Description
Book SynopsisThe essays in this book, written by people involved either involved in the strike (graduate students, faculty, organizers) or who are nationally recognized writers on academic labor, offers lessons on what the GSOC strike says about the current role of the university in public life, and how the pressure for universities to realign themselves along the lines of private corporations has broad implications for the future of higher education.
Trade Review"It studies NYU specifically and universities in general, offering a solid reassessment of corporate growth in higher education, while exploring how to fight for better universities through collective action. Blessedly free of jargon and unforgiving in its critique, this book speaks powerfully to any faculty member interested in retaining academic freedom, shared governance, dignity on the job, or just the job itself... thought-provoking." Academe "[A] set of thoughtful reflections by strike proponents about the corporate university... The University Against Itself is at its best precisely when the authors capture the continuing tension between the academic and corporate characteristics of the emerging corporate academy." The Industrial and Labor Relations Review, Jan 2009 "Although these are not the first labor or social movement examinations to generate predictive analyses, existing literatures remain relatively sparse, and therefore, these pieces constitute a welcome addition to a growing body of work, particularly in terms of expanding research in the areas of movement repertoire and tactical innovation. In sum, I highly recommend this thoughtfully organized and well-written volume for the relevant conversations it includes as well as the ones it will inspire for people interested in the labor movement and/or higher education." - Contemporary Sociology January 2010
Table of ContentsThe University Against Itself:
The NYU Strike and the Future of the Academic Workplace
Edited by Monika Krause, Mary Nolan, Michael Palm and Andrew Ross
Table of Contents
Introduction
Part I: Corporate University?
Ashley Dawson and Penny Lewis, NYC: Academic Labor Town?
Ellen Schrecker, Academic Freedom in the Age of Casualization
Mary Nolan, A Leadership University for the Twenty-first Century? Corporate Administration, Contingent labor, and the Erosion of Faculty Rights
Christopher Newfield and Greg Grandin, Building a Statue of Smoke:
The NYU Trustees, Finance Culture, and the Demotion of Intellectual Labor
Stephen Duncombe and Sarah Nash, ICE From the Ashes of FIRE: NYU and the Economy of Culture in New York City
Adam Green, The High Cost of Learning: Tuition, Educational Aid, and the New Economics of Prestige in Higher Education
Micki McGee, Blue Team, Gray Team: Some Varieties of the Contingent Faculty Experience
Part II: GSOC Strike
Unions at NYU, 1971-2007
Susan Valentine, The Administration Strikes Back: Union Busting at NYU
Steve Fletcher, “Bad News for Academic Labor? Lessons in Media Strategy from the GSOC Strike
Maggie Clinton, Miabi Chatterji, Sherene Seikaly, Natasha Lightfoot, Naomi Schiller, “If Not Now, When? Lessons Learned from GSOC's 2005-6 Strike”
Jeff Goodwin, faculty
Andrew Cornell, Undergraduate Participation in Campus Labor Coalitions: Lessons from the NYU Strike
Matthew Osypowski (with Adam Graham Silverman), Operation Class-move
Part III: Lessons for the Future
The State of the Academic Labor Movement: A Roundtable with Stanley Aronowitz, Barbara Bowen and Ed Ott, Moderated by Kitty Krupat
Andrew Ross, Global U
Monika Krause, and Michael Palm, Activists into organizers! How to Work with Your Colleagues and Build Power in Graduate School
Gordon Lafer , Sorely Needed: A Corporate Campaign for the Corporate University
Cary Nelson, Graduate Employee Unionization and the Future of Academic Labor
