By independent scholarship - I am using the phrase to work outside of academia whilst conducting serious academic work!!!!
>-----Original Message-----
>From: Andrew Law
>Sent: 30 October 2015 10:16
>To: 'Jenny Pickerill' <[log in to unmask]>; CRIT-GEOG-
>[log in to unmask]
>Subject: RE: Sadness
>
>Hi All
>
>I am energised by this list and I am delighted to see so many people reacting
>to this particular kind of "brave new academic world";
>
>What worries me the most is that management in many institutions seem to
>be creating a "culture of fear" as an actual management strategy...
>
>Of course, I just cannot see the point in making people afraid to get them to
>work... I often hear people constantly talking about the fear of getting caught
>out by the REF; and I have also heard people talk about the fear of having to
>cobble papers together at the last minute in the hope that some "4* journal"
>is going to accept your paper...
>
>I worry that this new management culture will lead lots of people towards
>independent scholarship, which is not a bad thing in one way, but is in itself an
>indictment of the whole academic system.
>
>In solidarity
>
>Andy
>
>
>>-----Original Message-----
>>From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [mailto:CRIT-GEOG-
>>[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Jenny Pickerill
>>Sent: 30 October 2015 09:18
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: Sadness
>>
>>Hi all
>>
>>I am finding this conversation really helpful. I too was greatly
>>affected by Stefan's story and I suspect that it is just one publicised
>>case of many.
>>
>>There is an interesting parallel conversation going on in Canada. Run
>>out of Queens, the MHGEOG-L Mental Health and the Academy email
>>discussion list is a useful place of sharing, often research and case
>>studies. You can subscribe via:
>>https://lists.queensu.ca/cgi-bin/listserv/wa?A0=MHGEOG-L
>>
>>I also support the Union because I feel it is a rare space where
>>collective issues are fought for, despite all its limitations.
>>
>>But crucially, like others, I have found the only form of survival to be
>>through collective companionship in the academy. Going to lunch with
>>colleagues might seem a small step, but being able to share
>>frustrations, laugh at the stupidity of targets, and remind each other
>>why we work in the academy has enable me to stay. There are many of us
>>who have never met our performance targets (I have lived through years
>>of them and consistently failed) and yet are still here and doing OK. As
>>things become more acute and pressured, we should spend even more time
>>supporting each other, laughing, resisting, and ignoring. I, for one, am
>>not willing to let targets push me out of the academy. But without
>>academic friends I lapse into a competitive urge to comply and need my
>>friends to remind me why I am here and what I (not the University) am
>>trying to do.
>>
>>Jenny
>>
>>-------------------------------
>>Jenny Pickerill
>>
>>Professor of Environmental Geography
>>
>>Department of Geography
>>University of Sheffield
>>Winter street
>>Sheffield
>>S10 2TN
>>UK
>>
>>email: [log in to unmask]
>>office phone: 0114 222 7960
>>
>>staff website: www.sheffield.ac.uk/geography/staff/jenny_pickerill
>>web: www.jennypickerill.info
>>
>>blog: http://naturalbuild.wordpress.com/
>>twitter: @JennyPickerill
>>
>>Editor | Antipode: A Radical Journal of Geography
>>http://antipodefoundation.org/
>>http://www.wileyonlinelibrary.com/journal/anti
>>
>>Chair | Participatory Geographies Research Group http://www.pygyrg.co.uk
>>
>>New article: Pickerill, J (2014) Bodies, building and bricks: Women
>>architects and builders in eight eco-communities in Argentina, Britain,
>>Spain, Thailand and USA. Gender, Place and Culture, available at:
>>http://www.tandfonline.com/eprint/UPix9KpJRxPWjkWvvntE/full
>>
>>On 30/10/2015 09:00, Paul Benneworth wrote:
>>> Dear all
>>>
>>> I was greatly affected by the Stefan Grimm story when I read it, and so
>>many thanks to Andrew for unleashing a discussion that's attracted real
>animo
>>in the group.
>>>
>>> Echoing Alison's point, I was at a union meeting this week where we heard
>>of both the real damaging effects of work pressure, and also the roles of
>>managers (who don't face those pressures) saying that people were very
>>good at coping with those pressures. There's so much evidence piling up of
>>the extremely negative effects that these new target management regimes
>>have on people; for me what has been compelling has been the way that
>they
>>are 'made' and enforced locally, despite this rhetoric that they are a
>>supposedly unavoidable part of academic life.
