Yale prof fired...alleges his left wing politics are the reason

[ikojo]

So much for the "ivory tower" being a bastion of left wing indoctrination and thought.


http://www.salon.com/wire/ap/archive.html?wire=D8DE0F2G1.html

Politics Eyed for Professor Leaving Yale

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By MATT APUZZO Associated Press Writer

October 23,2005 | NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- By all accounts, Yale anthropology professor David Graeber is one of the brightest minds in his field. His books are taught worldwide, and the London School of Economics recently asked him to give a lecture reserved for the most promising young anthropologists. But he's about to be unemployed.

snip

Graeber is an anarchist whose counterculture writings are nearly as popular as his academic work. He carries an Industrial Workers of the World union card and has been arrested during anti-globalization protests. He also objected when some at Yale wanted to kick out a student who tried to unionize graduate students.

snip

Graeber, 44, grew up in a working-class family and still lives in the same New York City co-op where he grew up. "Socialist housing," he calls it. He wears cargo pants to class and is not shy about his disdain for the tenured Yale faculty who showed him the door.

[NorCalDem]

1. Academia is only a bastion of liberalism

when it's convenient for the RW Thugs to address it as such. In fact, the same can be said for just about every other "liberal" stronghold (like the media, grand juries, special prosecutors, and district attorneys).

[pnorman]

2. Now how about THAT??

Inspired by a DU discussion some weeks ago, I had ordered from Amazon.com the following book: "Fragments of an Anarchist Anthropology" (http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/tg/detail/-/0972819649/102-1074955-1398546?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance)

It's a very small book (more like a pamphlet) that could fit into my shirtpocket. I set it aside for later reading, and almost forgot about it. I'll certainly give it some serious reading tonight. No "dilettante, he; he has certainly paid his dues.

pnorman

[SlavesandBulldozers]

3. this guy sounds great.

he sounds like just about every anthropologist :)

Typically an anthropology department wouldn't be where you'd find somebody, much less a whole group, concerned about these (his) brand of politics. Other professors in his department said they can't talk about it, so my guess is there's other shit going on. But I don't know what Yale's anth dept looks like. A conservative anthropology dept, I'm sure they esist but just what do they look like?

[nashbridges]

4. I read the article

and his contract was probably not renewed because of his help trying to unionize graduate student aides. The university I work for did everything in their power to quash a union push two years ago, and the university is very, very liberal.

Money doesn't seem to have any political boundaries.

[ikojo]

6. Most universities have taken the corporate approach to

students (they are the consumers of the product <education> offered by the university) and toward their employees.

[pnorman]

5. I'm a Premium Subscriber to Salon,

so I was able to get to the full article without any silliness. (It will also download into my PDA when I synch it).

Here's another extract: "Graeber is an anarchist whose counterculture writings are nearly as popular as his academic work. He carries an Industrial Workers of the World union card and has been arrested during anti-globalization protests. He also objected when some at Yale wanted to kick out a student who tried to unionize graduate students."

I LIKE that guy!! We at DU can do little to get him reinstated, but we can still show our support by promoting his books ... perhaps even buying some. Here's his Wikipedia write up: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Graeber

pnorman

[entanglement]

7. Some universities are quite RW

Cornell and Harvard are veritable RW snake-pits; Harvard has (essentially) become a massive investment firm interested more in the size of its endowment than anything else.

[Plaid Adder]

8. 2 things you need to know about how things work at Yale...

1) On the one hand, for whatever reason, at Yale, they hardly ever tenure their junior professors. It is a stupid, stupid, stupid system, but it is common all over the Ivy league: hire the best and the brightest assistant professors, then chew them up and spit them out, thus saving the tenured positions for super-huge-name-hotshots you bring in from other universities. Not being able to read the full article I don't know at what level this guy came in, but if he was an assistant professor, his not having gotten tenure probably has more to do with this (stupid) institutional prejudice against giving tenure to their own junior faculty than it does with his politics.

2) On the other hand, Yale has long had horrible relations with its unionized clerical, dining hall, and physical plant workers, and will fight to the death the unionization of graduate students while there is breath left in any one of its trustees' bodies. Thus, I believe the administration would be perfectly capable of retaliating against a professor for trying to organize the graduate students, as the university has had no qualms at all about retaliating against the graduate students themselves. However, their admittedly foul and pukeworthy anti-union activities are motivated more by self-preservation than by the desire to quash left-wing ideologies per se.

