Sarah A.

Lacy and Ashton Rome

(RE)POLITICIZING THE ANTHROPOLOGIST IN THE AGE OF
NEOLIBERALISM AND #BLACKLIVESMATTER

ideally portrayed as representing (e.g., free speech

Abstract and the exchange and debate of controversial
In the larger context of overwhelming student loans ideas) and what they actually are (e.g., institutions
and the decline of tenure, universities are now com- in support of the military–industrial–academic
monly dealing with racial protests. Beyond con- complex [Giroux 2007; Gonzalez 2014] and funded
tributing service to what Sara Ahmed describes as by corporations and billionaires1). Edited volumes
the “non-performativity” of diversity statements, such as The Imperial University attest to this
scholars are expected to follow the precedent set by (Chatterjee and Maira 2014); however, these
university administration, which is usually one of assessments are often restricted to a relatively
silence and denial punctuated by vociferous apology small, politically radical cadre of academics and
through targeted resignations post-incident. activists organizing on university campuses. The
Although race has long been a dominant research openly disseminated critiques rarely go so far as to
theme, anthropologists are rarely asked by adminis- call to dismantle this system of academia in service
tration to facilitate debate on the role of the aca- of capitalism. It is more common to make conces-
demic setting in creating social and political change. sionary demands, such as advocating for the role
This article explores the responses of universities of a university education as a path into the middle
coupled with the purposeful exclusion of anthropolo- class, which is only “ideal” within a capitalist soci-
gists and other social scientists from administrative ety, and does not engage why the university serves
committees and policy decisions. Assuming Louis a privileged few.
Althusser’s theory of the ideological state apparatus, The deliberation over these reforms, no matter
we examine the ways university bureaucracies have how watered down, rarely escapes its academic
propagated neoliberal ideas and strategies for echo chamber. Right-wing media continues to
achieving racial equality and how the strategies uti- attack the straw man of the allegedly widespread
lized by the university are dictated by its funding liberal forces undergirding American academia
needs. Specific examples draw from the experiences (see Kimball 1990). In many ways, the university
and observations of the authors—an assistant profes- is an “Anti-Politics Machine,” as according to Fer-
sor of anthropology and a community organizer– guson (1990). He argues that institutions such as
graduate student—juxtaposing the responses of two the University “depoliticize(s) everything it
local university administrations to protests in Fergu- touches, everywhere whisking political realities out
son, as well as detailing nonproductive attempts of of sight, all the while performing, almost unno-
these campus communities to engage structural ticed, its own preeminently political operation”
racism and the Ferguson community. [Ferguson, (ibid.: xv). How do politically unorganized aca-
new black freedom movement, non-performativity, demics affect change as these titanic forces redefine
activist anthropology] the role of the professoriate and the goals of edu-
cation in general?
This is a question that cannot be easily
Contemporary global academia, which is largely answered, even after decades of attempts other
built on the American university model, is a sys- than to suggest that like-minded academics find
tem that functions in part to propagate the ideolo- a way to organize. Within the history of strug-
gies of neoliberalism and racism in support of gles under capitalism, anthropologists have been
capitalism, which should be recognized as both an present to provide new concepts and help shape
economic and social system. There is active debate the ideas and vision of those movements from
of the disparities between what universities are Zora Neale Hurston, Ashley Montague, Ruth

Transforming Anthropology, Vol. 25, Number 2, pp. 171–184, ISSN 1051-0559, electronic ISSN 1548-7466. © 2017 by the American
Anthropological Association. All rights reserved.
DOI: 10.1111/traa.12115. 171
Benedict, and even Frederick Engels to David communities in crises. We hope to present them as
Graeber. Social movements, such as the Civil a warning.
Rights Movement and Black Lives Matter, have
also presented challenges to anthropology and UNIVERSITY AS NEOLIBERAL
academia more generally. The acknowledgment INSTITUTION
of the role of “activist anthropologist” is in Neoliberalism, as David Harvey argues, is a “class
counter distinction to the field’s origins, which project,” which seeks to reverse the economic
are deeply rooted in giving legitimacy to the gains of the working-class internationally after
concept of race and racial differences to justify World War II, characterized as the “Golden Age
apartheid, imperialism, and exploitation of peas- of Capitalism” (Harvey 2007). Neoliberalism
ants and the working class (Baker 1998). The includes an ideological fetishization of free mar-
field now focuses on covering the variance of kets and “the corporation,” the elimination of bar-
humanity rather than defining the mean but still riers to free trade, and the ability for the capitalist
struggles to break from its troubled history (Cas- class to exploit workers domestically and interna-
pari 2003). This context could make an anthro- tionally. It also includes a shifting of the State
pology department a rich pool for an budget away from social services and grants,
administrator building a “diversity” committee or which increased powers of punitive state institu-
looking for administrative appointments for stu- tions, like the police and prisons, to handle the
dent-focused positions. However, in our experi- effects of mass unemployment and inequality that
ence, this has not been the case. have resulted from neoliberal economic policies.
With the growth in the new Black Freedom Within the historical transition to neoliberalism,
Movement, which began in August 2014, after the institutions that popular groups have historically
murder of Michael Brown in Ferguson, Missouri, fought for and used as vehicles for social change,
protests have expanded both on and off university like trade unions and workers’ parties, were
campuses to draw attention to the treatment of actively weakened and marginalized or co-opted to
people of color by law enforcement, systemic allow for power to be concentrated in interna-
racism, and the role of institutions like higher edu- tional commercial banks and corporations and the
cation in supporting them. University administra- political parties they control. Though the global
tors scramble to respond when their student body economic collapse of 2007-08 presented the possi-
is the site of the most recent unrest as seen at the bility for an indictment of neoliberal politics, it
University of Missouri-Columbia, Yale University, remains the dominant framework for university
and Claremont-McKenna College to name but a administrations pursuing corporate models of gov-
few. Inevitably, someone is forced to resign, a ernance (Giroux 2007; Lorenz 2012).
diversity committee is formed, a new administrator In the neoliberal university, faculty are more
tasked with diversity in their title is hired, and precariously positioned than ever; the vast major-
media attention turns elsewhere. ity of instructors are not on the tenure track (over
We want to explore what influences the for- 70%).2 As the percentage of university employees
mulaic response of universities as a system that (i.e., support staff and administrators) who are
propagates ideologies of racism and neoliberalism. working outside the classroom continues to rise,
Anthropologists and other scholars of race and classrooms are more likely to be staffed by contin-
economics critical of these systems are generally gent or non-tenure track instructors (ibid.).
excluded from these “solutions,” which is under- Administrative responsibilities are removed from
stood using Sara Ahmed’s concept of “non-perfor- faculty members and handed over to generously
mativity” (Ahmed 2006). To contextualize our compensated administrators, which enables pillars
analysis, we present a comparative study of the of the university system—tenure and shared gover-
responses of administrations at both Washington nance—to crumble. This faculty exploitation is
University in St. Louis and the University of Mis- coupled with the increase in online courses, which
souri-St. Louis to protests in Ferguson. Though are routinely highly automated while charging the
there may be many meaningful pathways an acti- same or higher tuition, which is student exploita-
vist scholar could attempt to pursue within the tion (Noble 1998). Adjunct and online instructors
political minefield of a university responding to are treated as unskilled labor and poorly compen-
racial protests, there are a number we have wit- sated; students are charged additional convenience
nessed that are deeply problematic as they priori- fees on top of regular tuition, are less likely to
tize the self or the institution over the pass,3 and only 4% of registered students, on

