Presented by the MSA’s Caucus for Contingent and Independent Scholars

The Modernist Studies Association Advocacy Handbook (available as a PDF presents recommendations for individuals, departments and institutions, professional societies, and event organizers to address the urgent need for support, advocacy, and action in the face of rising precarity and contingency; restructuring, retrenchment, and downsizing in the humanities in higher education; and the casualization of academic labor.

This handbook was compiled by members of the Modernist Studies Association over the course of two workshops held online on April 8th, 2022 and in person on October 28th, 2022. The workshops were sponsored by the Caucus for Contingent and Independent Scholars. Organizers and panelists included Emily Bloom, Kate Schnur, Charlotte Jones, Sejal Sutaria, Megan Faragher, Erin Kappeler, Karen Weingarten, Lisa Jong, Laura Hartmann-Villalta, and Laura Tscherry. During the workshops, participants brainstormed short- and long-term goals for addressing issues of contingency and precarious employment.

MSA members and nonmembers alike are asked to use the guidance provided by the handbook to commit to action that might effect positive change against the precarity that impacts us all.