Worth, Wonder and Worry in the Accelerated Academy

Abstract

This chapter gives no advice or guidance on how to be creative or innovative. Instead, it tells a story about the worries and anxieties one may encounter when conducting research. The chapter tells a story of encountering an absence of wonder and a presence of mundanity, and the worries this induced in its author, an early career researcher. But rather than succumb to individualized explanations, the chapter attempts to situate these feelings within the context of the contemporary accelerated academy. The chapter thus argues that the contemporary academy is structured by modes of worth that privilege demonstrable, economic value and productivity, actively inducing feelings of worry and anxiety.