Rationality and the Liberal Arts: Four Related Effects

According to Wendy Brown, in Chapter 6 of "Undoing the Demos," the four related effects of the rationality on public higher education in the liberal arts are: 1. The undermining of the value of critical thinking, cultural criticism, and imaginative exploration in favor of technical knowledge, vocational skills, and specialized expertise. 2. The shift from democratic education to neoliberal training, with a focus on individual utility and competitive advantage. 3. The marketization of education, with an emphasis on cost-effectiveness, efficiency, and consumer satisfaction. 4. The decrease in public funding for higher education and the resulting increase in debt for students, which contributes to the reproduction of social inequality, the erosion of the public sphere, and the loss of democratic culture.