[lbo-talk] A Big Stipend Gap! (Vive Jacques, Le Moor ! Vive la differance !)

[Yoshie Furuhashi]

>Carl Remick wrote:
>
>>I'm saying simply that the left would not be in its current 
>>moribund state if more energy had been spent on politics since the 
>>Vietnam war era instead of playing dweeby word games.
>
>Hmm, perhaps you overlooked the Eric Alterman passage I've posted
>several times:
>
>>"But here's the twist. [Labor historian Nelson] Lichtenstein is 
>>part of a perfectly Rortyite reformist Campaign for a Living Wage 
>>at the University of Virginia. This campaign is not about ending 
>>sexism, racism, or homophobia, but about getting janitorial staff a 
>>few extra bucks an hour. Who are its volunteers? Primarily, says 
>>Lichtenstein, faculty and graduate students from the pomo 
>>literature and theory crowd."
>
>Doug

There is a materialist explanation for more interest in labor 
organizing and solidarity among grad students in the humanities and 
social sciences than in the sciences.  It's a big stipend gap!

<blockquote>In the humanities and social sciences, you can expect a 
stipend of $11,000 or $12,000 for the academic year. Plan on finding 
additional summer support or getting a job when school's out. If you 
are in the sciences, you can breathe easier about making ends meet. 
You are more likely to get support for 12 months, and at many places 
it will be close to or even above $20,000.  (Scott Smallwood, 
"Stipends Are Key in Competition to Land Top Graduate Students," 
September 28, 2001, 
<http://chronicle.com/free/v48/i05/05a02401.htm>)</blockquote>

Pomo or no pomo, grad students in the humanities and social sciences 
are decidedly more proletarian than those in the sciences, so they 
are more interested in joining unions and supporting their fellow 
workers such as janitors than those in the sciences are.
-- 
Yoshie

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