Experiences of academic-activists in Ireland: comfortable and uncomfortable activism in the current institutional environment

Abstract

While there is a lack of academic-activist themed literature within the Irish context, it is evident that academic-activism is becoming an increasingly relevant topic given this period of undoubtable social change. The emergence of literature depicting academia as an unsupportive environment suggests that activism is not supported in a higher educational setting. This paper draws on the experiences of 33 Irish-based academic-activists and investigates the concepts of comfortable and uncomfortable academic-activism which were identified during the analysis. By exploring the experiences of academic-activists at varying career stages, this article argues that an academic’s ability to exercise academic freedom is influenced by the type of activism, the sociopolitical identity of the individual and the institutional environment. Overall, this paper offers interesting comparisons between disadvantaged/marginalised academic-activists in comparison to those in more privileged positions.