Synopses & Reviews
Synopsis
This book focuses on anti-racist scholar-activism in the margins of universities in the United Kingdom. The book raises questions about the future of Higher Education in the UK, and shines a spotlight on those academics who are working within, and often against, their institutions. Through the accounts of participants, the authors argue that another university is not only possible, but is essential. Working towards a 'manifesto' for scholar-activism in the book's conclusion, the book explores a range of concepts that might be thought to guide scholar-activism, including 'reparative theft', 'working in service', 'digging where you stand', and 'constructive complicity'. Throughout, the authors show 'scholar-activism' to be something that is complex and multifaceted, and better thought of as a form of practice, rather than an identity that can be attained.
Synopsis
Anti-racist scholar-activism raises urgent questions about the role of contemporary universities and the academics that work within them. As profound socio-racial crises collide with mass anti-racist mobilisations, this book focuses on the praxes of academics working within, and against, their institutions in pursuit of anti-racist social justice. Amidst a searing critique of the university's neoliberal and imperial character, Joseph-Salisbury and Connelly situate the university as a contested space, full of contradictions and tensions. Drawing upon original empirical data, the book considers how anti-racist scholar-activists navigate barriers and backlash in order to leverage the opportunities and resources of the university in service to communities of resistance. Showing praxes of anti-racist scholar-activism to be complex, diverse, and multi-faceted, and paying particular attention to how scholar-activists grapple with their own complicities in the harms perpetrated and perpetuated by Higher Education institutions, this book is a call to arms for academics who are, or want to be, committed to social justice.