Abstract

Denmark has a strong tradition for doing critical analyses of the gendered inequalities of Danish academia – a critique that is particularly critical of gendered hiring practices. As such, Danish gender research has long grappled with the meta-scientific theories of positionality we recognize from e.g. Donna Haraway and Eve Sedgwick. However studies have yet to be conducted of the implicit and indirect inequalities that occur in the academic day-to-day experiences of researchers who are minoritized in more ways than their gender. Taking its point of departure in autoethnographic vignettes created during 3 years as a research-employee (PhD Fellow) as well as 7 years of teaching and supervising at 3 Danish universities, this article argues that Minority Taxation, a proposed Danish derivative of the US term Cultural Taxation (Padilla 1994), is a useful analytical tool for understanding the everyday experiences of structural inequalities in Danish academia. Minority Taxation covers both the concrete and affective extra-work minoritized academics are ‘taxed with’ performing due to structural inequalities. Deeming this form of work a tax aids in making more palpable the inequalities that can often seem hard to understand, quantify or negotiate.

Read more about Tess Sophie Skadegård Thorsen work here:

https://www.tessskadegardthorsen.com/

Article can be found here:

https://tidsskrift.dk/KKF/article/view/116115

About the speaker:

Tess Sophie Skadegård Thorsen is a doctoral candidate of media, race, gender, and representation at the Department of Politics and Society, at Aalborg University, Denmark. Thorsen’s research examines the practices of representation of various minoritized groups in the production of Danish film and in creative industries.

Tess Skadegård Thorsen, PhD Student
Department of Politics and Society, Aalborg University

********

The Gendering in Research Network provides a platform for gender researchers and students at Aarhus University to discuss, collaborate, and exchange ideas. For further information about the Gendering in Research Network, please contact: Lea Skewes, IMC Theresa Ammann, IMC

The Gendering in Research Network provides a platform for gender researchers and students at Aarhus University to discuss, collaborate, and exchange ideas. For further information about the Gendering in Research Network, please contact: