Precarity in the Academy and Solidarity Amidst Covid-19

Resisting Employment Restrictions on International Graduate Students

Bibliographic Data

ID12918248
AuthorsJing Jiang (0000-0002-8912-3896, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, corresponding author)
Year2021
Volume14
Issue2
Pages306-310
Publication date2021-03-17
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueCommunication Culture and Critique (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1753-9137 • E-ISSN: 1753-9129
PublisherOxford University Press (OUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1093/ccc/tcab023
OpenAlexW3154405290
LanguageEN
Citations received3
References cited1

Amidst worsening precarity exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, this article analyzes my employment crisis to highlight the critical value of communication in solidarity efforts. My case is set in U.S. academia, where graduate assistant labor is increasingly necessary for universities to function However, due to their student-worker identity, graduate assistants are also vulnerable to job loss amidst contestations around their employee status and rights to unionize and collectively bargain Accounting for one-third of graduate assistants These precarities surfaced during the pandemic when the United States closed borders and universities furloughed graduate assistants sheltering abroad (e.g., Redden, 2020, August 11). My experience illuminates broader job insecurities and inequalities in higher education while also drawing attention to the role of communication in solidarity efforts aimed at combatting injustices. I illustrate how communication facilitated solidarity through information exchange, action coordination, transparency mobilization, and emotional connection

Citizenship · Political science · Precarious work · Precarity · Public relations · Sociology · Solidarity · Work (physics · Emotional Labor in Professions · Gender Diversity and Inequality · Social Work Education and Practice · Law

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