Greetings from the academic summer, the months from May through August in which we have a lot of flexibility, can “do what we want” (typically a mix of research, travel and relaxation) and are not on contract and or being paid. I consider this long self-determined time a luxury. It allows me to return refreshed and eager to start a new school year each fall.
I am writing out of my summer rhythm, reflecting on the personal and the political and how we make the two hang together. Also, I will talk about the personal and the political AND the public and the private, pretty much interchangeably, even if they don’t mean the exact same thing.
As you know, “the personal is political” is a core feminist mantra. I understand it to mean that many things happening in private deserve public attention because they are relevant for society. Private concerns are often tucked away, not talked about much, not given the weight of being socially important. The private is still much more a female than a male space, and the diminution of the many things women do there stands in stark contrast to the predominantly male public. Feminists have worked hard to pull private concerns into the political limelight, to some remarkable (but still insufficient) success. For example, it is due to feminist scholarship and politics that we now recognize the immense collective value of unpaid reproductive labor (according to a 2024 estimate, about $ 1trillion per year in the US, two thirds of which are performed by women, and predominantly women of color). Similarly, we now understand domestic and intimate partner violence as a structural form of violence that needs to be publicly fought, not as a private matter that is “nobody’s business”.
How does your public/political and private/personal life hang together? I have noticed that I cherish privacy in the sense of protecting parts of my life from public scrutiny. I want to be in control of activities that bring me joy, individually and in close relationships, that include care work and give me the energy I need for my public and professional life. There seems to be a good reason for a separation of public and private, even if I don’t think of it in rigid terms, but more along the lines of harmonious interaction, a bit of yin-yang, a braid – whatever image works for you. As a matter of fact, writing this blog constantly braids public and private, personal and political as I connect broader themes with my own take, and I write this in a digital public space which is mostly accessed by people I know.
This mutual constitution is my normal public-private. Luckily, I have a healthy family life – not everybody feels safe in private. However, in recent months, this balance has become a bit out of whack due to two things: In my public/ professional life, I spent much more time than usual on political action, protesting policies that undermine higher education and the democratic foundations of this country. In my personal life, something has come up that is concerning. As it is private, I will not say what it is, but rather that I think much about it, am worried, and need to dedicate significant amounts of time to it.
I realize that I am not alone in this out-of-whack situation, but it is new to me. It preoccupies my thinking, I wonder how other people handle it. So, if you have thoughts to share, I would be really interested. For now, let me continue with my story.
As I mentioned, there has been a lot of political work I have been involved in. I feel that in several instances, I threw myself into this work with more enthusiasm than I would usually have because I could fully concentrate on something purposeful and did not have to think about “it”, at least for a while.
Two political issues have kept me busy since the last blog: first, the process of Jeanette Nuñez becoming FIU’s next president. I wrote about the surprise of her appointment as interim president in my last blog. Much less surprisingly, she has recently been confirmed by the university’s Board of Trustees as the next permanent president. Technically, this decision could still be overruled by the Florida Board of Governors or the governor himself, but that is unlikely. Nonetheless, it just happened to Santa Ono who was supposed to be the next president of the University of Florida. He was rejected by the BoG for being too “woke”, or perhaps simply for being an academic.
In the very foreseeable search process at FIU, Nuñez became the only candidate after two others had withdrawn their candidacy. The external firm hired to conduct the search proceeded undeterred (=as if it was an actual search). In late May, Nuñez invited the campus and wider community to attend several “listening sessions” to display her leadership skills. Remember, the summer is the time when faculty are largely absent from campus, doing their own thing. I still went to the faculty listening session but did not hear much in terms of a vision, except for making it “to the top 30”. A reporter from our student newspaper asked a colleague and me a few questions afterwards. Here is what she wrote, with our comments in there.
Many people did not show up for these sessions because being off contract/ out of town etc., but also because Nuñez’ hire was a foregone conclusion. Presidents of public universities in Florida are now political appointees. This is reported as a fact. This radio show, the Florida roundup, discussed the matter and unfortunately had nothing critical to say about the situation. While I have often seen more critical coverage, this one was very disappointing. At least they did read out some comments from listeners, including mine (at 11:53 min of the show). Gist: our perfectly capable president was replaced for political reasons. We must keep saying it because it will never be ok.
The second issue we mobilized around was the voluntary agreement of FIU police to collaborate with ICE (Immigration and Customs Enforcement) on campus. Concretely, this means that ICE will now access universities – in addition to schools, workplaces, places of worship, you name it –, supposedly to detain undocumented immigrants, but really to detain anybody they want. A university is a place where everybody should feel safe. Undocumented people are, with very few exceptions, not criminals. But this is now all mixed up in public discourse – they are unlawfully in the country, that makes them criminals, and the rest of the people need to be protected. Only there is no need for protecting anybody from undocumented students. Rather, THEY should be protected from ICE to have a safe place to learn, advance, and make their unique contribution to this country.
Our campus police wants to collaborate with ICE. At a well-attended townhall meeting, the chief of FIU police argued that he and his force “know the community” and therefore could influence the process of detention and make it more humane. However, he does not know how much of a say he will have in the matter. He also had nothing to say in response to the argument that such agreements had been tried before and were abandoned, because not only did they not make things smoother, but they also caused harm. Finally, he stated that this was indeed a voluntary, and not a coerced agreement, but miraculously, about 90% of these agreements have been signed in no other state but Florida. No pressure whatsoever.
Students, staff members, parents who had planned to see their children graduate – a good number of them are now afraid to set foot on campus. And we have kept showing up to our Board of Trustees meetings to let them know that we do not want ICE on campus. They will not get rid of us so easily.
Attacks on academic freedom are connected to broader issues of democracy. This is why I went to the NoKingsDay protest in Miami this weekend, which was a very encouraging event, with thousands of people there, chanting, dressed up, with fun and creative signs (see some visuals throughout this blog). Of course, the question is how to channel this energy into a real and lasting defense for democracy.
When I was driving back home, the question of this blog – how the public and the private hang together – came to my mind. I love political work, it comes with a degree of community – shout out to my union chapter, the United Faculty of Florida at FIU – and a sense of accomplishment. But I have also sometimes withdrawn from it for lack of energy, or because my private issue took up all my time and brain space. For me, private concerns dwarf collective ones – I feel them closer and with more pain. So, when I was done with my feel-good public work (feel-good in the sense that we showed up together), the shadow returned. And work needed to be done to reconstitute my mental balance. Sometimes the private and public also feel like a see-saw – they take turns, need each other, and feed off each other.
Right now, my private concern does not belong in public. It is shared with a small circle of trusted friends. Keeping it tucked away is not always useful, but when pondering how I feel about everything, the “privacy option” prevails, simply because it gives me control. Thankfully, my small network gives me nourishing support. Love you all.
There is no conclusion here – the process is ongoing. I hope this was not too strange a blog for you, part bragging about political work, part writing about an issue but not revealing it. I can only say: on my end, this is as much as I can comfortably offer. I would love to hear from you about your own personal-political, public-private convolutions. Either in public (here in the comment option) or in private (via email, see “about me”, on the phone, in person …). As you prefer.
The common sense feminist 