It is not how clever you are but the privileges you have...

Some unpleasant hometruths struck the past few days. Going for an academic conference might seem the easiest thing in the world for most people. But that is just a fraction of the story told from one side of the world.

A student/academic in the Scientific sort of subjects - Maths, Physics, Engineering (perhaps many other scientific fields) is often sponsored for conferences. Those lucky to be in the Sciences are paid for going for conferences, paid for giving papers, sometimes in five star hotels with all expenses met.

The Arts contingent are not as fortunate. We pay for our conference attendance, even if we are presenting a paper. And finding funding for going for one, even in the UK, is virtually impossible. But still if one earns in £s paying for such conferences is not an issue. It is trivial.

For those in the Arts, living in the 'other world' where life is a bit more basic, where surviving the day, and making the salary stretch to survive the month, a conference is a different ball game. We do not pay a portion of our salaries, or savings. We clean out our savings and reduce ourselves to a zero in order to engage internationally with acedmia. And ofcourse we choose at that point, whether to progress in terms of our physical material needs, ie seek better living conditions, or seek intellectual progress. What a choice to make! Unfortunately those organising these conferences have no clue about the world we belong to. We are humilated into asking for concessions, and then treated haughtily as if we were begging. We often ask because we do not have...a humiliating position to be in to say the least. So, we save for months, maybe even years, wipe out our bank balances, and pay up in order to keep our intellectual interests alive. Alternatively we just give up and dry up, and just forget that we ever thought or engaged with issues.

Balance these odds in this lopsided game of academic excellence. The University I work for has little or no computer or internet facilities in the arts faculty. It has little or no books that one can borrow on any recent discourse from its library, and the British Council is closing down its library as it is not financially beneficial. We rehash photocopies of articles, that gradually fade as they are photocopied, we photocopy entire novels as there are no novels available for purchase. Few of us own computers or printers for that matter. Getting a print out is a long arduous journey to an internet cafe, that charges exhorbitant amounts for a single page.

Then add the vagaries of life. The regular bomb blasts, the rising costs of living, the imminent ethnic violence, the struggle to make ends meet, the exhaustion of using public transport, the unhappiness of suffering people around you...and you have an emotional minefield slamming across that thing called 'academic life'.

So how fair is this game then? Is the game not balanced heavily against those who are richer and have easier access to academic facilities and discourse? It is not surprising that very few voices arise from the 'other world' that are heard. Even less become famous and are respected as leaders in their fields. To be famous one has to be heard. To be heard, one needs to be in the right places. To be in the right places one needs the cash. But to have the cash one needs to be in the right places. It is a kind of circular loselose situation. And if you don't have the cash, you are not heard. However intelligent you might be. You are silenced.

My conclusion is that it is not so much the intelligent people out there, with something valid to say, with thoughts that can change the world and add to its richness that often get the platform to speak, the right to be heard, and the emergent fame. It is more often than not those who have the latest laptops, the infinite internet access, the unlimited supply of material and books, the leisure to pursue research and the luxury of insulation from suffering. It is also sadly those who have the means to be at the right place, at the right time, on the right side of the world.