Comisiones Obreras, ¿una Intersindical española?

“And  my  mom  says,  ‘Don’t  be  arrogant.’  And  I’m,  like,  ‘I’m  not  being  arrogant.’  Or  you   know  what?  Let  me  be  arrogant,  because  that  is  what  everybody  else  is  doing.”  

  Nita,  an  Indian-­‐American  college  student  in  her  early  20s,  started  off  our   interview  with  a  bold  statement  about  her  current  feelings  toward  college:  “I’m  at  a   point  in  my  education  where  I’m  kind  of  done  with  it  and  dissatisfied…which  is  sad,   because  the  whole  point  of  being  in  college  is  exploring  things  and  learning  new   things.”  A  human  services  major,  Nita  turned  to  open  learning  to  fill  two  holes   unmet  by  her  coursework.  The  first,  was  that  as  a  woman  of  color,  she  felt  like  her   professors  were  only  allowing  surface  level  conversations  in  the  classroom  around   race  and  gender  issues,  citing  one  instance  in  particular  where  a  faculty  member   stated  that  she  did  not  want  to  offend  the  freshmen.  Online  and  with  other  students   of  color,  Nita  found  the  content  that  she  thought  was  missing  from  her  classroom:  

And  I  feel  like  Tumblr  has  taught  me  a  lot  more…A  lot  of  the  social  issues  –   well,  more  of  that  whole  analysis  aspect  and  really  critical  deep  thinking,  is   Tumblr.  It’s  things  like  Feministing,  it’s  things  like  ColorLines…It’s  the  people   I  follow.  Like  my  friends  are  also,  you  know,  we  think  the  same  way,  we  have   the  same  issues.  A  lot  of  us  are  minorities  and  we,  like  this  was  our  reality  

you  know?  Going  through  what  we  went,  like  racial  politics,  like,  identity   issues,  the  whole  cultural  issues  of  being,  maybe  coming  from  an  immigrant   family.  And  we  constantly  discuss  these  things,  so  when  we’re  on  these   online  platforms,  particularly  Tumblr,  and  we’re  all  on  Tumblr  –  we  follow   people  that  align  with  our  interests  who  can  provide  it.    

When  it  came  to  politics  and  identity  issues,  Nita  felt  like  her  online  community  and   circle  of  like-­‐minded  friends  helped  her  learn  far  more  than  her  professors  

provided.  

  The  other  hole  Nita  used  open  learning  to  fill  was  on  content  that  would  help   her  run  her  startup,  a  subscription  service  for  children’s  STEM  education  toys.  She   had  joined  the  university’s  entrepreneurship  club  with  a  friend,  they  co-­‐founded  a   company,  and  soon  after  won  a  startup  challenge  at  the  school.  The  win  afforded   them  initial  funding  for  their  idea  and  support  from  mentors  in  the  local  

entrepreneurship  community.  Still,  there  was  much  to  learn  and  so  Nita  was  

utilizing  classes  and  content  she  found  online  and  offline  to  fill  in  the  gaps.  One  site   in  particular,  an  offline  open  learning  site  called  Wintrepreneur,  helped  her  to  make   local  connections  with  peers  and  instructors  in  the  startup  community.  Unlike  her   online  learning  about  politics  and  identity,  this  new  community  was  primarily   composed  of  white  men  and  Nita’s  social  justice  consciousness  was  initially  

challenged  during  her  first  class.  After  taking  in  the  demographics  of  the  room,  Nita   separated  judgment  from  observation,  and  settled  in:  

But  hey,  you’ve  got  to  learn.  Yes,  the  space  was  great,  everyone  was  really   attentive,  the  speaker  –  I  don’t  remember  his  name  –  but  he  was  great,  he   was  making  me  think  things  about  legal  stuff  I’ve  never  even  thought  about   or  even  learned.  But  I  really  like  how  approachable,  like,  the  instructors  are.  

Because  we  just  go  up  and  you  ask  them  questions,  and  that  was  cool.  And   then  being  able  to  just  engage  with  other  people  in  the  class,  as  well,  at  the   end.  We  ended  up  going  to  dinner  with  one  of  the  dudes  there  and  we  were  

just,  like,  “Oh,”  like,  “why  did  you  come  to  this  even?”  Like,  “What  did  you   need  to  learn?”  

Nita  was  pleasantly  surprised  with  how  open  the  space  felt  and  was  inspired  by  how   engaged  other  participants  were  in  the  class.    

  When  I  asked  her  if  Wintrepreneur  felt  different  than  her  university  

experience,  she  responded,  highlighting  the  differences  in  students’  interest  and   curiosity:  

Yes,  in  the  sense  that  what  I  saw  from  everyone  is  that  everyone  was  actually   interested  in  the  topic.  Because  when  you’re  just  going  to  class  at  a  university   you’re  always  going  to  have  those  kids  who  are  on  their  laptops  doing  

something  completely  unrelated,  not  being  engaged.  And  again,  it’s  like  one   of  those  situations  like,  you’re  there  because  you  want  to  be  there.  But  other   than  that,  it  was  interactive,  especially  the  last  few  I’ve  been  going  to,  

because  if  you  don’t  get  something  and  you  want  them  to  clarify  you’re  going   to  raise  your  hand.  And  then  they  give  you  problems  to  do,  so  it’s  kind  of   collaborative.  So  you  have  to,  like,  kind  of  talk  to  the  people  around  you.  And   it’s  kind  of,  like,  you’re-­‐all-­‐in-­‐this-­‐together  kind  of  feel.  And  that’s  kind  of   similar  to  school  I  guess.    

Nita  enjoyed  the  kind  of  learning  and  collaboration  that  she  experienced  at   Wintrepreneur  and  in  entrepreneurial  learning  spaces  in  general.    

