non-visible). There is also just general interest that plays a role in people choosing to go to university, some people just don’t want to go, and I think to say that by those people not having a degree or diploma they can’t make judgements or hold the government accountable (or to the extreme, are diminishing democracy) isn’t right. For the most part, the internet is free and there is a wealth of knowledge available to those who want to learn on their own time and under their own interests. I think that by academia at large discrediting these people and the accurate, credible, and valuable information found on the internet is counter productive to the education system, and democracy.

[4] Leo Panitch and Martijn Konings, “Myths of Neoliberal Deregulation,” New Left Review 57 (May-June 2009): 67-83. (p. 75-76)

[5] Ibid (p. 57)