Intimate Borders and the Sense of Never-Quite-Being: A Dystopic (Non-)Fiction

Abstract

Today’s academy is a dystopia. Many scholars of color and international scholars face the daunting challenge of navigating neoliberal state institutions that are often built on legacies of racism, colonialism, and classism. This essay brings attention to the feelings of despair, anxiety, and paranoia felt by many scholars of color in the fields of humanities and social sciences, but whose narratives too often become ones of abrupt exit from the Ministry of Knowledge (and) Entrepreneurship (MKE). The essay relies on a discussion of Anzaldúa’s intimate terrorism, the composition of today’s academy, and the sense of never-quite-being. These themes emerge out of a dialogue with Anzaldúa, Deleuze, and Harney and Moten, who each have something to say about navigating institutions of power from a position of in-betweenness. Then, I assemble themes from contemporary popular dystopia films to develop a performative fiction—a narrative of never-quite-being that embodies the critical theory and dystopic themes woven through the experiences of a border-body in the academy. The essay ends with a discussion of what being intimate looks like for someone that never-quite-is, informed by Anzaldúa’s concept of mestizaje and Deleuze’s nomad thought.

What Do Professors Do? Posthumous Letter of Love to Ma

“…. not trying to be what the institution desires, but rather, to be the one to make the space for the dream” (Lechuga, 2021, p. 9). Ma, perhaps we may think about this work as the continuous and dynamic (re)making of transgressive “political communities” (Chipkin, 2007), constituted of critical and caring relations of solidarity and companionship as well as adept forms of administrative accompaniment.…”