Student Identity and Political Agency

Rille Raaper is an associate professor in sociology of higher education at Durham University.

• Introduction; 1. Higher education for sale: Exploring marketisation and massification; 2. From diversity to a (dis)satisfied student as consumer; 3. Youth and studenthood in a market system; 4. Student activism and protest; 5. Student representation and unionism; 6. Student complaints as consumer empowerment; Conclusion

'Rille Raaper offers a compelling new take on studenthood in an era of marketized and massified higher education. Beautifully argued and theoretically rich, this important book illuminates the diverse ways in which students exercise political agency, resisting or leveraging the tendency of the neoliberal university to position them solely as consumers. It is a must-read for anyone interested in understanding how a market system of higher education shapes students’ identities as well as their efforts to better their institutions.'Professor Jerusha Conner, Villanova University'Student Identity and Political Agency provides an uncompromising assessment of how the commoditisation of higher education – and submission by universities at neoliberalism’s high altar – has injured the identity and agency of undergraduates, frequently as habitués of youthhood. Raaper makes unambiguous the wickedness of marketisation’s assault on the self-actualisation, health and wellbeing of students and powerfully debunks a myth of meritocratic plenty. At a time where the value proposition of higher education is acutely contested, this book cuts through to the cause of its destabilization and degradation, providing in turn urgent momentum for its recovery as an incubator of inclusive, agentic and sustainable futures.'Professor Richard Watermeyer, University of Bristol