In this article we explore the dual role of global university rankings in the creation of a new, knowledge-identified, transnational capitalist class and in facilitating new forms of social exclusion. We examine how and why the practice of ranking universities has become widely defined by national and international organisations as an important instrument of political and economic policy. We consider the development of university rankings into a global business combining social research, marketing\ud and public relations, as a tangible policy tool that narrowly redefines the social purposes of higher education itself. Finally, it looks at how the influence of rankings on national funding for teaching and research constrains\ud wider public debate about the meaning of ‘good’ and meaningful education in the United Kingdom and other national contexts, particularly by shifting the debate away from democratic publics upward into the elite networked institutions of global capital. We conclude by arguing\ud that, rather than regarding world university rankings as a means to establish criteria of educational value, the practice may be understood as an exclusionary one that furthers the alignment of higher education with neoliberal rationalities at both national and global levels

2004. He has published on trade union internationalism and the transformation of higher education in South Africa. Henry Miller has taught at the Borough Polytechnic (South Bank University), Moray House College of Education in Edinburgh and since 1971 at Aston University in the Education Department, Business School and the School of Languages and Social Sciences. He has published widely on teacher professionalism, secondary education and the management of universities in Australia, Canada and the UK.

The 2010 FIFA World Cup was heralded by mainstream media outlets, the local organisers, the South African government and FIFA as an unequivocal success. The month long spectacle saw South Africa take centre stage and host the world's largest single sporting event. This occurred against a backdrop of rationales and promises made that the event would leave lasting legacies for all in particular marginalised South Africans. The reality is quite different. In this article we consider the South African World Cup in the build-up to Brazil 2014. We argue that the rationales and rhetoric are similar in both countries and suggest the reality for Brazil 2014 will be the same as South Africa 2010 in that the mega-event will be primarily funded by significant public investment while the primary beneficiaries will be private capital and FIFA.

No abstract

During the 1970s and 1980s, close linkages were established between unionists in Volkswagen’s Uitenhage plant in South Africa and Wolfsburg in Germany. The ensuing relationship resulted in trade union internationalism and solidarity with South African workers in their struggle against apartheid. After the insertion of the South African plant into the global production networks of the company, a range of new pressures and challenges confronted the union in South Africa. This resulted in the mass dismissal in 2000. In an attempt to garner international support and solidarity, the dismissed workers tapped into existing structures with no success, illustrating the reconfiguration of trade union internationalism away from worker interests to those of the unions and company.