From: Michael Hoover <hoov-AT-freenet.tlh.fl.us>
Subject: Re: M-I: Devaluation of educated skilled labour power
Date: Sat, 2 Aug 97 18:46:50 18000


> The scramble for
> further education to avoid sinking between the gratings is actually a
> further intensification of labour even though the spread of education is
> more democratic in its overall social implications.
> Chris Burford

mass higher education has contributed to the appearance of structural
class change, while simultaneously reinforcing the fundamental
relationship that classes have to one another as a result of the
arrangement of production...in fact, the stratification function of
higher ed in the US has been crucial: 1) elite universities; 2) state
universities; 3) community colleges... 

A rapidly increasing student population that began in the US after
passage of the post-WW2 GI Bill continued unabated for 3 decades...
if the changing labor market transformed the system of higher ed,
educational opportunities were created for a larger percentage of
the population...people came to perceive - correctly in a lot of
instances - such opportunities as offering the possibility of
greater social mobility, financial security, personal growth, &
social respect...dialetically, the expansion of higher ed served
to sustain the dominant social order, but also provided benefits
for many people who were previously denied them...

The '70s were an important period in US higher ed because the demand
for college-trained personnel began to recede, while post-secondary
enrollment continued to increase...this increase was fueled by the
entrance of larger numbers of women, minorities, and older students,
and a surge of part-time students...educators euphemistically named 
these students "non-traditional"...they are more likely to be
found in commuter state universities and community colleges...their
increased presence testifies to the social impact of the civil
and equal rights movements, and also indicates widespread belief
in educational opportunity...their entrance coincided, however,
with both a surplus of college-educated labor, and an economic 
crisis that resulted in funding shortages...and so-called "non-
traditional" students, the last to gain access,  have been the 
targets of educational retrenchment in an attack analogous to the 
practice of "last hired-first fired" in the workplace...so full-time
college remains the domain of those most likely to adhere to
elitist ideals & pursuits and working-class students are "tracked"
into evening, part-time, or vocational programs if not out of school...

higher education came under attack several decades ago because the
labor process, with its monotony & fragmentation, penetrated a
sector of society where individual identity & autonomy were
thought the norm...universities adopted the language and organization
of production & rational administration, thus, disclosing themselves
as factors in the mode of production...students became politically
active in spite of their education...their new social position led to
protest & rebellion, much as the new social organization of work had
led to the revolt of the factory worker during the industrial
revolution...student organizing has always created special problems
because the composition of the student body is always changing and,
today, new difficulties exist...US student activists have tended to
live near campus and outside their parents' home, and have been
full-time students without the responsibilities of "adulthood"...an
increasing number of students no longer fits this description...the
so-called "non-traditional" student has less time for reflection...
this person's over-all college experience is impoverished when
compared to the "traditional" student...Michael


     --- from list marxism-international-AT-lists.village.virginia.edu ---