Advice on Edited Volumes

One of my co-editors sent me this link about the pitfalls of participating in edited volumes. Since I'm currently in the middle of editing a volume, and organizing a conference to produce another volume, I found this article dreadfully amusing. Here's an excerpt of what Joseph Weiler, President of EUI writes:

The routine is well-known and well-practised. You receive an invitation to present a paper at some conference. You accept (see below). You may adapt something you have already written or something that you are working on which is in some way connected. It is often not exactly what the conveners had asked for or had in mind, but perhaps close enough so as not to have to reject the invitation. The conveners are often accomplices in this little approximation. They are committed to the conference; it is often part of some grant they have received. Almost always you are pressed for time – after all it is not as if these invitations arrive when you are sitting back, twiddling your thumbs and looking for things to do. In general they are disruptive of your flow of work. So the result is not as good as it might have been... 

You attend the conference. It shows. The papers presented are of very variable quality and relevance. There is the usual conference overload so that the habitual 10-15 minute ‘commentator’ input may be interesting but of limited value to your paper... 

...The book is then published with an enticing title and on occasion wonderful artwork. More often there is ‘programmatic artwork’: flags, a globe, whatever. The publishers assess the captive market and act accordingly. The print runs are small, the price typically exorbitant and in any event unattractive for individual purchase. It is common that the conveners have budgeted a subsidy to the publishers. An expensive cemetery – rightly so. If you are lucky, the book may be reviewed. And if you are even luckier, the review will be more than, well, a rehashed version of the ‘Introduction’ and road map.

Part of our group at a conference at Deakin University
(Melbourne) in June 2015. We already replaced someone
from this group which attests to some of the challenges of  pursuing
edited volumes, but also our commitment to ensuring quality.
Photo Credit: Alfred Deakin Institute for Citizenship and Globalisation 

I pretty much agree with everything above and the entire blog post. But based on my limited experience (n=2) organizing collaborative projects, I still believe there is much intellectual and professional merit in putting together such volumes. To give the concrete example of our work on North Korean human rights (NKHR) discourse and advocacy, I have learned much about this issue from our collaboration. I do believe our understanding of NKHR discourse and advocacy networks is poorly understand, and that collectively we have something to say on this matter which is new and different, and hopefully useful.

The volume is not simply a check box to satisfy our funders. There is no way my co-editor and I would spend countless hours, at times neglecting family duties. to do this project if we didn't believe there was some intellectual and practical value behind our efforts. Admittedly, the hardest part has been getting our collaborators to get on board and push them in the direction we'd like. But I'm confident our upcoming conference and follow-up book workshop will motivate us to put together something coherent and meaningful. That's the challenge ahead of us as we approach our big event in a few weeks!

Academic Dads on the Homefront

Our wild kids in a rare state of calm

My wife seems pretty stressed lately. Mounting work, a long overdue promotion, work travel, looking for childcare, house hunting, and kids running wild at home (ages 3.5 and 1.5) have taken its toll. Although my parents are thankfully visiting from Ohio to help with the kids temporarily, their unsolicited but well-intentioned dose of parenting advice mixed with constant worry about how we’re going to manage everything probably doesn’t help with stress.

So when I read Princeton political scientist Anne Marie-Slaughter’s article, “Don’t worry, working moms: Just leave Dad in charge at home” in the Washington Post, I got a good chuckle (this is another sequel to her “Why Women Can’t Have it All” article from two years ago). That seems to be the default option already in families with young kids when dad is the professor with the flexible schedule and mom has a great full time (and higher paying) career which requires more hours in the office and travel.

Although we put in roughly an equal amount of time into household work and parenting, I sometimes think my wife feels slightly guilty that she’s not doing enough as a mother. Times are changing though with many dual-income parents so I suspect we’ll see more families shifting away from traditional parenting roles to find the optimal work-life balance. So Yoon, hang in there. I know you're doing your best. And kids and housework ...  I say bring it on!