A Personal Example

Before people start saying that if this happened to me I’d feel differently, let me mention that it did and I’ll now tell you all about it.

A couple of years ago, I applied for a job. The job description sounded like it was written specifically for me. It had my research interests, my qualifications, everything.

But at the interview it became clear that the Chair hated my ideas. He’s into Derrida and despises Zygmunt Bauman even more than I despise Derrida. Every time I would say “neoliberalism, capital, and fluidity,” he’d wince, sigh, and roll his eyes in a very showy manner. At the beginning of the interview, they had told me that what they really wanted was a person who published a lot. Like A LOT. I was sorely tempted to interrupt the interview to ask, “look, I obviously publish A LOT. Why do you care so much what I publish about?”

Of course, the job went to a Derrida-loving person who doesn’t even have a degree in Hispanic Studies. Or in literature.

This was mildly unpleasant but I don’t consider myself cancelled by this Chair. I have a job in academia, I get promoted, I get published. Getting frustrated in your desires, even for ideological reasons isn’t cancellation.