172 TRANSFORMING ANTHROPOLOGY VOL. 25(2)

average, actually complete the course if it is a These colluding forces—multinational banks,
MOOC (massively open online course; Perna et al. corporate lobbyists controlling state legislatures,
2013). Student outcomes are clearly not the prior- and the increasing privatization of universities—
ity in a system where the majority do not finish are heavily invested in the maintenance of the sta-
the course, and few get any individualized atten- tus quo and have many tactics for squashing dis-
tion from the instructor. The struggle of adjunct sent. Is it any surprise that greater divestment of
instructors for more stable employment conditions states from higher education is concurrent with
and the concurrent rise in university faculty union- the increasing militarization of campus police
ization attempts are, therefore, ultimately a fight (Godrej 2014)? The image of the University of
against neoliberalism. California-Davis campus police officer pepper
State legislatures have continued to divest spraying students in the eyes as they peacefully sat
from the role of educating their constituents at with their arms locked during an Occupy protest
public universities after the budget tightening of spread internationally. The officer received more in
the financial crisis of 2007/8. In 2014, all but three Worker’s Compensation for his pain and suffering
states spent less per-student enrolled in a public after the incident than the students individually
university than their 2008 levels, and two states received from a settlement for their unlawful
(Arizona and Louisiana) have decreased per-stu- assault.9 UC-Davis chancellor Linda Katehi’s
dent spending by more than 40%.4 Eleven states attempt to expunge that image from the Web only
spend more on their prison systems than their served to increase the furor directed toward her10
university systems.5 When officials elected to state- and eventually resulted in her being placed on
wide office prioritize repeated tax cuts for the administrative leave.11 The UC Davis student pro-
wealthiest in U.S. society over ensuring access to testors had previously targeted the U.S. Bank
higher education for the majority, higher educa- branch on campus; the brutality directed toward
tion allocations dwindle. This divestment is exem- them is no coincidence considering the relationship
plified in Wisconsin, where, in 2015, Governor between universities and banks (Godrej 2014). The
Scott Walker gave a $250 million budget reduction University of Missouri-St. Louis purchased SWAT
to the University of Wisconsin system with one style uniforms for their campus police before the
hand, and $250 million to build a new sports sta- unrest in Ferguson, not in response to it, as milita-
dium with the other.6 Neoliberal policies at the rization has become the norm for campus security.
state level force reductions in per-student spending The increasing precarity of the professoriate,
for public universities, which is one of the best rising levels of student debt, and direct attacks on
predictors of student success (Newfield 2008). dissent in the neoliberal university are not evenly
As states cut the budget to higher education felt among the populous. People of color are pre-
each fiscal year and tuition inevitably goes up, stu- dominately shouldering the burden of both the
dents incur greater levels of debt. This generation’s history of scholarly institutions and their current
huge student-loan burdens are credited with their neoliberal policies. Neoliberalism is inherently
lower home-ownership rates, lower birth rates, and racist as racism serves to maintain capitalism by
decreased expected lifetime earnings, which will dividing working-class people; ergo our analysis
affect their ability to retire (Rothstein and Rouse must be more intersectional.
2011). Those with student loan debt delay starting
families or forgo it all together,7 and this demo- UNIVERSITY AS RACIST INSTITUTION
graphic impact will be felt for generations to “You can’t have capitalism without racism”—
come. Malcolm X
Greater student debt from tuition is further Universities actively reproduce racial inequal-
paired with credit card companies on campus ity at home and abroad. Inequities within the aca-
offering cheap swag in exchange for opening an deme are produced during graduate school
account, and campuses signing exclusivity agree- admissions, graduate school attrition, tenure-track
ments with specific banks. These agreements are assistant professor hiring, and promotion decisions
intended to force students to bank with the specific for tenure and full professor status. This mirrors
agent for convenience and avoiding ATM fees, but the “leaky pipeline” metaphor often used to
it also forces staff to bank with these institutions if describe the loss of women at every level in the
they want their pay in a timely manner.8 Students STEM professions, though we see that racism and
are trapped into a debt cycle as soon as they are sexism interact and amplify each other in univer-
old enough to sign credit card application forms. sity graduate admissions and hiring (e.g., Milkman

