Dear Colleagues,
as a lurker from the other side of the Atlantic (or, if you're in
Australia/NZ, the Pacific...) i would like to comment on a little window of
understanding that has just been opened for me by some recent posts.
I too am taken aback by the professed distinction between "we academics"
and "the real world," and without promoting undue naval-gazing, would like
to point out how at least over here in the States, the Academy is every bit
as fraught with the negative effects of post-fordism and flexible
production as any other sector of the economy. Universities increasingly
rely on low-paid, short-term contracts that come without benefits (this in
the land of privatised health care), conference money, access to research
money, etc. One colleague has referred to this as the "lumpen
professoriate." And in Australia, there is much talk of following this
"American Model." Those "ivory tower" positions that some of you seem to
hold are an endangered species, and many of us scrounge from one year to
the next, or even one semester to the next, looking for work; and taking up
non-academic short-term jobs to carry us through the summer break.
This morning I had an enlightening look at the job advertisements internal
to the State University of New York system. i found that my own job (for
which i must reapply...), and which was advertised Nationally as "Assistant
Professor", is internally listed as "instructor/assistant professor" with a
salary range substantially lower: $32,250-#33,000 compared to $33,000 -
$37,000 for regular assistant professor. The position of technical
assistant to the physics department (qualifications: bachelor's degree)
pays from $43,000!
This example aside and returning to the topic of "critical geography," i
had expected that a group of people so designated would be "critical" (not
to mention conscious) of exploitative practices within our own discipline,
as well as in the "real world" (for those who make this distinction).
Regarding the "Critical Geography" conference in Vancouver, i applauded the
distinction in registration fees for "first world" vs "third world"
participants; but was surprised that this of all conferences did not, as
some other conferences do, recognize the "third world within the first
world" of academia (not truly comparable to the third world, but the idea
of division of labour holds).
What i'm getting at is that there seems to be an ivory-towerism among us
which is able to distinguish academia from the "real world." And in doing
so, overlooks the extend to which the "real world" impinges on our own
profession.
It is indeed our job, if not duty, to engage in a critical and constructive
fashion with the truly oppressed, ignored, downtrodden. But if we do not
understand these processes in our own workplace, how well do we understand
them elsewhere?
doug
RDK Herman
Geography
SUNY Geneseo
1 College Circle
Geneseo NY 14454-1401
Tel: (1-716) 245-5599
Fax: (1-716) 245-5180
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