‘The horrors’

When I finished writing my book manuscript in early 2010, I included an epigraph from the late George Orwell: Even the middle classes, for the first time in their history, are feeling the pinch. They have not known actual hunger yet, but more and more of them find themselves floundering in a sort of deadly [...]

Women in research

A new report shows that women’s progress in science has stalled over the past 15 years. While this won’t sound like news to many, I was shocked to read the statistic on how many women are Federation Fellows (8.5%). When you add that to other recent news stories, particularly with regard to the ongoing pay [...]

Professional precarity, 1

This is a note to self, and to anyone who didn’t catch Mark Bousquet’s recent post on professionalism and academia. It really highlights how the sacrificial labour of academics helped to make voluntary labour commonplace beyond the campus, in turn contributing to a broader deterioration of professional status that can no longer be rewarded financially [...]

Some binaries I still believe in

Now I’m in Leeds where there are slightly more clouds in the sky but fewer people in the streets and that’s probably a combination I prefer. Yesterday I tested out my new HK running shoes and added another introduction to the book chapter I’m working on, precipitated by a range of conversations I’ve been having [...]