Reimagining the university in the era of neoliberal globalization: A case study of Simon Fraser University

This thesis examines how the neoliberal globalization phenomenon has come to affect the Canadian public higher education system. It does this in two ways. First, it examines the ‘shifting state’ of higher education, which is argued to have evolved from the ‘Platonic ideal’ to a massified multiversity system. Second, this thesis provides a case-study of one Canadian university, which has seemingly struggled to survive as a multiversity operating within an increasingly competitive and globalized higher education industry. The university being studied is the author’s home university, Simon Fraser University (SFU), which is located in Burnaby, British Columbia. The goal of this section is to determine whether the economics of education as a master discourse has led to a marketized internationalization and branding strategy for SFU.