Humanities down, down under: more on the challenges in Australia. From the editorial:

This worsening of working conditions across the board affects the humanities in a particular way. For centuries, the humanities were where cultural values and understandings were developed and debated; where history was uncovered; where heritages were preserved and assessed; where abstract thought was allowed to roam free. So neoliberal managerialism, with its loyalty to market forces rather than to values, traditions, ideas and people, damages them especially badly.

There is a problem here, however. Those who appreciate the significance of the humanities tend to be involved in them to start with. In theory, the humanities matter to the culture as a whole; in practice, they matter mainly to themselves. This circularity limits and further demoralises the humanities….

Across the first two phases of the humanities’ history, academics came to be regarded as independent professionals with the autonomy to shape their own workplace ecology and purposes….

The third phase is now. Education is thought of in economic terms. Its first value is to augment national economic productivity; its second to secure good jobs for graduates. That’s more or less it.

Although the humanities have a larger economic function than they are often given credit for, they remain secondary players in terms of GDP and the job market. That is the main reason why they are sidelined by politicians and business interests concerned almost entirely with economic prosperity.

For other posts on the humanities in Australia, see here.