Cardiff University Vice Chancellor 'implied poverty is caused by genetics'

Martin Shipton

A university vice chancellor who is leading a proposal to cut 400 jobs and close five Schools including Nursing and Music has been criticised for implying that poverty is caused by genetics rather than by social conditions.

Comments made by Professor Wendy Larner of Cardiff University during an interview at Warwick University have been cited as evidence that she undervalues the humanities, and that such views are driving the cuts programme.

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Technological capitalism

An article on Substack by an author using the pseudonym Diffwys Criafol (Differing Grief) states: “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 real information about the university’s financial situation, the purported reason why their jobs are set to be axed.

“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 [University and College Union] 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 oligarchy 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.

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Political bias

It continues: “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.

“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 re-sorting education in Wales into nothing more than a cash cow. “Business 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.”

'Shocking'

A Cardiff UCU spokesperson said: “It is shocking that someone in Prof Larner's position should say such seemingly offensive and insensitive things, but sadly our members are now used to being shocked by her conduct. This will make Cardiff University staff further question whether she is fit to lead an organisation like this one.

"After reading her words it will be hard for many members not to feel that the cruel and unnecessary cuts she is making at Cardiff University are part of a culture war that devalues the arts and humanities and uncritically worships technology in a manner that in some ways aligns with reactionary elements within global politics.

"In the context of her post-cuts vision for a more elitist university, cutting schools like nursing and favouring what Prof Larner has called ‘higher quality’ students, the attitude towards poverty indicated here is disturbing.”

Prof Larner and Cardiff University were both invited to respond, but neither did so.