Excellence is a neo-colonial agenda...and what we can do about

Excellence is a Neo-colonial Agenda
@cameronneylon
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0068-716X
Perspectives on Research Excellence in the Global South
Johannesburg, 12 July 2018
…and what we can do about it

…is a Neo-colonial Agenda
Excellence…

Excellence…
…and what we can do about it

“[…a] commitment
to excellence and
advancement on merit”
University College London

Pursuit of excellence:
We strive
for excellence, seeking
to apply the highest
standards to benefit…
University of Queensland

…to strive
for excellence and
distinction…
Curtin University

We prize excellence
Cape Peninsula
University of Technology

We demand excellence
University of Westminster

…with world-
class excellence
across all of its
departments
Princeton

As a world-leading centre of
academic excellence we aim…
University of Edinburgh

The university counts the diversity of
its community as […] integral to its
mission of excellence, and it is
committed to diversity and
inclusiveness in both educational…
University of Maryland

excellence in professionally
relevant teaching
University of Westminster

excellence in research
and education
Indiana University

excellence in research,
education and knowledge
exchange
Strathclyde University

excellence in teaching,
research, and public
engagement
Cornell University

…a center of
excellence for cultural,
athletic and other events
University of Toledo

How can we determine or measure…
“excellence”?

We prize
academic excellence at UC Davis.
More than 500 of our faculty have
earned prestigious [..] honors[..]
rank[ings]. UC Davis

Pursuing excellence means being
satisfied with no less than the
highest goals we can envision.
University of Missouri

Pursuing excellence involves being
informed by regional, national and
global standards, as well as our
personal expectations. University of Missouri

“excellence” is the holy
grail of academic life
Michèle Lamont
How Professors Think

excellence is produced and
defined in a multitude of sites
and by an array of actors
Michèle Lamont
How Professors Think

“excellence” tells us nothing
about how important the science is
and everything about who decides.
Jack Stilgoe
Against Excellence

Using the word
excellence
is a way of avoiding
a difficult conversation

Using the word
excellence
is a way of saying
something is being or
has been done

Using the word
excellence
is a way of using words
that are neither true
nor false

Using the word
excellence
is a way of obscuring
the facts of the matter
that should be discussed

“[The purpose of bullshit] is to
impress the listener and the reader
with words that communicate that
[…]something is being or has been
done, words that are neither true
nor false, and so obscure the facts of
the matter being discussed”
Harry Frankfurt

Impact
“excellence” becomes a performance

Impact
…performance of
“excellence”

Impact
…in the place of
excellent performance

Excellence…
…is contextual

Excellence…

…in a post-colonial context
Knowledge production…

…for international profile

…for local problem solving

…for absorptive capacity

…for Keynesian economics

…is resource intensive

…needs to be done well

What does it mean for it…
…to be done well?

Is there local capacity to tell if…
…it is done well?

This is a classical
…post-colonial analysis

Excellence…
…in its implementation is new

Excellence…
…with new models and new actors

Excellence…
…with new models and new actors
…and new forms of structural bias

0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
% contributor to mortality
#ofSAWoSArticles2013-18
Stroke
Diabetes
Heart Disease
Lower Respiratory Infection
Diarrhoea
Road Injury

0
200
400
600
800
1000
1200
0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8
% contributor to mortality
#ofWoSArticles2013-18
0
1000
2000
3000
4000
5000
6000
7000
0 20 40
HIV
Stroke
Diabetes
Heart Disease
Lower Respiratory Infection
Diarrhoea
Road Injury

…change the rhetoric
In the abstract…

…change the rhetoric
In the abstract…
…‘qualities’ (plural) in
the place of excellence

…build institutions
In the ‘this is hard’ basket…
…and culture

…make flexibility a key
In the pragmatic, short term…
requirement in choices
…enabling capacity building

…lead the world
In the aspirational, longer term…

0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
HIV
Stroke
Diabetes
HeartDisease
Lowerrespiratory
infections
Diarrhoea
Roadinjury
% OA South Africa vs Netherlands

…lead the world
In the aspirational, longer term…
…back to where we should be

@cameronneylon
http://orcid.org/0000-0002-0068-716X

Excellence is a neo-colonial agenda...and what we can do about

Excellence is a neo-colonial agenda...and what we can do about

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Excellence is a neo-colonial agenda...and what we can do about