"An Instrument for Adoration": A Mini-manifesto Against Metrics for the Humanities (to be Elaborated Upon at a Later Date)
Creators: name: Joy, Eileen
Publisher: name: meson press
Year: 2018
Subjects: subject: Scholarly publishing
subject: Open access publishing
subject: Evaluation

description: This mini-manifesto takes a firm and unwavering stand against any and all metrics that might be devised to measure scholarly productivity, "outcomes," and the value of scholarship in the humanities. Regarding the notion of a "humane" or "humanistic" metrics for scholarship produced in the Humanities, we don't need more "humane indicators of excellence" for measuring the "impact" of work in the Humanities; we need to reject metrics, period, arguing that we need to fight, with every tool and techne at our disposal, the fetishization of data (and excellence) in the Neoliberal University. Following the work of Zachary Kaiser ("CitationBomb"), Like Zachary Kaiser, this manifesto seeks "a world in which the production of knowledge becomes 'an instrument of adoration' for the unknown, for that which escapes language and cannot be found in the totalizing cybernetic dream of prediction and control."

This mini-manifesto was published in the pamphlet "Humane Metrics / Metrics Noir" (published by Post Office Press + meson press) in a series of 7 pamphlets as part of the Radical Open Access II conference, which took place June 26-27 at Coventry University. More information about this conference and about the contributors to this pamphlet can be found at: http://radicaloa.co.uk/conferences/ ROA2. This pamphlet was made possible due to generous funding from The Post Office, a project of Coventry University's Centre for Postdigital Cultures and the combined efforts of authors, editors, designers & printers.
description: This mini-manifesto takes a firm and unwavering stand against any and all metrics that might be devised to measure scholarly productivity, "outcomes," and the value of scholarship in the humanities. Regarding the notion of a "humane" or "humanistic" metrics for scholarship produced in the Humanities, we don't need more "humane indicators of excellence" for measuring the "impact" of work in the Humanities; we need to reject metrics, period, arguing that we need to fight, with every tool and techne at our disposal, the fetishization of data (and excellence) in the Neoliberal University. Following the work of Zachary Kaiser ("CitationBomb"), Like Zachary Kaiser, this manifesto seeks "a world in which the production of knowledge becomes 'an instrument of adoration' for the unknown, for that which escapes language and cannot be found in the totalizing cybernetic dream of prediction and control." This mini-manifesto was published in the pamphlet "Humane Metrics / Metrics Noir" (published by Post Office Press + meson press) in a series of 7 pamphlets as part of the Radical Open Access II conference, which took place June 26-27 at Coventry University. More information about this conference and about the contributors to this pamphlet can be found at: http://radicaloa.co.uk/conferences/ ROA2. This pamphlet was made possible due to generous funding from The Post Office, a project of Coventry University's Centre for Postdigital Cultures and the combined efforts of authors, editors, designers & printers.