173
et al. 2015; Turner et al. 2011). Faculty of color Sanction [BDS] movement), and imperialism (e.g.,
and women are given higher service loads (Baez military manufacturers). The response from the
2000)—exasperated by the fact that Black faculty individual university is often to ignore students.14
are more likely to have a joint appointment requir- In the case of larger movements such as Israel
ing service to two different departments12—and BDS, politicians and the media vilify the students,
their research is considered less rigorous when rather than the students’ intended target. Gover-
compared to White, male colleagues (Thompson nor Andrew Cuomo proclaimed that he refuses to
and Louque 2005). When students of color arrive allow groups and companies that support the
on campus, they see few faculty who look like Israel BDS campaign to do business with the state
them—less than 7% of all university faculty are government of New York.15 Policies like this
Black (Ryu 2009). further incentivize universities to dismiss their stu-
In the United States, 12.3% of people are dents’ concerns.
Black (U.S. Census Bureau), but there is a Though student protests to take down the
decreasing trend of college attainment: 16% of statues and change the eponymous building names
high school graduates, 14% of those enrolled in of known segregationists, Klan members, and
college of any kind in the 18- to 24-year-old demo- slave holders are becoming more common (such as
graphic, and 9% of those holding a bachelor’s at Princeton, Georgetown, and others), decrying
degree in the 25- to 29-year-old range are Black.13 the racist histories of universities only serves to
U.S. education professionals may be able to claim whitewash their contemporary racism. Universities’
that some Black students arrive at the college hiring practices, admission and retention practices,
gates, but not predominately at 4-year universities, and endowment investments all produce and main-
and they are suffering from higher attrition rates tain racial inequality both on and off-campus. This
(Ross et al. 2012). Students who attend some col- is only a superficial summary of the ways universi-
lege and don’t graduate are more likely to be in ties construct racism.
default on their student loan debt, and Black stu-
dents take out more debt to attend college than UNIVERSITY AS IDEOLOGICAL STATE
their White peers (Goldrick-Rab et al. 2014). This APPARATUS (ISA)
debt follows these students, putting downward Hegemony, according to Gramsci (1971), is the
pressure on their lifetime earning potential. idea that power serves the dominant group by
Many Black and other racial minority students convincing the subordinate groups that its rule
are attending college with the promise that their serves not only the dominant group’s interests but
degree will be their ticket to a middle-class exis- also those of the subordinate group. State power
tence and that politically it is a part of an (effec- is maintained through both coercion and consen-
tive) program for racial equality. But they are sus. This means that as much as hegemony
entering an institution where the educators and contains coercive power, or domination through
administration are more predominately White than force, through institutions like the police and mili-
our broader society is. They are taking on more tary, hegemony also assumes soft or ideological
student loan debt than their White peers, are less power, which is diffused throughout civil society.
likely to graduate, and will earn less (Emmons and Althusser (1971), advancing Marx’s Base-Super-
Noeth 2015). Despite being celebrated as enlight- structure relations of hegemony and Lenin’s the-
ened institutions, universities are failing their ory of imperialism, analyzes how ideologies
students of color just as the intersecting institu- operate in capitalist society and the institutions,
tions of banking, policing, and local government which he calls “apparatuses,” that enable their
fail them. As Robin D.G. Kelley describes in his operation and sustainability. For Althusser, the
discussion of the relationship between Black sustainability of the capitalist mode of production
students and their universities: “Black students is based not just on the maintenance of legal and
(are seeking) love from an institution incapable of political conditions and the reproduction of the
loving them” (Kelley 2016). next generation of workers but also on the repro-
American universities reproduce racism inter- duction of capitalist ideology. This is the role of
nationally as well. Divestment campaigns by stu- the university as an Ideological State Apparatus
dents reveal how the investment of university (ISA).
endowments support dictatorial governments (e.g., The repressive state apparatus (RSA) is used
Saudi Arabia’s royal family), genocide and occu- by the ruling classes to physically repress threats
pations (e.g., via the Israel Boycott, Divest, and to capitalist society and class structures. Myriad

174 TRANSFORMING ANTHROPOLOGY VOL. 25(2)

ISAs seek to maintain the ideological hegemony of research critical of Monsanto, we can question
the ruling class. Using Marx’s conclusion that the universities’ ability to effectively study and recom-
capitalist mode of production cannot survive mend policy related to issues of systemic racism if
unless its social conditions are reproduced (Marx they both reproduce and benefit from systemic
1867), Althusser defines state ideological appara- racism.
tuses such as schools, organized religion, and
media as institutions that work less by power and HOW UNIVERSITIES RESPOND TO RACIAL
politics and more by ideology, by inculcating peo- CRISES
ple in specific ways of imagining, thinking about, In our more interconnected world with the wide-
and thus understanding their places within and spread use of video recordings and social media,
relationships to the societies in which they live racism on and off campus has become much more
(Althusser 1971).16 visible. The new Black Freedom Movement—
The university plays a key role in the repro- known colloquially as Black Lives Matter (though
duction of capitalist ideology. They train current that is a specific organization)—has both grown
and future workers to accept consumption as ade- out of this greater availability of information on
quate compensation for the exploitation of their instances of overt racism and amplified it (Taylor
labor (Althusser 1971; Wolff 2004). David Harvey 2016). Now, when University of Oklahoma Sigma
(2007) describes how it is essential for the hege- Alpha Epsilon fraternity members are recorded
mony of neoliberal ideology that neoliberal advo- singing a racist song, it travels globally instanta-
cates exercise positions of influence in educational neously. The severe backlash forces the adminis-
institutions and also in think tanks, policy groups, tration to do something quickly to save face.19
and key international institutions. Universities Administrative responses have become standard-
define and generate research “knowledge” and ized and ritualized, as the attention to these scan-
disseminate it directly not only to students but dals becomes more common.
also the general public by placing experts on tele- University administrations are already pep-
vision programs and, in some cases, appointing pered with technocrats with words like “diversity”
them to state positions. If universities were simply and “equity” in their titles who generate unen-
neutral institutions of learning, corporations like forceable “inclusion statements” or host brunches
Monsanto would not donate money to educational and photo ops for the “Committee on Campus
institutions like Washington University.17 Diversity.” What forces push for these six-figure
Universities are also tied within the web of salaried officials? As Sarah Ahmed concludes, the
capitalist accumulation, which further constrains acts of being on these committees or holding these
how they will define “problems.” For example, titles are designed to explicitly not perform their
Washington University produces gentrification by stated function—hence her coining of the term
giving employees down-payment subsidies to pur- “non-performativity”—but rather the performance
chase homes in targeted areas neighboring the itself is the only end (Ahmed 2006). Despite the
campus, so that the demographic make-up of the existence of these titled officials and committees,
neighborhood will change and “crime” will students do not feel safer or more welcome on
decrease.18 Their solution to crime, which is per- campus. They may even feel more betrayed,
ceived as scaring away tuition paying students, is because unlike other systems of oppression, this
to fund a program to displace working-class resi- one was explicitly sold as anti-racist and a force
dents with the university’s own assumedly more for economic and social equalization (Kelley
desirable employees. Universities, like many corpo- 2016).
rations, use their relationships with elected officials Students’ resentment may amplify to outrage
to gain public subsidies for real estate development after a triggering event and manifest as an erup-
(e.g., tax abatements, tax incremental financing tion of racial protests at campuses across the Uni-
[TIFs]), under the guise that their investment will ted States: urban and rural; public and private.
further attract other private interests to these his- The chancellor or more likely the “Vice Dean of
torically underdeveloped sections of cities: a Affirmative Action and Title IX” is forced to issue
neoliberal approach to urban development. The an apology or even resign—a sacrifice to appease
effect is that working-class people are now physi- the blunt frustration of students and the commu-
cally, in addition to economically, displaced. Just nity. Once a replacement administrator, new inclu-
as we can speculate that Monsanto’s donations to sion committee, or center for multiculturalism is
Washington University will threaten faculty named in a press release to much fanfare, students

