Academia as Collective Action
I have always seen academia as one (definitely not the only) way of contributing to the daily fight for justice in a world where notions of equality and freedom increasingly become empty/problematic signifiers. We would be fooling ourselves though, if we thought that we could or should wage individual fights against structural injustices in today’s neoliberal academia. We can only survive and thrive by pulling each other up.
Such collaboration has been central to every stage of my career. The most important values/lessons I learned were not found in the gazillion books I read. I learned them from the wonderful people with whom I crossed paths. They offered me friendship, love, and help as I navigated a very challenging world and tried to keep my head above water. The greatest lesson they taught me, and I am determined to teach others, is the power of community. You can’t do academia alone! Unlike what many people think, it is not a solitary process. It takes more than a village.
I can trace the great ideas, challenging questions, life-saving suggestions, and never-ending support of my people in each and every page of my work, which is always a result of a collective thinking process. Among them are my mentor or doctor-mother (Feminist cooptation alert. I adapt the German expression for advisor: doctor-father) and friend-mentors. They edited a million last drafts and believed in me when I did not. Thanks to their comments, criticisms, and questions, I have been able to think and write better. And, of course, feminist activists and lawyers I collaborate with. I consider them my anonymous co-authors. Absent their activism, there would be no academic writing. They are creators of a better world. They burn down the “field” we work on and rebuild it.