Learning and Resistance: University Internet Memes as Visual Artefacts for Institutional Resistance
Sprache des Vortragstitels:
Englisch
Original Tagungtitel:
OLKC
Sprache des Tagungstitel:
Englisch
Original Kurzfassung:
Our study examines artefacts of students` lifeworlds, on how they mediate and transport meaning
about their perceived reality of studying. These visual artefacts take the form of university memes,
published at a particular Facebook page, open to the public. The cynical contents of these memes
tell a satirical story of what students experience at their university. Albeit this university portrait is
incomplete, it offers rich insights into their lifeworld. Furthermore, building on a critical
management studies perspective, we argue that creating, publishing, sharing and commenting on
university memes in the internet creates a space for open resistance towards the organisation, its
structures and moreover the institutional order of higher education. Our findings reveal an
understanding of learning as a trivial machine (Luhmann, 2004), although the institutional
narrations demand competence acquisition in order to cope with the complexity of a dynamic
environment. Hence, we conclude that memes are an expression of dissatisfaction with the current
status quo in higher education. Nevertheless, we do not see any intention and calls for change or
upheaval. We aim at contributing to the study of work-place resistance, power, and materiality in
organisations in relation to the institutional order.
Forschungs-