The Imperial University: Academic Repression and Scholarly Dissent

by Piya Chatterjee (Editor), Sunaina Maira (Editor)

At colleges and universities throughout the United States, political protest and intellectual dissent are increasingly being met with repressive tactics by administrators, politicians, and the police—from the use of SWAT teams to disperse student protestors and the profiling of Muslim and Arab American students to the denial of tenure and dismissal of politically engaged faculty. The Imperial University brings together scholars, including some who have been targeted for their open criticism of American foreign policy and settler colonialism, to explore the policing of knowledge by explicitly linking the academy to the broader politics of militarism, racism, nationalism, and neoliberalism that define the contemporary imperial state. The contributors to this book argue that “academic freedom” is not a sufficient response to the crisis of intellectual repression. Instead, they contend that battles fought over academic containment must be understood in light of the academy’s relationship to U.S. expansionism and global capital. Based on multidisciplinary research, autobiographical accounts, and even performance scripts, this urgent analysis offers sobering insights into such varied manifestations of “the imperial university” as CIA recruitment at black and Latino colleges, the connections between universities and civilian and military prisons, and the gender and sexual politics of academic repression. Thomas Abowd, Tufts U; Victor Bascara, UCLA; Dana Collins, California State U, Fullerton; Nicholas De Genova; Ricardo Dominguez, UC San Diego; Sylvanna Falcón, UC Santa Cruz; Farah Godrej, UC Riverside; Roberto J. Gonzalez, San Jose State U; Alexis Pauline Gumbs; Sharmila Lodhia, Santa Clara U; Julia C. Oparah, Mills College; Vijay Prashad, Trinity College; Jasbir Puar, Rutgers U; Laura Pulido, U of Southern California; Ana Clarissa Rojas Durazo, California State U, Long Beach; Steven Salaita, Virginia Tech; Molly Talcott, California State U, Los Angeles.

Genres: Education, Academic, Nonfiction, Politics, Academia

400 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2014

Reviews

[Mo Gardner]

made me hate academia more…. and not in the way the editors intended

[s · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading this has been a real revelation. Everyone, to varying extents, is somewhat aware of the corporatization of the university, but prior to reading this, I was largely incognizant of how deeply woven the university is with militarism and neoliberalism. In light of what has happened to Steven Salaita, it's demoralizing to say the least to think about the limits of academic freedom, and the asinine, yet incredibly popular, conflation of anti-Semitism with criticism of the Israeli nation-state. What is the role of the public intellectual anymore? What is the line between a public intellectual and a private citizen? Whose speech is protected? What constitutes civility? Though I refuse to become complicit with hegemony, and therefore remain somewhat optimistic of the possibility for meaningful transformation rather than incremental changes espoused as ~disruption~, it's kind of crazy to think about how deep in we are, how seemingly impossible it is to undo U.S. society's nationalist agenda of militarizing everything ever. It's remiss of anyone to romanticize the university's potential--after all, universities were made largely in part to "civilize" and teach those deemed inferior how to be "good citizens." And yet, it's equally as (perhaps more?) remiss to write off the university altogether. Today it is still obvious as to which knowledges, values, and traditions are valued and which are not. The academy means institutionalization, means counter-hegemonic wonders like ethnic studies, women's studies, cultural studies becoming institutionalized. What does it mean to form radical politics within the neoliberal university? Stuart Hall recognized institutionalization as moments of profound danger, and urged us not to run away, but to run towards it. I'm still trying to figure out what that means. To end my brain fart, I will say that some essays were certainly better than others. While the editors maintained their own clear stance on the university, it was interesting to also read articles by those who remain more optimistic. I appreciated how located each article was and, as someone who plans to remain in academia, this was certainly required reading that I will continue to think about for a long, long time.

[Marcy · Rating 3 out of 5]

A very timely book to read in light of all that is happening in academia, especially the controversy surrounding the firing of Steven Salaita. Indeed, one of the tragic ironies of this volume is the essay by Salaita in this book, which explores the consequences of what can happen when one speaks openly and truthfully about Palestine. The essays vary, however, and are not entirely centered on that subject, although it clearly is a theme in the sense that it remains one of the most taboo topics for academics in the U.S. to address. There are some excellent essays in the volume, especially the introduction by Piya Chatterjee and Sunaina Maira, although there are a few that are a bit more tedious. On the whole, it's a significant book that academics or wanna be academics should definitely read. I won't say more as I'm in the midst of writing a longer review for Electronic Intifada.

[Arda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was very interesting. It put new ideas forward and introduced me more to Mohanty and Giroux.

Notes from thesis:
The logic of institutions is that they are aligned with government, and as long as this is the case, the bodies intersecting in the spaces will remain complicit (Giroux, 2008). Even outside of government, by being part of the institution, whether through academia or organizational work, the value-system, as we know it, is set, and the “alliance between the academy and state power is abundantly clear” (Chatterjee & Maira, 2014, p. 11). This ‘given’ value-system defines not only what is to be articulated, but also plays on self-censoring and silencing. Chatterjee & Maira (2014) bring examples that shed light on how the value-system works in the realm of higher education in university campuses, but their illustrations also match with United Nations and other organizational bodies working in the realm of development.

[Navy heart HamlinNBCT · Rating 5 out of 5]

During 2011 the emergence of on-line publishing a catastrophic collision emerged - a geo-war for inclusion into the debates of "a who and if" occurred. "Who shouldn't be" became my personal premise, but perhaps that is counterproductive to this notion of an imperial university being detrimental to ensuring dominance as the United States seeks its place in what is referred to as the "Empires of Knowledge" - Given that knowledge is critical in the promotion of progressive civilities and the freedom to engage in academic discourse is clearly a luxury afforded to the affluent , this text is the premise for pursuing and advocating for sustainability of an open forum for geoexchange. Piya Chatterjee and Sunsina Maria both editors have made it possible for the collective voices of the 21st century to surface.
As the amphitheatre of horror heightens on the War on Terror so does the light dim on the sustainability of an open forum, can this riveting exchange of a collective timelined framework denouncing a"neoliberal disinvestment in the concept of education as a public good" be of value? Those of us who value a non-bias platform hope so -SAHNBCT2016

[Cassie · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fantastic, enlightening, and depressing look into the institutional nature of the university. Great discussion of the ideologies (e.g., pursuit of knowledge, academic freedom) that permeate about the academy. Lacking, however, were nuanced solutions to these problems. Still certainly worth a read!

[Gianna Mosser · Rating 5 out of 5]

What an amazing volume! Standouts were purely based on personal engagement and topical preference: Oparah, Salaita, Gumbs, and Prashad.

[Mills College Library]

371.01097 I344 2014