Constructing Political Subjectivity: The Perspectives of Sabbatical Officers from English Students’ Unions

Raaper, R

doi:10.1007/s10734-019-00400-9

Constructing Political Subjectivity: The Perspectives of Sabbatical Officers from English Students’ Unions

Raaper, R

Authors

Dr Rille Raaper rille.raaper@durham.ac.uk
Associate Professor

Abstract

Informed by policy sociology and a Foucauldian theorisation, this article explores how a selection of sabbatical officers from English students’ unions formed their political subjectivity during the policy consultation processes leading to the Higher Education and Research Act 2017. Discourse analysis demonstrated a strong influence of the unions’ professional staff members and the National Union of Students on sabbatical officers’ work. In particular, they guided the officers in writing a response to the Government consultation document and lobbying politicians. These actions indicated that the sabbatical officers’ political subjectivity was highly dependent on professional actors and discourses. The shift towards professionalisation, however, received diverse responses from participants. Some perceived it as leading to necessary policy amendments; others were concerned about wider depoliticisation of their role and student movement. The article suggests that the sabbatical officers interviewed operated within a complex network of competing interests, raising questions about (1) whose political agency they enacted and (2) their future opportunities to successfully unite and challenge higher education policy in neoliberal times.

Citation

Raaper, R. (2020). Constructing Political Subjectivity: The Perspectives of Sabbatical Officers from English Students’ Unions. Higher Education, 79(1), 141-157. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00400-9

Journal Article Type	Article
Acceptance Date	May 1, 2019
Online Publication Date	May 14, 2019
Publication Date	Jan 31, 2020
Deposit Date	May 9, 2019
Publicly Available Date	May 15, 2019
Journal	Higher Education
Print ISSN	0018-1560
Electronic ISSN	1573-174X
Publisher	Springer
Peer Reviewed	Peer Reviewed
Volume	79
Issue	1
Pages	141-157
DOI	https://doi.org/10.1007/s10734-019-00400-9
Public URL	https://durham-repository.worktribe.com/output/1331077

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