DPR News
Sara Ahmed speaks at UCC
Sara Ahmed is a British-Australian scholar whose area of study includes the intersection of feminist theory, lesbian feminism, queer theory, critical race theory and postcolonialism, gave a presentation at UCC on May 16th on Closing the Door: Complaint as Diversity Work.
Her lecture drew on interviews conducted with staff and students who have made complaints within universities that relate to unfair, unjust or unequal working conditions and to abuses of power such as sexual and racial harassment. It approached complaint as a form of diversity work: the work some have to do in order to be accommodated. Making a complaint requires becoming an institutional mechanic: you have to work out how to get a complaint through a system. It is because of the difficulty of getting through that complaints often end up being about the system. The lecture explored the significance of how complaints happen 'behind closed doors,' and demonstrated how doors are often closed even when they appear to be opened.
Sara Ahmed's new book What’s the Use? On the Uses of Use is forthcoming with Duke University Press in the Fall, 2019. Her previous publications include Living a Feminist Life (2017), Willful Subjects (2014) and On Being Included: Racism and Diversity in Institutional Life (2012). She also blogs at www.feministkilljoys.com.
For more on this story contact:
Anne-Marie Curtin, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion Officer, 021 4901993 or am.curtin@ucc.ie