Disclaimer: This article may be read as a thought exercise, an absurdist play, and/or a theoretical adventure involving Aramark Corporation and Vassar College. It attempts to illustrate the rather delirious and ineffectual forms of Neoliberal activism that both these institutions endorse and reinforce at various levels, including the interpersonal. It is both funny and sad and meant to be taken as such.
Note: Aramark is a multi-billion dollar food service business that dabbles in just about everything, ranging from sports facilities, prisons, health care institutions, and higher education institutions, including yours truly.
Key Words: Neoliberalism, Neoliberal, Neoliberalization
Neoliberalism forges an epistemic shift at the level of social subjectivity: as a project, it aims to transform the way individuals relate to one another and their environments, thereby potentially generating a change in social being. This de-politicisation through economisation contributes to silencing the attempts to rethink the very organisation of economic practices that may be needed to break from the growth and austerity cycles of capitalism.
- Yahya M. Madra and Fikret Adaman
Neoliberal Reason and Its Forms:De-Politicisation Through Economisation
2008 was a momentous year for campus dining. Not only did Aramark and Vassar renew a dining services contract that would last for ten years, but it was also the year that Vassar dining went trayless.
The Business and Cultural Acceptance Case for Trayless Dining, published that same year by Aramark, poignantly demonstrates how “trayless initiatives” (namely & quite literally, not eating on trays) have profound and positive impacts on our social, environmental, and economic wellbeing.
The reasons listed (without regard to any explanation of methodology since, after all, science is objective and facts are facts) are innumerable. Some highlights: a reduced food waste of 11,505 pounds, a reduced dependence on fossil fuels, an increased awareness of environmental issues, and a saving from purchasing drying agents.
Activism for Aramark is thus taking away trays and letting the rest fall into place. As the study claims, “colleges and universities are finding that trayless dining contributes to their sustainability initiatives by elevating awareness, saving energy and conserving natural resources — all while conserving limited financial resources.”
However, some enlightened consumers and students-as-activists at this school with a yearly tuition of $61,140 didn’t like this trayless initiative.
Take the following two responses on MadsVassarBlog (“The Unofficial Voice of Vassar” ran by a not-so-mysterious-Vassar-student who must have found another calling, as it hasn’t been updated pretty much since 2011) after a post regarding the new Aramark contract:
Anonymous said…
anyone else really sad about the trays? anyone? bueller?
4/16/08, 5:27 PM
Anonymous2 said…
i can’t believe we won’t have trays. how far do we have to go to placate the crazy group of liberal tree-huggers who don’t want to wash the stupid trays? so what if it uses water, for goodness sake, we have to try to carry all out food and drinks to our chairs now? just so the sustainable nuts can sleep well at night? that freakin sucks.
4/16/08, 5:33 PM
They were anonymous, but it could’ve been any of us really, right? Right? They are trays after all, it is 2014, and this “initiative” is certainly not attacking the system and nor does it get at the root (trite phrases but it always seems to fit so well, especially in class!). These “trayless initiatives” (why do those two words stick like glue to each other now?) are superficial approaches at addressing larger issues, and like those brave anonymous commenter’s, you want to express it: time to merge theory and practice, praxis, for even if the anons were just lazy, you have a cause célèbre.
Given recent outrages regarding certain protests (i.e. SJP) and celebrations of others (i.e. Westboro), I urge you to carry the tray torch carefully from 2008 to 2014. What follows is a list of do’s and don’ts Vassar has made clear regarding activism according to my personal experience and observations. This by no means is meant to be exhaustive or conclusive.
Do: “Dialogue!” Go into conference rooms, seat neatly around circle tables, and talk it out. Conversations are at the heart of activism. Make reservations at Campus Activities for all conversations. Make an org! Call it Anti-Tray, get it VSA approved after being a pre-org for two years and then make neat signs to hang up in the retreat after getting the official Campus Activities stamp in the upper left corner. Only focus on trays, they are the issue, nothing else. Don’t contextualize, it always ends up so messy. Make an appointment with an administrator and talk. Go to Cappy’s office “hour” (fifteen minutes). Think about what the shareholders of the corporation, I mean Vassar College, would feel and what they would say. Take this into consideration, and be courteous. Be polite! Speak calmly, quietly, and neatly. You must remember, also, that the 60’s are over. Be civil!
Don’t: Act out! Gather in spaces not meant for gathering as prescribed by the administration. Don’t politicize trays. Don’t disrupt space, especially classrooms. That is an a-political sphere not to be touched. Don’t raise your voice. Don’t make this about any –isms. Don’t situate trays within larger contexts. Don’t make ideal spaces, use what is given to you. Don’t bombard administrators with questions that make them feel uncomfortable. Don’t disregard the financial incentives of the college. Don’t politicize the economic sphere, especially the profits of our food. Don’t condemn policies. Don’t criticize structures. Don’t hang up posters that aren’t approved by Campus Activities. Don’t make noise.
So…
If you follow this guide, you might get your tray back and won’t you feel oh so good and accomplished at the sight of it! But at the end of the day, Aramark has succeeded in brainwashing us into thinking that the surface in which we consume their Grade D beef matters at all. And…
Anonymous3
that freakin sucks.
10/27/14 10:52 P.M.
