Comments on: The Academy and Freedom to Dissent

By: Davydd Greenwood

Davydd Greenwood — Thu, 21 Jun 2018 10:05:46 +0000

I agree that there have been all kinds of creative efforts and some have lasted for a period of time and helped scholars develop and students learn outside of the box. I founded and ran a number of such efforts. What none of them has been able to do is overturn the hegemonic structure of universities that makes anything that is not a disciplinary department or an externally funded project temporary and always endangered. The kind of countermovement I am looking for is at the institutional level, that is broadly participatory, and that does not separate the faculty and students from the daily operational life of all dimensions of the organization. There the examples are still vanishingly few outside the world of strong liberal arts colleges.

By: Eli Thorkelson

Eli Thorkelson — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 20:00:15 +0000

Thanks for these pointers, it would be good to look into them for those of us in younger generations!

By: Tony Green

Tony Green — Tue, 19 Jun 2018 01:53:09 +0000

the counter-examples? largely extinguished but in Arts/Music/Dance/Performance/Theatre/Poetry/Design — the best example was the Olson regime at Black Mountain College — founders on John Dewey’s desire for education for democracy — offshoots continue to exist in Poetics in Buffalo, in Penn State writing at the Writer’s House both with valuable library & sound archives — in New Zealand there was a brief moment of similar academic activity largely in the Sculpture Department at the Elam School of Art led by Jim Allen that had gone from private school to a University of Auckland School c 1960 – 1975 — I was privileged, as an art historian imported from UK, to work with Jim Allen, gradually shaping my teaching to match as best as I could over the years — and with colleagues in American Literature & the initiation of Film teaching in the
university, Wystan Curnow & Roger Horrocks. The Elam Library, now under threat of what is in effect decommissioning, was stocked with its holding of literature on moden & contemporary art by efforts of my colleagues and me. By 1987/8 that whole effort was under attack by the neo-liberal regime of top-down management of Colin Maiden. There was a similar effort in Sculpture at Ilam School of Art, University of Canterbury, led by Tom Taylor. Many of the artists of that time have had distinguished careers & there are many others whose work in the arts is continuing and notable. Graduates from Art History of those 30 years were recruited by the most notable art galleries & museums & teaching at all levels — & in Australia too & elsewhere — They were the first generation of New Zealanders to get an eduationn on a par with the best in UK or Australia. That was killed off by government policy within University of Auckland.

By: Davydd Greenwood

Davydd Greenwood — Wed, 24 Jan 2018 07:19:14 +0000

Cris’s thoughtful report/analysis is particularly interesting in reminding us that, despite broad similarities, the trajectories of higher education are rather different in different parts of the world. Being alert to these variations and the opportunities that they offer to both reveal the problems and show possible ways of addressing them is surely a task anthropologists should be good at.

I do react to calling neoliberalism an economic model. If neoclassical economics was a theory of choice about allocating scarce means to alternative ends, neoliberalism is not economics. Neoclassical economics does not theorize the ranking of the ends. Neoliberalism involves both predetermined elite decided ends and a theory of choice about means. Rather than being economics, it is a mere apology for the totalitarian elitism that is creating unprecedented wealth and power for the few at the expense of ther many. What universities are now living is what other manufacturing and service workers and their communities have already experienced and the social pathologies in its wake: populism, cultural and racial supremacist views and movements, etc. By crediting it to economics, we distract ourselves from the social exploitation that lies at its core.

Where are the counter movements, where is anthropology looking for exceptions to this bleak scene? Susan Wright, Rebecca Boden and I found a promising counter example in the Mondragón University. Joss Winn and Mike Neary and their work with the Cooperative Colleges promises another possibility. Shouldn´t we be looking harder for more countermovements?