Cardiff University, Techno-fascism & did the VC really say that poverty is genetic?

Article by Diffwys Criafol

Doing my UCAS statement - I dreamed of studying biology - specifically neuroscience at Cardiff University. Midway through the process, I became increasingly enamoured by ideas such as Marxism. After devouring books, attending meetings, and seeing the world through this lens, it led me to the conclusion that if I followed my desired path in the sciences, I would always be at the behest of pharmaceutical companies or capitalists that are not interested in helping humanity. 

In a world of monumental hunger, where 9 million starve to death each year, with around half of the victims being children, shouldn't we be addressing this before anything else? We already know how to “cure” starvation. 

In a recent Novara podcast - Aaron Bastani talks about the lack of left wingers in the STEM subjects and the implications of this. I’m one example of someone that left the STEM pathway, seeing it as nothing but an instrument of a disgusting system, feeling that addressing the important questions of sociology, politics and human conscience was where the most urgent work was needed. 

Doing well in biology was a big part of what built my self esteem as a teenager. I found the study of life to be utterly absorbing - I didn't meander too far away from this. I applied in the end to study Philosophy and Spanish joint honours, which I felt was just the study of “life” from a different angle. Philosophy and literature were subjects where morality, human nature, and systemic issues were investigated, and I saw deep value in this. 

The current vice chancellor of Cardiff University, Wendy Larner, was also once hopeful of an alternative to the brutality of Neoliberalism from what I see of her early academic work. However it now seems that she is currently embracing her role as its handmaiden, purporting that our line of escape from the contradictions of capitalism is deepening technological capitalism. 

She earns £290k a year. Surrounding her are 10 executive board members who were collectively paid £2.3m in 2023. A revolting figure. Their loyalty has been bought by the logic of capitalism. Why would they push back against a system that rewards them so well?

Larner recently announced the intention to sack over 400 lecturers and shut down whole departments: Ancient History, Theology, Nursing, Music, Modern Languages. Of course, all the innovation in the world will never escape us from the “death drive” of this system. Security lined corridors as thousands of staff who were told that their jobs were at risk received no no real information about the University’s financial situation, the purped reason why their jobs are set to be axed. 

Wendy’s hilariously parodied video, outlines what her three potential visions of the future were STEM usurping universities, destroying institutions which have been fonts of knowledge for over a thousand years. 

Some have suggested that Larner has imposed this climate of fear at the University just in order to play games with the Welsh Government. If this is the case then it seems to have paid off - (partially at least). I am convinced that her discriminations against the humanities, in the context of her proposed ideas for the future of the University, are purely ideological. Cardiff UCU has already outlined via their own financial analysis how unnecessary these proposed cuts are in terms of finance. 

I believe she is of the same political movement that is wreaking havoc globally right now in the form of the Trump-Musk oiligarchy that some would term “techno-fascism”. She is not alone in this - the Welsh government under financial pressure, rather than standing up for Wales, has made a political choice to defund progressive culture, history and literature. One poignant example of this is that of Planet Magazine losing its funding last year and the constant threat faced by museums and cultural organisations - to the point that Literature Wales warned that the professional arts could disappear in Wales entirely within a decade. 

An X post by Tyler Harper posed the conundrum perfectly; 

“I think more accurately, what’s going on in is (clearly) not a populist insurgency against the professional elites, but a civil war  between the left (academia/media/ NGO) and right (tech) flanks of the professional class: what Gouldner labeled the “intellectuals” vs the “intelligencia”.

The fact that Larner is cannibalising her own profession in this “civil war” is what’s really astounding. Her disturbing attitude, however, can be seen in its bare bones in an interview while visiting Warwick University:

“Let me be very clear. I am convinced we need to think very hard about the future of the social sciences, and there is no guarantee we will continue to occupy the spaces we do. Big Data is only one way in which the social sciences might be diminished in the future. The rise of epigenetics is another. If things like poverty have a genetic explanation, the taken for granted approaches and conceptual frameworks we use as social scientists to explain poverty will need to be re-worked. And then there are the debates about the relationships between the human and the non-human in an era of catastrophic climate change. Developments in these three areas – big data, epigenetics, climate change – all have potential to hollow out the traditional social sciences. And when the importance of social sciences is no longer taken for granted, we will need to have compelling answers for those who will question the value of what we offer.”

How do we decipher this statement? Does Larner actually believe that poverty is genetic to start with? Does she think that it’s the 11th hour on the social sciences, and by extension - the humanities? Does this reveal her political bias in her cull of academic departments? 

When reading between the lines of her statements in a lecture she delivered for the Learned Society of Wales,  I noticed the way in which she under-values these subjects, the research done in these fields, and their practical application in the world.

Without those willing to spend the time thinking of how to use technology - it will do more harm than good to our world. The development of science & technology and the systems that fund its development needs societal scrutiny every step of the way. Universities, with well staffed departments covering a range of diverse subjects, taking lessons from different histories, cultures and languages are one of the few places where such societal analysis and scrutiny can happen.

If it still seems unconvincing to align Larner in her politics to “authoritarian-libertarian” Musk then just take a look at the recent history of repression at Cardiff University. Two students were suspended from studies for simply taking part in protests against the ongoing Palestiniean genocide. A source from the University told me that a member of staff was also suspended from their job last year for their legal pro-Palestine activism. In addition to this, the University has been reported to “spy” on staff and students, and handing information over to the police. 

The parallel is laid bare as while the Trump-Musk administration is deporting international students protesting for Palestine, Cardiff University is also implementing some of its strongest sanctions in order to repress political activity.

Fighting these cuts in Cardiff University is part of the struggle against the global movement trying to destroy every space that fosters any critical ideas towards the system. Individuals like Larner and members of the executive board such as David Langley (executive transformation officer) are wolves dressed in sheep’s clothing.

Under the guise of buzzwords like “disruptors” “innovation” with the mentality of “move fast and break things” - these people are destroying lives and resorting education in Wales into nothing more than a cash cow. Buisness always tries to disguise plunder as progress - don’t let us fall for it this time. Support our lecturers and the University staff in their struggle