Drawing on affect theory and research on academic capitalism, this book examines the contemporary crisis of universities. Moving through 11 international and comparative case studies, it explores diverse features of contemporary academic life, from the coloniality of academic capitalism to performance management and the experience of being performance-managed.


Affect has emerged as a major analytical lens of social research. However, it is rarely applied to universities and their marketisation. Offering a unique exploration of the contemporary role of affect in academic labour and the organisation of scholarship, this book considers modes of subjectivation, professional and personal relationships and organisational structures and their affective charges.


Chapter 9 is available Open Access via OAPEN under CC-BY-NC-ND licence.

Contributions by: Erika Andersson Cederholm, Carina Siöholm, Dianne Dredoe, Talia Esnard, Silvia Gherardi, Michela Cozza, Magnus Hoppe, Amir Hampel, Demetra Tzanaki, Juhana Venäläinen, Mark Vicars, Lewis Zipin, Marie Brennan, Kenneth Mølbjerg Jørgensen, Paola Valero