Branding higher education: Equivalence and difference in developing identity

This article examines the development of university identity within and between the language of higher education policy and the marketing activities of universities. Empirical material gathered from a three and a half-year ethnographic study illustrates how the language of marketing activity appeals to diverse audiences and how this activity connects to higher education policy. Drawing upon analytical concepts derived from Laclau and Mouffe (Laclau E. Mouffe C. Hegemony and socialist strategy: towards a radical democratic politics. London: Verso, 1985.) and Laclau (Laclau E. Emancipation(s). London: Verso, 1996., Laclau E. Constructing universality. In: Butler J. Laclau E. Žižek S., editors. Contingency, hegemony, universality: contemporary dialogues on the left. London: Verso, 2000., Laclau E. On populist reason. London: Verso; 2005.), this article explores how brand identity arises in moments of articulation. With the increasing weight given to vocational relevance in higher education, discourses of policy and university marketing activity give rise to the undecidable university identity.