A new culture of academia is going mainstream, one where only certain conclusions are allowed. One where being politically fashionable and looking good, is more important than empiricism and objective truth. Where society turns its head away from the painful and unpopular realities of life. And votes for what’s easy. Why? Because sometimes the truth hurts; is not always popular or comfortable. It won’t always win you awards, applause, fame and Instagram likes. Hey – did you know that when accounting for time worked, job sector, level of experience and parental leave, Western women are paid *the same* as men? We don’t care. That’s far too boring a reality to fit on my garish t shirt, and these outrageous placards have a strict word count. So the battle between what looks good and what is evidently correct, wages its everlasting arm wrestle. A battle strung through pop culture, the news, media, politics and splattered across our social media feeds. …But what happens when frustrated academics play the machine at its own game? When they write entirely made up and factually unsound articles, that provide the politically fashionable conclusions so many want to read? Well, in 2018 we found out… ~ Short documentary here https://tinyurl.com/4t89jxtj Images by Brandi Redd, Charles Deluvio, Annie Spratt and Unseen Histories, from Unsplash. Illustration by Nareerat Jaikaew from the Noun Project.

2022-09-03