Myths of Meritocracy, Friendship, and Fun Work: Class and Gender in North American Academic Communities
Dados Bibliográficos
AUTOR(ES) | |
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AFILIAÇÃO(ÕES) | University of Michigan, Ann Arbor |
ANO | 2020 |
TIPO | Artigo |
PERIÓDICO | American Anthropologist |
ISSN | 0002-7294 |
E-ISSN | 0002-7294 |
EDITORA | Shima Publications (Australia) |
DOI | 10.1111/aman.13455 |
CITAÇÕES | 13 |
ADICIONADO EM | 2025-08-18 |
Resumo
Using the example of Andean archaeology, this article focuses on subtle forms of inequality that arise when academic communities are conceptualized as friendship‐based and egalitarian, rejecting explicit hierarchy. I describe this asperformative informalityand argue that it stems from a meritocratic ideology that inadvertently reproduces Euro‐American white‐male privilege. In a discipline that prides itself on its friendliness, openness, and alcohol‐fueled drinking culture, those who find themselves unable to enact or perform informality appropriately are at a distinct disadvantage. Drawing from a multisited ethnography of Andeanist archaeologists, I make the case that it is the ephemerality and plausible deniability of performative informality that makes it hard to recognize and thus mitigate against it. In doing so, I draw on and contribute to the theorization of gender/class intersectionality in anthropology and science studies, US conceptualizations of meritocracy in academia and higher education, and feminist Jo Freeman's concept of 'the tyranny of structurelessness.' [anthropology of science, ethnography of archaeology, class, gender, anthropology of work and education]