Flourishing in fragile academic work spaces and learning environments: feminist geographies of care and mentoring

Abstract

In this article we discuss the ways in which a feminist ethos of care and the associated practice of mentoring allows feminist geography to flourish in teaching, working and learning spaces. We argue that our working relationship – based on care, mentoring and friendship – is crucial in order to survive and deflect structural inequalities. Our working relationship spans across undergraduate, graduate, postgraduate and early career stages at a single university. We offer our personal stories as examples of establishing and maintaining collaborative mentoring and caring work relationships. Further, our commitment to a feminist ethos of care and mentoring is vital for our selfcare and causes trouble for structural power differentials. First, we share stories about how our working relationship began and developed within the critical, caring and fragile spaces of the Geography Programme at the University of Waikato and other feminist geography networks. Second, literature on care, mentoring and collaboration is discussed, with a focus on feminist politics of mentoring and collaboration. Third, we return to our own experiences to illustrate the ways embodied and emotional subjectivities and associated power dynamics shape mentoring and care relationships. Examples of joint supervision and research are offered to illustrate complex sets of spatially significant emotions, feelings and subjectivities. Finally, we highlight the ways in which place matters if feminist geography is to flourish.

Keywords:

• Care
• collaboration
• emotions
• feminist politics
• mentoring
• personal

Acknowledgements

We are indebted to our local, national and global communities of feminist and queer geographers - past and present - who continue to inspire, support, care and mentor. Special thanks goes to Pamela Moss for leading and supporting reflections on 25 years of Gender, Place and Culture. We are grateful for the excellent editorial advice and leadership from Katherine Brickell. Anonymous reviewers provided wonderful insights on how our manuscript could be strengthened. Ngā mihi ki a koutou katoa.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Gail Adams-Hutcheson

Dr Gail Adams-Hutcheson is a teaching fellow in geography at the University of Waikato in Aotearoa New Zealand. Her research focuses on the emotional and affective spaces of transient communities and her interests include intimate methodologies; feminist geographies; emotional geographies; disasters at the scale of the individual; mobilities and farming. Gail’s most recent articles Farming in the troposphere: drawing together affective atmospheres and elemental geographies and Challenging the masculinist framing of disaster research highlights her engagement with feminist geography in Aotearoa. E-mail: [email protected]

Lynda Johnston

Lynda Johnston is Deputy Dean, Associate Dean Academic and Professor of Geography at the University of Waikato. The current Chair of the International Geographical Union Commission on Gender and Geography (2016–2020) and President of the New Zealand Geographical Society, Lynda has also served as Editor for Gender, Place and Culture: A Journal of Feminist Geography.

Using critical and transformative theories, Lynda has pursued community-based research on the challenges and spatial complexities of inequalities. She was a founding member (from 2007) and co-chair of the group Hamilton Pride Incorporated and has organised numerous community events – workshops, symposiums, art installations, panel discussions– to advocate for queer geographies of belonging.