>>>
>>> My concrete contribution I hope relates to the issue of performance
>targets;
>>performance is what you do, not the outcome that it has; the issue about
>>trying to management outcome targets is that if there aren't good pathways
>>from the performance to the target then you what you are doing is futile.
>>>
>>> what Alison describes below at Newcastle are a mix of performance and
>>outcome targets. And what's most worrying are the outcome (income)
>>targets, because we know that success rates for funding proposals have hit a
>>real low in all sectors, to the point where it has become more a lottery; so
>you
>>can 'perform' by writing a good proposal but that becomes completely
>>invisible to the managers because you are judged on an outcome on which
>>you have no influence.
>>>
>>> And like all indicators, the have a framing effect; for me what is worrying is
>>the way that they purport to have an objectivity; if you don't hit an outcome
>>target, then the responsibility passes to you rather than to the person who
>>set the ill thought-through target for you. So what you are really being
>judged
>>on is how lucky you are, not how well you are performing (assuming you are
>>good enough), and that's a rather pernicious basis for managing an
>institution,
>>because you have people who think they are good or bad purely on the
>basis
>>of their luck, and luck can run out.
>>>
>>> You can say that it's individuals' own faults for not being in a field where
>the
>>chances of success are higher, but given how long human capital in academia
>>takes to build up and the proven fact that seemingly pointless knowledge
>can
>>entirely unexpectedly become incredibly useful - scientifically and societally -
>>that's a just a strange basis to run a knowledge portfolio.
>>>
>>> In my reading, the only way that this can be challenged is by speaking up
>for
>>each other, and in particular the lucky ones speaking up for the unlucky
>ones,
>>here in the Netherlands, the more popular courses speaking up for the less
>>popular courses, the seniors speaking up for the juniors.
>>>
>>> Solidarity, in short, and that's a real challenge at the time when everything,
>>tenure track, publish or perish, h-indices, journal ranking lists, is being set up
>>to individualise, and critically to convince the lucky seniors that they are
>>successful because they are better than the unlucky juniors. So in that
>sense
>>it's great to hear the 'seniors' speaking up for the collective in this
>>conversation as well as the 'juniors'.
>>>
>>> There's a few movements like Science in Transition that can help to do this,
>>but Alison nails the point here that the unions are organisations that actually
>>exist to build this solidarity, even if they have sometimes become
>sidetracked
>>for entirely understandable reasons into thinking more of the 'individual
>>member offer' than the 'collective vision and movement'.
>>>
>>> And of course unions aren't 'out there', they are their members, so at least
>>in the UK, and the Netherlands (two countries that I at least know about)
>this
>>suggests at least one starting point for us in starting to challenge and contest
>>these problems.
>>>
>>> So strength to Alison, and all those affected!
>>>
>>> Best wishes
>>> Paul.
>>>
>>> -----Original Message-----
>>> From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [mailto:CRIT-GEOG-
>>[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Alison Stenning
>>> Sent: vrijdag 30 oktober 2015 9:29
>>> To: [log in to unmask]
>>> Subject: Re: Sadness
>>>
>>> Hi all,
>>>
>>> In the light of all this, I'd be really interested to hear what colleagues'
>>experiences, in the UK and beyond, have been of "performance
>>expectations", or indicators, or whatever.
>>>
>>> Here at Newcastle, the university is in the process of introducing these,
>first
>>for research, then for teaching. The research ones relate to income,
>>publications, supervision of PhD students. Income expectations vary by
>>seniority and according to two tiers of disciplines (high income and low
>>income). Geography is a high income discipline within our faculty (of
>>humanities and social sciences).
>>>
>>> These "expectations" will be used in assessing performance (though
>>performance and development reviews), promotion and recruitment of new
>>staff.
>>>
>>> It's not yet entirely clear what will happen if we don't meet the
>>expectations.
>>>
>>> All of this makes me incredibly sad, that this is more and more the shape of
>>universities, that these are the wishes of our managers, that there is so little
>>imagination about what a university could be, despite wider
>>neoliberalisations, that this reinforces a culture of expectation and anxiety,
>>and so on.
>>>
>>> More hopefully, there was a really well attended union meeting earlier this
>>week, where there were discussions of strike action, a vote of no confidence
>>in the VC, and other plans for non-compliance.
>>>
>>> It would be really good to hear how others are dealing with this kind of
>>thing, and how widespread these kind of formal expectations are across
>>Geography.
>>>
>>> In solidarity,
>>> Alison
>>>
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