Navigating Marginalisation: A French Lecturer's Journey in Kenyan Higher Education

Abstract

This chapter presents a personal reflection on my trajectory as a French lecturer in Kenya, examining how marginalisation shapes lived experiences within Intercultural Communication Education and Research (ICER). Drawing on Dervin (2023), Holliday (2011), and R'boul (2023), I investigate the intersection of power imbalances, epistemic hierarchies, and linguistic dominance in academic spaces. Using Riordan's (2024) cultural capital theory alongside critical interculturality frameworks, I explore how geographical location, linguistic identity, and professional positioning interact within systems dominated by Western knowledge production. Through auto-ethnographic reflection combined with critical discourse analysis of institutional policies and peer review practices, I examine tensions between resistance and conformity in navigating exclusionary structures. Central to this inquiry is the "intercultural maverick" – do marginalised scholars actively challenge dominant systems, or do they strategically conform to survive within them? This study argues that ICER must broaden its multilingual scope to challenge English dominance, creating space for genuine linguistic and epistemic plurality. Employing Dervin's (2022) principle of "criticality of criticality", I resist framing marginalised scholars' resilience as triumph over obstacles. Instead, I interrogate the structural barriers that persist despite reform rhetoric, acknowledging that meaningful change requires institutional dismantling, not symbolic gestures. Ultimately, this chapter advocates for fundamental shifts in how ICER approaches knowledge production, urging movement toward authentic inclusivity that values historically sidelined voices not as supplementary contributions but as central to reshaping the field.