DOOMING OF THE CRITICAL ACADEMIC: THE CASE OF WILLING VICTIMS AND CURATED ONSLAUGHTS

This commentary is an experiential-investigative account highlighting a systemic undermining of Higher Education as a space for freedom of thought and critique as orchestrated by inter alia promotion policies and an external referencing of academics' pursuits as ‘relevant or otherwise'. The commentary illustrates and questions the normalization of willing submissions to system-induced demands of academic practice and the creation of academic spaces as emotionally fragile spaces dotted with anxieties, fears, and insecurities. The commentary draws upon the author's experience of Higher Education in two geographically and culturally diverse educational contexts namely, the UK and India.