Dr Neville Buch

Professional Historian and History Consultancy Services Brisbane

 

https://www.academia.edu/161285125/Better_Practical_Social_Change_to_UQ

 

 

Attached: Better (Practical) Social Change to UQ

 

 

Dr Neville Buch ABN: 86703686642

 

Abstract

In the 2026–2025 Times Higher Education Subject Rankings for Arts and Humanities, the University of Queensland and Griffith University are doing poorly in two categories: Research Environment and Teaching. In 2025 the University of Queensland’s ranking research environment was 32.0%, it has only now reached 35.2%. In 2025 Griffith University’s ranking research environment was 18.0%, it has only now just reached 21.2%. In 2025 the University of Queensland’s ranking for teaching was 32.0%, it has only has now reached 40.8%. In 2025 Griffith University’s ranking for teaching was 22.4%, it has only now just reached 23.7%. The marginal improvement might be due to the Vice-Chancellors recognition of some Dr Buch’s comments without paying him for his consultancy.

The stagnation of these institutions is a symptom of proletarianization and the “technical abyss” described by Bernard Stiegler. By reducing education to “measurable utility” and “institutional bullshit,” management has short-circuited the libidinal energy required for genuine intellectual progress. Applying Stiegler’s philosophy, this essay argues that practical social change at the University of Queensland (UQ) requires a neganthropic turn through the implementation of a Contributory Economy and Contributory Research models. Drawing on Joshua Kyle T. Rovero’s analysis of revolution as a universal mode of disclosure, the path forward involves transforming UQ from a “technostructure” focused on administrative calculation into an “associated milieu” that prioritizes the care of the mind (panser).

 

 

Featured Image: The University of Queensland, circa 1963.

 

 

 

Figure 5. The Source of Teen Challenge Radicalism — The University of Queensland, circa 1963. Source: State Library of Queensland