this pretty much bites, but it does strike me as odd that david montgomery -- formerly a blackballed communist shop-floor organizer -- never got this treatment as a member of the faculty. indeed, he got tenure. and he used to spend his sabbaticals flying around the world organizing, iirc. maybe it's just a different group of faculty, but in any case there seems little question that his disdain for them is appropriate. i don't even know if montgomery is still around there (he's emeritus), but jim scott seems still to be on faculty. it's a little disappointing that none of those people seemed willing or able to stand up for graeber, but then, they always disappointed me when i was there. except for montgomery. <div>On 12/8/05, mike larkin <<a href="mailto:mike_larkin2001@yahoo.com">mike_larkin2001@yahoo.com</a>> wrote: <blockquote class="gmail_quote" style="border-left: 1px solid rgb(204, 204, 204); margin: 0pt 0pt 0pt 0.8ex; padding-left: 1ex;"><a href="http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ap-yale-prof-1207,0,2489188.story?coll=hc-headlines-local"> http://www.courant.com/news/local/hc-ap-yale-prof-1207,0,2489188.story?coll=hc-headlines-local</a> 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." </blockquote></div> -- "lo que decimos no siempre se parece a nosotros"