Open AccessTaking a Detour from a Journey
Author(s) -
Purnima George
Publication year - 2019
Publication title -
critical social work
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
ISSN - 1543-9372
DOI - 10.22329/csw.v13i2.5863
Subject(s) - managerialism , sociology , context (archaeology) , service (business) , public relations , immigration , liberalism , public administration , ethnography , administration (probate law) , political science , law , politics , business , marketing , paleontology , anthropology , biology
The trend of managerialism and neo-liberalism sweeping across universities demands peer-reviewed outcomes, which replace discourses of ‘service.’ Within this context I, a racialized immigrant faculty member from the global South, ventured on a journey as an Associate Director, Student Affairs. I realized that I needed to take a detour, as my commitment to service was competing with the expectation of meeting the ever-growing number of peer-reviewed outcomes. The situation reminded me of my previous experiences with the university administration around ‘service.’ Based on my subjectivities I had no choice other than to ‘comply’ with the discourse of managerialism and neo-liberalism. I gave up ‘service’ as an academic administrator to pursue research and publication. My decision raises questions about the fairness of similar compliance by other racialized, new immigrant academics. Using critical auto-ethnography, I challenge the current managerial and neo-liberal