Managing the Academic Racehorse: Bioaccountability, Surveillance, and the Crafting of Docile Faculty in Mexican Universities

By Blanca Minerva Torres-Olave and María Elena Torres-Olave

Abstract:

In this essay, we consider the “petty” managerial technologies of audit and surveillance that shape the lives of Mexican faculty and introduce the term bioaccountability to refer to the growing use of biometric control mechanisms implemented around the world to monitor faculty activities and performance. We draw on personal experience at three Mexican public universities to illustrate the chilling impact of encroaching (bio)accountability policies on academic culture, including the gradual erosion of academic freedom.

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