{"id":965,"date":"2013-04-30T15:59:45","date_gmt":"2013-04-30T15:59:45","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/activistmedia\/?p=965"},"modified":"2022-12-13T19:17:26","modified_gmt":"2022-12-13T19:17:26","slug":"blogging","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/reframe.sussex.ac.uk\/activistmedia\/2013\/04\/blogging\/","title":{"rendered":"Blogging For (A) Change"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eric Anthony Grollman<\/a> is a PhD candidate in Sociology at Indiana University<\/a>.\u00a0 Eric’s research primarily focuses on the health consequences of discrimination, with attention to the health and well-being of women, LGBT people, and people of colour more generally.\u00a0 Through his blogging on his own website<\/a> and for Kinsey Confidential,<\/span> Eric aims to make academic research and knowledge publicly accessible.\u00a0 In this week’s guest post, Eric encourages fellow scholars to consider blogging as a source of intellectual activism.<\/span><\/span><\/em><\/p>\n

To blog or not to blog?\u00a0 Within the context of the debate over public sociology, which seems as old as the discipline itself, the question does not seem that novel. But, with technology advancing even as I write this, the question does warrant attention.<\/p>\n

Still today, much academic knowledge, be it publications or lecture material, is locked within the academy. Individuals who can afford it are welcomed into institutions of higher education to learn basic aspects of any discipline of their choosing. Their student status allows them to peruse whatever academic journals to which their university has purchased access. But, beyond the university, the public has limited access to academic knowledge. And, even those who can access it, like our students, there is little hope (and utility) of gleaning much from the latest issue of American Sociological Review<\/i><\/a>.\u00a0 Even Contexts <\/i><\/a>articles are behind pay-walls!<\/p>\n

On Activism and the Academy<\/b><\/h3>\n

I have wrestled with the ivory tower\u2019s barriers to academic knowledge since the start of my graduate training in 2007. Like most of my colleagues of marginalized backgrounds, particularly scholars of color, I came to graduate school as an activist, prepared to devote my life to making a difference. Still today, I am often frustrated by my naivet\u00e9 that the academy, by design, is apolitical and \u201cobjective.\u201d\u00a0 The first time it was made painfully aware to me, a professor joked, \u201coh, we still<\/i> haven\u2019t beaten the activist out of you yet?\u201d\u00a0 No, they still have not.<\/p>\n

Unsurprisingly, the value-systems of many academic institutions (particularly research-intensive universities) reflect and reinforce this apolitical and supposedly objective culture. One\u2019s job prospects, tenure-ability, and chances of promotion depend, first, upon one\u2019s research in peer-reviewed journals; then, some attention is paid to the quality of one\u2019s teaching. Finally, one\u2019s service to the department, university, and discipline are given a quick skim. Of course, service <\/i>never means serving communities in need. (That is what you do in your \u201cfree\u201d time.)<\/p>\n

Unfortunately, these institutional priorities mirror those of white, middle-class scholars. I suspected this from the start of my academic career. But, I had my \u201cproof\u201d when I saw the ASA presentation, \u201c\u2018Diversity and Its Discontents\u2019: A Report on Graduate Student Experiences in PhD-Granting Institutions\u201d (see the Powerpoint here<\/a>).\u00a0 In a 2009 sample of 1,473 doctoral students, African American and Latina\/o doctoral students ranked as their number 1 and number 3 reason to attend graduate school, respectively, to \u201ccontribute to the advancement of minorities in the US\u201d; \u201ccontribute to my community\u201d was number 2 for Latina\/os. The top three reasons for white doctoral students were to \u201cgrow intellectually,\u201d \u201cimprove occupational mobility,\u201d and \u201cmake a contribution to the field<\/i>.\u201d\u00a0 All these years of feeling my work was urgently needed to make a difference, while my white colleagues were merely curious about the social world, now had confirmation<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\"Top<\/a>Top 3 Reasons Students go to Grad School<\/div>\n

Intellectual Activism<\/b><\/h3>\n

Recently, I have grown more comfortable in accepting that I pursue change-making through my research, teaching, and academic and community service, and that I do so in an environment that tries to \u201cbeat the activist\u201d out of me.\u00a0 I have been particularly inspired by Patricia Hill Collins<\/a>\u2019s latest book, Intellectual Activism<\/i><\/a>, which makes such work seem like a given for scholars of color.<\/p>\n

Collins makes a distinction between speaking truth to power<\/i> and speaking truth to the people<\/i>. Indeed, by pursuing traditional academic work, namely publishing research, we aim to accomplish the former. That is, we try to advance research, and even challenge others\u2019 research, to better understand social problems, make visible the lives of historically marginalized communities, and so on. But, such efforts alone could mean that your work never leaves the pay-walls of academic journals. Instead, to do so, we must speak to (and with) those outside of the ivory tower (e.g., public speeches, working with community groups).\u00a0 (See her Contexts <\/a><\/em>article<\/a> on these ideas, as well).<\/p>\n

The importance of both of these intellectual activist efforts became very clear to me with the publication of my first solo-authored article<\/a> in the Journal of Health and Social Behavior<\/i><\/a>. Understandably, I was excited upon news of its acceptance. But, from acceptance to OnlineFirst to print and beyond, I kept feeling that something was missing. In fact, I am a bit embarrassed to admit that I was underwhelmed. Here, I had achieved the great feat of publishing in one of the discipline\u2019s top journals, and ended up feeling more irrelevant thereafter. Getting somewhat choked up in revealing this to a few friends, I realized I was aching for some sense that my publication would actually matter to the people it was about \u2013 marginalized individuals who face discrimination and bear the health consequences of these experiences.<\/p>\n

