[lbo-talk] A public square

Miles Jackson cqmv at pdx.edu
Mon May 21 12:16:53 PDT 2007


joanna wrote:
> wrobert at uci.edu wrote:
>
>
>> Actually, it gets even better than this. One of my professors in history
>> is about to publish his first book. Not only is he not going to get paid
>> for it, but he is expected to pay for the production of the index. Now
>> this is for a respected press, and my professor has already edited an
>> important collection of essay on post-colonial studies for Verso.
>> Obviously, this doesn't mark professors as an especially oppressed group,
>> but it is kind of amazing..... robert wood
>>
>>
>>
> I don't know. I would call working for nothing a little worse than slavery.
>
>
> Joanna
>
But you're not really "working for nothing" when you publish an academic book; you're building your credentials, improving your likelihood of receiving grants and fellowships, fulfilling tenure or posttenure requirements. Granted, you get little or no direct money for publishing books, but that's not the point. Academe is a quaint "gift-giving" culture, where your prestige and access to resources are determined by your generous donation of academic goodies to your community. It has always fascinated me how this profoundly non-capitalist culture thrives in our capitalist society.

Miles



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