It is 2011 and I’m sitting in the Palais des Congres in Montreal, watching anthropologists talk about structural inequality.
The American Anthropological Association meeting is held annually to showcase research from around the world, and like thousands of other anthropologists, I am paying to play: $650 for airfare, $400 for three nights in a “student” hotel, $70 for membership, and $94 for admission. The latter two fees are student rates. If I were an unemployed or underemployed scholar, the rates would double.
The theme of this year’s meeting is “Traces, Tidemarks and Legacies.” According to the explanation on the American Anthropological Association website [2], we live in a time when “the meaning and location of differences, both intellectually and morally, have been rearranged”. As the conference progresses, I begin to see what they mean. I am listening to the speaker bemoan the exploitative practices of the neoliberal model when a friend of mine taps me on the shoulder.
“I spent almost my entire salary to be here,” she says.
My friend is an adjunct [3]. She has a PhD in […]
Remote Viewing the Year 2060
About 20 years ago I accomplished my life dream to get a degree in anthropology. I did not go on to PhD because I made more money as a nurse and I couldn’t fathom going into so much debt. I also saw how the women were treated. I didn’t want to have to justify my very existence every time I wanted to speak in academia. In addition, even then American Indians had to do the same. It was too hard on my mental health. I regret not seizing the platform the degree would’ve given me though.