175
often tire, and the campus returns to “normal.” Collins 2007). This is not to say no diversity task-
The systemic issues on campus have not actually force has ever produced progressive recommenda-
changed. tions or subversive documents. Members invested
The existence of these administrative positions in revolutionary change can network within the
is not merely as an insurance policy or scapegoat taskforce and circulate these documents to build
for when incidents invariably occur; their existence soft power or “insubordinate spaces” (Harney and
also allows other administrators to relinquish any Moten 2013; Tomlinson and Lipsitz 2013). How-
responsibility to achieving diversity in campus ever, the larger administration calls for the task-
composition (Hamer and Lang 2015). It is a mon- force as a solution in and of itself. This suggests
umental task to place on one individual to fight that the recommendations, goals, and diversity
the products of centuries of systemic racism on metrics produced by the taskforce are not intended
their campus. The positions are usually held by to be implemented in the event that they cost sub-
one of the few people of color in higher adminis- stantial amounts of money or require any struc-
tration, and their calendars are packed addressing tural changes.
the needs of the student body, faculty, staff, and
administration. That they are often the first to go WHERE ARE THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS?
during a scandal suggests that diversity is not an Professional anthropologists are well suited to be
actual priority of the system. a part of discussions on the impacts of systemic
The special committees and taskforces called racism via the nature of the discipline as well as
after a “racial incident” are a unique feature. The the social legitimacy that their education brings
“chief diversity officer” or the like is usually a per- them. Disciplines with a radical history of scholar-
manent fixture and can assume long-term goals. ship (e.g., critical race theorists, ethnic studies, and
The selection process, ultimate composition, and gender studies interdisciplinary programs) are
the mission of these committees are generally often housed within anthropology and sociology
short-term performances of individuals moderately departments at many universities, adding to the
invested in giving lip service to addressing large sys- potential dynamic for a complex analysis (Fergu-
temic issues. ISAs teach us how to define ourselves son 2012). If “we” anthropologists can identify
in relation to one another and in this sense produce and analyze the problems, we can also formulate
“race” and racial identity. Therefore, the educa- solutions—notwithstanding that anthropologists
tional institution as an ISA will use Identity Politics are as much a product of the neoliberal university
when responding to racist incidents. Avoiding the as any other academic. Wolff (2004) points out
critique of Identity Politics that the Right uses for that opposed to RSAs, ISAs are more “contested
advocating for “colorblind” policies, which merely terrain” where capitalists’ agendas can be more
maintain White hegemony, we adhere to the view easily opposed, and therefore, that there should be
that Identity Politics is often used as a form of more space for social scientists to challenge this
box-checking that creates a ruling class that ideological hegemony.
appears “diverse” without actually improving the So why are anthropologists or other scholars of
material conditions of the working class. The uni- human diversity so rarely chairing these diversity
versity will name a task force that is inevitably task forces? The answer is addressed above and
described as “diverse” based on Identity Politics two-fold: the goal of the task force is maintaining
because it contains young and old, student and the status quo and subterfuging dissent, and shared
administrator, and White and Black. But these faculty governance has been eroded by neoliberal
“diverse” members are members of the ISA and policies. It is the former point that likely keeps
invested in its continued existence. many anthropologists quiet. With the institution of
Considering that the task forces has a limited tenure under attack and many faculty members
lifespan and its constituents are formulated to employed in precarious situations (adjunct or lim-
merely appear diverse, we can reasonably expect ited term appointments), it may seem to be too dan-
their recommendations to non-perform anti-racism gerous to take a personal stance. There is the
through calls for more Black professors with no implicit threat of unemployment if one becomes too
real resources to make that happen or a new diver- vocal. Despite the ideology of “academic free
sity center sponsored by a corporate backer. They speech,” few anthropologists are “speaking truth to
may address issues of prejudice, or hostile atti- power.”
tudes, while avoiding dealing with actual racism, The examples of the media persecution and
which is a system of power (Andersen and Hill the subsequent tenure denial of the anthropologist

