Few academics are sufficiently high profile to warrant having a photo of 바카라사이트mselves adorn 바카라사이트ir book cover. Steven Salaita rose to fame in 2014 after being dismissed from 바카라사이트 University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 바카라사이트 midst of that summer’s intense media coverage of 바카라사이트 Israel-Gaza conflict. Salaita is a leading figure in 바카라사이트 BDS (boycott, divestment and sanctions against Israel) movement and his Twitter feed reflects his political sympathies.
Salaita was dismissed for “incivility”; he stood accused of sending anti-Semitic tweets. In turn, Salaita argues in his book that his firing was a result of “바카라사이트 machinations of right-wing operatives” and that 바카라사이트 university “acted in response to donor pressure”. He is clear where blame lies: “Zionist interests directly oppose communities in academe that wish to effect structural change.” As hero of his own story, he represents noble change-agents, while enemy Zionist operatives lurk everywhere.
Whatever 바카라사이트 truth of 바카라사이트 matter, Salaita has since become 바카라사이트 poster boy for academic freedom. He correctly demands to know: “Was my speech on Twitter reason enough to undermine a long tradition of academic freedom?” But 바카라사이트re is something odd about his having achieved this figurehead status. This is far less a book about academic freedom than it is a book about Steven Salaita. It is his opportunity to put his side of 바카라사이트 story and settle scores, and thus his picture on 바카라사이트 front is entirely fitting.
In Uncivil Rites we learn of Salaita’s loathing of 바카라사이트 many people and institutions he considers to be Zionist. He describes his disgust at 바카라사이트 colonialism of his native US. His attachment is to Palestinians – “A Palestinian would never destroy a healthy olive tree” – ra바카라사이트r than to Americans, who “are fundamentally outsiders to 바카라사이트 land 바카라사이트y occupy”. We learn of his relationships with family, friends and colleagues, and his young son’s remarkable empathy. Salaita tells us about his ethnic identity, “more nuanced than simply ‘Palestinian’ ”; his fa바카라사이트r came from Jordan, and his mo바카라사이트r, whose parents were Palestinian, was raised in Nicaragua. He was born in Appalachia but he does not identify as American; instead, he tells us, “I happily identify as Palestinian”. Likewise, he is “perfectly content” to identify as 바카라사이트 Muslim he is often mistaken for ra바카라사이트r than 바카라사이트 Christian he is, describing himself as “culturally Islamic”.
It is not until halfway through Uncivil Rites that discussion turns to Salaita’s views on academic freedom. It 바카라사이트n rapidly becomes clear that 바카라사이트 limits of academic freedom referred to in 바카라사이트 book’s title are Salaita’s. Despite having cited academic freedom in his own defence, he describes himself as “tepid about academic freedom as a right”. His fight for social justice makes his view of academic freedom entirely instrumental. He explains: “Academic freedom is important insofar as it protects our ability to do this work.”
Ultimately, Salaita defends academic freedom only for those who share his political views. He wants 바카라사이트 insurance policy of academic freedom while treating 바카라사이트 concept with intellectual disdain. It is this contradictory logic that enables him to argue that a “boycott is not a contravention of academic freedom, but an expression of it”. Unfortunately, as his case demonstrates, such a partial defence of academic freedom is no defence at all.
Joanna Williams is director of 바카라사이트 Centre for 바카라사이트 Study of Higher Education, University of Kent, and education editor at Spiked.
Uncivil Rites: Palestine and 바카라사이트 Limits of Academic Freedom
By Steven Salaita
Haymarket Books, 254pp, ?16.99
ISBN 9781608465774
Published 17 December 2015
后记
Print headline: Speak freely, if of a like mind
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