I suspect I will eventually be cited, as many scholars are doing important, novel work on discrimination and health. But, beyond those JHSB<\/i> articles featured as policy briefs<\/a>, few outside of the academy will ever see my article. Whereas capturing the media\u2019s attention for one\u2019s research seemed to be the common route to accessibility, I pursued a press release through Indiana University<\/a> and one through ASA<\/a>. I am grateful for these opportunities, but, again, disappointed by the outcome. A few sites that indiscriminately repost every academic article picked up the press releases. And, my study was featured in a few Spanish-language newspapers in Los Angeles. \u00a0No small feat<\/a>!\u00a0 But, it was not the New York Times <\/i>attention of which I dreamed.<\/p>\n

I considered sending printed copies of my article to non-profit organizations like NAACP, NOW, and HRC. But, I worried that their overworked staff had little time to figure out what to do with it. Ultimately, I decided to devote a guest blog post<\/a> at Sociological Images<\/a> to a summary of my article, which I also posted<\/a> on my own personal blog<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Blogging as Intellectual Activism<\/b><\/h3>\n

Blogging \u2013 a form of writing on the internet (short for web-logging) \u2013 can serve many academic functions. In fact, at least in the way I approach blogging, it offers a unique space to simultaneously achieve efforts related to research, teaching, and service.\u00a0 Again, using the example of my JHSB <\/i>article, I was able to make my findings accessible<\/a> beyond the JHSB <\/i>readership (i.e. academics). In addition, it offered an unlimited space to elaborate or clarify. In particular, I was able to strip away much of the sociological jargon that likely hinders readability. In addition, I was able to offer simple bar graphs instead of multivariate models. While expounding upon my research, I also spent some energy to teaching an unfamiliar audience about some of the concepts within my article, namely the intersectionality<\/a> theoretical framework.<\/p>\n

In addition to extending traditional academic work, blogging also presents a space for more \u201creal time\u201d scholarship. One of the constraints of academic work is the lag in doing research to publication to uptake beyond the academy. Years may go by before one sees one\u2019s first citation, and even more before one\u2019s study has some impact, albeit indirect, beyond the ivory tower. As such, sociologists rarely attend to current<\/i> events in their research. \u00a0Though one might find it challenging to pursue, for example, an ethnographic study of the Trayvon Martin<\/a> murder case, one certainly could devote a five-paragraph blog assessment<\/a> of the racial dynamics inherent within it. With so much political commentary offered for everyday current events, we certainly could use more sociologically-informed, critical perspectives to make sense of things.<\/p>\n

Personal Benefits of Blogging<\/b><\/h3>\n

You may not be convinced by these aforementioned reasons to blog \u2013 that it offers a space to make your research and academic knowledge in general accessible to the public. Indeed, there is still little institutional value and support for such work. However, there are other benefits, both personal and professional, that may make blogging more enticing.<\/p>\n

Professionally, blogging can serve as an opportunity to connect with other scholars. Though I am physically (and socially) isolated these days as I frantically finish my dissertation, I have been a part of an on-going blog discussion<\/a> with Fabio Rojas (orgtheory.net<\/a>), Tressie Cottom McMillan<\/a> (tressiemc.com<\/a>), and Jason Orne<\/a> (queermetropolis.wordpress.com<\/a>) about the persistence of racism in America, or the possibility that we are in living in a \u201cpost-racist<\/a>\u201d era. In addition, blogging can function as a space to mentor other scholars, or simply offer professional advice. Tanya Golash-Boza<\/a> (SREM Section Chair) has a great blog (getalifephd.blogspot.com<\/a>) that is filled with tips for writing and creating balancing in one\u2019s schedule (and life in general). Karen Kelsky<\/a>\u2019s theprofessorisin.com<\/a> was tremendously helpful for preparing for the job market.<\/p>\n

Following the aforementioned blog debate on \u201cpost-racism,\u201d I have also been reminded that blogging has a bit of a liberating effect. Of course, any additional writing tasks are good practice. But, blogging offers a space to write without censor, standard, and fear of \u201cwhat will the reviewers think!\u201d\u00a0 Early on, I learned that my academic writing must be undeniably supported by prior research or my own findings. One cannot discuss what they are not measuring directly; \u201cdon\u2019t talk about racism \u2013 you\u2019re measuring race attitudes<\/i>,\u201d I was told. In my personal blogging, I can<\/i> talk about racism \u2013 and I often do. As a result, the words flow more easily. I do not stop after each sentence to agonize over what reviewer number 2 will say. And, this newfound ease in my writing extends into my academic writing, as well (even on \u201cperceived\u201d race discrimination in my work on racist <\/i>discrimination).<\/p>\n

Obviously, every sociologists cannot blog, for it may not be a desirable task to add to those overwhelming To-Do lists that actually lead to jobs, tenure, and promotion.\u00a0 But, I would at least like to encourage those who have been curious or tempted to consider it, even if infrequently or offering a guest blog post to existing blog sites.\u00a0 There are numerous free blogging sites (e.g., WordPress, Blogspot).\u00a0 Whether you blog for change, or just for a change of pace, the benefits of doing so may be worth giving up a few minutes to an hour.<\/p>\n

References<\/b><\/h3>\n

C<\/b>ollins, Patricia Hill. 2012. On Intellectual Activism<\/i>. Philadelphia, PA: Temple University Press.<\/p>\n

Segura, Denise A. 2012. \u201c\u2018Diversity and Its Discontents\u2019: A Report on Graduate Student Experiences in PhD-Granting Institutions.\u201d\u00a0 Paper presented at the Annual Meeting of the American Sociological Association, August 17, Denver, CO.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Eric Anthony Grollman is a PhD candidate in Sociology at Indiana University.\u00a0 Eric’s research primarily focuses on the health consequences… <\/p>\n

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