Here to kick neoliberalism in the balls: The bogan in the university

This critically autoethnographic (but humorous) chapter looks at the collision between a working class person and the university. In Australia, the word bogan is often used as a derogatory term for working-class people. This chapter reclaims this term to explain how the author, a self-identifying bogan, came to university as a way of enhancing their employment prospects. In the context of creeping managerialism and neoliberalism, academics have less time for students, meaning that working-class students can experience higher rates of failure. Yet, the author has managed to succeed despite these challenges. Using the notion of an ‘infinite game’ the chapter considers key moments and key enabling interactions with tutors and others. It seeks to understand the play of identities that have moved the author from being a refusing bogan, to a bogan student, to a bogan teacher, and in flashes, to a bogan scholar/‘activist scholar’. The chapter utilises St Pierre’s theory of research writing, and Deleuze and Guattari’s concept of smooth and striated space.