{"id":612,"date":"2018-05-24T22:04:18","date_gmt":"2018-05-24T22:04:18","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/?p=612"},"modified":"2018-07-30T22:10:48","modified_gmt":"2018-07-30T22:10:48","slug":"subtext-178-the-future-aint-what-it-used-to-be","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/05\/24\/subtext-178-the-future-aint-what-it-used-to-be\/","title":{"rendered":"subtext 178 – ‘the future ain\u2019t what it used to be’"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fortnightly during term time.<\/span><\/p>\n

Letters, contributions, & comments: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

Back issues & subscription details:\u00a0http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/about\/<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n

In this issue: editorial,\u00a0hostile environment (x4)<\/a>, sticky wiki<\/a>, Gary on teacher (x4)<\/a>, flounders<\/a>, surveying the surveyors (x2)<\/a>, democracy<\/a>, LUSU (x3)<\/a>, crazy paving<\/a>, gradballs (x2)<\/a>, lost & found<\/a>, mostly men o\u2019 wisdom<\/a>, wet and forget<\/a>, spine<\/a>, buses<\/a>, UCU (x2)<\/a>, letter<\/a>.<\/span><\/p>\n

*****************************************************<\/span><\/p>\n

EDITORIAL<\/span><\/p>\n

Today, one of the most highly skilled professions in Britain, university teaching, is dominated by zero-hours contracts, temp agencies, and other forms of precarious conditions, while many tasks that relate to areas in which we have world-leading expertise are outsourced to morally dubious consultancy firms. A staggering number of early-career academics are affected by precarity, but none more so than international staff, who are not only uncertain about their full time job prospects, but flat out prevented from enjoying basic academic freedoms (from supporting strike action to attending conferences abroad, and participating in long-term fieldwork). No matter how much energy and effort one puts in navigating the byzantine bureaucracy, the product might be a standardized letter from the Home Office:<\/span><\/p>\n

\u2018As you appear to have no alternative basis of stay in the United Kingdom you should now make arrangements to leave. If you fail to make a voluntary departure a separate decision may be made later to enforce your removal.\u2019<\/span><\/p>\n

We continue to champion our \u2018global outreach and commitment to global research\u2019, yet fail to provide even basic assistance for international staff. Our HR processes and visa teams seem increasingly forced to focus on compliance first (and sometimes compliance only), rather than on providing support to staff and students. The glossy \u2018welcome package\u2019 sent out to those who survive the immigration process contains little more than empty slogans and a list of overpriced and opportunistic relocation services. Rather than selling narratives of the ‘Global University’ (at open days and to our colleagues abroad with whom we are asked to network), let\u2019s try addressing the realities of people leaving the UK over Brexit, and the increasingly hostile environment for international staff.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fortnightly during term time. Letters, contributions, & comments: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk Back issues & subscription details:\u00a0http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/about\/ In this issue: editorial,\u00a0hostile environment (x4), sticky wiki, Gary on teacher (x4), flounders, surveying the surveyors (x2), democracy, LUSU (x3), crazy paving, gradballs (x2), lost & … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":568,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[333,69,355,356,360,332,354],"class_list":["post-612","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-editorial","tag-anti-casualisation","tag-brexit","tag-hostile-environment","tag-international-staff","tag-internationalisation","tag-issue-178","tag-precarity"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p99sHo-9S","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":1122,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2019\/12\/13\/subtext-191-fresh-from-the-fridge\/","url_meta":{"origin":612,"position":0},"title":"subtext 191 – ‘fresh from the fridge’","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"December 13 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Every so often during term time. Letters, contributions, & comments: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk Back issues & subscription details: http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/about\/ In this issue: editorial, strike, bailrigg hundreds, emeriti, hong kong, hostile environment, loos, widden, letters. ***************************************************** EDITORIAL A new dawn has risen on a new day and a new government. Our next chance\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "editorial"","block_context":{"text":"editorial","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/editorial\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":608,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/05\/24\/subtext-goes-stratospheric\/","url_meta":{"origin":612,"position":1},"title":"SUBTEXT GOES STRATOSPHERIC","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"May 24 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"During their routine enquiries, the subtext drones perused the university\u2019s Wikipedia page. To our delight, they found that our humble little publication is not only listed in the citations, but also mentioned and quoted in the \u2018Joint Programmes\u2019 section! No guesses as to which joint programme we are mentioned in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":838,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/11\/23\/hostile-environment-update\/","url_meta":{"origin":612,"position":2},"title":"HOSTILE ENVIRONMENT UPDATE","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"November 23 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"A petition has been launched against the fees charged to non-EEA citizens working at Lancaster, and the University's (in)activity in helping those who have to pay them. Supporters note that, whilst some universities fully cover these costs, Lancaster's loan scheme fails to cover all relevant expenses and must be repaid\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":845,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/11\/23\/subtext-183-white-man-in-lancaster-sugarhouse\/","url_meta":{"origin":612,"position":3},"title":"subtext 183 – \u2018(white man) in lancaster sugarhouse\u2019","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"November 23 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Every so often during term time. Letters, contributions, & comments: subtext-editors@lancaster.ac.uk Back issues & subscription details: http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/about\/ In this issue: editorial, snowsports special report, demo in the square, charges for overseas staff, lost and found, shart, letters. ***************************************************** EDITORIAL For the past week it appears University House has been on\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "editorial"","block_context":{"text":"editorial","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/editorial\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":578,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/05\/24\/letters-13\/","url_meta":{"origin":612,"position":4},"title":"LETTER","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"May 24 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"Dear subtext, Xin ch\u00fac m\u1eebng, to the writer of the Saigon evacuation piece!\u00a0 Actually stayed at my desk to finish reading it, guffawing all the way! Keep it up, colleagues Jackie H","rel":"","context":"In "letters"","block_context":{"text":"letters","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/letters\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":644,"url":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/2018\/06\/07\/another-glorious-victory-for-subtext\/","url_meta":{"origin":612,"position":5},"title":"ANOTHER GLORIOUS VICTORY FOR SUBTEXT","author":"Johnny Unger","date":"June 7 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"In subtext 178, we helpfully noted that LUSU's online general meeting was not only completely unconstitutional, but also easy to game, as it was possible for students to vote as many times as they wished. Since our report, we note that LUSU has sent out a 'special newsletter' to promote\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "news"","block_context":{"text":"news","link":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/category\/news\/"},"img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/568"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=612"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":614,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/612\/revisions\/614"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=612"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=612"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/wp.lancs.ac.uk\/subtext\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=612"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}