176 TRANSFORMING ANTHROPOLOGY VOL. 25(2)

Nicholas de Genova or the withdrawal of employ- performativity is acted out in the construction of
ment to Steven Salaita confirm that this fear is these task forces.
grounded in reality (de Genova 2014; Hamer and We would question whether or not contribut-
Lang 2015).20 Hamer and Lang (2015) suggest that ing to this non-performativity is worth the effort if
this increasing precarity creates a situation where theoreticians of race do not intend to be subver-
it is safer to fight for racial justice off campus than sive or use the experience to highlight administra-
on. After the recent protests against racist inci- tive hypocrisy (e.g., Moten and Harney 2013;
dents on the University of Missouri-Columbia Tomlinson and Lipsitz 2013). Exclusion of particu-
campus, for example, Professor Melissa Click lost lar individuals is likely an admission that they
her job just before her tenure decision when her could not be counted on to parrot the administra-
attempts to stand up for students of color protest- tion’s directives. Even those who may not initially
ing on campus was turned into a five-second video recognize the true purposes of diversity taskforces
clip pilloried on conservative media outlets (dis- and their ilk will become quickly disillusioned with
cussed further below). the process. Actionable items and methods for
It is not just professors whose research accountability are avoided—feel-good effusive lan-
addresses issues of race who are being excluded guage abounds. Some of these initially naive mem-
from diversity initiatives but faculty in general. bers may be burned by these experiences and
This denial is hinted at earlier in the discussion of avoid this form of academic service in the future,
faculty precarity and the waning of the institution but perhaps a few will be radicalized by the experi-
of tenure as administrative tasks are delegated ence.
away from faculty members. They have quite liter-
ally been excluded from the operations of their CASE STUDY: HIGHER EDUCATION IN
own institution. The recommendations for com- FERGUSON
mittee composition focus on recruiting additional The analysis presented above comes from our own
community stakeholders, such as alumni, because experiences interacting with the university adminis-
there is the assumption that faculty do not need to tration at both an urban, satellite campus of a
be explicitly stated as invited (e.g., Leon and Wil- public land grant university system (University of
liams 2016). The results are diversity statements Missouri-St. Louis, UMSL) and an elite, urban
that frame people of color as outsiders to aca- private university with one of the wealthiest stu-
demic institutions and therefore do little to aid in dent bodies in the country.21 UMSL is the most
their acceptance (Iverson 2012). diverse campus in the University of Missouri sys-
The lack of anthropological perspectives on tem, and one of the most diverse in the state.22 Its
these taskforces is explained by their actual func- students also come from the poorest families in
tion in maintaining the dominant ideas of the uni- the UM system—median family income is under
versity during a “sensitive” period of unrest. $50,000 compared to over $100,000 at the flagship
“Diversity” taskforces and the like that are often campus in Columbia, MO (UMSL Chancellor’s
formed in the wake of student protests are perfect 2015 State of the College: Arts & Science address).
examples of “non-performativity”: there is admit- It is predominately a commuter campus with few
tance of a problem (structural racism) with no dormitories, and the average student is twenty-
expectation of actually providing a solution as the seven years old.22 The only ethnic studies program
only real solutions would require a revolutionary available is a one-year-old Latinx minor in the his-
rethinking of the purpose and structure of higher tory department, though an ethnicity and migra-
education (Ahmed 2006). The admittance is con- tion studies certificate has been developed for the
sidered sufficient by the institution and therefore anthropology department. Considering the student
does not actually perform anti-racism. This is body and community make-up, this is a severely
analogous to the so-called White ally shrugging underserved need.
and stating, “everyone’s a little bit racist.” They In contrast to UMSL’s environment is Wash-
expect that by evenly sharing the blame and even ington University that has the lowest number of
accepting some themselves, they have portrayed students who qualify for Pell grants of any U.S.
themselves as more enlightened than most. Struc- university (i.e., only 6% of students are deemed by
tural racism stands unchanged—no action was FAFSA as having financial need for federal tuition
taken. The statement was really about the grants).23 The campus is overwhelmingly White
“speaker,” not the oppressed. The exclusion of and Asian (7.61% of undergrad students are Afri-
potentially critical voices is just one way that non- can American21), so it hardly reflects the region’s

177
demographics of 18% Black (the city itself is 47% employees and student writers were told explicitly
Black as of 2015 [U.S. Census]). Washington that they could not describe Michael Brown’s kill-
University follows the lead of other universities ing as “murder” in any university-affiliated docu-
trying to inflate their racialized minority percent- ment or publication—lest they offend a donor.24
ages by including all international students They certainly do not want to offend the political
(Hamer and Lang 2015). Over 90% of undergrads establishment as Washington University has been
are from out-of-state—3/4th of all alumni live out- hosting presidential debates nearly every election
side the region21. The Greater St. Louis area pours over the last two decades where candidates from
assets in the form of tax incentives, land grants, both parties vying to be head of empire debate
and non-profit status into a private university neoliberal policies.
whose students do not stick around to pay that Contrasted against the private university,
largesse back. which has no qualms about explicitly serving the
Considering Washington University’s large very wealthy and yet feels entitled to speak about
endowment ($6.8 billion) and lack of reliance on a racial and economic injustice in Ferguson as a
fiscally conservative state legislature for funding way to attract both media attention and social-
appropriations, one might expect faculty there to justice-minded White students to St Louis (i.e.,
feel safer to speak out. However, due to the lack disaster tourism), there is the underfunded public
of faculty involvement off campus, it may be that university, the University of Missouri-St. Louis.
most feel little to no connection to either the Fer- This institution is actually tasked with educating
guson protests after the murder of unarmed students from the St Louis area including many
Michael Brown by police officer Darren Wilson, from Ferguson, but it has remained silent on
or the student protests at Mizzou after multiple structural racism. The UM system is in the process
instances of harassment and discrimination toward of being publicly divested, the state cuts its alloca-
Black students. A meeting of anthropology faculty tion every year, tuition fees are increasing, and
was convened to discuss whether a response to instead of speaking up and representing the stu-
events in Ferguson was necessary, and the only dents it is explicitly tasked to serve, it attempts to
actionable outcome was greater publicity for one distance itself from Ferguson. The university’s
faculty member’s new book on race. Either large neon sign that faces the community of Fer-
tenured status at a wealthy private university did guson was turned off during nights of protests just
not feel like enough safety, or they did not see the in case it could be seen in the distant background
link between their discipline and Black oppression. of photographs. On the university’s “About” page,
The African and African American Studies pro- Ferguson was removed from the list of surround-
gram was recently “upgraded” to a full depart- ing municipalities even though there is a lunch-
ment in late 2016, supporting the assertion above time shuttle for faculty, staff, and students to
that these faculty members were previously housed downtown Ferguson, as it is the nearest commer-
in other departments that may not reward racial cial district. There is a link on the homepage
justice scholarship and were saddling with doubled about “Safety” that is clearly a response to paren-
service loads. tal concerns about the riots and protests, but Fer-
Washington University’s administration saw guson is not directly named. The Association of
the media attention on Ferguson as an opportunity Black Collegians chapter on campus was explicitly
to sell themselves. Just as Tulane University remade told that they could not do a service project paint-
itself as a destination for social-justice-minded ing boarded up windows post-looting as represen-
students after Hurricane Katrina, Washington tatives of the UMSL community. All of the
University took this opportunity to celebrate its administration’s decisions appear to be dictated by
“contributions” to racial equality in a media blitz of fear of lost revenue either in the form of budget
press releases and faculty interviews. The Office of cuts from the state or student enrollment decreases
Public Affairs tried to advertise that the campus is and lost tuition.
just “down the street” from Ferguson to validate Unfortunately, both cuts and enrollment drops
their administration weighing in on race issues in still happened in 2014 and 2015, after which Fer-
national publications, but they are miles from Fer- guson could finally be named—but only as the
guson. UMSL borders it. As Washington Univer- “Ferguson Effect” scaring away would-be stu-
sity faculty credentials were being shopped around dents.25 The “Ferguson Effect” became coded
by the public relations office to news outlets as racial language to explain any outcome unfavor-
potential interviewees, pundits, or editorialists, able to the White ruling elite (Pyrooz et al. 2016).

