New modalities of state power: neoliberal responsibilisation and the work of academy chains

Abstract

This paper draws on interview data gathered as part of a broader study around issues of equity and schooling. It features the voices of the Executive Director and four Head Teachers from one of England's top performing academy chains, ‘CONNECT’. The notion of neoliberal responsibilisation is drawn on to examine, first, the ways in which Head Teachers describe their work and, second, the chain's expectations of them as CONNECT leaders. Responsibilisation of the self was apparent in Head Teachers' construction of themselves as ideal neoliberal workers – performing and enterprising subjects who readily accept the business principles and results-orientation of their ‘data-driven’ environment. Responsibilising of Head Teachers by the organisation was evident in the rigorous ‘non-negotiable’ standards and accountabilities at CONNECT that they were expected to comply with. These non-negotiables cultivated and rewarded Head Teachers’ entrepreneurial identity of achievement motivation. The paper illustrates how such neoliberal responsibilisation is both a crucial and highly troubling element in the work of academy chains as new modalities of state power.

Keywords:

• England's academies
• academy chains
• neoliberal responsibilisation
• equity and schooling

Funding

This research was supported by the Australian Research Council Future Fellowship Scheme [grant number: FT100100688].

Notes on contributor

Amanda Keddie is a Research Fellow at The University of Queensland. Her research interests and publications are in the field of gender, cultural diversity, social justice and schooling. She has published extensively in these areas. Her recent books are Educating for Diversity and Social Justice (2012) and Leadership, Ethics and Schooling for Social Justice (2015) with Richard Niesche.