Dear all,
Without knowing anything about the department or post in question I am in no position to pass on any judgement on the veracity of any claims being made here. I was also not on the list when the previous Sinister Penguin post (referenced by Amanda) was made.
Nonetheless I think it is absolutely vital that warnings like this are allowed on list. I have encountered a similar situation on another list, only on this occasion other people with knowledge of the situation in question collectively came forwards and backed up the original, anonymous claim. There was, there, a consensus that the person coming forwards initially should be thanked for their bravery. If we ban any anonymous posting along these lines we would prevent these very important forms of solidarity from occurring.
Indeed, whilst I accept Judith's claim that structural inequalities are rife throughout HE, there are exceptional (though all too common) instances where the kind of collective action she advocates simply isn't possible in the immediate/short-term; or where there are risks attached to working in certain places or with certain people that go well beyond those widespread inequalities. Victims in these circumstances are often in an extremely weak position and speaking out anonymously to warn others may well be one of the only viable courses of action open to them. Nor, of course, does speaking out mean that they cannot also be trying to act collectively on the issue in question.
Of course such a system is open to abuse but people with knowledge of the situation who do not share the concerns of any anonymous poster, or believe them to be false, can reply to counter those claims. I fully accept that is not ideal, but I do not think there is an ideal situation here, precisely because of the structural inequalities rife (but often hidden) in HE. Removing one of the very few powers open to victims/survivors in this situation because that power is open to abuse/have been abused is not, to my mind, the answer.
Warmest wishes,
Dave
________________________________________
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers <[log in to unmask]> on behalf of Judith Watson <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: 12 May 2016 10:20:12
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Research Officer position on poverty alleviation and aquaculture
Hi Anthony, everyone
Yes, of course, that is what they seemed to be trying to do. But it is the wrong way to go about it. Let's say we know that there is sexism in a particular department. Do we actually know of any department where we can say hand on heart there is no chance at all of a colleague encountering sexism? It is up to women to decide whether to apply. Perhaps they are willing to take the sexism head on and defeat it? If there are facts applicants should know, pass them on.
Regards
Judith
________________________________________
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Anthony Ince [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 12 May 2016 10:14
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Research Officer position on poverty alleviation and aquaculture
Hi Critters,
Is there a chance that Sinister Penguin is trying to warn potential applicants about unacceptable behaviour or a bad working environment? A history of sexism or discrimination from someone involved in supervising the studentship maybe? That's how I understood their (somewhat enigmatic) intervention anyway...
Best,
Ant
Anthony Ince
Darlithydd mewn Daearyddiaeth
Ysgol Daearyddiaeth a Chynllu
Prifysgol Caerdydd
King Edward VII Avenue
Caerdydd
CF10 3WA
Ffôn: +44 (0)29 2087 6014
E-bost: [log in to unmask]
Anthony Ince
Lecturer in Human Geography
School of Geography and Planning
Cardiff University
King Edward VII Avenue
Cardiff
CF10 3WA
Phone: +44 (0)29 2087 6014
Email: [log in to unmask]
Webpage: http://www.cardiff.ac.uk/cplan/about-us/staff/anthony-ince
View papers and drafts: https://cardiff.academia.edu/AnthonyInce
-----Original Message-----
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Judith Watson
Sent: 12 May 2016 10:09
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Research Officer position on poverty alleviation and aquaculture
Dear Amanda
I am very glad that you said that.
To discourage women to apply for a post is not compatible with the equal opportunities practices that we need to defend and extend. Let's admit that working conditions are less than ideal in many or most universities and research institutes, particularly for early career scholars and particularly for women/ethnic minorities/LGBT people/people with disabilities/people of working class background etc, etc. The way to take that up is through united political and trade union activity.
People should join and become active in their trade union. In Wales and England that would be UCU. www.ucu.org.uk
Regards
Judith
________________________________________
From: A forum for critical and radical geographers [[log in to unmask]] on behalf of Amanda Rogers [[log in to unmask]]
Sent: 12 May 2016 09:42
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: Research Officer position on poverty alleviation and aquaculture
Dear Sinister Penguin, CGF admin and colleagues
I really think that this kind of behaviour and insinuation is unacceptable. When I posted about our Human Geography PhD studentships at Swansea, Sinister Penguin trolled me - no one said anything and I let it go because I thought it was a one-off. Clearly, though, this is a pattern.
This is sad behaviour, and I hope this character/computer generated rubbish will be removed from CGF for doing this twice to Swansea Geographers.
Best wishes
Amanda Rogers
___________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by MessageLabs' Email Security System on behalf of the University of Brighton. For more information see:
https://staff.brighton.ac.uk/is/computing/Pages/Email/spam.aspx
___________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by MessageLabs' Email Security System on behalf of the University of Brighton. For more information see:
https://staff.brighton.ac.uk/is/computing/Pages/Email/spam.aspx
___________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by MessageLabs' Email Security System
on behalf of the University of Brighton. For more information see:
https://staff.brighton.ac.uk/is/computing/Pages/Email/spam.aspx
___________________________________________________________
This email has been scanned by MessageLabs' Email Security System
on behalf of the University of Brighton. For more information see:
https://staff.brighton.ac.uk/is/computing/Pages/Email/spam.aspx
|
