[PEN-L:2002] academian and sectariana

[JDevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx (James Devine)]

Terry McD is right about the feudal origins of the professoriat,
while Jerry L. is right that it is progressively being
subordinated to capital (even here at Catholic Church-dominated
colleges).

Class analysis is only a beginning. I think that the main problem
with professors is that we are very individualistic and
competitive (and I am not excluding myself) and thus show very
limited potential to unite even as profs (not to mention with the
"working class" as normally defined).  We are judged totally on
our individual achievements (publications, course evaluations,
annual reports, etc.); joint publications, team-teaching, etc.
tend to be discounted by the powers that be (who are often
tenured profs.)  Of course, the conditions faced by profs varies
among institutions, which sets up another barrier to solidarity.
We also tend to be very idealist, because ideas count more than
deeds in the groves of academe. (S.J. Gould's reprinted article
on Engels in a recent MONTHLY REVIEW is very good about how
academia sees the world.)

But when Louis P. and others start pointing to the mass of
sectarians (say, on the Marxism list) as a possible way for profs
to link up with the "masses," they're pointing to a non-solution.
The sectarians are very much like the profs. They're competing
with other sectarians (and the union bureaucracies, etc.) to
teach the people the "correct line" and then grade people on
their class consciousness. They tend to be idealist (like profs),
starting from theory and being unwilling to learn from the
workers they encounter (who in turn treat them as if they were
religious sectarians). Of course, there are many organizers who
are not sectarians, but that's not who I'm talking about.

I've noticed that a lot of profs. are sectarian (many without
being leftist), while many sectarians are wannabe profs.

There's got to be a better way to link theory and practice.

(3rd step of the 12-step program: I've dropped the PKT list from
my agenda, not even checking its archive to see what's going on.)

in pen-l solidarity,

Jim Devine   jdevine@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Econ. Dept., Loyola Marymount Univ.
7900 Loyola Blvd., Los Angeles, CA 90045-8410 USA
310/338-2948 (daytime, during workweek); FAX: 310/338-1950
"Segui il tuo corso, e lascia dir le genti." (Go your own way
and let people talk.) -- K. Marx, paraphrasing Dante A.