[Gala-l] reminder cfp Gender and sexuality in the neoliberal university

[Michela Baldo]

Dear all,
for those interested, this is a reminder of the deadline for abstracts
(31sth January) for our conference on Gender and sexuality in the
neoliberal University.
Due to Covid restrictions, the conference will be now online.
See the cfp attached.
You can consult our website if you want to find further info on our cluster
and on past events: https://igsrcdmu393330702.wordpress.com/
Take care
Best wishes
Michela Baldo and Marion Krauthaker

*“Gender and sexuality in the neoliberal University: Interdisciplinary
Approaches.”*


*Interdisciplinary Gender and Sexuality Research Cluster Online Conference*

*De Montfort University*


*27-28 May 2021*

*Call for Papers and Creative/Artistic Presentations*

Situating universities within latest developments brought out by neoliberal
and market ideologies*, *this conference invites proposals focusing on the
impact of neoliberalism on gender(ed) experiences in academia, in
particular in the wake of the 2020 UCU strikes and Covid health crisis. In
the UK, profound transformations in the neoliberal university (Petrina and
Ross 2014; Smyth 2017), such as marketisation, consumerism, funding-led
audits and the introduction of managerial cultures have ushered in control
and surveillance regimes and led to the suppression of academic freedom
(Morrish and Sauntson, 2016, 2019). Today academia is complicit in
reproducing power and inequalities, with the majority of students in
British Higher Education belonging to relatively comfortable socio-economic
backgrounds and being encouraged to behave as consumers rather than show
interest in their academic and self-development (Burke, 2013; Connell,
2013; McGettigan, 2013). The inequalities produced by neoliberal politics
are especially marked when considered through a gender and sexuality lens
in their intersection with other categories such as race, class or ableism.
They have also increased since the start of the Covid-19 health crisis,
which has left staff having to care for children in complex situations at
the expense of their career, with little to no support from their
employers. Regrettably, the subjectivities especially at risk of sexism,
bullying, harassment or marginalisation are those who fall outside of the
white cis heterosexual able male category established as the norm, or those
who question gender and sexual binaries and male supremacy (Ahmed, 2015;
2017a; 2017b).

We call for papers, creative presentations and/or artistic performances
exploring the relationship between gender, academic elites and margins and
how policies, structures or pedagogies in academia are affected by
neoliberalism, both in and outside the UK. What does it mean to be a woman
or a LGBTQIA+ and/or non-white, disabled, working class person in today’s
University? Are entry and promotion schemes gendered to favour cis males
and heterosexual students or staff members, and those who uphold the power
inherent in these categories? How are expectations, entitlements and
burdens experienced differently along the axes of gender, sexuality, social
class or ableism? Is it at all possible to challenge such structural
inequalities, and to inform pedagogies within a gendered and queer feminist
perspective? Relatedly, we encourage scholars to focus on the extent of the
power of educators and managers in either promoting or hindering gender
diversity, the dynamics that have a positive or negative effect on gender
equality as well as the pathways, voices and alternatives that inclusive
and critical gender practices can foster.

We would also particularly welcome intersectional approaches, especially
from scholars working in Modern Languages, and fields of studies coming
under the umbrella of SHAPE (Social Sciences, Humanities and the Arts),
that are often perceived as less valuable by the neoliberal University.
Although research and reports show that Modern Languages provide crucial
linguistic and intercultural competences, as well as transferable skills
and prepare highly employable students for the Global market (Higher
Education Policy Institute Report 123, 2020), the discipline is often
relegated to the margins as non-vocational and not worth investing in
(British Academy Born Global, 2017). Presentations looking at drawing links
between the pressures on subjects who fall outside the white cis
heterosexual able male category and that towards less economically worthy
disciplines in the neo-liberal academic context would therefore be of
interest.