178 TRANSFORMING ANTHROPOLOGY VOL. 25(2)

Now the effects of neoliberal policies at the univer- come from them publicly. The UM system has
sity are being blamed on the boogieman of Black made many proclamations about future directions
criminality. This was the one outlet UMSL saw (see Taskforce below). They appointed a Black
for publicity from Ferguson, and faculty from the interim system president after the White one
Criminology and Criminal Justice program resigned and now hired a permanent replacement
appeared in multiple media outlets describing the who is Asian American. They created a new posi-
so-called Ferguson Effect.26 tion for chief diversity officer for the system and
The responses of these two universities admin- required each campus to have one as well. But
istrations may superficially seem counterintuitive: each act has exemplified Ahmed’s (2006) “non-per-
the wealthy White private university celebrating its formativity” as none of these individuals have
proximity and relevance to Ferguson, while the been given the financial or administrative resources
racially diverse public university creates a palpable to affect change. All of these hires were approved
silence. But from the perspective of financial by the Board of Curators, which was initially com-
motives, we see that Washington University can posed of five White members during the protests,
leverage Ferguson for grant monies and publicity, and with subsequent damage control, is now seven
and UMSL sees it as a financial loss on multiple White members and one Black woman. They are
fronts. UMSL could potentially use the same all attorneys and all alumni of the flagship campus
strategy as Washington University, but it does not in Columbia.
have the public relations acumen, and there is a At the University of Missouri system level, a
highly conservative Board of Curators and state Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion taskforce was
legislature holding the purse strings. Their fears formed by the new interim system president in
were further realized the following school year early 2016. Out of the twenty original taskforce
when racial protests began at the flagship campus members from the four campuses named, only one
in Columbia. member was a professor and one was a student—
and that student was “to-be-announced” when the
Racial Protests at Mizzou taskforce was publicized. The rest of the members
UMSL’s general attitude of silence continued of the committee were administrators already
when their sister campus in Columbia, Missouri— tasked with diversity-related initiatives, such as
the anchor campus for the system—was rocked by Title IX. Only two members come from University
multiple protests against the pervasive climate of of Missouri-St. Louis, the most ethnically diverse
racial discrimination. A student group calling campus in the system. What message does this
themselves Concerned Students 1950—in reference send about the expected outcomes of this taskforce
to the first year the university admitted Black stu- when the members are overwhelmingly those who
dents—had multiple actions on campus decrying were already tasked with creating a more inclusive
the racism and fear they experienced on campus, environment on campus before the protests? What
but they were repeatedly dismissed by higher message is conveyed about shared faculty gover-
administration. Once a hunger strike by one of the nance when there is only one faculty voice repre-
leaders of the group began and the university’s senting only one campus in a four campus system?
football team threatened to not play as a show of What message is received by the student body
solidarity, national media attention came to the when only one yet-to-be-named, that is, token,
campus and both the chancellor and system presi- student voice will be included? It is certainly not a
dent were forced to resign.27 In response to pro- message about a desire for change and that mes-
tests being “allowed” to occur—as opposed to sage was clearly received by students.29 In
there being a race problem in the first place—the response to student and faculty frustration, the
higher education and budget committees at the system called for a larger taskforce composed of
state legislature decided to punish the UM system more professors and campus staff members.
with repeated threats of further budget cuts One of the results of the administration’s han-
(Huguelet and Sirtori-Cortina 2016). dling of these incidents is that faculty are more
Because UMSL is considerably more racially afraid to be visually in support of their students,
diverse than Mizzou (compare 14% to 8.2% Black especially their students of color, when these stu-
students),28 it could reasonably claim some legiti- dents speak out. The vilification of Professor
macy for any administrative recommendations Melissa Click for months in right-wing media, the
delivered in private meetings among colleagues. If silencing of voices defending her, and her firing by
these meetings have been occurring, nothing has the Board of Curators—completely outside the

