Abstract
ABSTRACT In this article, we analyse the response of UK academics to the UK government decision to cut international development research funding as part of the overseas aid budget reduction, undertaken in March 2021. This decision affects and will have long-lasting effects on any research project involving the UK and international partners, particularly in Global South contexts. We use Critical Metaphor Analysis (CMA) to analyse news, blogs, interviews that UK-based academics wrote in response to the cuts announcement, from 11 March 2021 to 30 April 2021. We identified the following metaphors: CUTS ARE AN ENTITY; CUTS ARE A THREAT, CUTS ARE ILLNESS, CUTS ARE VIOLENCE; plus, on the other hand, RESEARCH IS HEALTH, RESEARCH IS A JOURNEY, RESEARCH IS CONNECTION. UK academics have used ‘idioms of distress’, which are cultural expressions, often metaphorical, through which people articulate distress. Therefore, our contribution is threefold. First, we suggest that the metaphors used have a persuasive and evaluative aim and function. Second, we open up a space for an interdisciplinarity between CMA and ‘idioms of distress’. Third, we warn about the need for the UK government and responsible institutional bodies to restore communication and trust with the global academic research community in International Development.
Highlights
On 11 March 2021, the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) body, which leads research funding across the UK, announced a substantial reduction in the international development research budget as a result of the UK government decision to cut the overseas aid budget
We have analysed the metaphors used by UK academics to represent the research funding cuts decided by the UK government in March 2021, which saw hundreds of ongoing international research projects terminated, suspended, or significantly altered
The response of UK academics was strong and powerful, and we have analysed here some of the metaphors that were used: CUTS ARE AN ENTITY, and within that, CUTS ARE VIOLENCE, CUTS ARE ILLNESS, CUTS ARE A THREAT; and RESEARCH IS HEALTH, RESEARCH IS CONNECTION, and RESEARCH IS A JOURNEY
Summary
On 11 March 2021, the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) body, which leads research funding across the UK, announced a substantial reduction in the international development research budget as a result of the UK government decision to cut the overseas aid budget. An estimated 800 projects are having to face the consequences of the cuts and ‘reprofile’ their work, to use the metaphor of choice of UKRI, the funders. The outcome is uncertain and subject to much delay and several budget wranglings between UKRI and higher education institutions (HEIs) in the UK During this painful and chaotic time, UK-based academics, a number of affected projects’ principal investigators (PIs), have been campaigning publicly to reverse the decision in the press, on social media, and through petitions and letters to Parliament and their elected representatives
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