Academic Repression

ACADEMIC REPRESSION

http://www.akpress.org/2010/items/academicrepression

Academic Repression: Reflections from the Academic Industrial Complex

Peter McLaren (Editor), Steven Best (Editor), and Anthony J. Nocella II (Editor)

The extreme repressive attacks on Churchill, Finklstein, Fontan, Best, Massad, the “Dirty Thirty,” and many others represented in this book demonstrate the repressive logic of “US democracy,” whereby political elites, the mass media, and the education system establish and police the parameters of acceptable discourse. Churchill became America’s own Salman Rushdie terrorized by the fatwa of the right. Unprecedented for the media coverage given to a professor (in a mass media culture that virtually ignores substantive ideas in favor of spectacle and sensationalism) the Churchill affair was, however, just one of many cases of attacks on academic freedom that eerily evoke the tyranny of the McCarthy era where actors were blacklisted and professors were fired for having even liberal views or showing dissent against state repression. While there has been much research on political repression carried out by the Bush administration, FBI, and various law enforcement agencies, there has been little discussion on political repression in academia and how the shockwaves of 9/11 have reverberated throughout academia. This anthology brings together prominent academics who contribute original essays commissioned for this volume. The writers are known and respected figures in their respective fields, and many have experienced academic repression first-hand.

This volume aims to be a cogent intervention in debates over free speech, culture wars, and academic freedom. Given that the importance of free speech to academic life, and the crucial role universities play in the intellectual life of cultures as a whole, a volume addressing the political environment of universities in the current period promises to make a significant contribution.

Academic Repression: Reflections from the Academic Industrial Complex (AK Press), is a much needed book on a topic that has seen little attention. Since 9/11 the Bush Administration has ventured to every campus influencing and forcing change by administration to handover faculty, staff, and student work to be flagged as possible signs of threatening behavior. While there have been numerous books on academic freedom, that topic is outdated and something that arguably does not exist on U.S. campus soil anymore. This volume addresses not only overt attacks on critical or radical thinking, it also – following socioeconomic trends unfolding for decades – engages the broad structural determinants of academic culture. Slowly but surely, the university is being transformed from a space for free thinking, experimentation, and philosophical education in the broadest sense into a narrow, restrictive, utilitarian institution that serves the technical needs of corporations, government, science and technology, and the military. Thus, as emphasized by numerous contributors, the ultimate cause of repression is not the academy itself, but contemporary capitalist society as a whole, which strongly shapes the structure, function, and priorities of higher education. This volume shows that while universities are crucial sites of socialization in capitalist ideologies and utilitarian performance, they are not monolithic citadels or homogeneous systems of thought that grind out in assembly-line fashion each and every student into the service of capitalism. For just as universities can train tomorrow’s FBI and CIA agents, so they can breed the next generation of radicals, resisters, saboteurs, and revolutionaries.

The university is a contested political space for three reasons. First, it is home to a diversity of viewpoints, ranging from far-right to far-left, from Christian to Muslim, from white to black, Indian, or Chicano/a, from speciesist to animal liberationist, and from heterosexual to gay/lesbian. Second, despite broad and growing trends of repression, there are varying degrees of tolerance for the discussion of non-mainstream or radical ideas in classrooms and campus life. Third, however uncritical, conditioned, and conformist some students might be, they have the potential (often actualized) to discuss, debate, and think critically about issues such as US colonialism, slavery, sexism, and speciesism, and professors, staff, and students - consciously or unconsciously – cannot socialize all of them into their own worldviews and politics.

-- Nocella, Best, and McLaren About the Editors:

Anthony J. Nocella, II is completing his doctoral work at Syracuse University. He is a Visiting Scholar of SUNY Cortland's Center for Ethics, Peace and Social Justice (CEPS) and is teaching classes in Sociology and Criminology at Le Moyne College.

Steven Best is Associate Professor of Humanities and Philosophy at the University of Texas, El Paso.

Peter McLaren is Professor of Education, Graduate School of Education and Information Studies, University of California, Los Angeles.

WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING ABOUT THE BOOK:

This courageous and chilling book reminds us that the Academy is always a context for intellectual exchange and political struggle. Don't miss it! -- Cornel West, Princeton University

This book takes us into the Corporate University, and it's not a pretty sight. From firing critical thinkers to putting students in debt, the system is failing America. Time to take it back by fighting for free higher education. -- Jim Hightower, populist speaker and editor of the "Hightower Lowdown"

The university should be a place of freedom not a battlefield where the military industrial complex is launching its most violent attack yet on the future of education. Nocella, Best, and McLaren shows us that education must be protected if we want peace and social justice for the world. Read now! -- Cindy Sheehan, Peace Activist and Founder of "Gold Star Families for Peace"

To the litany of claims by academics that the university is a safe haven for intellectual and political dissent, this book offers a convincing counter-argument. Academic Repression is a long overdue collective study of the long and sorry history of violations of academic freedom, iconoclastic thought and political dissent in US institutions of higher education. The editors have assembled an impressive group of scholars who, often through personal experience as much as analytic acuity, have supplied us with commentary as much as documentation of the central thesis of the book. This book should be required reading in all of the social sciences, humanities and education courses. -- Stanley Aronowitz, author of "The Knowledge Factory: Dismantling the Corporate University and Creating True Higher Learning"

Absolutely and utterly indispensible as we chart a way forward and attempt to finally turn the page on an era best left in the dustbin of history. It's a first round knock out. -- Dave Zirin, author APHOS

For over half a century, matters of knowledge and education have been central to the political struggles shaping our world, and the university has been a primary battleground. This collection is a chilling and powerful survey of contemporary battles, their stakes and possibilities. We should all be scared, and we should all concerned enough to take a stand. -- Dr. Lawrence Grossberg, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

Using the tired canards of anti-semitism, terrorism and radicalism, rightwing zealots are carrying out a merciless campaign of ideological cleansing on American campuses, often with the shameful complicity of university administrators. Academic Repression takes you to the frontlines of this fierce battle for the mind, telling stories of purges, institutional cowardice and resistance. Here at last is a strategic plan for how to fight back against the New McCarthyites. Read it twice and then throw the book at them. -- Jeffrey St. Clair, author Born Under a Bad Sky, co-editor of CounterPunch

Freedom of speech in the academy is a cornerstone of democracy -- fascism always creeps closely behind intellectual repression, and we are not immune from the virus. If you want to understand how rocky our freedoms are today, pick up this book, read it, and join the fight to end censorship in all of its imperialist forms. -- Joshua Frank, co-author with Jeffrey St. Clair of the forthcoming Green Scare: The Government's New War on Environmentalism

The powers-that-be are uncomfortable with academic freedom because when one investigates any political, social, economic or even scientific issue thoroughly, a leftwing analysis will tend to emerge. Thinking is dangerous for them. This book is full of the stories and observations of some of the greatest thinkers alive today. -- David Rovics, Singer-Songwriter

The editors have drawn together a diverse and competent group of scholars to assess critically the climate of academic repression. This is an essential book for anyone with a deep concern for the future of the academy. It will help raise awareness of crucial issues that face the universities. We ignore this challenge at our peril. -- Dr. Andrew Fitz-Gibbon, Director, Center for Ethics, Peace and Social Justice, SUNY Cortland

As the editors and contributors of this valuable collection make clear, American academia has long been a combat zone, and never more than today. Eternal vigilance, and constant struggle, remain the watchwords if the free expression of thought upon which a good society depends is to be realized. -- Joel Kovel, author of "Overcoming Zionism: Creating a Single Democratic State in Israel/Palestine"

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CONTRIBUTORS TO THE BOOK:

William Armaline

John Asimakopoulos

Bill Ayers

Liat Ben-Moshe

Michael Bérubé

Carl Boggs

Marc Bousquet

A. Peter Castro

Ward Churchill

Dana Cloud

Sumi E. Colligan

Maria E. Cotera

Christian Davenport

Victoria Fontan

Takis Fotopoulos

Henry Giroux

Adam Habib

Joy James

Robert Jensen

Richard Kahn

Caroline Kaltefleiter

Doug Kellner

Mark LeVine

Bill Martin

Peter McLaren

Micere M. Githae Mugo

Mechthild Nagel

Cary Nelson

Michael Parenti

Emma Perez

Mark Rupert

Rik Scarce

Deric Shannon

Stephen Sheehi

Amory Starr

Gregory Tropea

Ali Zaidi

Howard Zinn

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Lost Generation

LOST GENERATION

Originally from Ruth Rikowski News Updates Progression: http://ruthrikowskiupdates.blogspot.com/

Patrick Ainley, a friend and writing colleague of ours, has a new book coming out which he has co-written with Martin Allen. Here are the details:

‘Lost Generation: new strategies for youth and education’ by Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley, Continuum: London, 2010ISBN 9781441134707 (pbk)http://www.amazon.co.uk/Lost-Generation-Strategies-Youth-Education/dp/1441134700/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1267391315&sr=8-1
The book looks at what has gone wrong in schools, colleges and universities and how this relates to the changing relationship between young people and educational qualifications. It goes right through from primary schools to postgraduate schools. Ainley and Allen argue that a new pedagogy is needed, along with a new educational politics, which will bring students and teachers together in new concepts of education and democracy.

