Why Are We Having Different Experiences? Reflections of the GSA Committee on Institutional Transformation and Social Justice

Abstract

Why Are We Having Different Experiences?Reflections of the GSA Committee on Institutional Transformation and Social Justice Tiffany Florvil (bio), Alicia E. Ellis (bio), Damani Partridge (bio), Eli Rubin (bio), and Chunjie Zhang (bio) In March 2020, a new GSA committee was formed to address the issues of unequal and troubling experiences, particularly for Black, Indigenous, and People of Color at the German Studies Association conferences. While we started with the well-known moniker, Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion (DEI), as we began to think beyond inclusion into the existing framework, we requested that our name be changed to the Committee for Institutional Transformation and Social Justice (ITSJ). The new name, we believe, better expresses the needs and the aspirations that we think the GSA as a whole should have. As we began the discussion about changing both our name and mission, Irene Kacandes was chair and Venkat Mani was an active participant. Damani Partridge was on the executive board and came to the committee to discuss the broader critique of "diversity" and "inclusion," particularly in contexts in which these practices and terms did not lead toward institutional transformation.1 Venkat Mani completed his term on the committee in 2021 before the GSA meeting of 2021, and Irene Kacandes completed her term shortly thereafter. Chunjie Zhang subsequently joined the committee in addition to Damani Partridge. Most recently, after the 2022 GSA meeting, we have added a graduate student representative, Sascha Daniels. Since its inception, the committee has held monthly meetings and undertaken multiple actions, with a particular emphasis on the annual GSA conferences in 2021 and 2022. We are most grateful to the editor of German Studies Review, Katharina Gerstenberger, for generously providing us this opportunity to report our past and current work and to continue to expound upon our perspectives for the future. We also invite feedback and comments from the international readership in and outside [End Page 117] of the United States to enrich our work and make the GSA an even better and more creative community that affirms the principles supporting BIPOC, LGBTQI+, and disability scholars. From the start, the committee decided to become more than mere window dressing. We are deeply aware that institutional transformation and social justice cannot and should not only be the committee's responsibility; rather, these efforts demand broad attention and more extensive support from the entire membership. We are, of course, extremely grateful for the numerous invaluable suggestions that we have received from diverse members. It is clear that GSA members have good intentions and offer generous resources such as time and experience so that they, too, participate in change that addresses our overarching concerns, which we will discuss in greater detail below. The committee understands itself as a bridge between the membership at large and the GSA executive board. We will help to identify and move forward the most urgent issues and work to identify solutions and other modes of redress. As an example of our ongoing work, in May 2020, we drafted a letter to the entire GSA membership in the wake of the murder of George Floyd. We also discussed how to have productive collaborations with other scholarly organizations in addressing threats to international students. In 2021, the committee invested most of its energy toward holding a plenary at the GSA conference with the title "From Intent to Action: Inclusionary Practices for the GSA." We offered the plenary as a hybrid event, and are grateful to the GSA leadership, in particular Benita Blessing and Margaret Menninger, for working with us to address the technological challenges. After a short introduction and personal testimonies about issues concerning general participation and experiences of harm at the GSA expressed by some committee members, including Irene Kacandes, Alicia Ellis, Eli Rubin, and Tiffany Florvil, we broke into four groups, three remained online and one in person. While we did not conduct an official count, we estimate that over one hundred conference participants joined the plenary. In 2022, the committee helped draft two statements addressing the war in Ukraine and nationwide anti-trans legislation. At the 2022 GSA conference in Houston, the committee organized the roundtable, Whose Body? Whose State? to address issues of abortion...