Why don’t we talk about the textbook racket?

“I have a full time job and I’m also a full time student.” This is not uncommon to hear in university halls.

Tuition is expensive. Student debt is slowly increasing and students overwhelming themselves with responsibilities to afford education is the new trend across campuses. Though there have been several movements to make education more accessible and affordable, expenses still hit students like winter wind.

Tuition seems to be the main reason most people ‘Fight the Fees,’ a movement around campuses to reduce tuition costs. Members of the movement give out decorative stickers and plastic sunglasses, encouraging students to think critically about their money and the education they are paying for. But what about the textbooks?

 The heavy student shadow

Textbooks. Naive and inanimate objects sitting on your desk for the better part of the semester. They keep you company in lonely study nights at the library. They accompany you through solitary walks around campus. They travel in your backpack. Their words, and their prices, follow you around like a nameless shadow.

Students spend thousands on mandatory textbooks for their education. (Photo by Silvia Orozco)

Every class is complemented with additional material to provide you with a solid information background. It might seem inoffensive and fair that each class requires a textbook, but did you know that textbooks prices have risen 1,041 per cent since 1977? Have you ever wondered why?

Textbooks are a commodity. As education becomes more standardized, publishers and sellers have had no problem increasing prices and changing editions annually, so students are forced to buy a new textbook. We might villify professors for assigning such expensive textbooks, and it is true that several professors assign books they have written. Nevertheless, with so many years of education and experience, professors certainly know what is needed and which information one can trust. Even when they use their own books, it makes sense. Their lectures might be more congruent if they use their own material, and, let’s be honest, they want us to support them.

However, the most outrageous, desperate, and cynical reason as to why textbooks are so expensive lies in the production of academic knowledge. Options are limited, and the power of academic production is narrow. When fighting against new editions entering the market, we must consider the following,

Following the global textbook industry

Textbooks, and education, are a business. Sellers are extorting students ingeniously, by adding extra materials to books (like online access codes), that cannot be bought seperately. Students are forced to buy textbooks from the certified sellers (e.g. university bookstores). Not only are students not able to save money by buying used textbooks, upper year students have no choice but to keep the book after the course is done, to fix the broken table, or maybe to read their notes 10 years from now and analyze the evolution of their thinking (?).

Their words, and their prices, follow you around like a nameless shadow.

Most likely, these books will end up in the trash, creating more waste. Some students might choose to donate them through NGOs and provide kids in need with books and information. But how much can you trust these organizations? How can you know these “disadvantaged kids” really need your textbooks? This action is often labeled as “dumping.” This is when unused material from individuals in privileged countries opt to send the commodities they no longer need or want to developing countries. The truth is, in many cases, this might generate more harm than good.

Education has also been globalized in the university spectrum. Most students in the world read the same information and complete similar assignments. This has opened the doors to big corporations, like Amazon, to create alternatives to profit off this industry. Their new system, Student Prime, advertises “special offers on selected textbooks.” Turns out, these “selected textbooks” are used all over the world in similar courses. With Amazon’s shipping and availability system, they have no trouble providing the consumer with the product they need.

The textbook system is a cycle. A cycle of knowledge, privilege, inequalities and difficulties. A cycle of profit. It is a business that has been camouflaged under the persuit of intelligence and education. A business that almost no one critiques and fights against. Knowledge is extremely narrow and the number of people who have access to it is highly limited. Fighting the system is incredibly difficult. But, as hard as it is, the responsibility lies on students. We should be the ones advocating for our needs and addressing our concerns. We should be the ones leading to change. We should aim to expand our voices and involve our institutions to take action and be accountable for their interests.

By Daniela Mallarino

Please note that opinions expressed are the author’s own. They do not necessarily reflect the views and values of The Blank Page.