Abstract
The academy is under fire. Qualitative inquiry is under fire. Neoliberal political and economic philosophies and management practices threaten academic freedom, open inquiry, and funding of higher education in favor of “market-driven” approaches and efficiency models. In this milieu, autoethnography and critical autoethnography can be read as methodologies of resilience, resistance, and remembrance. We meet resistance with resistance, reproach with resilience, and disregard with remembrance. This collection of autoethnographic works speaks to the daring, defiant act of writing our lived experience into the ongoing scholarly conversation about the future of the academy, offers insight into the problems confronting us, and lays out possible pathways toward a brighter future.
The authors in this special issue range from an assistant professor to a dean, from a faculty senate chair to a rising star, from a department head to a professor emeritus. And all points in between. We work at both state and private universities, of varying sizes and reputations. Our views are from various locales around the world and within the ranks of academe.
When I read these contributions, I was struck immediately by the fact that—despite having very little conversation among us before writing them—they all fit together so beautifully. We are all feeling the pressures of the neoliberal colonization of higher education, from our various perches and angles and institutions, even as we try to write our way out of the predicaments these “market-driven” efficiency models place us in on a daily basis. We are acutely aware of the ironies and paradoxes in play as a system that was designed for “the greater good” is co-opted by the forces of instrumentalism and the monetization of students and professors, even as the price tag rises, even as public support erodes yet demand for our “services” rises.
With sharp wit and informed insight, these authors cut directly to the heart of our collective problem, and—I hope—help us to see a way forward. I am sure you will learn as much from reading them as I did. And I know you will forge ahead, making your way in this brave new world . . . all the while, as Jovanovic puts it, “speaking back to the neoliberal agenda for higher education.” We must, indeed, rise up and speak back. If we do not, as my friend and colleague (the late) Buddy Goodall claimed, we risk losing the narrative for good.
Footnotes
Declaration of Conflicting Interests
The author declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.
Funding
The author received no financial support for the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.