The View from Below: How the Neoliberal Academy Is Shaping Contemporary Political Theory

Contemporary political theory is a game. Individuals compete to publish in 'top' journals, to amass greater numbers of publications than their peers; then journal-ranking is combined with number of publications generating scores. The aim is to get the most points. Whoever gets the most points wins: they get the best jobs and the most prestige. This Hunger Games-like contest has serious consequences for people's lives, determining who can make a living from academia, who will be relegated to the academic precariat or forced out of the profession. In this article, I argue that, aside from the chilling effect that job insecurity and the gamification of academia has on the precariat, these conditions are stifling intellectual creativity, diversity, and dissent in political theory/philosophy. I discuss how privatization and deregulation of universities has created unbearable working conditions, why academics are forced to publish in so-called top journals and why this is detrimental to our field, marginalizing people, topics, and methodologies these journals do not support (which usually align with already structurally marginalized peoples and modes of knowledge). I explain why we are engaging in this game and how it perpetuates itself. I conclude with some suggestions for breaking this vicious cycle, as well as a discussion of who is really benefitting from it, namely, the corporate elites who run many universities and most academic publishers.

Automated summary

Contemporary political theory has become a competitive game where individuals strive to publish in top journals and accumulate a higher number of publications than their peers to gain the most points and secure the best jobs and prestige. This gamification of academia not only leads to job insecurity and indifference among academics but also stifles intellectual creativity, diversity, and dissent in the field of political theory/philosophy. Privatization and deregulation of universities have created unbearable working conditions, forcing academics to publish in so-called top journals, marginalizing individuals, topics, and methodologies that do not align with these journals, particularly those that are already structurally marginalized. The cycle perpetuates itself, ultimately benefiting corporate elites who control universities and academic publishers.