Changing the Culture? A Feminist Academic Activist Critique

The Universities UK (UUK) Taskforce report, Changing the Culture , has been seen as a turning point in U.K. universities’ responses to gender-based violence (GBV). Institutional changes have occurred as a response to grassroots feminist activism and resistance to GBV, focusing on sexual violence, harassment, and “lad culture” in universities. This article will argue that the neoliberal marketization of higher education, concurrent with the persistence of misogyny and patriarchy, creates an environment where GBV is normalized, and feminist voices are marginalized and silenced. Interviews with academics show support for victims/survivors on campus often falls to particular academic staff. When initiatives for change, led by institutional management, are limited to protecting the “reputation” of the university, it furthermore falls on academics to challenge not only GBV, but also the reactive and uncritical responses offered by institutions. We contend that national, institutional, and individual responses to GBV must consider the meaning of “cultural change” beyond policy reform, zero tolerance campaigns, and condemnation of GBV. Attempts to enact true cultural change must analyze the broader issue of sexism, its intersections with further structural issues, and the ways in which this plays out within the neoliberal institution to the detriment of students and staff.