Introduction
Chapter 1. The Firing of Angela Davis
Chapter 2. Absolute Meiklejohn
Chapter 3. Indoctrination: From Lovejoy to Foucault by Way of Black Studies
Chapter 4. Eminent Conversions: 1990s–Present
Chapter 5. Israel, BDS, and Academic Freedom
Chapter 6. In Lieu of a Conclusion: An Unpublished Speech on Academic Freedom by Edward W. Said
Daniel Gordon is a Professor of History at the University of Massachusetts Amherst, USA and Co-Editor in Chief of the journal Society. He received a Ph.D. in history from the University of Chicago and a Master of the Study of Law degree from the Yale Law School. He is the author of Citizens Without Sovereignty: Equality and Sociability in French Thought, 1670-1789 (Princeton University Press, 1994), the editor of The Anthem Companion to Alexis de Tocqueville (Anthem Press, 2019), and the author of many articles on free speech and religious freedom in France and the United States.
‘A welcome addition to the rather large library of essays and books
on academic freedom, Daniel Gordon’s book departs from the
assumption that history is a purifying mechanism in the course of
which succeeding generations refine and distil a concept or a
program. Gordon offers a much more complex account of academic
freedom, telling a multi-faceted story from which ‘academic
freedom’ emerges not as a term with a single meaning, but as
something of a floating signifier that has meant different things
at different times and different things at the same time, depending
on social and political circumstances inside and outside of the
academy.’ – Stanley Fish, Florida International University,
USA'This is a nuanced account of academic freedom controversies --
from World War I-era disputes over wartime limits on academic
expression, to the mid-century debate about whether Communists
should be allowed to teach, to the current fracas over BDS and
academic boycotts. This book’s combination of strong legal and
philosophical analysis with vivid personal profiles (of leading
figures such as Arthur Lovejoy, Alexander Meiklejohn, and Angela
Davis) makes it an original and thought-provoking contribution to
academic freedom studies.' - Nadine Strossen, John Marshall Harlan
II Professor of Law, New York Law School, Emerita Former President,
American Civil Liberties Union, 1991–2008 'A very smart tour
through the people and ideas behind a century of debate over
academic freedom.' - Kenneth S. Stern, director of the Bard Center
for the Study of Hate and author of 'The Conflict over The
Conflict: The Israel/Palestine Campus Debate''I thought I was
familiar with the history of academic freedom in the United States,
but Daniel Gordon's fascinating and lively history taught me that
there are complexities within the complexities. I recommend this
book for anyone who isn't sure what 'academic freedom' means and
has meant-- that is to say, almost everybody.' - Michael Bérubé,
Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Literature, Pennsylvania State
University and co-author (with Jennifer Ruth) of 'It's Not Free
Speech: Race, Democracy, and the Future of Academic Freedom''Daniel
Gordon's superb 'What is Academic Freedom?' brings a new level of
sophistication to an intensifying debate. At a moment when
politicians, activists and even some academics question the ideal
of academic freedom, this shrewd and compelling history gives
readers a richer understanding of the concept, its past, and its
potential future.' John McGreevy, Francis A. McAnaney Professor of
History at the University of Notre Dame and author of Catholicism
and American Freedom: A History
"Gordon (history, Univ. of Massachusetts, Amherst) endeavors to
describe the various ways academic freedom has been interpreted
over the last century. The author then explores the idea that
academic freedom protects political advocacy in education as not
just permissible, but necessary. This book has value as a chronicle
of the debate regarding the extent to which politics and academia
can be separated."--S. R. Fitzgerald, University of Massachusetts
Amherst, Choice
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