Dr Matthew J. Barnard (Manchester Metropolitan University)

Dr Matthew J. Barnard (Manchester Metropolitan University) 

Election address

Lecturer, Philosophy, Manchester Metropolitan University 

I'm a philosophy lecturer from a working class family, a first-generation student, completing my doctorate part time while working, and who recently became a full time permanent lecturer after a decade of casualised contracts. I feel extremely lucky for where I have ended up, and, because of how I got here, no matter how precarious things feel for me during the major crisis the sector finds itself in, I recognise that there are people in much more challenging situations. These perspectives are unrepresented in elected roles, which is part of why I wish to stand. 

I've benefited from the expansion of access to Higher Education, and after fourteen years of misrule by the Conservatives, their goal of snatching those opportunities back through high fees, no grants and choking universities of resources seems close to fruition. Hopes that the new Labour government would intervene with meaningful reform have faded as global economic instability seems to make any increase in funding less likely by the week. In short, if this aggressive neglect and harm continues, people like me will continue to have fewer opportunities, they will be less likely to study non-vocational subjects like philosophy, and the academy will lose its ability to learn from as broad a range of backgrounds and experiences as possible. 

People are already losing their jobs and we seem on course to lose whole institutions as the crisis in our sector rumbles along. Institutions better able to weather the storm are inevitably seeking to further their advantage, re-entrenching the historical hierarchies that plague British higher education. This includes the dubious distinction between 'teaching' and 'research' Universities, being more willing to hire a single professor than to offer secure contracts to casually employed workers. 

Our focus should be on protecting vulnerable institutions, campaigning for better working conditions and equity. We must recognise that while many members are struggling after more than a decade of pay erosion, we were not able to win in previous rounds of strike action. The key priority now must be protecting jobs and fighting for a stable sector where job security and decent pay and conditions are not played off against each other by unscrupulous employers. 

As the crisis continues to develop, we approach what might be UCU's most challenging fights UCU's yet. I want to represent you with a realist approach towards these challenges and dedicated to working towards an NEC and HEC that is in line with all workers in the sector. 

I am a member of UCU Commons. For more information, please visit: 

https://ucucommons.org/matt/