Just so you have the context,

The Plaid Adder

[pnorman]

9. For those who can't access the full article, here are a few links:

David's Yale Bio:
http://www.yale.edu/anthropology/people/dgraeber.html

Here's an appeal to action:
Solidarity with David Graeber

This site is a collaborative effort of graduate and undergraduate students affiliated with the Department of Anthropology at Yale University.
Sign the petition in support of David Graeber

Latest news: Yale Daily News: Graeber appeals decision

Professor David Graeber David Graeber, Associate Professor in the Anthropology Department at Yale University, was recently denied renewal of his contract for unexplained reasons. Graeber has an international reputation as a brilliant teacher and scholar, having published two highly regarded books and dozens of articles in a dozen languages and teaching some of the most popular courses offered in the Yale Anthropology Department. As an activist and one of the academy's few openly anarchist academics, his political engagement and personal style are a unique contribution to Yale's intellectual diversity and excellence.

Graeber is widely recognized as a leading anthropologist, social theorist, and scholar of Madagascar and other areas. Maurice Bloch of the London School of Economics considers Graeber "the best anthropological theorist of his generation from anywhere in the world" (see Bloch's letter of support). Graeber was recently invited to be a keynote speaker at the 50th Anniversary Diamond Jubilee meeting of the Association of Social Anthropologists in the United Kingdom and also to deliver the prestigious Malinowski Lecture at the London School of Economics.

In May of 2005, a majority of senior faculty of the Yale Anthropology Department voted not to renew Graeber's contract past the first 2 years of a standard 4-year term as associate professor, despite his having more than fulfilled the requirements (see his own letter to Yale Anthropology faculty, CV, and explanation in Graeber's words) and his enormous popularity among both graduate and undergraduate students. It is extremely rare for an associate professor's contract to be cut short of the standard 4 years, and it is particularly startling considering Graeber's outstanding qualifications. (This was not a question of promotion to a tenured professorship or any other rank, but a renewal of a current position, normally a formality.) In response, on June 10th, Professor Graeber filed an appeal with the University Provost, Andrew Hamilton, requesting University officials to review the case.

The reasons for denying his reappointment remain unclear: the decision was made in secret (following Yale University policy) and those who voted against him were not required to and have not attempted to provide any justification. Despite repeated attempts by graduate and undergraduate students in the department to discuss the issue with senior faculty, no senior faculty member who voted against Professor Graeber has attempted to explain or justify their decision.

The American Association of University Professors recommends: "In the event of a decision not to renew an appointment, the faculty member should be informed of the decision in writing, and, upon request, be advised of the reasons which contributed to that decision. The faculty member should also have the opportunity to request a reconsideration by the decision-making body" (Statement on Procedural Standards in the Renewal or Nonrenewal of Faculty Appointments). Professor Graeber has been told, however, that the reasons for non-renewal of his contract cannot be disclosed.

Professor Graeber's case has already drawn overwhelming support both from the Yale community and from around the world. A significant majority of Yale Anthropology graduate students have signed a petition asking their faculty to renew Professor Graeber's contract. Additionally, nearly 4,000 people so far—from preeminent scholars to activists and readers of Graeber's work around the world—have signed an open petition supporting Professor Graeber. His case has also drawn media attention (see Inside Higher Ed: Early Exit, ZNet: Support Graeber, by Andrej Grubacic, the interview with Graeber at Counterpunch), and numerous scholars and students have written letters of support (for example, see the letters from Maurice Bloch of the London School of Economics, faculty of the University of Chicago, anthropologists from the University of Sussex, faculty of the University of Glasgow, Yale students, more letters on menu to the left). Many more letters of support have been sent to the department but have not been sent to us.

If you would like to support David Graeber, you may sign the petition or send a letter to the Yale Anthropology department (see the letters on this site for examples). Be sure to send a copy of your letter to us ([e-mail] or [e-mail]) if you want it to be posted on this site.

Recognizing David Graeber's significant contributions to the Yale community and to the wider scholarly community, we strongly urge Yale University and the Yale University Department of Anthropology to take all steps necessary to ensure that David Graeber continues to remain a member of the faculty of the Yale Department of Anthropology.

http://www.geocities.com/graebersolidarity/

Perhaps there IS something we can do in his behalf.

pnorman