Thinking again about how (or whether) debate in the field would change if we took into serious account that we, right now, may be all there ever will be.

We all know about the final tanking of the job markets. In history (and art history and French and and) many of our alma maters are no longer granting phds in our field. (English a major exception here but perhaps not for much longer.)

And maybe everything we hope comes to pass!
But maybe in less than another decade we have 4 institutions granting phds in the field, across all depts, in the US.

So how do we continue all the necessary debates currently pressing in the field if it's just us? If there are no future generations-- contingent or not, just not even trained in the first place?

And that "just us" is really complicated-- so few sr fac, few jr, and many, many contingent fac and grads.

I'm not even talking about punching down here. Just...field debates. They always exist. Currently they're of absolutely vital importance.
So how do we do that stuck, just us, on this island?

Do we vote people off?
Do we try to play it safe, not upset people?
But ofc people are human, no one's happy all the time, so when ppl Do react, what do we do?

Do we decide that some areas are just off-limits? That the work will not be done bc we haven't got enough of the people we think are right for the job?

What do we do about the very real, righteous pissed offedness over the lack of diversity in the field? When it very much looks like it will never improve, bc we are the last?

Can we accept that? If we do, does it open the possibility of reparations? What would that look like?
Prolly sound absurd to some, but, if we are The Last then does that not change the shape of the debate? Of future possibilities?

If we are The Last, and our debates do Not take that into account, are we genuinely trying to change the field with them? Or are we venting anger (a useful thing sometimes!) Do the debates mean different things if they aim at those goals?

If we are The Last what the hell do we do about the monsters, preying on members of our community, and covered by that community, for decades?

I donno. This year, we are all trying to survive, often in a terrifyingly immediate sense.
But when things ease, and they will eventually, we'll return to whatever we remember 'normal' being. Only it won't be, bc the unis will be poorer, & there will be even fewer of us.

And we will need to chuck "New Normal" all the way off the pier. We will need to rebuild New.

How many major field conferences can New support? How many journals and series? How do we carry on research in New? How do we handle the necessary work of assessment and review in the New?

Many of Just Us have no power or authority at all in our institutions, but we ARE our field.
We've got a lot. a LOT a lot. on our plates before then, but maybe thinking about how we might answer those questions can help just us, The Last, reach the New, past all this horror.