Wes Streeting, President of National Union of Students says that the book is“A thought-provoking critique of the education system at a critical time for Britain’s “lost generation” of young people.”

To place an order, email orders@continuumbooks.com

This book builds on and develops Martin Allen and Patrick Ainley’s previous publication, which is:

‘Education Make You Fick, Innit?: What’s Gone Wrong with England’s Schools, Colleges and Universities and How to Start Putting it Right’, Tufnell Press: London, 2007. ISBN: 1872767672; 978-1872767673 http://www.amazon.co.uk/Education-Make-You-Fick-Innit/dp/1872767672/ref=sr_1_fkmr0_2?ie=UTF8&qid=1267435143&sr=8-2-fkmr0

I think that what this book is about is fairly self-evident from the title!

Ruth Rikowski

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Cold Hands & Quarter Moon at: http://rikowski.wordpress.com/cold-hands-quarter-moon/
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Fifth International Conference of the Popular Education Network

FIFTH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE OF THE POPULAR EDUCATION NETWORK

ANNOUNCEMENT AND FIRST CALL

The Fifth International Conference of the Popular Education Network (PEN) will take place at the University of Edinburgh, from Friday 23 to Sunday 25 April 2010, hosted by the Department of Higher and Community Education. This conference builds on the success of previous PEN conferences held in Edinburgh (2000), Barcelona (2002), Braga (2004) and Maynooth (2007).

The Popular Education Network now has about 160 members in 60 institutions in 25 countries. Membership of the network is free, and participation in PEN conferences is open to all who subscribe to the broad values and purposes of the network (see below).

The language of the conference will be English, but there will opportunities for informal translation as appropriate. Non-English speakers are welcome to attend and participate fully.

CONFERENCE PROGRAMME
The conference is not organised around any particular theme – although certain key concerns may well emerge. For example:

· The effects of globalisation on our work;
· Sustaining political commitment and ideological coherence in hard times;
· Developing alliances and strategic collaborations;
· Radicalising research and making it ‘really useful’;
· Contesting managerialism and the culture of the accountant;
· Respecting diversity without abandoning solidarity;
· Exploiting relative autonomy;
· Working with progressive social movements;
· Developing curriculum and pedagogy;
· Using ICT in subversive and counter-hegemonic ways;
· Engaging dialectically with the politics of policy;
· Developing more democratic, creative and expressive ways of working.

The conference will be seminar/workshop-based, with the emphasis on discussion, dialogue and debate rather than simply the formal presentation of academic/research papers. In this spirit of collegiality we invite participants to present academic papers, curriculum materials, or accounts of unfinished research in progress. Please respond by completing the return slip at the end of this message and emailing it back to us by 26th February 2010. We would also welcome ideas or suggestions about anything in particular you would like to see in the conference programme - or you would wish to offer.

The conference is an opportunity for university-based teachers and researchers, and others involved in higher education, who share a common interest in popular education – many of whom work in considerable isolation in their own institutions – to meet, exchange ideas, learn from each other and enjoy some much needed solidarity and conviviality.

We hope that PEN members far and wide will be interested in participating in this conference. Please also feel free to pass on information about it to anyone else who might be interested in attending. For further information about the network and previous conferences, see the attached paper. The conference is open to all who work in higher education and who are willing to subscribe in general terms to the Popular Education Network statement of intent:

Popular education is:

• Rooted in the real interests and struggles of ordinary people
• Overtly political and critical of the status quo
• Committed to progressive social and political change in the interests of a fairer and more egalitarian society.

Popular education has the following characteristics:

• Its curriculum comes out of the concrete experience and material interests of people in communities of resistance and struggle
• Its pedagogy is collective, focused primarily on group as distinct from individual learning and development
• It attempts to forge a direct connection between education and social change.

If you are interested in a fuller account of this particular view of popular education and its relation to higher education, see Crowther J, Galloway V and Martin I (eds) (2005) Popular Education: Engaging the Academy – International Perspectives Leicester, UK: National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (ISBN 1 86201 209 1), which contains several chapters based on presentations at previous PEN conferences.

