Shereen Benjamin (University of Edinburgh)

Election address

I'm a Senior Lecturer in Primary Education at the University of Edinburgh. I've held various roles on the branch UCU committee, including Equality Officer, leading local negotiations on workload, and being part of the anti-casualisation negotiating team. I've worked in peace and justice movements since the 1980s: I fought against Section 28 and still consider myself a Greenham Common woman. My teaching and research in the intersection of gender, class and disability in schooling inform my activism within UCU, which is directed towards the disproportionate effects of the marketisation of HE on disadvantaged and marginalised groups. 

Building participative democracy

I'm standing for election because I believe our sector is in crisis. The corporatisation of post-school education is failing, and UCU needs to lead in reclaiming education as a public good for public benefit. If elected onto NEC I will advocate for radical reform of university governance, placing participative democracy at the heart of both our vision for the sector and our own union structures. I was inspired by attending the international strike school earlier this year, alongside many UCU activists. Approaches discussed at the school - working with local communities to build strong workplace unions connected with the people we serve - have the potential to transform our branches and through them our sector. I will press for NEC to take the lead in building a vibrant, participative, democratic union.

Promoting respectful dialogue

Participative democracy requires respectful, evidence-based dialogue. As a lifelong feminist and lesbian and gay rights activist, and a member of the Labour Women's Declaration working group, I've been dismayed by the tone of the discussion on sex and gender identity within and beyond our union. If elected, I will work towards finding ways for UCU to open up comradely dialogue about women's sex-based rights and trans people's rights, addressing conflicts where they exist, and building bridges where they need to be built. 

Defending Academic Freedom

The corporatisation of universities has seen assaults on academic freedom, as managers seek to placate rather than challenge student 'consumers'. In times of precarity, it is more important than ever for UCU to safeguard freedom for academics to challenge received wisdom and express unpopular opinions. We are currently seeing threats to academic freedom in relation to issues such as Palestine solidarity and antisemitism, the Prevent agenda, sex and gender identity, and the 'hostile environment' for migrants. Academics are being no-platformed or are self-censoring, leading to conferences and talks being cancelled and research not being done. UCU's established policy support for academic freedom requires actions as well as words: if elected, I will work to ensure that NEC provides leadership in standing up to University managements wherever protection for academic freedom is threatened.