The Activist Academic

Abstract

It is difficult to deny that our nation and planet are in crisis. When confronting global pandemics, contentious elections, climate change, or deteriorating economic systems, many look to our institutions for guidance and support. Institutions of higher education have historically provided context for current issues as well as a forecast for what to expect in the days and years to come. In The Activist Academic, however, authors Colette N. Cann and Eric J. DeMeulenaere argue that our institutions are deeply flawed, a sentiment shared by many activists and scholars who came before them. Cann and DeMeulenaere posit the idea that through critical examination of our institutions and scalable, counter-hegemonic action we can achieve true liberation from the oppressive structures upon which our institutions were founded. With their unique choice of format, a critical co-constructed autoethnography, Cann and DeMeulenaere lay out a theoretical and practical pedagogy for educators who wish to free students from the bounds of institutions designed to “normalize” them.