On Neoliberal Thirst, Audit Hunger, and Sustaining Strengths-Based Research in Community and Academy

Abstract

This article begins with an explanation of questions of neoliberalism in academia in an era of audit culture; the markers of successful academic projects (such as publication outputs) are challenged. Barriers to and dissemination of Community-Based Participatory Arts and Research (CBPAR) are discussed, such as the discrepancy between the lived experience of community members and potential peer reviewers. Following this discussion, a participatory project is outlined in which the authors seek to capture the untapped creativity of people with FASD, such as capacity for fluid improvisation. Deficits of FASD are reconfigured in an artistic space to capture creativity and lived experience.