ABSTRACT

This article aims to develop enhanced conceptions of the motivational drives that may be imperilled by their encounter with new forms of governance in higher education. Of particular concern are the motivational drives behind creative scientific pursuits associated with the humanities, and their vulnerability in the face of metrics governance and audit culture. I argue that the notion of the ‘motor’ of desire that underpins much social theories, including the Bourdieusian I draw on here, offers powerful accounts of the desires leveraged by metrics governance. However, they are less suitable for understanding the motivational drives that are curtailed in their encounter with the audit culture. I therefore suggest that an object-relational notion of the motor of the desire, a ‘desire for resonance’, could refine the Bourdieusian practice theory and yield enhanced conceptions of the motivational tensions in the corporate university. I suggest that these conflicts are not primarily concerning agents’ positions in the field and their relative acquisition of prestige and recognition, but rather conflicts among different modes of employing and directing human energies in the academic field and beyond.

摘要

本文旨在增强动机驱动力的概念，这些驱动力可能会因他们在高等教育中遇到新的治理形式而受到威胁。特别值得关注的是与人文学科相关的创造性科学追求背后的动机驱动力，以及它们在衡量指标治理和审计文化面前的脆弱性。我认为，支撑许多社会理论（包括我在此借鉴的布迪厄斯理论）的欲望“动力”概念为度量治理所利用的欲望提供了有力的解释。然而，他们不太适合理解在遇到审计文化时被削弱的动机。因此，我建议欲望的动力的客体关系概念，一种“共鸣的欲望”，可以改进 Bourdieusian 的实践理论，并增强对企业大学中动机紧张的概念。我认为这些冲突主要不是关于代理人在该领域的地位以及他们相对获得声望和认可，而是在学术领域和其他领域使用和引导人类能量的不同模式之间的冲突。