179
official review pathways for personnel decisions— brought so many of us into studying and teaching
reinforces the implicit assumption that, within the in arts and sciences generally, but anthropology in
wider institutional structure of the university, fac- particular, becomes a liability rather than a
ulty are located toward the bottom of the pyra- strength. It is often placed aside as the product of
mid. They cannot reflect poorly on their employer youthful idealism. This is an unfortunate disservice
and expect to maintain their employment—the to our students and our communities.
precedent of the Supreme Court Case Garcetti v. Our research leads us to question the extent to
Ceballos ensures that (Squires 2015). Academic which scholars limit themselves to only studying
free speech, though it is more often about protect- social movements. Do we have the moral responsi-
ing institutions than individuals (de Genova 2014), bility to stand with the disenfranchised? We
is being flagrantly disregarded in Professor Click’s believe so but especially when they provide mate-
case. De Genova was denied tenure under other rial for our work. Charles Hale (2008:2) describes
pretenses years after his media storm died down how junior faculty are often warned to stay away
by using subversion and social forms of punish- from scholarship that serves social justice aims
ment (de Genova 2014); Click was outright fired because it is considered somehow less rigorous and
before her tenure review process was completed by may put promotion prospects at risk. He argues
a body who does not have the power to do so, though that the opposite is true, and academic
according to the by laws of the university. She is research in the service of political aims and social
now being represented by the AAUP on academic justice can be interdisciplinarily complex. Hale
free-speech grounds (Wilson 2016). does not state whether that methodological com-
Students are punished differently than faculty plexity could actually assist in securing tenure;
for speaking out because they are treated, in many therefore, the jeopardy remains. The other option
cases, as customers. They are punished in subtler is to participate in the “undercommons” by using
ways, such as members of Concerned Students the structures and resources of the university to
1950 reporting being unable to gain admission to furtively educate and be educated by others via
graduate school programs. They have received the non-hierarchical independent study groups (Moten
implicit message: If you want to be a member of and Harney 2013).
the academic elite, never critique it. Considering Universities have regularly been sites for resis-
the vast underrepresentation of minorities in the tance against neoliberal reforms and the resultant
professoriate, it is clear then that there are forces inequality, and it is important that anthropologists
keeping out those who may vocally point out their not separate themselves from it. Since 2014, the
lack of racial peers. If they are lucky enough to be new Black Freedom Movement has forced the
one of the token few, they are expected to remain nation to again deal with the question of systemic
silent about it and be co-opted for photoshoots or racism and showing the power that social move-
diversity taskforces. This Ideological State Appa- ments have to affect consciousness and force con-
ratus messaging is reflected in academic hiring: cessions within our society. Anthropologists can
tenure-track positions are so scarce that the few engage in ongoing struggles against neoliberalism
who secure one should be afraid to speak up on and systemic racism not just to add “bodies” at
behalf of their adjunct peers lest they be forced to demonstrations but also to play a role as intellec-
join them. tuals within them helping to broaden their ideolog-
ical scope and provide historical and cross-cultural
CONCLUSIONS AND OBSERVATIONS perspectives. This can be done through open
Returning to the question this piece centers on but teach-ins, facilitating and participating in commu-
does not answer—is there something we can do?— nity discussions and debates, and writing scholarly
it becomes clear that faculty must contend with and popular articles. The history of working-class
many obstacles to action. Our administrations, struggles in general is rich with parallels that can
bolstered by the threat of media persecution, be summoned for participants to learn from the
intimidate us into anxious paralysis or jaded pas- successes and mistakes of past movements. This is
sivity. Our own social–political class of other aca- a part of the decolonial anthropology we should
demics share news stories on social media of job all strive toward (Harrson 1991).
offers being withdrawn or tenure cases denied, It may be easier to point out examples of what
maintaining the pervasive sense that our liveli- we should not do with our time that is not being
hoods are in perpetual jeopardy. The commitment spent serving on diversity taskforces. We have
to social justice and education, the ideals that heard colleagues cheerfully describe giving race

180 TRANSFORMING ANTHROPOLOGY VOL. 25(2)

sensitivity training to police officers. We question 2014; Hamer and Lang 2015), and therefore, the
the extent to which such engagements depoliticize effect of these task forces, chief diversity officers
the role of the anthropologist; how can one be a and the like, is to soothe dissent, whereas campus
neutral actor while giving legitimacy to institutions police are simultaneously increasingly militarized
that oppress? We have seen colleagues approach in case the soft approach fails (Godrej 2014).
community groups in Ferguson to get them to Universities’ public responses to open expressions
attach their names to a grant application, but the of racism are dictated by whether they see a poten-
colleague disappears as soon as the grant is sub- tial for their endowments to be further enriched,
mitted. As referenced above, we have seen col- that is, Washington University versus the Univer-
leagues mine crime statistics—without sity of Missouri-St. Louis. However, both universi-
contextualizing how those are generated and what ties did not want their employees using Michael
they represent—to justify a Ferguson Effect. Brown’s murder as grounds to advocate for system
Our research questions should be framed in change. If Ferguson could not make the university
ways that explicitly challenge White supremacy money, it was ignored; if it could lose the university
when that is relevant. Washington University is money, it was denounced. The institutions and poli-
giving grants to its own students and faculty to do cies that trap people of color in poverty in Fergu-
some work—any work—that intersects even triv- son and elsewhere go unchallenged. In the way that
ially with “Ferguson.” There is no requirement to the Democratic Party has been described as the
“engage stakeholders” or mandate to include the graveyard of social movements as they are co-opted
community in any meaningful way. This is merely and defanged (Selfa 2012), the “University” adopts
a program for Washington University to keep language from protests in Ferguson and then
funds internally while proclaiming to be doing a mutates it into something self-serving. The univer-
service for Ferguson. Scholars from across the sity’s on-campus response can be described as
country are also guilty of writing books on “non-performativity,” but its responses orchestrated
Ferguson without any investment in improving in higher administrative offices are to actively sup-
material conditions in the community. If anthro- port these systems of oppression as the university is
pologists see themselves as “mak(ing) the world itself an Ideological State Apparatus.
safe for human differences” (Ruth Benedict), we
argue this kind of work is not doing that. Capi- ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
talism and racism are not endangered by these We thank the members of our campuses communi-
kinds of showmanship; in fact, they are sup- ties who shared relevant details about the deci-
ported by them. sions, policies, and outcomes of the university
In the post-Global recession world, applied administrations pre- and post-Ferguson, to which
anthropology can find its purpose in public or we would not normally have been privy. The com-
activist anthropology, even what has been termed munity of lovers and fighters in Ferguson and the
as “militant ethnography.” People are repeatedly larger St Louis region have kept us focused on
challenging the institutions they most directly revolutionary change. We also thank the Trans-
associate with their suffering—for example, the forming Anthropology editors, Kalfani Ture and
police, banks—and that consciousness is develop- Anthony Gualtieri, Prof. Claire Class for helpful
ing into an understanding that the entire system insight and citations, and our two particularly
has and continues to benefit from their disenfran- thoughtful and critical anonymous reviewers for
chisement. Anthropologists may see this as a ripe helping to improve this manuscript.
time to do ethnography of activism, but they are
not neutral actors in their own societies and are
most often working in service of one of the pil- Sarah A. Lacy1 and Ashton Rome2 1California
lars of the military–industrial–academic complex. State University Dominguez Hills; 2Socialist
We can perform anthropology that is dangerous Alternative-St. Louis
to these systems of oppression though—exclusion
from diversity taskforces is tacit acknowledge of
such. As both Ferguson (2012) and Kelley (2016)
describe it, though we are in the university, we NOTES
do not need to be of the university. 1. See Peter Schmidt, “Big gifts and low pro-
The “neoliberal university” has no interest in files help conservative centers spread to cam-
performing anti-racism (Chatterjee and Maira puses.” Chronicle of Higher Education. Feb 6,

