Precarious subjectivities in academia: The experience of the HumanS@Meetings project

This paper situates the interest in precarity among doctoral students and early career researcher as vulnerable subjects. Using a critical psychological interpretation of the notion of precarity, we argue that doctoral students are vulnerable subjects at the personal, organizational, and societal levels. On the one hand, vulnerability appears in the quest for meaning, identity, and self-actualization. On the other hand, it appears objectively with organizational and societal constraints. Situating in the debate on precarity via this lens, we will introduce an alternative possibility for coexistence based on peer-/mutual- support among precarious and vulnerable doctoral students and early career researchers. Notably, we will present the HumanS@Meetings project, a self-organized community of doctoral students and early career researchers for mutual-support and peer-learning of the Department of Human Sciences at the University of Verona. Informal meetings of peer-learning and mutual-support represent a constant, but marginal and fragmented aspect in the experience of such subjects. Considering the potential benefitting characteristics of peer learning, there are reasons to support its realization in a more formal and institutionalized way. It can be a relevant way to deal with precarity at the subjective, organizational and societal levels. Ultimately, the article introduces the HumanS@Meetings, its structure, and the experience of the authors as both organizers and participants. Furthermore, the paper will advance possibilities for the future of precarious and vulnerable subjectivities, e.g., doctoral students and early career researchers. Lastly, the paper will speculate on its possibility against organizational and societal barriers.