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Should academics be political activists?
Navigating the perilous waters of public intellectualism
Something has been bothering me for some time now. And one good use of writing is to tackle issues one is not clear about, because we are forced to read more carefully in order to write as clearly as possible. Clear writing only comes from clear thinking. So here it goes.
The issue in question is whether academics should also be political activists. If you think the answer is straightforward, I hope you will think again. It is not.
So here is the plan. Let me begin with a concrete example at my own university, proceed by picking two champions of opposing views — Noam Chomsky and Jonathan Haidt — continue with a personal instance from my own teaching and writing, and then see if we can make way on the whole shebang.
An example: land acknowledgment statements
As we all know, the United States of America began its history with a large dose of Enlightenment ideals (Franklin, Jefferson, and the other “founding fathers”), religious fundamentalism (Puritans), slavery, and genocide. The latter issue is the reason for increasingly common “land acknowledgment statements” made by universities and other institutions at the beginning of official meetings and events. The City College of New…
