CCAN's Classy Salon #4: Where Precarity and Class meet in Academia (with 0.7, Casual Academy, and Marijn Scholte)
The fourth Class-Conscious Academics Network Classy Salon took place on 20th September, 2022 at Café de Tussentijd. This edition was organised together with action groups 0.7 and the Casual Academy to discuss precarious contracts in academia and how this relates to class issues.
The salon was a panel discussion on this precarious system, what it is like, its problems, and the way forward. Being a classy salon, we especially focused on how precarious labour conditions particularly affect young academics from working-class backgrounds, for whom the low wages and lack of job security can be even more harmful. The panel consisted of:
- Diantha Vliet (UD Media & Culture Studies, UU), who organise protests and advocate for policy change throughout the Netherlands.
- Marijn Scholte (former lecturer Social Sciences, UU), who issued a court case against the Utrecht University for not extending his contract while his job can be seen as involving structural work.
- Dick Zijp (external PhD and lecturer Media and Culture Studies, UU), who wrote about the contractual distinction between research and teaching staff.
- Jeroen Rijnders (lecturer Philosophy, UU), founder of the Class-Conscious Academics Network for first-generation and working-class students and academics.
- Lotje Siffels (PhD Political Philosophy & Ethics, Radboud University) from the action groups 0.7 and Casual Academy did an excellent job moderating the event.
As always, after an interesting discussion and some great Q&A with the audience, we all enjoyed a drink together afterwards to talk more about it all and get to know each other!
