Co-constructing new ways of working: Relationality and care in post-pandemic academia

In this article, we write collectively, using an autoethnographic approach to problematize the pervasive neoliberal performance culture in Higher Education (HE). While exploring the challenges many of us faced during the pandemic under neoliberal HE demands, we critique conventional notions of the ideal worker manifest in neoliberal discourses of performance and excellence. We explore the potential for academics and academia at large for critical engagement with self-care and caring for/with others. By adopting a relational approach rooted in an ethics of care, this study contributes to reconfiguring HE cultures of ‘excellence’, pointing to how care and relationality at work might allow academics to change the discourse of academic value and practices. Our collective reflection observes that practicing care individually and collectively in everyday academic work may be a powerful force for community growth and change.