We encourage contributions on the following themes (but not limited to) as
they apply to different disciplines and sociological, cultural and
linguistic contexts:

-       Sexism, heteropatriarchy and heteronormativity in academia: gender
imbalances, underrepresentation of women or members of LGBTQIA+ community
among staff or students and career progression;

-       The effects and possible long-term consequences of the Covid-19
crisis, from a gender perspective, for instance on members of staff with
care responsibilities;

-       Gender and/or sexuality studies teaching;

-       Feminist and queer pedagogies;

-       Academic policies, practices and processes focused on gender and/or
sexuality structures and processes that facilitate or impede gender
equality;

-       Resistance in the implementation of gender diversity measures/ the
myth of the Equalities Act;

-       The position of ‘minority’ or ‘secondary’ disciplines in the
neo-liberal academia;

-       Sexual harassment and/or bullying in academia;

-       Discrimination based on gender and sexuality in its intersection
with race, and/or class, and or ableism;

-       Hierarchies of oppression in underrepresented groups;

-       Academic workload, especially pastoral work, as gendered work;

-       Collegiality versus managerialism and the impact on gender and
sexuality;

-       Divided sisters: women benefiting from the oppression of other
women;

-       The role of HE institutions in supporting systems of oppression and
discrimination;

-       Student and staff complaints based on gender inequalities and the
treatment of those complaints.



Please send your 250-300 words abstract by the *31st January 2021* to
Marion Krauthaker (marion.krauthaker at dmu.ac.uk) and Michela Baldo (
michibao2016 at gmail.com). The conference will take place on the *27th and
28th May 2021* and *it will be online*.



*Confirmed keynote speakers are:*

*Helen Sauntson**, *Professor of Linguistics at York St John University (UK)

*Lisa Blackman**, *Professor of Media and Cultural Studies at Goldsmiths,
University of London (UK)





*References*



Ahmed, Sara (2015) “Sexism: A Problem with a Name.” *New Formations: A
Journal*

*of Culture/Theory/Politics,* 86: 5–13.



Ahmed, Sara (2017a) *Living a Feminist Life*. Durham and London: Duke
University Press.



Ahmed, Sara (2017b) “Resignation is a feminist issue”. Available at
https://feministkilljoys.com/2016/08/27/resignation-is-a-feminist-issue/



Amsler, S. (2011) “Beyond all reason: spaces of hope in the struggle for
England’s universities.” *Representations,* 116(1): 62-87.



Amsler, S. (2014) “By ones and twos and tens”: pedagogies of possibility
for democratising higher education.” *Pedagogy, Culture & Society*, 22(2):
275–294.



Ball, S.J. (2012) “Performativity, Commodification and Commitment: An I-Spy
Guide to the Neoliberal University.” *British Journal of Educational
Studies*, 60(1): 17-28.



Burke, P.J. (2013) “The right to higher education: neoliberalism, gender
and professional mis/recognitions.” *International Studies in Sociology of
Education*, 23(2): 107-126.



Connell, R. (2013a) “The neoliberal cascade and education: An essay on the
market agenda and its consequences.” *Critical Studies in Education*,
54(2): 99-112.



Petrina, Stephen and Wayne Ross (2014) “Critical University Studies:
Workplace, Milestones, Crossroads, Respect, Truth.” *Workplace*, 23:62-71.



McGettigan, A. (2013) *The Great University Gamble: Money, Markets and the
Future of Higher Education*. London: Pluto Press.



Morrish, Liz. (2017) “Academic identities in the managed university:
Neoliberalism and resistance at Newcastle University, UK.” *Australian
Universities' Review*, 2017, 59(2): 23-35.



Morrish, Liz and Helen Sauntson (2016) “Performance Management and the
Stifling of Academic Freedom and Knowledge Production.” *Journal of
Historical Sociology,* 29(1): 42-64.



Morrish, Liz and Helen Sauntson (2019) *Academic Irregularities: Language
and Neoliberalism in Higher Education*. New York and London: Routledge.



Smyth, John (2017) *The Toxic University. Zombie Leadership, Academic Rock
Stars and Neoliberal Ideology. *London: Palgrave MacMillan.
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