Chapter 12: “Won’t Back Down”¹: Counternarratives of Visibility and Vulnerability in a Bleak House

The contemporary historical moment of the American university would have given Charles Dickens a wealth of material for a novel concentrating on the corporation that is the 21st century university. Gone are the appeals for a liberally educated critical citizenry unless it is a lucky chance. These calls are replaced with the smiling customer-service-centered, militaryfriendly universities with winning football teams and the guarantee of jobs. Students come to higher learning to get a job. It is the perfect example of a technical instrumentalist rationality. It is that corporately managed, marketed, and manicured university where you can rent books and buy logo sweatshirts. Or it is the completely online for-profit schools such as NOVA University or the University of Phoenix.