ABSTRACT

The academic subject may have an important role in anti-capitalist struggles. Understanding its formation is crucial to learn more about how capitalism alters subjects and subjectivities, especially in academia. Autoethnography is one of the key methods in this knowledge production; hence it can shed light on the very personal(-political) effects of a ‘systemic pedagogy’. This paper offers an autoethnographic account about my academic self. Following the approach of critical realism, it will enfold the different levels of reality: experience, actuality (with tendencies), and mechanisms. Starting from my personal story, it will arrive at the analysis of world system mechanisms that shape my subject. The dialectical analysis will lead to important conclusions for resistance and political-academic activism.