RE: College Professors and the Working Class

[glevy@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx]

Will:

Thanks for picking-up my post.  I think there might be some differences
between universities in the US and the UK.

One of the points that I made in my post concerns the disparities in
income, benefits, and relative power among faculty at colleges in the US.
Here, while tenured faculty often receive income and benefits greatly in
excess of those received by secretaries, part-time (and even non-tenured
full-time) faculty often receive less.  In the case of part-time faculty,
they frequently receive *much* less.  There are also differences in
relative autonomy among faculty.  Full-time (especially tenured) faculty
have a much greater role in college governance than do part-time
faculty.  Moreover, at many colleges full-time faculty have a supervisory
role regarding part-time faculty and sometimes treat these faculty with
similar contempt and disdain.  On the other hand, the relation between
support staff and part-time employees is often less elitist and
patronizing due, in part, to the fact that there are less inequalities in
terms of income, autonomy, and status between these two groups of
workers.  On the other hand, many of the part-time faculty, since they
want to eventually become tenured faculty, sometimes replicate the
patronizing and elitist behavior towards support staff.  I do think that
false consciousness has a role in the above dynamics.

Status is another question.  My status within a college depends on who I
am relating to.  It is much greater among non-faculty and students than
it is among faculty.  Similarly, outside of university life, I have a
status which is way out of proportion to my actual wages, benefits, and
working conditions.  In other words, status is attached to me by other
groups because of a misunderstanding on their part of the nature of my
labor. Sometimes this status can be used for political advantage (e.g.
"Academics for Mumia").  However, it also creates a wall between other
workers and myself that I try to break through.

Jerry


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