Academic zombies - A failure of resistance or a means of survival?

Oct 15, 2026

Successive neoliberal reforms to Australian higher education have eroded the academy, prompting an analysis of organizational change’s causes and consequences for academic staff. Using the zombie metaphor, the paper examines how zombiefication unfolds through governance, audit, workload pressures, workforce change, and acquiescent leadership. It reviews prior research on academic resistance, identifies why resistance often appears weak or individualized, then evaluates forms of adaptation and resistance based on research results.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages9

Reading Time23 min

AccessFree to download

Academic resistance and change

Sources of zombiefication

Adaptation and resistance to zombiedom

Future options for the next wave of reform

A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W Academic zombies A failure of resistance or a means of survival? Suzanne Ryan University of Newcastle Successive waves of neoliberal reforms to higher education have taken their toll on the academy. This paper uses the zombie metaphor to discuss the causes and consequences of organisational change on Australian academics as a background to exploring zombiefication as a form of passive resistance and survival. The paper uses the literature and empirical research to chronicle the disintegration of the academic workforce and with it, the idea of a university as a social institution. The paper concludes with the author’s reflection of her own desire tobe emancipated from zombiedom. Universities are increasingly populated by the undead: a listless population of academics, managers, administrators, and students, all shuffling to the beat of the corporatist drum.... In this bleak landscape the source of the zombie contagion lurks in the form of bland, mechanical speech .... peppered with affectless references to citation indices, ERA rankings, ARC applications, FoR codes, AUQA reviews, and the like. ...Many zombies appear incapable of responding meaningfully to the tyranny of performance indicators, shifting promotion criteria, escalating workload demands and endless audits, evaluations and reviews. Try as they may to resist, zombies merely acquiesce to the corporatist line (Gora & Whelan, 2003) . Zombies are the living dead, the undead.The term is figuratively applied to describe a ‘hypnotised person bereft of consciousness and self-awareness, yet ambulant and able to respond to surrounding stimuli’(Wikipedia).This paper was inspired by a forthcoming book edited by Andrew Whelan, Chris Moore and Ruth Walker,‘Zombies in the Academy: Living Death in Higher Education’, the title of which struck accord with my own research and observation. Applying the zombie metaphor to academics and their response to change seems most apt given our apparent helplessness in the face of overwhelming change. However, the real question is why have we allowed this to happen and what are we doing about it.Thus the aim of the paper is to explore adaptation and resistance to zombiedom. The paper proceeds with an overview of academic resistance to change before reviewing the main sources of zombiefication: governance; audit; workload; workforce; and an acquiescent leadership. Forms of adaptation and resistance are then examined and exemplified with research results. The final section explores future options for dealing with the next wave of reform and concludes zombiedom as a form of resistance to change maybe the only but not the optimal option. Academic resistance and change Academics, more than other professional groups, could be expected to reflect on their situation, take a view, and take action if necessary (Trowler, 1998).There is no dearth of complaints about what is happening in higher education (Lorenz, 2012; Parker, 2012; Parker & Guthrie, 2010), however, over the past one and a half decades research and commentary suggests that academic resistance is weak, generally relying on individual withdrawal rather than organised action (Anderson, 2008; Parker & Jary, 1995; Willmott, 1995) .Among the first to consider the academic response to winds of neoliberal change,Willmott (1995, p. 1002) notes that the erosion of wages, conditions and discretion only managed to generate ‘simmering resentment and individual withdrawal from unmonitored responsibilities rather than organised resistance’.The reasons for this are not always clear. Parker and Jary (1995) explain it in vol. 54, no. 2, 2012 Academic zombies, Suzanne Ryan 3 A U S T R A L I A N U N I V E R S I T I E S ’ R E V I E W terms of academics gaining a greater sense of worth from their students and peers than from management while Willmott (1995) links lack of organised resistance to academics considering themselves ‘profes

FAQs

What metaphor does the paper use to analyze organizational change in Australian universities?

It uses the zombie metaphor to frame causes and consequences of organizational change for Australian academics, including zombiefication as passive resistance and survival.

Why does the paper say academic resistance is often weak?

It argues resistance commonly relies on individual withdrawal rather than organized action, linked to factors such as limited disruption, professional self-concepts, and difficulties interpreting the significance of change.

What are the main sources of zombiefication discussed in the paper?

The paper reviews key sources including governance, audit, workload, workforce changes, and leadership acquiescence, alongside related pressures from performance and measurement systems.

Oct 15, 2026

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