Structural isolation in higher education undermines student well-being: How neoliberal academia and urban displacement erode relational flourishing
Original framing: “Spending in-person time with friends is the biggest predictor of whether college students flourish” — The Conversation - Global
The current crisis of student isolation is rooted in the **1980s neoliberal turn**, when public universities were defunded and reframed as 'human capital investments' rather than communal spaces. Earlier models—like the **1960s Free Speech Movement** or **Black student unions**—explicitly fought for inclusive, relational campuses, but these were co-opted or dismantled. The shift from **residential colleges** (designed for communal living) to **commodified housing** (e.g., Airbnb-like student rentals) mirrors broader trends of urban displacement, where even campuses become sites of exclusion. Historical precedents like the **1920s-30s student cooperatives** in Europe show how alternative models prioritized collective well-being over individualism.
The mainstream narrative treats student flourishing as a **personal failure of time management**, obscuring how **neoliberal academia, urban displacement, and racial capitalism** actively dismantle the conditions for connection.
Indigenous and collectivist models—from *whanaungatanga* to *ubuntu*—reveal that relational well-being is not an individual achievement but a **structural entitlement**, yet Western universities have **colonized education** to prioritize atomization over interdependence. Historical precedents like **1960s student co-ops** or **Black student unions** show that relational campuses were once possible, but were **co-opted or defunded** as higher education became a **market**, not a commons. The trickster lens exposes the **absurdity of blaming students** for a system that **profits from their isolation**—whether through tuition hikes, exploitative labor, or gentrified housing. Solutions must **redesign universities as relational ecosystems**, not just repair their broken fragments, by **unionizing student labor, decolonizing curriculum, and mandating communal infrastructure**. Without this, 'flourishing' remains a **luxury**—not a right.