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Searching for Authenticity and Success: Academic Identity and Production in Neoliberal Times

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Book cover Universities in the Neoliberal Era

Part of the book series: Palgrave Critical University Studies ((PCU))

Abstract

This chapter investigates the relationship between neoliberalism’s impact on academic careers and the reshaping of academic identity. I show how academics reconcile the often conflicting needs of a publish or perish culture with increasing lecture hours and administrative responsibilities. Drawing on interviews with junior social scientists from the sociology, political science and international relations departments, I analyze the professional dispositions and norms of academics in Turkish higher education under neoliberalization. In particular, I focus on the relationship between their dispositions and strategies in trying to maintain a balance between their professional identity and career security in a precarious social setting. I also identify a possible ethos to reconcile neoliberal principles of higher education and the actors’ subjective aspirations.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of International Relations, Ege University, Izmir, Turkey

    Özgür Budak

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  1. Özgür Budak
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Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Hakan Ergül

  2. Hacettepe University, Ankara, Turkey

    Simten Coşar

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Budak, Ö. (2017). Searching for Authenticity and Success: Academic Identity and Production in Neoliberal Times. In: Ergül, H., Coşar, S. (eds) Universities in the Neoliberal Era. Palgrave Critical University Studies. Palgrave Macmillan, London. https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55212-9_3

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/978-1-137-55212-9_3

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  • Publisher Name: Palgrave Macmillan, London

  • Print ISBN: 978-1-137-55211-2

  • Online ISBN: 978-1-137-55212-9

  • eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)

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