Navigating privilege and precarity: A reflexive inquiry into identity, academia, and Indian media industries

This autoethnographic study explores the interplay of identity, privilege, and precarity in academic research. Reflecting on a migrant academic’s journey across India, Australia, Germany, and the Netherlands, the article interrogates how caste, class, and religious background shape both scholarly inquiry and professional trajectories. It examines structural exclusions, the performative dimensions of academic labor, and methodological dilemmas in studying informal media economies. Drawing from reflexive and interdisciplinary perspectives, the study critiques hierarchical knowledge production and institutional biases while advocating for greater critical self-awareness in global academia and media industry research.