"The impediment to action advances action. What stands in the way becomes the way." - Marcus Aurelius
Dear qualitative Inquisitor,
It is National Minority Mental Health Awareness Month in America.
As July comes to the close, I have a few exciting updates to share with you and a modest ask. I would like to dedicate this edition to the resilience of academics, scholars, and professionals who continue their work despite immense personal and structural challenges.
Since the last edition, on Conducting Scholarship through Personal and Collective Crisis, that’s precisely what I’ve been reflecting on: the different ways we can sustain our efforts and continue moving forward in our scholarly journeys. In particular, I keep coming back to this question: If scholars continue despite crisis, how do we build structures that allow them to survive?
Over the past year, I’ve witnessed how resilience is not just an individual concept. We celebrate perseverance, but far less often do we ask what kinds of communities, institutions, and support systems make perseverance possible in the first place. That question has been with me throughout the past year and has become critical to the different ways I am fighting to sustain my own scholarship while waiting for doors to open through more traditional academic avenues.
Two years ago, I launched a summer funding initiative (a crowdfunding effort that later continued on another platform) to help me participate in two major political science conferences.
I relaunched that initiative this past month to make it happen again.
This initiative wasn’t simply about an underrepresented scholar trying to sustain her identity capital and social capital through a precarious time. It was also a statement of resilience, empowerment, inclusion, and community engagement in the face of great adversity.
An Underdog Journey
In a previous edition, I called this an “academic pilgrimage.”
Earlier this month, on July 9, I turned 42 and celebrated it by visiting the Martin Luther King Jr. Memorial Library for the first time ever, in Washington, DC. Here is my birthday post on Medium. And here is a birthday reflection thinking about the past five years from my personal blog, Chronicles of a Warrior KQueen.
Last week, on July 23, I also marked the five-year anniversary of defending my dissertation, with social media posts, and here in this piece:
And just yesterday, I was thinking about how five years ago, on this day, I submitted my dissertation and shipped it off to DC from Wisconsin during a Pandemic.
It’s now another year of resilience. Another year of nurturing scholarly apprenticeship, intellectual belonging, and refusing to let difficult circumstances define what is possible.
Over the past year, this community-powered academic initiative, though modest in scale, helped me continue presenting research, writing, and remaining engaged in scholarship while navigating the academic job market.
In this new season, I have now been honored to:
Receive an APSA Centennial Center Research Grant;
Be appointed as an APSA Centennial Center Visiting Scholar (beginning soon); and
Have research accepted for presentation at the PolNet Conference (University of Manchester) and the APSA Annual Meeting (Boston).
The night before my birthday, I also learned that I had been selected to receive an APSA travel grant to help offset some of the costs of attending PolNet. I am incredibly grateful and honored for that support.
Each of these small milestones has reminded me that difficult seasons do not erase years of preparation. Even when opportunities arrive later than expected, they still matter. They represent years of fieldwork, persistence, and refusing to give up on work that I believe has something important and meaningful to contribute.
While each of these milestones brings me one step closer, I am still diligently working to raise the remaining funds needed to attend both conferences this fall.
As I prepare to present my paper, “Network Fragility after USAID: Donor Centrality & the Bridging Link Fallacy in Development Governance,” I’ve been reflecting on why I chose the name Rise Beyond Margins.
As an independent scholar in transition and on the academic job market, I began exploring independent paths while continuing to pursue more formal opportunities. One of the greatest systemic barriers facing independent scholars is the lack of institutional funding support and resources.
When you are independent, you are largely on your own in finding resources, building collaborations, and sustaining your research. This is especially true when you are navigating the job market alone.
Independence brings freedom to pursue questions that matter to you, but it also means there is no department travel budget, no institutional research account, no administrative support, and often no academic community around you day to day. As a qualitative network scientist, I can attest the value of informal scholarly networks. Every conference, research trip, article, project and opportunity becomes something you have to build almost entirely yourself.
I know my journey represents what many would call an “underdog story”, but it’s not just about being a fighter and never giving up when you know what you are capable of doing. I’ve done the research, earned the qualifications, and built the work. What I need now is the opportunity to carry it forward, and a position that would allow me to pay it forward in the goal for lifelong learning.
Your support helps make that possible, and I believe stories like mine can inspire others to keep going, too.
After all, who doesn’t love an underdog story?
The Intellectual Justification
Yesterday, I shared an article on Medium titled “An Intellectual Justification for Community Powered Research.”
I am really proud of that piece, and I believe it speaks for itself. It is a longer piece than what you normally find in that platform, and I hope to develop it into a scholarly article in the near future. I had been holding onto those reflections for the entire year, and I felt it was finally time to share them publicly before the start of this new academic year.
I created this summer and fall crowdfunding campaign to help advance my journey of amplifying marginalized voices through critical scholarship. My hope is that it supports not only my own work, but also a larger conversation about exploring different avenues or building better support systems of resilience for underrepresented scholars.
