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Resumo

Ballooning levels of student debt have manifested as an important and global social problem and highlight long-standing forms of governmentality. It is our contention that while Foucaldian, top-down analysis provides a valid account of prevailing governmentality, it may not be as sensitive to ambiguity wherein moral subjects are not unproblematically the risk-taking entrepreneurs that neoliberalism requires. This ambiguity is around debt, and relates to the definition of student debt as good debt or bad debt. In respect to this process, there is something to be salvaged from Goffman's oeuvre, especially his appreciation of activity within the context of primary framings. This article uses a Goffmanesque frame analysis to explore student debt as a means of securing students as neoliberal subjects. It is a case study of how the University of Auckland secures students as neoliberal subjects, in terms of taking on debt, and in fostering self-regulation as both risk-taking entrepreneurs and consumers.

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