Surviving Princeton: Redefining Worth and Resisting Toxic Productivity in a High-Pressure Environment

Abstract

Presented herein is a multifaceted analysis of productivity cultures – spaces of shared values and practices where production is foregrounded – as they exist in American society and at Princeton University. This work uses literature analysis and ethnography to define and understand the culture of productivity that exists on Princeton’s campus and how students relate to it, with a focus on why it is something students feel they must, in their words, “survive.” In detailing students’ perspectives on their place at the University, its place in the world, and what it means to move through it, I bring awareness to a phenomenon that goes largely unquestioned due to its ubiquity but impacts every student who engages with it, consciously or otherwise. My analysis demonstrates how Princeton’s context allows it the unique position to affect change on many beyond the current student body, and discusses theoretically and ethnographically supported methods to do so in pursuit of a more sustainable campus culture. This is not a policy recommendation for the institution, but rather a space for communal catharsis, support, and recognition of how truly challenging it is to move through this space, and a way of opening up previously unseen ways forward for students.