The Academy and Its Discontents

In: Telos, Band 40, S. 173-176

Abstract

Described is the environment of professionalism & politicking that characterizes the modern U. No longer, if ever, a utopian retreat dedicated to the independent pursuit of knowledge, the modern academy is an intense bureaucratic business operating according to the competitive practices of the market. Survival & promotion in academe depend on reputation, which must be secured within the local department & within the field; different criteria prevail at different levels. Locally, promotion depends on collaboration; this rule obtains equally for leftists, who are diverted from their beliefs as they become useful to current department needs. Issued is a plea for a greater demonstration of integrity by leftist academics. D. Dunseath.