Academic Associations Reflection Space

This may be a bit of a shorter post this week because this is a topic that I have discussed on this blog time and again, but I find myself compelled to give space to reflection on what academic associations do and do not do for us (mostly the last part). It is that time of the year where calls for papers go out for conferences that happen in summer and people scramble to get abstracts in and then they of course extend the date by a week or so (every time, or extend it three times because they don't realize that the reason no one is handing in abstracts is because they have completely lost faith and trust in that association, but I digress). There are so many things that one can say about academic associations and this call for papers scramble extension circle, but there are other connected things that I think that with the socio-cultural and socio-political things being the way that they are it behooves us (I do love a good opportunity to use behooves) to reflect on what exactly these spaces are for or are doing. And ultimately the harm they tend to create instead of the spaces of inclusive contact they are supposed to promote.

Like I said I have talked about this before, in 2019 I wrote a piece on the ethics of academic associations. My most read blog post ever (with 12K views) is this 2022 piece about conferences being spaces of complicity. But as you can probably guess very little has changed in relation to how academic associations actually treat the people who are supposed to be part of their associations. I have mentioned many times that the only way to get these places to change is to actually withdraw your moneys and fees and refuse to bankroll the inequities they are designing on purpose. I pay fees to exactly zero associations at the moment and it is incredibly freeing. 

I have seen some folk withdrawing from larger associations lately because folk are finally realizing that the bigger picture values of these associations often do not reflect the values and needs of their members. For me the two things I always look for in associations are, one, how much are they invested in international representation or are they just overwhelmingly US voices that don't acknowledge that other countries and scholars exist. And two, do they acknowledge that disabled members exist and the inclusive supports needed to attend and participate are built into their conference design. Most associations fail on both counts. 

We have talked a lot about how so many conferences removed online options for participation, and I would love for those associations to reflect on how many will now no longer be able to attend in-person conferences because of cost, and also because of travel and geo-political barriers that are being added to our world daily through policies and orders. These conferences in turn will become more echochambery than ever before. As a Canadian I am certainly not attending any conference not in Canada for the next foreseeable future, and I may have been able to be part of that space if online options (and equitable online options, not the kind of afterthought stuff POD does) are in place. 

But the other thing you also encounter this time of year are many conferences putting out their registration and fees before a schedule is even anywhere to be found on their website, or those who put in abstracts contacted about if they were successful. I ask you, who would pay for a product they do not get to see first? Why would I ever register for a conference without noting the kinds of papers and ideas being shared and if that is of interest to me? I mean at least let me see how there will again be zero papers about disability and accessibility on your program first (sarcasm tone). 

And I do want to note that there are some associations that are really deeply getting this commitment to inclusion right. I attended a free webinar yesterday that had accessibility and inclusion in every part of the process, from planning, to promotions, to the event with CART and ASL, and the way the presenter supported the different bodyminds in attendance. I say this to remind folk that this is possible, this kind of webinar, conference, meeting, inclusion can happen. But it definitely will not happen in spaces that continually put their registration and fees first over the actual exchange of ideas and building of community.