Finding faith in the face of ugly truths: solidarities and identities within and at the borderlands of the academy

Reflecting on the intractable challenges of transforming higher education, in this chapter I look particularly at the conditions which (in)form academics’ identities, their sense of purpose and agency within participation in higher education, and their sense of responsibility for shaping transformative change within the university and its functions of social formation and knowledge formation. Structured in two parts, I firstly paint four ‘ugly truths’ about the transformation of higher education in our times, drawing insights from the perspectives of those experiencing various forms of marginalisation within, those tasked with changing cultures and attitudes through, and those engaged in critical scholarship about the university. Inspired by a statement made in 2019 by a research participant - that “sustainability is based on the faith we have towards the work that we are doing” – the second part reflects on four possibilities for finding such faith in the face of ugly truths.