Scan barcode
Reviews
How the University Works: Higher Education and the Low-Wage Nation by Cary Nelson, Marc Bousquet
djdrysdale's review against another edition
4.0
In another world, this might have been "The Jungle" for higher ed. It's a sometimes disheartening, sometimes terrifying, and always depressing assessment of the university system in the United States (and, increasingly, Canada). Unfortunately, Bousquet is either going to be preaching to the choir or falling on deaf ears. The first and last chapters, at least, should be mandatory reading for anybody considering graduate education.
acreech's review against another edition
4.0
A timely book that will easily complement the collection of literature on the topic of academic labor. http://blogcritics.org/archives/2008/04/19/122048.php
mburnamfink's review against another edition
3.0
A few days ago, I read "Academically Adrift" which argues that undergraduates aren't learning. "How the University Works" doubles down by presenting a Marxist critique of higher ed, and the hyper-exploitation of graduate students and non-tenured faculty by a 'management culture' of late stage capitalism.
I think Bousquet is half right; grad school pays peanuts for long hours, becoming a professor is basically a lottery, and even then it's the least financially rewarding career available with that level of education (this very morning I read a bunch of articles on adjunct faculty on food stamps). I will agree that the university as it stands today is exploitative, that it pushes the day-to-day realities of teaching off onto the most junior members of the profession, and that a PhD prepares you for nothing. The insights into Toyota-style management and the continual "stressing" of the production process are particularly valuable. No wonder nobody is learning!
Where I diverge is in the solution. Bousquet thinks that we need a union, some solidarity, and then we can get some respect and equal pay from evil administrators. But like the rest of Marxist scholarship, Socialism gets less attention than the flaws of Capitalism. As best as I can tell, for Bousquet, The University is a place which exists first to keep grad students in ramen and cheap whiskey, next a place that does undergrad education (but not for capitalists), and finally a place that does research (but only to expose and correct injustice). I'm not sure that Bousquet's university truly deserves to survive.
Can we just admit that True Socialism and Revolutionary Solidarity is a Utopian pipedream, and that the Revolution is about "meet the new boss, same as the old boss".
I think Bousquet is half right; grad school pays peanuts for long hours, becoming a professor is basically a lottery, and even then it's the least financially rewarding career available with that level of education (this very morning I read a bunch of articles on adjunct faculty on food stamps). I will agree that the university as it stands today is exploitative, that it pushes the day-to-day realities of teaching off onto the most junior members of the profession, and that a PhD prepares you for nothing. The insights into Toyota-style management and the continual "stressing" of the production process are particularly valuable. No wonder nobody is learning!
Where I diverge is in the solution. Bousquet thinks that we need a union, some solidarity, and then we can get some respect and equal pay from evil administrators. But like the rest of Marxist scholarship, Socialism gets less attention than the flaws of Capitalism. As best as I can tell, for Bousquet, The University is a place which exists first to keep grad students in ramen and cheap whiskey, next a place that does undergrad education (but not for capitalists), and finally a place that does research (but only to expose and correct injustice). I'm not sure that Bousquet's university truly deserves to survive.
Can we just admit that True Socialism and Revolutionary Solidarity is a Utopian pipedream, and that the Revolution is about "meet the new boss, same as the old boss".
More...