Over the past two years, I’ve essentially been functioning as a self-funded independent postdoc, continuing my research, publishing more than 100 public articles (on Medium, Substack, and personal blogs) across a variety of topics, informally mentoring students and professionals, applying to hundreds of academic and industry jobs, and preparing my dissertation-to-book manuscripts and other works in progress for publication.
Much of this has only been possible because of the generosity of my family and a few close family friends.
Remarkably enough, this way of thinking also reflects many of the themes that have appeared throughout my own research. Whether studying rural development, localization, or indigenous models of self-help, I have repeatedly found that meaningful change rarely comes from individuals themselves. It emerges through relationships, mutual investment, and communities willing to support one another.
There are periods we have to walk alone. But we weren’t designed to operate completely alone.
As I close a challenging chapter, and continue into the next phase of my life, I see an opportunity to transform this into something even bigger: community-funded postdoctoral research, powered by people who believe in epistemic inclusion, or inclusive scholarship that uplifts underrepresented voices.
I realize this may sound unconventional in some spaces, it really isn’t. Even so, I think that is precisely why I find it important. Rather than waiting for institutions alone to determine whose work deserves to continue, what if communities themselves could help sustain scholarship they believe has public value? That possibility continues to inspire me.
And if you read my justification, you may be reminded that this concept already exists in other domains of life—from supporting political candidates to independent journalism and indie artists.
I view every contribution to this initiative as an act of collective action that does more than allow me to continue advancing a promising research and teaching agenda.
Maybe we can begin imagining the kind of academic future that institutions have yet to fully support.
Looking Ahead towards Community-Driven Scholarship
When I first built Rise Beyond Margins last year, I wasn’t simply thinking about conference travel. I was thinking about investing in a promising scholar’s academic journey.
My hope was that if the campaign exceeded its original goal, it could become something larger: a small, community-funded postdoc that demonstrated a different model of supporting scholarship when systemic barriers and limited institutional support stand in the way.
At this point, I honestly don’t know whether that vision is possible.
I don’t write that from a place of defeat. I write it from a place of reflection. Building something like this with limited social capital, and in spaces that haven’t welcomed it, can be difficult. Sometimes ideas take longer to find their community than we expect.
The initiatives I created have also made me reflect on how little community infrastructure exists to support independent scholars. I believe we need to do a much better job of supporting one another within academia.
At the same time, I’ve also reflected on where I could have done better myself.
Research is a public service. Amplifying underrepresented and marginalized voices is more important now than ever, and my own work has always centered on community empowerment as a public good.
Knowledge production and dissemination should not become accessible only to those fortunate enough to have stable institutional positions. Some of the most important questions are often being pursued by scholars navigating enormous uncertainty. Their work deserves the opportunity to continue as well.
Yet, as I study in my own research, much like indigenous models of self-help, empowerment also requires self-empowerment. And self-empowerment still involves a degree of interdependence with the community.
I increasingly see this initiative as:
A testament to resilience.
A reflection of continued scholarly activity.
An opportunity for people to better understand the realities independent, and/or underrepresented marginalized and vulnerable scholars face.
Building community-powered research also creates a sense of public and personal accountability. It makes you accountable not only to yourself or an institution, but also to your family, your community, and the people who believe enough in your work to help sustain it.
I consider this campaign as part of that journey.
Even if this support ultimately carries me through just another few months, or just for these particular conferences this year, I will still consider this a community-powered initiative. It’s on my CV. And I think it comes with an even greater responsibility to continue publishing, researching, and moving the work forward.
The Next Phase: Rise Beyond Margins 2.0
While I continue applying for grants and seeking institutional support, I am also expanding the campaign to support these three goals:
Attend the PolNet Conference and the APSA Annual Meeting.
Return to Karachi, Pakistan, for a two-week fieldwork expedition, partially supported by my APSA Centennial Center Research Grant.
Continue advancing the next phase of my research and writing in book manuscripts and other scholarly works in progress, partially supported through the APSA CCRG as well.
I know there are people who are willing to invest in these types of endeavors. Even when grants are awarded, we don’t know when those funds will actually be disbursed, and it doesn’t always cover all the costs. Community support helps bridge that uncertainty. If you are able to share this article or my campaign, and help me continue this work, I would be truly grateful.
Painting Heals
As part of this fundraiser, I have also relaunched my Painting Heals initiative.
This initiative accompanies all of my fundraising efforts, whether supporting the dissemination of research on development and humanitarian causes through Rise Beyond Margins or other humanitarian, mental health, and educational causes.
My hope is that once I have secured a more stable academic position, I can once again dedicate Painting Heals more fully to those broader causes of which it orginated. For now, I also see it as an important part of this academic initiative.
Painting has become another way I process difficult seasons. It has sustained the scholarship by helping sustain the scholar in an important way.
