[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-599443-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-599443-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","working-conditions-are-learning-conditions-understanding-information-literacy-instruction-through-neoliberal-capitalism","Working Conditions Are Learning Conditions - Understanding Information Literacy Instruction Through Neoliberal Capitalism","","Neoliberal capitalism’s efficiency and innovation demands have reshaped North American academic libraries and the information literacy instruction carried out within them. The article argues that divisive neoliberal forces should be resisted, and that libraries can cultivate an information literacy praxis grounded in learners’ critical consciousness rather than consumerist participation. Drawing on library labor conditions and tensions between innovation and student learning, it calls for attention to inequities in the information economy and scholarly systems, workplace-based organizing, and coalition-building beyond libraries.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/working-conditions-are-learning-conditions-understanding-information-literacy-instruction-through-neoliberal-capitalism/599443/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/working-conditions-are-learning-conditions-understanding-information-literacy-instruction-through-neoliberal-capitalism/599443.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"WPS_1790064749","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-10-30","2026-10-15",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",9,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"How does neoliberal capitalism affect academic libraries and information literacy instruction?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It reshapes library work through demands for efficiency and innovation, influencing both institutional priorities and how information literacy instruction is conducted within academic settings.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"What kind of information literacy praxis does the article advocate?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It advocates a critical, learner-centered praxis where engagement with information supports critical consciousness rather than consumerist compliance.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"What do the authors suggest academic library workers should do in instruction?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"They propose centering attention to inequities and injustices in the information economy and scholarly systems, identifying shared workplace issues for organizing, and building coalitions beyond libraries to expand what is possible for labor and student learning.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},599443,1792164922,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,119,122,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":116,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":118},"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":117,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":120,"show_sort_weight":117,"slug":121},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":123,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":123,"slug":125},10,"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":127,"language":139,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":140,"faqs":141,"seo_title":142,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":143,"read_time":144},3985747859154,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_276721f389ce27ea32af1340a28f341c","Communications in Information Literacy  \n\n| Volume 17  Issue 2 | Article 13 |\n| --- | --- |\n| 12-2023\u003Cbr>Working Conditions Are Learning Conditions: Understanding Information Literacy Instruction through Neoliberal Capitalism\u003Cbr>Romel Espinel\u003Cbr>Stevens Institute of Technology, [respinel@stevens.edu](respinel@stevens.edu)\u003Cbr>Eamon Tewell\u003Cbr>Columbia University, [eamont@gmail.com](eamont@gmail.com)\u003Cbr>Follow this and additional works at: [https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit](https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/comminfolit)\u003Cbr> Part of the Higher Education Commons, and the Information Literacy Commons\u003Cbr>Let us know how access to this document benefits you. |  |\n\nRecommended Citation  \nEspinel, R., & Tewell, E. (2023) . Working Conditions Are Learning Conditions: Understanding Information Literacy Instruction through Neoliberal Capitalism. Communications in Information Literacy, 17 (2), 573–590. [https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2023.17.2.13](https://doi.org/10.15760/comminfolit.2023.17.2.13)  \nThis open access Perspective is distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercialShareAlike 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-SA 4 .0) . All documents in PDXScholar should meet accessibility standards. If we can make this document more accessible to you, contact our team.  \nWorking Conditions Are Learning Conditions: Understanding Information Literacy Instruction Through  \nNeoliberal Capitalism  \nRomel Espinel, Stevens Institute of Technology Eamon Tewell, Columbia University  \nAbstract  \nNeoliberal capitalism’s demands for efficiency and innovation have greatly impacted North American academic libraries and the work conducted in them, including information literacy instruction. The divisive forces of neoliberalism must be met with resistance, and libraries hold the potential for generating an information literacy praxis where learners engage information with a critical consciousness instead of a consumerist one. Using library labor conditions and the contradictions between innovation and student learning as focal points, we argue that academic library workers should seek to center attention to inequities and injustices in the information economy and scholarly information systems in their instruction, identify shared issues within their workplaces to organize around, and build coalitions outside libraries to transform what is possible for academic labor and student learning alike.  \nKeywords: information literacy, neoliberalism, capitalism  \nPerspectives  \nedited by Andrea Baer  \nEspinel, R., & Tewell, E. (2023). Working conditions are learning conditions: Understanding information literacy instruction through neoliberal capitalism. Communications in Information Literacy, 17(2), 573–590.  \nWorking Conditions Are Learning Conditions: Understanding Information Literacy Instruction Through  \nNeoliberal Capitalism  \nWorld capitalism sits on the precipice of changes not seen since the early twentieth century. A years-long pandemic, shrinking markets for labor and resources, and climate catastrophe pile onto the ruling elite’s efforts to compete for economic power and hegemony. Political conflicts such as the war in Ukraine and rising fascism threaten the working class worldwide. At the same time, there is growing resistance to neoliberal, racist, and patriarchal systems, including the intensification of privatization and austerity measures that have impacted public institutions since the 1980s. Neoliberalism can be understood as “a variation of capitalism favoring free trade, privatization, minimal government intervention in business, reduced public expenditure on social services…and weakening the power of labor”(Bagakis, 2018, para. 13). The result is a “structur[ing of] society to think of each person as an independent contractor responsible for their own assessment of risk”(Zvyagintseva & Ribaric, 2022, p. 5). The concept of information literacy followed closely in the wake of neoliberalism’s rule","cbCaitdq2p5nzwdd","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaitdq2p5nzwdd","pdf",207292,"English","# Perspectives\n## Neoliberalism and its impact on academic libraries\n## Resisting neoliberal ideology in information literacy instruction\n## Connections between library labor conditions and student learning\n## Strategies for organizing and coalition-building","[{\"question\":\"How does neoliberal capitalism affect academic libraries and information literacy instruction?\",\"answer\":\"It reshapes library work through demands for efficiency and innovation, influencing both institutional priorities and how information literacy instruction is conducted within academic settings.\"},{\"question\":\"What kind of information literacy praxis does the article advocate?\",\"answer\":\"It advocates a critical, learner-centered praxis where engagement with information supports critical consciousness rather than consumerist compliance.\"},{\"question\":\"What do the authors suggest academic library workers should do in instruction?\",\"answer\":\"They propose centering attention to inequities and injustices in the information economy and scholarly systems, identifying shared workplace issues for organizing, and building coalitions beyond libraries to expand what is possible for labor and student learning.\"}]","Working Conditions Are Learning Conditions - Understanding Information Literacy Instruction Through Neoliberal Capitalism | PDF",1792088780,48]