The plague of privatization

A futures analysis of the zombification of education

Bibliographic Data

ID21728107
AuthorsAnna-Maria Fjellman (0000-0001-9472-9967, University of Gothenburg, corresponding author), Aimee Haley (0000-0002-4658-4430, University of Gothenburg)
Year2023
Volume21
Issue5
Pages526-545
Publication date2023-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePolicy Futures in Education (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1478-2103 • E-ISSN: 1478-2103
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/14782103211029491
OpenAlexW3193739974
LanguageEN
Citations received2
References cited30

The article re-imagines the current developments of Swedish education into a possible future. Historically, education was organized and funded by the state; however, reforms towards privatization in the 1990s implemented school choice, private schools and a tax-financed voucher system with the option of turning profits on education. A new judicial decision enforced the withholding of data on private ownership and economic spending in education from the public, as transparency was deemed to damage the competitiveness of private schools. Hence, generating profits and business advantage are prioritized over public interests as the organization and provision of education is progressively shaped by privatization. These changes are what prompted us to consider ‘what if all education was privatized’? The first part of the article reviews important developments in public education towards privatization and introduces our theoretical framework. The second part draws on aspects of speculative fiction in a dystopian scenario of an imagined educational apocalypse. The scenario starts in contemporary times and ends in 2121 where the education system is dominated by a financial conglomerate called Nescience Ltd. In this technologically advanced society, artificial intelligence systems have replaced educational institutions and teachers. Expensive tuition and fees have made people indebted to Nescience while learning is transformed into the manufacturing of alienated labourers. To understand these economic transitions and the position of Nescience as a knowledge provider in the future, we use the concept of ‘zombification’ to theorize the infection of privatization in the educational sector

Economic growth · Economics · Futures contract · Market economy · Political science · Private sector · Public relations · Sociology · Voucher · Digital Education and Society · Global Educational Policies and Reforms · Higher Education Research Studies · Law · Public Administration · Accounting · Finance

Tools

Open DOIOpen Access