Pedagogies of Abundance: Pausing, Feeling, and Recognizing Our Knowledges in Academia

• In Event: Research Positionality and the Process of Developing One´s Voice in Decolonial Projects: A Transnational Dialogue

Abstract

Entering and staying in an academic career is a complex and challenging process, particularly for the bodies and ways of being that occupy the margins. A vast body of literature in the USA illustrates the stark underrepresentation of indigenous, Black, and Latinx individuals in academic careers (Holloman et al., 2021, Jackson et al., 2019; Main et al., 2022), leading to a prevailing perception among them that they must consistently prove their worthiness in occupying their positions (Haggins, 2020; Joseph & Hirshfield, 2011). In the same line, Women of Color feminist scholars have offered critiques to the increasing corporatization of higher education, which promotes a culture of scarcity. Following this argument, such corporatization in higher education stands as an extension of the school-to-prison pipeline, the criminalization of people of color, poor people, and immigrants in the K-12 system. In higher education, this culture of scarcity is actualized amongst other elements, through the scarcity of tenure-track positions, the lack of job security, heavy work loads that include teaching, service, and a major emphasis on the production of knowledge via publishing and research (Cooper, 2018, 2017; hooks, 1984, 1994; Moraga & Anzaldua, 1981; Sandoval, 2000).

Drawing from this evidence and our own experience as transnational non-elite scholars from countries in the Global South who are currently writing a book about it, this presentation invites decolonial scholars or those interested in expanding a decolonial praxis to engage in a dialogue about their research positionality and how they relate to abundance. Briefly explained here, Global South is understood as an geo-onto-epistemic position, relational in nature, that represents those who have paid the greatest cost of coloniality as opposed to a fixed geographic position (Silva et al., forthcoming).


The Pedagogy of Abundance
In the process of writing the mentioned book, we have held discussions with fellow transnational early-career academics from the Global South around the question of 'how to relate to abundance in academia'. We notice that such a question is both rare and perplexing. To facilitate the process of recognizing and embracing the wealth of knowledge, we have devised a set of inquiries and imaginative exercises, which we have affectionately named the 'Pedagogy of Abundance’--act of remembrance that honor the funds of knowledge we carry from our home, which has guided us in navigating the prevailing culture of scarcity within academia.

Our upcoming presentation will provide an opportunity to pause, reflect, and deeply connect with the abundance of our individual narratives. We'll delve into thought-provoking prompts that encourage us to appreciate the Community Cultural Wealth (Yosso, 2005) we bring to our academic pursuits. By counting our abundance, we will explore how our positionality changes in the process of research and teaching.

Authors

• Iris Viveros, University of Washington

• Roxana Chiappa, Universidad de Tarapaca