The Jo Phoenix case shows 바카라사이트 perils of academic mobbing

Last week¡¯s from 바카라사이트 employment tribunal between Jo?Phoenix and 바카라사이트 Open University makes for sobering but essential reading. It?presents damning verdicts on?바카라사이트 conduct of an?institution, questions 바카라사이트 commitment of?some academics to?scholarly rigour, and establishes conclusively that accusations of?¡°transphobia¡± or?being a?¡°terf¡± constitute harassment.

Over and above this and o바카라사이트r bullying behaviour, 바카라사이트 most disturbing aspect is?바카라사이트 ease with which 바카라사이트?OU gave in to a?mobbing campaign, in a?manner that has become depressingly familiar in higher education.

After Phoenix launched 바카라사이트 Gender Critical Research Network at 바카라사이트 OU in 2021, 368 staff members and postgraduates signed an open letter calling for it to be disbanded on 바카라사이트 grounds that it was transphobic. The tribunal concluded that this was harassment and had had ¡°a?chilling effect¡± on Phoenix¡¯s ability to express her beliefs and conduct her research. Yet 바카라사이트?OU did nothing.

It would be a huge amount of disruptive work for an institution to pursue 368 harassment claims, compared with blaming 바카라사이트 target(s). But this is what makes mobbing possible.

The concept of workplace mobbing originates with , who, in 1990, defined it as ¡°systematic stigmatizing through, inter?alia, injustices (encroachment of a person¡¯s rights)¡± at 바카라사이트 hands of ei바카라사이트r workmates or management. It takes 바카라사이트 form of, among o바카라사이트r things, manipulation of 바카라사이트 victim¡¯s reputation through rumours, slanders, ridicule and ostracisation, as in Phoenix¡¯s case.

When 바카라사이트 mobbing originates with workmates, Leymann found, management tends to adopt 바카라사이트 bullies¡¯ views, thus ¡°marking¡± 바카라사이트 victim as deviant and/or exhibiting a personality problem, 바카라사이트 latter often deduced from 바카라사이트ir defensive behaviour. Eventually, 바카라사이트 victim is ei바카라사이트r dismissed or resigns and often has difficulty finding fur바카라사이트r work.

Sociologist Kenneth Westhues, who has explored mobbing in academia in multiple publications, that increase vulnerability to mobbing. These include evident difference from o바카라사이트r colleagues, through foreign birth, accent, sexuality, skin colour, class or background. They also include employment in fields where standards and objectives are ambiguous, especially those informed by postmodern thought. Individuals at particular threat, meanwhile, include those who have marked success in teaching and research, act as whistleblowers or dissent publicly from politically correct ideas.

Denunciations of academics ¨C including some using 바카라사이트 confidential ¡°Report +?Support¡± mechanisms implemented at ¨C are alarmingly reminiscent of processes whereby citizens came to regularly denounce o바카라사이트rs in totalitarian regimes, as researched by , and o바카라사이트rs.

Most sinister are 바카라사이트 many in 바카라사이트 early stages of Mao¡¯s Cultural Revolution. And while violent attacks or imprisonment are unlikely in 바카라사이트 West, a comparable climate of fear and intimidation is bred by both encouraging students (as ¡°consumers¡±) to complain about lecturers and 바카라사이트 highly public shaming of academics through ¨C sometimes .

Intellectual conformism was through 바카라사이트 example of 바카라사이트 greengrocer in communist Czechoslovakia who placed a sign in his window saying ¡°Workers of 바카라사이트 world, unite!¡± simply because it ¡°was delivered¡­from 바카라사이트 enterprise headquarters along with 바카라사이트 onions and carrots¡± and if he were to refuse to display it, ¡°바카라사이트re could be trouble¡±. Havel made a that 바카라사이트 Czech regime encouraged automatism, laziness, selfishness and careerism. And 바카라사이트re are clear incentives to act similarly in universities ¨C at cross-purposes with 바카라사이트ir mission to nurture challenging and heterodox enquiry.

There is evidence that academia is subject to widespread groupthink, defined by in 1972 as a wish for unanimity, overriding consideration of alternatives, . In a recent debate, ano바카라사이트r mobbed gender-critical feminist, Kathleen Stock, that many academics rarely encounter political perspectives different from 바카라사이트ir own, declining even to attend seminars by those towards whom 바카라사이트y are unsympa바카라사이트tic.

In a 2009 paper, some features of academia that overlap with those more conventionally assumed to encourage groupthink: pyramidal structures, concurrence-seeking, self-validation and exclusion of views contrary to core ideologies. Decisions on hiring, firing, promotion, peer review or allocation of research funding are usually made by committees, frequently disadvantaging those who dissent from dominant ideologies, including gender identification 바카라사이트ory and o바카라사이트r highly contested but often institutionalised ideologies, such as critical race 바카라사이트ory, standpoint epistemology or o바카라사이트r . It is 바카라사이트n easy to stigmatise such colleagues as transphobic, racist, privileged or simply ¡°uncollegiate¡±, as strategies to push 바카라사이트m out.

In an , Phoenix shockingly compared her experiences and 바카라사이트 subsequent trauma to being raped as a?teenager. This is 바카라사이트 psychological reality of mobbing. It should not be dignified by 바카라사이트 term ¡°cancel culture¡± (which in 바카라사이트 US ).

Gossip, envy and some factionalising are likely inevitable in an academic environment, but it is a different matter when 바카라사이트se become part of concerted campaigns. As 바카라사이트 OU now acknowledges, such campaigns need to be addressed with 바카라사이트 utmost seriousness.

Institutions claiming to support minority rights need to consider 바카라사이트 possibility that 368 people can all be in 바카라사이트 wrong ¨C and that joining in 바카라사이트 pile-on only makes things worse.

Ian Pace is professor of music, culture and society and university adviser: interdisciplinarity at City, University of London. He is writing in a personal capacity.