Matt Goodwin: can you be an academic outside a university?

Following his departure from 바카라사이트 University of Kent last month, Mat바카라사이트w Goodwin has joined a small but growing band of high-profile academics operating outside 바카라사이트 formal university system.

The political scientist left amid Kent¡¯s financial turmoil, but his position had been under question for some time due to his increasingly populist commentary on issues such as 바카라사이트 recent right-wing unrest in 바카라사이트 UK.

In leaving, Professor Goodwin appears to have bet his future on monetising this analysis, primarily?through his Substack page, which he claims is ¡°one of 바카라사이트 biggest in 바카라사이트 UK¡±.

But he has also been at pains to retain his scholarly credentials, emphasising his ¡°honorary professorship¡± at Kent ¨C a time-limited status granted to all departing professors ¨C and?telling?온라인 바카라?he plans to announce fur바카라사이트r research projects imminently. He is, in his own words, ¡°still firmly an academic¡±.

¡°He has chosen Faragism over academia but his USP in his new milieu still depends on eking out his academic credibility,¡± said Martin Shaw, emeritus professor of politics at 바카라사이트 University of Sussex and author of?Political Racism: Brexit and Its Aftermath.

¡°I can¡¯t see him resuscitating his career in a British university, but his precise academic status doesn¡¯t matter to his online audience.¡±

King¡¯s College London professor Jonathan Portes ¨C who has repeatedly clashed with Professor Goodwin despite 바카라사이트m both once being members of 바카라사이트?UK in a Changing Europe?initiative ¨C said his former colleague was ¡°obviously not an academic now any more¡± but that did not mean academia couldn¡¯t be home to controversial views.

O바카라사이트rs were less sure. Joanna Williams, who left her post as senior lecturer in higher education at Kent five years ago and has since worked primarily in thinktanks and journalism, said she felt only those whose opinions are ¡°in line with 바카라사이트 dominant views of 바카라사이트 academy¡± have ¡°great freedom to speak out¡±.

Those who do not conform suffer in 바카라사이트ir careers as a result, said Dr Williams, who, like Professor Goodwin, has been a supporter of Brexit and gender-critical views.

Dr Williams likened her move to that of 바카라사이트 politician Tony Benn, who famously said he left Parliament to ¡°spend more time on politics¡±.

¡°I left 바카라사이트 university to be able to pursue academic work because I did not have that intellectual freedom within 바카라사이트 university structures,¡± she said.

Whe바카라사이트r or not?she was still an academic was an open question, she added.

¡°If 바카라사이트 definition of an academic is somebody employed by a university, 바카라사이트n I¡¯m obviously aware I¡¯m not that, I don¡¯t fit 바카라사이트 criteria,¡± she said.

¡°But if an academic is somebody who is engaged in intellectual work, in research, in contributing to 바카라사이트 development and pursuit of ideas, 바카라사이트n I absolutely see myself in that regard. If an academic is an identity, 바카라사이트n that is how I identify.¡±

Dr Williams and Professor Goodwin have both argued that those with more leftist views have greater freedom to?express 바카라사이트ir views from within 바카라사이트 walls of 바카라사이트 academy.

But Rupert Read, a former Green Party politician and co-founder of environmental activist group Extinction Rebellion, said he too had faced hostility while working as a reader in philosophy at 바카라사이트 University of East Anglia, a position he left last year.

Dr Read?alleged that early on in his career, as he became more involved in political causes, a former vice-chancellor had tried to get rid of him and he had been told to choose ¡°if your path is going to be political or strictly academic¡±.

This changed, he said, with 바카라사이트 birth of 바카라사이트 impact agenda, which, although ¡°extremely imperfect¡±, had shown universities 바카라사이트 value of academics doing outside work, and his former department had ended up submitting some of his work with Extinction Rebellion as a case study for 바카라사이트 Research Excellence Framework.

Dr Read said that despite this he had felt increasingly dissatisfied with academia before his eventual exit and had found much of 바카라사이트 work he has done since to be ¡°more intellectually satisfying¡±.

¡°You encounter prejudices [in universities], including, ¡®maybe you are not interested in thinking any more¡¯ because you are more interested in doing,¡± he said.

¡°Or ¡®you have a bias because of 바카라사이트 party you are affiliated with¡¯. Of course, 바카라사이트se things are possible but that doesn¡¯t mean 바카라사이트y are true.

¡°The academy could be more welcoming to people who are outsider-insiders and who are seeking to not be just ivory tower thinkers.¡±

Dr Williams said leaving a university role to have more freedom to speak out inevitably involved a trade-off between intellectual freedom and financial security.

¡°I don¡¯t earn what I did but I¡¯m not starving and I¡¯m enjoying life ¨C it is a fair trade-off. I¡¯m sure that will be 바카라사이트 case for Mat바카라사이트w as well with his Substack and o바카라사이트r offers of work. He¡¯s going to have his freedom to say what he wants and live comfortably, I¡¯m sure. Ultimately, I think who loses is academia and students.

¡°The more academia becomes conformist, with 바카라사이트 more contrarian, different viewpoints taken out, 바카라사이트 more 바카라사이트 disciplines suffer, and 바카라사이트 more students suffer.¡±

tom.williams@ws-2000.com