Andrea Smith talk

I went to a talk by Andrea Smith yesterday. It was an event organized by an undergraduate group interested in Native American issues, and the talk evolved around Smith’s recent Amnesty International commissioned report on violence against Native American women, Maze of Injustice (?). I got note of the event at the last minute and decided to go because I wanted to hear Smith talk. With the recent uproar regarding her tenure case at the U of Michigan, I wanted to know more about this scholar cum activist.

I’m glad I went, although it kind of broke into my evening schedule. The way she approached the issue of violence against Native American women, through a grassroots organizing mode rather than through a resort to the criminal justice system, made me rethink what I said about what the Korean government should do about the Vietnamese women in Korea. (I still think the government should do something, but now I see more clearly that that’s not enough.) What she said about non-profit organizations also brought to light the limits of community work funded by federal or multinational corporate dollars. With her list of publications and record of scholarship, I’m surprised she didn’t get tenure at Michigan. As many people have noted, it’s even more surprising that it’s the women’s studies program that reviewed her negatively for tenure. (She holds a joint appointment between American Culture and Women’s Studies.) Who knows what’s going on internally when it comes to these things. I hope all works out well for her.