Re-collections of acts and enactors of resistance: Challenging discourses of intellectual marginality and academic freedom within Indian universities

Social marginality and injustice often intersect in hegemonic perceptions of intellectual authority. To learn about alternative worldmaking within conditions of socio-political change, 46 academics from within 30 institutions participated in a study to archive their life histories. Each contributed to addressing social injustice, at various points from 1963-2024, and were some of the ‘first’ to enter the academic profession in India of their social groupings. Data generation included recorded oral discussions with Dr Dhawan (Women’s Studies), and photo-talk discussions with Prof Belluigi (Critical University Studies). These engendered self-criticality about their positionality, ethico-political frames, and relationships within and beyond the institutional murus. Creative storytellers and visual artists then offered intergenerational interpretations. The paper explores (in)sights into the constructions of these transformative intellectual authorities as im/perfect enactors, and individual and collective acts of resistance against injustice as de/idealisations of academic freedom, which de-centre dominant tropes of leadership.