I share the origins and the meaning behind Painting Heals in this Medium article, alongside six new paintings added to the initiative this season.
I also want to remind people that crowdfunding has become a common way for individuals to pursue impactful work. I encourage you to amplify the initiatives of your peers and others, especially those facing structural barriers or livelihood challenges.
I truly believe in what I have said before:
No one should have to choose between their livelihood and their scholarship.
I want to emphasize, that even something as simple as engaging the initiatives, sharing it, or leaving a note of encouragement—whether there, or on social media or any place you see it—truly serves its purpose in showing how communities can support one another beyond conventional mediums that don’t fully serve everyone.
As I have written previously about belonging in academia, one of my greatest challenges has been securing opportunities while continuing research that I believe matters.
Ultimately, we should never be afraid to ask for help through challenging seasons. Nor should we feel there is anything inherently wrong with crowdfunding—with reaching out to communities for support. I truly hope you are able to read my intellectual justification behind it and share any feedback or thoughts!
And I look forward to updating you on the progress of this initiative in future editions!
Thank you for your generosity and support.
Moving Forward: Thank You for being Here
I was proud of the last edition, which I described as “an imperfect release during crisis.”
Now, having passed the five-year anniversary of earning my doctorate, there are many things I hope to release into the world: blog posts, academic job applications, research updates, pending article submissions, newsletter editions, and my presentations in Manchester and Boston.
With each one, I remind myself of the same lesson that helped me cross the finish line during my doctorate: my work does not have to be perfect to move forward. Nor do I.
Accepting that allowed me to finish my dissertation and persevere. I am trying to channel that same spirit now as I fight to sustain my scholarship.
Thank you for walking alongside me on this difficult journey. Whether you’ve been reading these newsletters since the beginning or have only recently joined, your presence tells me that scholarship is never entirely a solitary endeavor.
I hope we continue to stay connected, empowered, and resilient.
And I hope to see you again in the next edition!
In Solidarity & Peace,
Dr. Elsa
Further Reading
For this edition, I decided to focus on sharing my own reflections rather than highlighting news and other outside sources. This season has been one of building greater confidence in my own voice and defeating the ongoing “imposter syndrome,” so it felt fitting to close by sharing some of the essays I’ve written over the past few months. I hope to return to my usual format in future editions. Please feel free to share any feedback on The Qualitative Inquisition!
Here are the recent pieces that I referenced in this edition:
An Intellectual Justification for Community-Powered Research: Crowdfunding with Purpose: Sustaining Marginalized Scholarship and Reimagining Research Support for Epistemic Inclusion.
Painting to Heal & Rise: An Initiative for Art, Healing, and Advocacy: Empowering Education, Mental Health, and Humanitarian Impact.
Five Years: Commemorating The PHDefense: Reflections on Scholarship, Faith, Resilience, and the Road Ahead
A Summer Personal Reflection for BIPOC Mental Health Awareness: On Belonging, Stigma, Advocacy, and the Need to Be Heard
On the Longer Road to Becoming: Birthday Reflections on Purpose, Provision, and Beginning Again.
Approaching “Midlife” with the “Gilmore Girls”: A Mid-Summer Birth Month Reflection
Conducting Scholarship through Personal and Collective Crises: On Survival Mode, Autoethnography, and Writing amid Fragility.
I hope if this is your first time here, you may consider subscribing and joining this community at The Qualitative Inquisition!
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BOOK RECOMMENDATION
Million Dollar Weekend, by Noah Kagan
Since I am sharing this edition on the weekend, I think this is a great recommendation! Kagan writes a practical and surprisingly vulnerable book that argues one of the most valuable skills in life and work is simply learning to ask—because asking for help, opportunities, and support is often the first step toward making things happen. I was so inspired by this book that I wrote about it in 2024: Asking for Help is a “SuperPower”!
In the next 48 hours before I head to the University of Manchester, I would love to ask for your support for Rise Beyond Margins!
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QUOTE OF THE MONTH
“All your scholarship would be in vain if at the same time you do not build your character and attain mastery over your thoughts and your actions.”
- Mahatma Gandhi
Thank you for reading and engaging!
You can learn more about all my work HERE.
Feel free to subscribe to my academic newsletter, The Qualitative Inquisition (Qi), for insights on all things qualitative in the social sciences.
You can also subscribe to my creative atomic newsletter, Sword Dispatch: The WkQ Letters, for seasonal/quarterly insights on intersectionality, mental health, identity and social justice issues.
Please feel free to learn about and support my community-powered educational campaign: HERE. More on this in the forthcoming issues!
You can purchase my paintings for the campaign HERE.
If you find value in my writing and want to support independent scholars, writers, and artists, you can do so HERE.
Your support helps me continue writing, reflecting, painting, and resisting!
Thank you, I wish you well on your academic, writing, and artistic journey!