Navigating activism within the academy: Consciousness building and social justice identity formation

Abstract

The academy can provide rich opportunities for the scholar activist through critical discourse within the classroom, consciousness building via community engagement, and leveraging diverse connections. However, the academy often upholds systemic roadblocks, at times enacting policies that further perpetuate inequities. This qualitative study takes a narrative approach to exploring the life course histories of 15 activists occupying diverse yet intersecting dimensions in the spectrum of privilege and oppression. Interviewees are uniquely connected to the academy engaging in a variety of roles and anti‐racist social justice efforts within the northwestern United States. Applying a critical consciousness framework, results highlight key functions of critical reflection and critical action as interviewees engage in critical consciousness raising (i.e., systemic root cause analysis), social justice identity formation (i.e., the politicization of one's identity), and adapting individual theories of social change. Barriers within the institution are also identified concerning the mainstreaming of service learning and university‐required diversity courses, limited structural supports for activists of color, and the institutionalized co‐opting of social change efforts. Lastly, implications for activism, scholarship, and critical pedagogy within the academy are discussed.

Psychological and political liberation: Strategies to promote power, wellness, and liberation among anti‐racist activists

“…If I don't do things to actively resist the way that these systems keep reproducing themselves, can I be a fully human person?…white supremacy is so fundamentally connected to systems that enforce patriarchy and heteropatriarchy, cisheteropatriarchy…my liberation is also caught up in us ending white supremacy because white supremacy uses the tools of heteropatriarchy to keep people down, right? That impacts me both in terms of privileging me but also penalizing me [because] I'm both white and trans and those are not separable, you know?” (white identified trans* activist; see Kornbluh, Collins, & Kohfeldt, )…”

“…I got really politicized around gender that quarter. I had my first gay professor ever, or openly gay professor ever, and I took a class called Modern Africa, by this [woman African–American professor] that was big in South African politics…she had these huge amazing stories, and those really powered me.” (White identified cis‐male; see Kornbluh, Collins, & Kohfeldt, )…”

“…As one white cis‐male activist noted, he originally came into racial justice work with a white savior mentality. In our interview, he reflected on how his white savior framework was problematic, and how he updated his theory to fit his work:

“…if I'm honest with myself I had a savior mentality…I thought that my job was to immerse myself in communities of color to save them, I never said that but it was a white savior complex…that's really not my primary role, my primary role is working with other white folks, and have leadership with folks of color” (see Kornbluh, Collins, & Kohfeldt, ).

…”

“…“…if I'm honest with myself I had a savior mentality…I thought that my job was to immerse myself in communities of color to save them, I never said that but it was a white savior complex…that's really not my primary role, my primary role is working with other white folks, and have leadership with folks of color” (see Kornbluh, Collins, & Kohfeldt, ).…”

Tempered radicalism and intersectionality: Scholar‐activism in the neoliberal university

“…The tension of carving out separate spaces in our identities between the classroom, our individual research agendas, and our community activism represents additional emotional and psychological labor. Being able to let go of these artificial, hierarchical divisions in a safer space allowed us to collapse these identities, and to holistically express our passion for creating and supporting transformative action, especially for social justice issues (Kornbluh et al., 2019). We consider LTGJ as a site of convivial learning, which emphasizes a collective approach that rejects the objectification of communities, and instead focuses on community engagement to co‐create new knowledges and conceptual tools (Callahan, 2012).…”