'Clickbait with Footnotes': Decolonizing the Academny and Commodification of Scholarship

This roundtable will discuss the perverse incentives of 'impact' in academia; the ethics of authorship, board membership and publication; and practicing freedom of speech in our contemporary political climate. We will draw from the example of a recent publication by the journal Third World Quarterly of a 'Viewpoint' in September 2017 arguing for the merits of colonialism. In the context of Trumpism and vocal white supremacy in the US and increasing xenophobia in Europe and parts of Africa, this now deeply controversial essay led to considerable outcry, including nearly half of the Editorial Board of the journal resigning in protest.

This panel will take up the issues of why an argument in support of colonialism could be profitable at this time and what the commodification of scholarship means for decolonizing the academy. The panel includes representatives of the Third World Quarterly Editorial Board, journalism, and scholars and social media activists, including Professor of Critical Development Studies at York University Ilan Kapoor, Visiting Professor Lisa Richey (Duke), Professor Walter Mignolo (Duke),Yolanda Bouka (University of Denver) and Professor Jessica Nammakal (Duke).