[WS:] When my ex was graduating from the UCSC - arguably one of the most anti-capitalist campuses on the left coast - her class was planning a graduation party at a trendy restaurant in downtown Santa Cruz. Just before the party, they were approached by a union rep who told them that they were involved in bitter labor dispute with the restaurant's management, and asked them to boycott the establishment. To the dismay of my ex and a few fellow radicals, both most of the students and the faculty crossed the picket line. While crossing the picket line, they were confronted by the aforementioned radicals who asked to stand by their principles which they professed in the classroom. Some made evasive excuses, other were more blunt, saying in essence that "then" it was college and "now" is the "real life."
I think that this anecdote nicely summarizes the shortcomings of colleges as an institutional background of radical or progressive ideas. Unlike unions or left wing political parties, colleges are not institutional "organic intellectuals" - they are merely selling credentials to those in the position to pay for them (and sometimes produce and sell knowledge too.) As such, their main concern is to provide amenities that their paying clients demand, which may include - in addition to the sports and recreational facilities, entertaining classroom instruction, and nice living quarters - exotic and stimulating intellectual ambiance.
Wojtek
On Tue, May 4, 2010 at 12:05 AM, Miles Jackson <cqmv at pdx.edu> wrote:
> Wojtek S wrote:
>
>> [WS:] Nice piece. However, it has one missing link - institution behind
>> ideology. Ideology, now matter how progressive, is just words if it is
>> not
>> backed by political institution - or "vanguard party" in Lenin's parlance.
>>
>> As far I can see, there is no institution in the US today that is capable
>> of
>> backing a progressive ideology espousing a critique of the market. The
>> unions renounced that chance with Gomperism and its belief in the market
>> system. The so-called "civil society" is not an institution but a
>> hodge-podge of groups, most of which espouse the liberal faith in the free
>> market system. And the two business parties are not even worth mentioning
>> in this context. An that pretty much exhausts the available options in
>> the
>> US.
>>
>> Wojtek
>>
>
> Perhaps I'm a bit naive, but I disagree. We challenge free market ideology
> every day in public community colleges and universities. --And more and
> more people are attending these institutions!
>
> Miles
>
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