For more reasons why I’m not excited about the autonomous university stuff, see Marc Bousquet’s youtube channel. This stuff scares the hell out of me. Grad school sucks, and what if it never really ends?
January 7, 2008
… is precariversity?
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Most of my acdemic experience has been in Europe, with a brief stint (mostly library research) in the US. I’m not really sure what is the point you are trying to make about the university (and in saying this I am not trying to criticise, I only mean that there are various possible conclusions to be drawn). My main observation and source of anger is that academia in Europe is still full of nepotism and very unhealthy hierarchical relations. At its worst, it seems like it’s all about figuring out who to suck up to, not research, not knowledge.
The salaries are laughable everywhere, for all I know. In Poland, additionally, we were trying to work with very scant resources. You could call it magic tricks with will power. Also, the Polish system obligates all Ph.D. students in all fields to teach a certain number of hours per semester, while not guaranteeing anything like a basic pay. As a result, most have to work for free, because their departments do not offer any scholarships.
Comment by Januaries — January 11, 2008 @ 4:05 am
hey Januaries,
I’m not trying to make any complicated point. I think a lot of aspects of labor standards in universities are very bad, particularly in the light of a belief by some people inside and outside universities that they’re some great place to work. I think the labor standards at least partially expose as a lie the idea that universities (as they actually function) are a public good, and I think that idea (along with versions of that idea that take themselves to be more radical, like the idea that one’s professional scholarship is a political intervention) is often used to help maintain those poor labor standards. This stuff also gives the lie to the idea that universities are meritocracies. Is that clearer? Thanks for the info re: academia in Europe. Sounds much like here, sadly.
take care,
Nate
Comment by Nate — January 11, 2008 @ 8:52 pm