The Commodification of Continuing Education and its Limits

This paper critically engages with Mau's conceptual framework, focusing on the central theme of logistics and its role in mute compulsion. While acknowledging the significance Mau attributes to logistics, the paper identifies major conceptual shortcomings of his take on logistics, essentially reducing it to global supply chains and transport infrastructure. His perspective underestimates the role of education and labour qualifications for capitalism, echoing the deskilling thesis that informs many other Marxian analyses (Hartmann 2014:190). This shortcoming compromises the sociological depth inherent in a Marxian analysis of power. Mau underestimates, in particular, the complex negotiations of the distinction between abstract and living labour that critical infrastructure scholars highlight (e.g. Neilson 2012). Employing the highly commodified continuing education sector and micro-credentials as a case study, the paper illustrates how various educational logistics influence the negotiation between abstract and living labour. This example also elucidates the role of extra-economic logistics, challenging Mau's equation of mute compulsion solely with the economic power of capital. Ultimately, this critique and expansion of Mau's work seek to contribute to a nuanced understanding of the complex interplay between logistics, power, and societal dynamics and the role of education in this context.