[PEN-L:30004] Re: Re: The New University Underclass

[joanna bujes <joanna.bujes@xxxxxxxxxxxx>]

The current situation in academia is the triumph of divide and rule
tactics. It is an enraging, nauseating situation. However, if current
drifts continue (what is it presently?... 70% non-tenured, 30% tenured
nation-wide?), it will simply come to this: that by dint of sheer numbers,
politically conscious, organized non-tenured staff can bring the university
to a complete stand-still.

This is a big IF, but it remains the case that nothing but political
consciousness and action can give non-tenured staff a living wage. Notice
that this is the reverse of the situation in the sixties and seventies,
when the carrot of tenure essentially disabled the academic intelligentsia.
Now they have nothing to lose. And, if they struggle and win, it will be a
very different (politically conscious) teaching staff standing in front of
the students in future years.

Joanna


At 02:27 PM 09/01/2002 -0700, you wrote:
> Sabri's sad story is only a tiny vision of the degradation of the
> university, which has never been a bulwark of democracy.  A recent Slate
> interview with Dick Army says that congressional politics is not nearly as
> vicious as academic politics.
>
> Even within the professoriate, huge class differences are emerging, both
> within departments and between disciplines.
>  --
> Michael Perelman
> Economics Department
> California State University
> Chico, CA 95929
>
> Tel. 530-898-5321
> E-Mail michael@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx