On 12/8/05, mike larkin <mike_larkin2001 at yahoo.com> wrote:
>
>
> http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ap-yale-prof-1207,0,2489188.story?coll=hc-headlines-local
>
>
> Associated Press
>
> December 7 2005, 1:08 PM EST
>
> NEW HAVEN, Conn. -- A professor and outspoken
> anarchist has agreed to leave Yale University this
> spring, ending an appeal over whether his termination
> was politically motivated.
>
> David Graeber, one of the world's leading social
> anthropologists, said he will teach two classes next
> semester, then take a yearlong paid sabbatical after
> which he will not return.
>
> "Normally, you get a sabbatical on the condition that
> you come back and teach the following year," Graeber
> said. "I'm getting the sabbatical on the condition
> that I don't come back and teach."
>
> Confirmation of the sabbatical arrangement was not
> immediately available from Yale but spokesman Tom
> Conroy has said the university was trying to reach an
> informal arrangement outside the grievance process.
>
> Graeber, 44, is an anarchist whose counterculture
> writings are nearly as popular as his academic work.
> When Yale's anthropology told Graeber not to return
> next year, scholars worldwide wrote letters of
> support, some suggesting Yale was letting politics
> influence its hiring.
>
> Yale officials have not discussed their reasoning.
> They note, however, that getting tenure is difficult
> and dozens of the 250 non-tenured professors come up
> for contract renewal each year. Some get renewed.
> Others leave for tenure-track jobs elsewhere.
>
> Others, like Graeber, are simply not rehired.
>
> Graeber, who has taught at Yale since 1998, is a
> prolific writer and his seminal work on value theory
> is taught worldwide. The London School of Economics
> recently asked him to give a lecture reserved for the
> most promising young anthropologists.
>
> Graeber said relationships with his peers became
> strained after he joined groups such as the Direct
> Action Network and Ya Basta in 2001 and began
> appearing at anti-globalization protests and in
> newspaper articles.
>
> Colleagues soon began expressing concerns about him
> turning in grades late or coming late to class, he
> said. When the department decided not to renew his
> contract, he said he never learned why.
>
> Graeber is unabashed about his politics - he carries
> an Industrial Workers of the World union card in his
> wallet - and his disdain for the Yale faculty who
> fired him. He said he deserved better from the
> university and said the provost's office could have
> intervened to save his job.
>
> "I did a lot to build up the reputation of that
> department," he said.
>
> Graeber said he plans to spend much of his year off
> doing research and writing. He said he has new books
> coming out soon and is working on another. His resume
> includes a number of forthcoming articles, including
> titles such as "Why Capitalism is a Transformation of
> Slavery."
>
> His spat with Yale has attracted national attention
> but he said he expects he'll find a job teaching when
> his sabbatical is over. He said he would not rule out
> returning to the Ivy League.
>
> "Having the entire world know you're an anarchist
> certainly won't help you in some quarters," he said,
> "but I've been open about it anyway."
>
> Next semester he will teach his final two classes: an
> introduction to anthropology and a course entitled
> "Direct Action and Radical Social Theory."
>
>
--
"lo que decimos no siempre se parece a nosotros"
-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <../attachments/20051208/cbb55f11/attachment.htm>