Widening participation, the instrumentalization of knowledge and the reproduction of inequality

Abstract

According to Michel Foucault, modernity is predicated on the emergence of an instrumental idea of knowledge, which does not affect the constitution of the individual as a subject. This article aims to explore this thesis in the context of British Higher Education through a problematization of widening participation policies, and how they have been increasingly constructed in economic-instrumental terms. This approach suggests two main considerations within the framework of Foucault's argument. First, widening participation initiatives have contributed to reinforce an idea of knowledge as an instrumental set of notions external to the subject rather than a process of transformation of the self. Second, widening participation initiatives have been dominated by a neoliberal approach to the problem of inequality which has turned students into seemingly equal consumers of knowledge. However, it will be argued, this approach contributes to reproduce in different ways the inequality gap between students of different socioeconomic backgrounds.

Keywords:

• Foucault
• widening participation
• instrumental knowledge
• neoliberalism
• reproduction of inequality

Acknowledgements

I would like to thank Joanna Williams and Harmonie Toros for their inspiration and encouragement on this article.

Notes

1. http://www.university-liverpool-online.com/about-us/laureate-online-education.