Feasible utopias and affective flows in the academy: A mobilisation of hope and optimism

Abstract

As women scholars, we know that personal narratives are produced through the politics of context. Our stories are powerful and opportunities for slow scholarship, where we take time to delve into histories to make sense of our current context in academia. Sharing stories develops new understandings about the workings of larger political discourses and structures (Davies, Browne, Gannon, Honan, & Scmerville, 2005; Kem, Hawkins, Al-Hindi, & Moss, 2014). As white middle class women from colonial settler backgrounds (Aotearoa/New Zealand and Australia) we recognise the privilege of our racial and social positions. There is privilege in the location of our work in academia - the job security associated with opportunities for tenure, flexibility of working hours, varied activities across the academic year, and the 'opportunity to think, create, and pass on our enthusiasm to others' (Berg & Seeber, 2016, p. 3). Nevertheless academic work in the neoliberal milieu is tenuous.