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PALGRAVE STUDIES IN LITERATURE, CULTURE AND ECONOMICS Value and the Humanities The Neoliberal University and Our Victorian Inheritance Zoe Hope Bulaitis Palgrave Studies in Literature, Culture and Economics Series Editors Paul Crosthwaite School of Literatures, Languages & Culture University of Edinburgh Edinburgh, UK Peter Knight Department of English and American Studies University of Manchester Manchester, UK Nicky Marsh Department of English University of Southampton Southampton, UK This series showcases some of the most intellectually adventurous work being done in the broad field of the economic humanities, putting it in dialogue with developments in heterodox economic theory, economic sociology, critical finance studies and the history of capitalism. It starts from the conviction that literary and cultural studies can provide vital the- oretical insights into economics. The series will include historical studies as well as contemporary ones, as a much-needed counterweight to the tendency within economics to concentrate solely on the present and to ignore potential lessons from history. The series also recognizes that the poetics of economics and finance is an increasingly central concern across a wide range of fields of literary study, from Shakespeare to Dickens to the financial thriller. In doing so it builds on the scholarship that has been identified as the ‘new economic criticism’, but moves beyond it by bring- ing a more politically and historically sharpened focus to that earlier work. More information about this series at http://www.palgrave.com/gp/series/15745 Zoe Hope Bulaitis Value and the Humanities The Neoliberal University and Our Victorian Inheritance Zoe Hope Bulaitis University of Manchester Manchester, UK Palgrave Studies in Literature, Culture and Economics ISBN 978-3-030-37891-2 ISBN 978-3-030-37892-9 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37892-9 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s) 2020. This book is an open access publication. Open Access This book is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/), which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this book are included in the book’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the book’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. Cover illustration: © Paul Francis / Alamy Stock Photo This Palgrave Macmillan imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Switzerland AG. The registered company address is: Gewerbestrasse 11, 6330 Cham, Switzerland PREFACE This book was motivated by the changes to higher education that took place during my time as an undergraduate student (2009–12). It was a period of rapid transformation and uncertainty within universities in England. Public debate was dominated by a reappraisal of the economics of education. How much should tuition cost? Who would pay for it? Who benefits from universities? Within the context of the shifting ownership of student debt and the reconsideration of research assessment criteria, little attention was being paid to a far more important question: what is the value of a university education? This project arose from the belief that the notion of value should not always have to be measured in economic terms. The foundations for this project were established in 2012, as I began to research the extent to which alternative languages of value were being subsumed by the econocratic rhetoric of higher education policy. The Universal Declaration of Human Rights acknowledges education as a fundamental means through which to achieve “understanding, toler- ance and friendship among all nations, racial or religious groups” (1948). These are qualities that are nurtured by a liberal education. However, recent policy has overlooked the ways in which the humanities contribute to the wellbeing of society through their critically, culturally, and historically aware practices. In present policy, the value of higher education is defined v vi PREFACE by the creation of profit instead of the cultivation of people. Personally witnessing the changes in higher education from 2008 to 2018 made this neoliberal approach explicit. I found myself wondering, how did we get from liberal education to neoliberal education? Manchester, UK Zoe Hope Bulaitis ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book was the product of nearly a decade spent within the English Department at the University of Exeter (2009–18). Thank you to all who have helped to shape my intellectual foundations during this time. I am particularly grateful to Chris Campbell, Karen Edwards, Sam Goodman, Matt Hayler, Sinéad Moynihan, Vike Plock, Florian Stadtler, Paul Williams, and Paul Young for their help, friendship, and individual forms of intel- lectual brilliance. I am indebted to my doctoral supervisory team, Regenia Gagnier and Siân Harris, for their expertise and encouragement through- out the PhD process. Thank you both for teaching me how to be a strong female academic. Thanks also to my students who have been a persistent delight and inspiration. The hours spent in the classroom with you all renews my hope for the value of the humanities in the neoliberal univer- sity; don’t let the system grind you down! This book is also the product of intellectual exchanges I have had with friends and colleagues I have met through my affiliations at ENRESSH, ECHIC, BAAS, and BACLS. Countless supportive conversations are woven into the fabric of this book. In particular, thanks to Paul Benneworth for inviting me into a wider interdisciplinary conversation at ENRESSH, for the BACLS executive committee (all of you) for helping me think through writing about ‘now’, and to Silvana Colella for your relentless advocacy for the value of the humanities in Europe. You are all the gold standard of academic collegiality, thank you so much. The research for this book was punctuated by two trips around the world, thanks to Semester at Sea and the University of Virginia. The seren- ity of the ocean gave me space to think and the intellectual company vii viii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS opened my mind to new horizons. My sincere thanks go to Simon Gatrell, Margaret McCann, Patrick Murphy, and Chandra Ranade for many enlightening conversations. I learnt that there’s no ship like a friendship, thanks to Jess, Paula, Adam, Josh, Kayte, Todd, Andy, Kylie, Lindsay, Susan, Theresa, Lisa, Mark, Steph, Cat, and Jeff. You made drinking cof- fee brewed from recycled seawater almost enjoyable. My sincere gratitude to Victor Luftig, the best academic Dean that I’ve ever known and not a bad rapper either. This book is also built on excellent friendships with people who don’t live on boats, without whom I would have relinquished hope long ago. I want to express my gratitude to • Sarah Daw, for your belief that we could do this, for your strength and solidarity. • Katie Garrod, for your positivity and for being an inspirational teacher. • Jack Griffiths, my favourite philosopher. • James Tyndall, who is a ray of sunshine, always. Although the bulk of the research and writing for this book was under- taken at the University of Exeter, my thanks also go to Aidan Byrne and Frank Wilson at the University of Wolverhampton and to Dorothy Butchard, Amy Burge, Melissa Dickson, Deborah Longworth, Rebecca Mitchell, Fariha Shaikh, and Rachel Sykes at the University of Birmingham. You all kept the flame of this book alive in the hinterland of finishing the PhD and moving halfway across the country. This book is a testament to your support and friendship in the middle space. Thank you to the University of Manchester’s Research Support Fund for early career researchers for covering the costs associated with image copyright and reproductions. Finally, immense thanks to the Open Access Research team at the University of Exeter (shout out to Imogen Ward-­ Smith) for funding the costs associated with Open Access for this mono- graph. It was my ambition that this book should be read by anyone interested in it, and your support has made this possible. My sincere grati- tude to the editorial team at Palgrave in New York, Allie Troyanos and Rachel Jacobe, for making their advice, patience, and expertise. It has been wonderful to work with you both. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ix This book is dedicated to the following people: To my parents, for teaching me that I could do anything I put my mind to and for reading me books before I could do it for myself. Thank you for believing in me every step of the way. To Anne and Keith, for your endless spring of support, encouragement, and enthusiasm throughout this process, it has meant so much. To Regenia, you are an incredibly inspiring mentor and teacher.

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