Still ‘Vexing’ for Care in Neoliberal Universities, A Workshop for Early Career Researchers with a Keynote by Prof. Dr. Luisa Schneider (VU Amsterdam)

Organised by Anna Kerstin Kraft (Assistant, PhD Student in Gender Studies, University of Basel) and Yamila Sofia Pita (PhD Student in Gender Studies, University of Bern) April 25, 2025 (9:30 a.m. — 5:30 p.m.)
Center for Gender Studies, Rheinsprung 21, 4051 Basel (Switzerland)

We care deeply about the well-being of researchers who ‘ethico-politically’ (Puig de la Bellacassa 2011) engage with sensitive topics because we know how it feels. The experience of qualitative research often involves significant ‘emotional labour’ (Hochschild 1983, Rogers-Shaw et al. 2021),
from engaging with research participants and processing their stories to analysing the data we collect in a way that respects and carefully reflects participants' experiences (as well as our own). This prolonged involvement can be emotionally draining, especially when compounded by the often solitary and isolating experience of fieldwork and academic writing under increasingly precarious working conditions (Nicholls et al. 2021, Schulz et al. 2023, Signoret et al. 2019). It leaves us wondering: Does anyone (really) care about us and our work? This question emerges against the backdrop of remarkable efforts by researchers/activists to build collective care strategies while actively critiquing the neoliberal university’s inadequate responses to the need for better care (Mallon and Elliott 2021, Nicholls et al. 2021, Velardo and Elliott 2018, Ward 2015). Neoliberal policies and regulations adopted by universities have sparked considerable concern and debate among academics, as these fail to address the well-being of researchers, reducing it to a private, individual responsibility. This perspective overlooks the crucial point that institutional politics itself are a major source of distress, and that qualitative research is immanently filled with potential risks (Schneider 2020). Building on this critique, we argue that these dynamics not only shape who can engage in academic research (or who can access the privileged domains of academia), but also influence the kind of knowledge that can be produced. Instead of assuming responsibility for supporting researchers, neoliberal universities often frame vulnerability in research as an issue that can be ‘managed’ through individualised self-care practices, while leaving the power relations and structural deficiencies of the institutional setting untouched (Gill and Donaghue 2016, Schulz et al. 2023). This ignores two critical realities: first, that vulnerability is an immanent part of research (Behar 2022[1996]), and second, that vulnerability is unequally distributed (Cole 2016). Inadequate attention to the vulnerability and well-being of researchers particularly affects those who don’t have the privilege of (emotionally) disengaging. Faced with insufficient institutional awareness and support, we feel compelled to continue our work and insist that universities take responsibility for care practices that go beyond band-aid solutions such as recommending ‘mindfulness’ or ‘bubble baths’ (Kim and Schalk 2021, Schulz et al. 2023). Aligning with the work of researchers such as Emily Jay Nicholls, Jade Vu Henry & Fay Dennis, who ask: “How can we make universities more hospitable and in doing so, how might we do them otherwise” (Nicholls et al. 2021: 66f.), we invite early career researchers to join us in exploring the following topics:

• risks in research and accountability of universities;
• vulnerability in research and disrupting epistemological inequalities;
• resistance and relational/collaborative practices of care.

Through a keynote-based discussion in the morning and two dynamically moderated sessions in the afternoon, we hereby aim to create a forum for exchange including a critical lecture of preparatory texts that we will carefully place in connection to our own research experiences and practices. There will also be room for networking and connection throughout the day.