I want to present two situations in this blog that you may encounter in your life outside of academia and some questions to think through. The first scenario is the use of critical theory outside of the academy and the second is the lack of theory outside of the academy.
If you are a humanities scholar, I’m sure you are familiar with critical theory, or theory, as it is sometimes called. You are also aware of the fact that many terms from theory, like intersectionality, have made their way outside of the academic bubble and into the larger, especially Western, culture. You may wince at the ways people throw these terms around without the larger theoretical understanding that you have. Outside of the academy, you will find few people who can define a term like intersectionality, let alone have actually read any of Kimberlé Crenshaw’s writing (the lawyer credited with coining the term).
You may find employment somewhere where your coworkers and colleagues talk about problems intersectionally. And it may make your heart smile.
On the other hand, you may find that very few people in your new industry have ever heard of intersectionality. You may or may not like this.
I use intersectionality as an example, but there are plenty more.
If you want or need a quick exit from academia, don’t be surprised if you end up in an environment like my second example.
This brings me to my central question: what hills are you willing to die on? How much of the theory you have read do you actually believe and integrate into your life?
Realize that those hills may make your job search take longer. Considering a lot of colleges and universities are in small towns, there’s only so many options. The good news is YOU decide what and how many options you have.
Can you handle colleagues or coworkers who don’t know what third wave feminism is or fatphobia and aren’t interested in knowing?
This is a very introspective question that isn’t easy to answer. Remember, that if you answer yes to the above question, that doesn’t mean it is forever. To make a quick exit, you’ll have to be pragmatic. People outside of academia change jobs a lot more than academics do so it is very common to move around your industry until you find what you like.
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