This persistent reinforcement of industry determining the orientation of design education, combined with the increasing cost of education and burden of student debt, puts designers (and schools) in a position to desire, seek out, and reproduce employable skills in their practice.
Lindgren, J. (2020) Graphic Design’s Factory Settings. Walker Art Center. Available at: https://walkerart.org/magazine/jacob-lindgren-graphic-designs-factory-settings (Accessed: 11 July 2025).
The impact of neoliberalism on education can be further interpreted through the concept of financialisation (Davies, 2017; Davis & Williams, 2017; Epstein, 2001; Harvey, 2005; Lazzarato, 2009). The definition of financialisation as the ‘increasing importance of financial markets, financial motives, financial institutions and financial elites in the operation of the economy’ (Epstein, 2001, online), infers that various stakeholders and actors restructure the economy and related institutions, in ways congruent with the logic of financial markets. The growth of edubusinesses (Olmedo, 2013) and ‘for-profit’ higher education (Lynch, 2015), and stronger links between universities and industry (Ball, 2012) demonstrates such congruence in education.
The impact of neoliberalism on education can be further interpreted through the concept of financialisation (Davies, 2017; Davis & Williams, 2017; Epstein, 2001; Harvey, 2005; Lazzarato, 2009). The definition of financialisation as the ‘increasing importance of financial markets, financial motives, financial institutions and financial elites in the operation of the economy’ (Epstein, 2001, online), infers that various stakeholders and actors restructure the economy and related institutions, in ways congruent with the logic of financial markets. The growth of edubusinesses (Olmedo, 2013) and ‘for-profit’ higher education (Lynch, 2015), and stronger links between universities and industry (Ball, 2012) demonstrates such congruence in education.
Kevin Gormley (2020) Neoliberalism and the discursive construction of ‘creativity’, Critical Studies in Education, 61:3, 313-328, DOI: 10.1080/17508487.2018.1459762
What is usually meant by ‘creative industries’ is the redefinition of creativity and culture as key economic factors within an industrial and technological environment, run along the principles we generally identify with neoliberalism: financial deregulation, free markets for goods and capital, for-profit social services, and the privatisation of state-owned (i.e. public, common) assets.
Elsaesser, T. (2020) ‘Creativity and neoliberalism: Between autonomy, resistance and tactical compliance’, in Piotrowska, A. (ed.) Creative practice research in the age of neoliberal hopelessness. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.
Artistic research is treated as one of the multiple practices which are defined by indefinition, constantly in flux, lacking coherence and identity. In . . . current debates around artistic research, [it seems that] one of the most important concerns is the transformation of artistic research into an academic discipline. There are discussions about curriculum, degrees, method, practical application, pedagogy. On the other hand, there is also substantial criticism of this approach. It argues that the institutionalization of artistic research is complicit with the new modes of production within cognitive capitalism: commodified education, creative and affective industries, administrative aesthetics, and so on. Both perspectives agree on one point: artistic research is at present being constituted as a more or less normative, academic discipline.
Steyerl, H, in Elsaesser, T. (2020) ‘Creativity and neoliberalism: Between autonomy, resistance and tactical compliance’, in Piotrowska, A. (ed.) Creative practice research in the age of neoliberal hopelessness. Edinburgh: Edinburgh University Press.