Theoria

Continuing the thread from yesterday, the point of my post wasn’t so much to brag about the speed at which I’m moving through my programme relative to the rest of the cohort. Nothing could be less interesting – that each person moves through their programme at their own pace is certainly a vulgar truism, but that doesn’t make it any less true. Ultimately, my over-present concern – and one that no doubt weighs on everyone in a doctoral programme – is the feeling that I am never doing enough. There’s always something more that could be done: another article or book read, another chapter or article written, another conference attended, another class to teach, and so on. The structure of graduate school depends upon this anxiety. Without this anxiety, which has its source in the anomie of being ABD, graduate school as we know it would end. However, this anxiety is precisely what will lead to the destruction of long-term thought and projects: the imperative to always be doing something – especially something new – prevents the long-term investment in multiple year long (or, heaven forbid, decade long) projects. Consequently, the so-called “hegemony” of “Theory” is rendered all but impossible as this demand for “new” work prevents slow unfolding thought and privileges quick, easy, accessibly “policy analysis” and “relevant” work.