Unsettling Impact: Responding to Cultural Complexity

Crabtree, Louise

doi:10.1080/00049182.2017.1347025

Cited by 8 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 19 publications

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“…To achieve this, authorities need to take a determined stance to genuinely appreciate different patterns of academic prestige. Tailored incentive schemes can be launched to recognise and reward the alternative types of impact (other than technology transfer, patents and products) so as to sustain the diversity and vitality of research environments and capacity in research and KT/KE (Crabtree, 2017). Academics, as key actors in any vigorous and leading knowledge economy, should be provided with greater autonomy in pursuing professional development, be it in research outputs or KT/KE, for a more sustainable academic environment for knowledge production, dissemination and KT/KE (Oancea, 2019).…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

There is more than what meets the eye: university preparation for the socio-economic impact requirement in research assessment exercise 2020 in Hong Kong

2021

AEDS

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PurposeThis paper aims to examine how Hong Kong universities have responded to a newly included assessment element of socio-economic impact in a government-implemented research evaluation system – Research Assessment Exercise (RAE) 2020 – within the context of tightening audits and forceful knowledge economy objectives.Design/methodology/approachThis paper reports an institutional case study of the institutional-level response to the RAE 2020 impact requirement at a top-ranked comprehensive university in Hong Kong. A qualitative inquiry approach was adopted. The data sources mainly include university documents related to the RAE 2020 socio-economic impact policy, interview data with nine RAE-eligible academics at the case university, documents on the RAE exercises issued by the University Grants Committee (UGC) and field notes taken during the RAE information sessions.FindingsThe institutionalisation process of the RAE socio-economic impact agenda could be considered as establishing an indicator-oriented reward and recognition regime for knowledge transfer and knowledge exchange (KT/KE). Overall, two major institutional strategies were identified in operating the RAE 2020 impact agenda at the case university: (1) launching various policy initiatives: driven by the RAE-defined socio-economic impact; (2) incorporating socio-economic impact into faculty evaluation: premised upon the 16 KT performance indicators laid down by the UGC.Originality/valueThis article adds to the theoretical debate on the local reproduction of the global in studies of neoliberalism in higher education by describing a Hong Kong case study, supported by empirical data, of an actual university's responses to the newly included impact requirement in RAE 2020. More specifically, this study reveals that (1) the policy for socio-economic impact might be designed in a neutral or even benevolent manner, but has taken on a neoliberal and managerial dimension in its actual implementation; and (2) the neoliberal discourse underpinning the university's operation can be accounted for and explicated by the local factors embedded in the specific academic environment.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

There is more than what meets the eye: university preparation for the socio-economic impact requirement in research assessment exercise 2020 in Hong Kong

2021

AEDS

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“…As Cupples (2020, 1) reminds us 'Geography is a broad, contested and indeed promiscuous discipline that crosses the arts, humanities, social sciences and physical sciences'. The neo-liberal corporate university, government funding cuts, shifting research priorities and faculty restructuring, which prioritise metrics (Crabtree 2017;Wainwright et al 2014) and the funding of 'physical sciences'/geosciences (Bartel 2019;Overland and Sovacool 2020), have resulted in the diversity of geography being open to a geoscientisation and fragmentation (Cupples 2020). Geographers are increasingly precariously placed within and outside of academia (Bartel 2019;Cupples 2020;Wainwright et al 2014).…”

Section: Who Are Geographers and What Are Our Responsibilities?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“…We take inspiration from Natalie Osborne (2019) who encourages us to ask when faced with the end of worlds as we know them -'Now what?' The intent of this paper is not to offer a prescriptive or all-encompassing manifesto, rather it is to unpick, and then sew together, threads of conversations that already inhere within the discipline, to reflect on what we do and how we work as geographers (see Bartel 2019;Crabtree 2017;Head and Gibson 2012;Hulme 2008). In writing this piece we acknowledge that there are many other insights and ways of knowing the world and, as non-Indigenous people, we recognise it is important to be cautious with how we centre ourselves in mourning changes seen to landscapes that are not ours and ours alone.…”

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confidence: 99%

Geographers declare (a climate emergency)?

Wilkinson

Clement

2021

Australian Geographer

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Over the last two decades 'climate emergency' has grown from a little-known term to a mainstream public issue. In Australia, the term gained traction during the 2019-2020 'Black Summer' bushfires. The (un)natural disaster prompted local governments, industries, peak bodies and academic collectives to 'declare' a climate emergency and call for immediate action on climate change. We note, however, that there has been no declaration from geographers in Australia. As a discipline whose members are embedded in research, teaching and advocacy about climate changeand the interlinked crises of biodiversity loss and environmental and social justicewe found this surprising. It is self-evident that climate change matters to geographers. So, is a declaration of a climate emergency from the discipline necessary? In writing this piece we reflect on our experiences of the 2019-2020 summer and conversations with fellow geographers, to consider what a declaration of an emergency does, who it is for and what actions it might mobilise. In conclusion, we call on geographers in Australia to declare an emergency which foregrounds the interlinked crises of climate change, biodiversity loss and social (in)justice. The detail of what this declaration says and means in practice is open for discussion. We ask many questions throughout this paper as a way to invite youour fellow geographersto join us in this conversation.

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“…This capitalism pivots upon a diverse range of theoretical traditions that collectively comprise, for the academy, the neoliberal vision—the financialisation, flexibilisation, privatisation, and “personal responsibilization” (Masquelier :47). Within the academy, it decides what aspects of knowledge are valuable and what are not, and how some of the ambiguities (or difficulties of translating our work to a wider public) presented by the discipline of geography are exploited through the “impacts of research” process (Crabtree ). In addition, as Jessop () argues, this capitalism builds up or exaggerates fisco‐financial crises as reasons for neoliberal state managers to demand spending cuts in certain areas.…”

Section: New Wars In Old Bottles? or Old Wars In New Bottles?mentioning

confidence: 99%

“Academic War” over Geography? Death of Human Geography at the Australian National University

Lahiri‐Dutt

2018

Antipode

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This article analyses how neoliberal economic policies decide what particular aspects of knowledge are valuable and what are not, and who might be the true holder of that knowledge within the tertiary education system. This assessment leads to some disciplines being seen as less valuable to the system. It argues that the more recent “academic wars” in geography are over the very concept of the university and its role in the contemporary society, what comprises useful knowledge, and who comprises the authoritative figure in the production and distribution of that knowledge. Gender of the geographer therefore becomes a crucial element that determines “authority” in the production of geographical knowledge. To substantiate this argument, the paper takes up the important task of analysing the complex career trajectory of geography within the Australian National University (ANU), the department that was gradually reduced leading eventually to its unfortunate closure in 2009.

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Unsettling Impact: Responding to Cultural Complexity

Cited by 8 publications

References 19 publications

There is more than what meets the eye: university preparation for the socio-economic impact requirement in research assessment exercise 2020 in Hong Kong

There is more than what meets the eye: university preparation for the socio-economic impact requirement in research assessment exercise 2020 in Hong Kong

Geographers declare (a climate emergency)?

“Academic War” over Geography? Death of Human Geography at the Australian National University

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