ABSTRACT
I have no recollection of being taught in my school that the laws were with me. Nor was I taught to hate. But along with millions of other people in the West in the 1960s, I was influenced profoundly by the singer Bob Dylan and, in more ways than one,‘grew up’ with him and with his songs of protest, remaining loyal to him to this day in spite of his flirtations with other musical styles.Those were the times of the Vietnam War and of the Civil Rights Movement in the USA, times when presidents were assassinated and African-Americans could not vote; when apartheid raged in South Africa.The words of Dylan’s mournful and often pessimistic songs instilled in me and raised awareness of injustices in the world – at least in the western world. Songs such as ‘The Lonesome Death of Hattie Carroll’,‘The Times They Are a Changin’ ’ and, of course, ‘Blowin’ in the Wind’ spoke to me and to others of my generation in ways that others did not. Dylan told stories through his poetry and his songs, stories that challenged what were dominant narratives of the day. He showed me that there were alternative, preferred stories that could be achieved if people worked together to challenge injustices; injustices that, in most cases, arose out of fear of difference. Difference, in particular cultural difference, is
a main theme of this book.Throughout it, I am seeking to be transparent in sharing my responses to working with people whose backgrounds differ from mine. I do this not to present myself as a person whose practice is exemplary, but as someone who is struggling with the layers of complexity present in 21st-century higher education. As I have reiterated throughout this book, categories of difference can be destabilised, but we need to acknowledge how differences work in the world, usually to execute differentiated and exclusionary practices; hence this chapter.
