"I understand the fact that political action and a scientific study of society are not closely linked. However, you're beating academics up for not communicating like political activists. Of course most academics don't have a talent for communicating with the masses--that's why they became academics! --Isn't it possible for academics to do interesting and important scientific work that is not overt political mobilization?"
Sure, I've run across a handful of exceptional scholars. But it is also the case that academics influence hundreds of students each semester. For a lot of people, college is their last real chance to catch intellectual, critical fire. So, I think it's important to reach out to them.
The division of higher education from social concerns is a crime against the social good and a crime against critical thinking. I'm not arguing for a program of pragmatism here; I'm arguing against the age-old distinction between the "higher" and "lower" faculties and the celebration of the former at the expense of the latter.
Joanna