181
2015. Accessed July 23, 2016. http://chronicle.com/ 11. Thomas Fuller. “University of California,
article/Big-GiftsLow-Profiles/151701/ Davis, chancellor is removed from post.” The New
2. See AAUP, “Background Facts on Contin- York Times, April 28, 2016. Accessed June 16,
gent Faculty.” Accessed June 14, 2016. American 2016. http://www.nytimes.com/2016/04/29/us/uc-
Association of University Professors. https://www. davis-chancellor-accused-of-violations-is-removed-
aaup.org/issues/contingency/background-facts from-post.html
3. Jill Barshay. “Five studies find online 12. Stacey Patton, “How joint appointments
courses are not working well at community col- stall the careers of ethnic-studies professors.” Vitae.
leges.” The Hechinger Report. April 27, 2015. May 2, 2015. Accessed June 16, 2016. https://chroni
Accessed June 23, 2016. http://hechingerreport. clevitae.com/news/994-how-joint-appointments-sta
org/five-studies-find-online-courses-are-not-work ll-the-careers-of-ethnic-studies-professors
ing-at-community-colleges/ 13. Jens Manuel Krogstad and Richard Fry.
4. Lauren Camera. “States are slacking on “More Hispanics, Blacks enrolling in college, but
higher ed spending,” US News and World Report. lag in bachelor’s degrees.” Pew Research Fact Tank.
January 7, 2016. Accessed June 22, 2016. http:// April 14, 2014. Accessed May 28, 2016. http://www.
www.usnews.com/news/articles/2016/01/07/states- pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2014/04/24/more-hispa
spending-less-on-higher-education-today-than-bef nics-blacks-enrolling-in-college-but-lag-in-bachelors
ore-recession -degrees/
5. American Academy of Arts and Sciences. 14. Washington University had a strong rela-
“Public research universities: Changes in state tionship with Peabody Coal for many years before
funding.” The Lincoln Project: Excellence and they eventually acquiesced to student demands
Access in Public Higher Education. 2015. Accessed and severed it just before Peabody filed for bank-
July 23, 2016. https://www.amacad.org/multimed ruptcy protection.
ia/pdfs/publications/researchpapersmonographs/ 15. Jesse McKinley. “Cuomo to halt state busi-
PublicResearchUniv_ChangesInStateFunding.pdf ness with groups that back boycott of Israel.” New
6. Steven Salzburg. “Scott Walker takes $250 York Times. June 5, 2016. Accessed June 15, 2016.
million from U. Wisconsin, gives $250M to bil- http://www.nytimes.com/2016/06/06/nyregion/cuo
lionaire sports team owners.” Forbes. Aug 14, mo-new-york-israel-boycott-bds-movement.html
2015. Accessed July 23, 2016. http://www.forbes.c 16. The increasing militarization of our college
om/sites/stevensalzberg/2015/08/14/scott-walker-ta campuses may also suggest a convergence of the
kes-250-million-from-u-wisconsin-gives-250m-to-bil ISA and the RSA.
lionaire-sports-team-owners/#6db7d4b05a09 17. Monsanto is an agricultural biotechnology
7. Dora Gicheva. “Does the student-loan bur- company famous for designing genetically modi-
den weigh into the decision to start a family.” fied food crops (GMOs) and suing farmers for
University of North Carolina at Greensboro. copyright infringement when they have plants con-
Accessed May 28, 2016. http://www.uncg.edu/bae/ taining Monsanto’s patented RoundupÒ gene
people/gicheva/Student_loans_marriageMarch11. growing in their fields—whether they planted them
pdf (2011) there via seed savings or they blew in from neigh-
8. At Washington University in St. Louis, one boring fields. It is headquartered in St. Louis. The
of us (SAL) was instructed to bank with Bank of corporation’s close relationship with Washington
America (the exclusive campus bank) or they would University has been a common target of student
have to wait an extra day to receive their monthly of protest.
direct deposit salary as it would only clear to an 18. In the middle of a budget crisis, the
account instantly with the preferred bank. University of Missouri-St. Louis purchased an
9. Joe Garofoli. “UC Davis pepper-spray offi- adjoining golf course, assumedly to maintain an
cer awarded $38,000.” SFGate.com, October 23, air of affluence along one border of the campus. It
2013. Accessed April 15, 2016. http://www.sfgate.c is not only private universities that are concerned
om/politics/joegarofoli/article/UC-Davis-pepper- with promoting gentrification.
spray-officer-awarded-38-000-4920773.php 19. Justin Moyer. “University of Oklahoma
10. Sacramento Bee. “Read UC Davis’ con- fraternity closed after racist chant.” The Washing-
tracts to repair online image.” The Sacramento ton Post. March 9, 2015. Accessed June 16, 2015.
Bee, April 13, 2016. Accessed June 23, 2016. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/morning-
http://www.sacbee.com/news/local/education/article mix/wp/2015/03/09/university-of-oklahoma-frate
71674767.html rnity-suspended-after-racist-chant/

182 TRANSFORMING ANTHROPOLOGY VOL. 25(2)

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