> My first reaction on reading this was that the reason anarchism has
> received so little academic attention is that few people remain
> anarchists after their 30th birthday. But I dismissed the thought as too
> cruel & glib.
Ha, ha, not. Unlike Marxists who grow out of their ideas by the age of 35.
The reasons why there aren't many anarchist academics are pretty clear. Many of us prefer to find work that isn't part of an oppressive institution. That's one reason why you'll find many more anarchist librarians these days than anarchist professors. Secondly, the resurgence in anarchism of the past decade has mostly involved young people, who would just now becoming professors. In fact, looking over the list of signers for David Graeber, I noticed many names of anarchists who are in the upper levels of academia, including quite a few working on their Ph.Ds. I was actually surprised to see many familiar names who are associated with academia.
I've thought a bunch in recent years about going back to college, but I just can't stomache the idea of bullshit classes and instructors, plus more student debt. I've thought about going to law school, getting an M.A. in Fine Arts, and more recently, economics. The odds of me getting another degree are slim. I think I prefer being an impoverished activist and public intellectual.
Chuck