NOT-FOR-PROFIT CONFERENCE
As in the past, the conference will be organised on a strictly non-commercial basis. No one will make any money out of it! Local costs will therefore be kept to an absolute minimum. The conference fee is £50. This covers room costs, paper work and food/refreshments while the conference is in session. Details about booking accommodation will be sent to those who express interest in participating. Participants are expected to make their own travel arrangements.

We look forward to hearing from you – and to seeing you in Edinburgh this April!
RETURN SLIP

This is to confirm that I would like to attend the Fourth International Conference of the Popular Education Network at the University of Edinburgh from 23 to 25 April 2010.

Name:

Department/agency:

Institution/organisation:

Country:

Email address:

If you would like to lead a seminar discussion, run a workshop or take responsibility for a session for any other purpose, please give brief details:

If you have any ideas/suggestions about what you would like to see in the conference programme, please make them here:

If you can speak a language in addition to English and could help with informal translation, please indicate language(s):

Special requirements (e.g., diet, mobility, access etc)

PLEASE EMAIL THIS RETURN SLIP BACK TO JIM CROWTHER (jim.crowther@ed.ac.uk) BY 25 FEBRUARY 2010.

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Learning Outcomes: The Absurd Becomes Logical

LEARNING OUTCOMES: THE ABSURD BECOMES LOGICAL

This is the title of a topical and important new paper by John J. Crocitti, Professor of History, San Diego Mesa College which is now available at The Flow of Ideas web site.

As Professor Crocitti notes:

“Ultimately, the drive towards SLO [Student Learning Outcomes] constitutes an effort by politicians, business people, opportunist professors and bureaucrats to deskill and control academic labor in the manner that management applied Taylorism to industrial labor during the early twentieth century”

The article can be viewed at: http://www.flowideas.co.uk/?page=contributions&sub=Learning%20Outcomes

Glenn Rikowski
The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk
All that is Solid for Glenn Rikowski: http://rikowski.wordpress.com

Demonstration Against Higher Education Fees!

DEMONSTRATION AGAINST HIGHER EDUCATION FEES!

Government puts education into the hands of big business

No university fees! Demonstrate 28 November!

We won’t pay for the bosses’ crisis!

New Labour and the Conservatives are determined to make young people and workers pay for this crisis. On the one hand, they say there are jobs available for all, all you need is ‘determination’. At the same time, they slash funding for youth training and put corrupt fat cats in charge of setting university fees.
Lord Mandelson refused the National Union of Students a voice in the review of university fees because that would harm the ‘objectivity’ of the review. Instead, we have an ‘objective’ board of some of the biggest capitalists and privateers in Britain, chaired by Lord Browne. Lord Browne was Chief Executive of BP until 2007, making billions of pounds out of war in Iraq and environmental destruction. Browne left BP, amidst allegations of corruption, with a £5 million payoff and a £21 million pension pot. Is this man seriously going to say that society cannot afford our education?

David Eastwood, Vice Chancellor of the University of Birmingham, also sits on the review. As part of the Russell Group, he has been demanding students pay more for education for years. The university is currently trying to close its entire sociology department, without consultation with staff, because it is not bringing in enough money. Aston University’s vice chancellor is also ‘objectively’ reviewing university funding, fresh from slashing 18 jobs over the summer.

The rest of the board is made up of a former advisor to Tony Blair (the Prime Minister who abolished free university education), two NGO bigwigs and, unbelievably, Peter Sands, CEO of Standard Chartered Bank. Is he going to demand the same level of investment in education, in our future, that him and his peers have received over the last eighteen months? Of course not. The bosses organisation, the CBI, call for fees of £7,000 a year. Labour and the Tories say similar. Before the review board has met, the outcome is clear. Peter Sands, Lord Browne, Lord Mandelson and all the others want to make us pay for the crisis of their system.

£350 million cuts are being made in vocational education. Out of around 600,000 school leavers, 8,000 will get real apprenticeships, ones which lead to a job and a qualification.

Never mind that young people want to learn, want to work! Never mind that 55% think university education should be free! Since when did the politicians care what we think? Since when did big business and university bosses do favours for us?

Since we organised and fought them. Youth Fight for Jobs says no to university fees, no to writing off our generation, no to mass youth unemployment. We are demonstrating on 28 November – for real jobs, for free education. Join us in the fightback!

Join the demonstration in central London, Malet Street, WC1E, nearest tube Euston / Russell Square. For details of transport from outside London, see: http://www.youthfightforjobs.com/transport

Youth Fight for Jobs: http://www.youthfightforjobs.com

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The Flow of Ideas: http://www.flowideas.co.uk