  While  the  lack  of  diversity  was  initially  a  deterrent  for  Nita,  it  became  a  way  for   her  to  get  out  of  her  comfort  zone  and  encourage  others  like  her  to  do  the  same:  

I  think  as  a  woman,  and  then  being,  like,  a  minority,  as  being  an  Indian   woman  and  doing  the  whole  startup  thing,  there’s  not  many  of  us…And  then   this  whole  startup  experience  is  very  white-­‐male  dominated,  and  then  you   try  to  seek  out  people  who  can  help  you  out.  And  so,  yes,  it’s  just,  like,  not   many  women,  and  not  that  many  minorities.  And  I  do  feel  tokenized  at  times,   so  I  don’t  want  other  to  feel  [bad],  like,  we’re  here,  we’re  visible,  we  want  to   make  sure  that  you  have  the  right  support  as  well.  

Nita  had  to  tightrope  walk  the  line  between  openness  and  exclusion,  but  in  doing  so   she  reported  becoming  more  confident  because  “yes,  there  are  a  lot  of  men  right?”  

She  told  a  story  about  presenting  her  startup  with  other  students  to  a  team  of  older,  

white  male  advisors  who  were  walking  around  asking  questions  and  giving  advice.  

Nita  observed  how  differently  the  advisors  talked  to  her  and  the  “white  dudes”  

around  her.    

  Nita  despised  older  men  who  thought  they  understood  her  better  than  she  did.  

In  a  conversation  with  one  advisor,  she  told  him  that  she  was  a  “hands-­‐on  kind  of   learner”  and  the  man  responded,  “You  should’ve  been  an  engineer.  I  bet  you  regret   being  a  human  services  major.”  Nita’s  response  held  no  punches:  

And  I’m  like,  “You  would  not  tell  a  fat  dude  next  door  to  me  saying  that  kind   of  stuff.  So  who  are  you  to  say  that  to  me?”  And  I  was  very,  very  angry.  It  was   like,  Just  because  I’m  a  woman  doesn’t  mean  you  can  just  treat  me  that  way.  

Her  anger  evolved  into  confidence,  but  Nita’s  mother  was  concerned:    

And  I  think  that  has  definitely  made  me  feel  a  lot  more  confident.  And  my   mom  says,  “Don’t  be  arrogant.”  And  I’m  like,  “I’m  not  being  arrogant.  Or  you   know  what?  Let  me  be  arrogant,  because  that  is  what  everybody  else  is   doing.”  

Despite  her  vow  to  be  arrogant,  Nita  was  well  aware  of  what  was  at  stake.  As  a   daughter  of  immigrants,  she  felt  pressured  to  succeed  and  told  me  that  she  grew  up   hearing  that  her  parents  came  to  America  so  she  could  succeed.  In  order  to  do  so,   Nita  knew  she  was  going  to  have  to  make  some  big  decisions  soon  about  her  future   and  the  future  of  her  startup.  Entrepreneurship  was  enticing  but  risky,  and  she  was   savvy  enough  to  look  around  and  ask,  “well,  who’s  not  here?”  despite  all  of  the  

“empowering  stories  about  learning  entrepreneurship  from  people.”  Her  current   mood  was  like  many  I  talked  to:  “I’m  finally  in  that  position  where  I’m,  like,  ‘If  I  fail,  I   fail.  At  least  I  did  it.’…it’s  just  part  of  it  and  you  have  to  accept  that,  you  have  to   accept  that  as  part  of  life.”  

  Nita  was  ready  to  fail  as  an  entrepreneur,  but  was  reluctant  to  fail  as  a  student,   even  if  she  did  express  a  desire  to  drop  out.  Given  her  family’s  immigrant  

background,  it  would  not  have  been  acceptable  for  her  to  graduate  from  college  and   not  have  a  job  immediately.  It  would  not  have  been  ok  to  blame  unemployment  on   the  economy  or  her  university.  She  expressed  how  irrelevant  some  of  her  

coursework  felt  and  how  removed  her  peers  and  faculty  were  from  communities  of   practice.  This  was  not  just  an  issue  about  how  to  talk  about  race  or  gender;  it  bled   into  other  aspects  of  her  education.  The  entrepreneurship  club  and  the  classes  at   Wintrepreneur  exposed  her  to  a  different  way  of  learning  and  a  different  way  of   being,  where  she  might  have  been  underrepresented  but  with  the  right  amount  of   confidence  or  even  arrogance  she  could  be  equal  if  not  better  than  others.  Nita  felt   like  her  role  in  college  was  to  let  others  learn  from  her,  as  a  woman  of  color,  with   very  little  reciprocated  from  peers  with  dominant  identities.  In  open  learning   spaces,  she  was  learning  from  others  as  much  as  they  were  learning  from  her,  and   race  and  gender  were  not  always  front  and  center  as  part  of  the  learning.  Nita’s   experiences  exemplified  a  tension  between  hypervisibility  in  formal  education  and   invisibility  in  open  education.  During  our  interview,  she  contemplated  the  tradeoffs   between  hypervisibility  and  invisibility,  reasoning  that  at  places  like  Wintrepreneur   she  could  be  recognized  for  the  work  she  does,  even  if  it  meant  navigating  peoples’  

ignorance.  Her  curious,  perseverant,  and  confident  attitude  oriented  her  towards   others  who  had  similar  dispositions  towards  their  learning,  even  if  the  majority  of   them  were  white  men.  Still,  there  was  a  question  for  Nita  if  the  risk  of  

entrepreneurship  was  worth  it  for  her  as  a  woman  of  color.  The  absence  of  others  

like  her  made  her  question  what  hidden  costs  might  be  haunting  the  belongingness   she  experienced  while  learning  entrepreneurialism.