Governing through accountability: Gendered moral selves and the (im)possibilities of resistance in the neoliberal university

Abstract

Drawing on Judith Butler's early work on gender as performance and her later work on the ethically accountable subject, this study examines the production of gendered moral subjects under neoliberal governance in contemporary academia. The analysis of 40 semi‐structured in‐depth interviews with postdoc researchers and assistant, associate and full professors in a Belgian university reveals how in academics’ narratives of their ethical relations of (non‐)accountability towards multiple stakeholders, gendered subjects are performed along the heterosexual matrix reproducing the gender binary. The conjunction of gendered and ethical demands imposed through relations of accountability further opens up distinctively gendered possibilities of consent and resistance under neoliberal governance. We advance the extant literature on gender in academia which largely focuses on women's symbolic struggle to (dis)identify with a masculine professional norm. By locating power in the gendered relations of accountability towards multiple others, it re‐conceptualizes gender as an ontological struggle in the constitution of the self as moral along gendered norms. The study rejoins recent scholarship that calls for the recognition and elaboration of a relational ethics by showing how such ethics enables the emergence of open and responsive subjectivities in relations of accountability.

Towards a relational ethics in pandemic times and beyond: Limited accountability, collective performativity and new subjectivity

“…Hence, it is through the right performance in the relation that I become recognized as responsible academic, colleague, doctoral researcher, partner and mother. My testimony above shows, however, that such constitution of an ethical self by the giving of an account in the relation with others is no easy task (see also De Coster & Zanoni, 2018;Loacker & Muhr, 2009;Messner, 2009). Throughout my account an ontological struggle surfaces in the constitution of my ethical self because of my inability to respond responsibly to the conflicting demands stemming from all different relationsperforming a professional self in the relation with my PhD supervisor, colleagues and other peers, while simultaneously taking care of my partner and daughter.…”

“…The 'corporeal generosity', the giving of ourselves through our unconditional openness in the relation with others, that is constitutive of the female subjectivity (Diprose, 2002) is naturalized in such masculine space. Consequently, the constitution of an ethical female subjectivity through a caring performance in all the different and often conflicting relations (Diprose, 2002) is an unattainable task which results inevitably in ethical failurebecause the inability to effectively do the right thing in all these relationsand an ontological struggle (De Coster & Zanoni, 2018;Diprose, 2002).…”

“…There is a need for change, for a new framework through which we can perform ourselves as open and responsive in the relation, without being punished (De Coster & Zanoni, 2018). The need for a different ethical space has also been advocated by feminist scholars who have likewise criticized the type of ethics fostered through the academic accountability space for its masculinist values such as rationalization and calculative consideration (see Diprose, 2002), and its neglect of the relations of care and compassion through which the female subjectivity is constituted and recognized (De Coster & Zanoni, 2018;Fotaki & Harding, 2018). Instead, they have advocated for a different perspective on ethics, as a process that is 'pre-reflective', 'pre-rational' and embodied (e.g., Fotaki & Harding, 2018;Fotaki & Pullen, 2019;Hancock, 2008;Knights, 2015;Pullen & Rhodes, 2015).…”

“…Instead, they have advocated for a different perspective on ethics, as a process that is 'pre-reflective', 'pre-rational' and embodied (e.g., Fotaki & Harding, 2018;Fotaki & Pullen, 2019;Hancock, 2008;Knights, 2015;Pullen & Rhodes, 2015). Such ethics can only emerge in a space where an unconditional acceptance and recognition are fostered (Fotaki & Harding, 2018), where the limits to our accountability are recognized (Butler, 2005; see also De Coster & Zanoni, 2018) others. This mutual recognition of the limits of our accountability is key in the emergence of a new relational ethics that is based on an embodied openness in the relation (Butler, 2005; see also De Coster & Zanoni, 2018;Loacker & Muhr, 2009;Messner, 2009).…”

A critical moment: 25 years of Gender, Work and Organization

“…As De Coster and Zanoni's () research of women academics shows, women have a symbolic struggle to (dis)identify with masculine professional norms. Here they locate ‘power in the gendered relations of accountability towards multiple others’, and re‐conceptualize gender as ‘an ontological struggle in the constitution of the self as moral along gendered norms’.…”