Technologies of Intimidation: On (Not) Publishing in the Shadow of the Imperial University

I want to begin my remarks by thanking Anita for asking me to take part in this forum. As it turns out, the invitation came just I was feeling frustrated by the fact that I had a manuscript on my desk in need of external peer review—when do I not? And one of the ideal readers for it was someone on faculty at UIUC. This was at the height of the what we might call the Salaita … what? affair? controversy? debacle? outrage? … and I didn’t feel that I could ethically ask a scholar who, along with so many colleagues, was clearly under siege. So this made me realize how the administrative attack on Salaita had implications that reached far and wide in some not-so-immediately-apparent ways as well as the many glaringly obvious ones. This callous and calculated decision by Chancellor Phyllis Wise was interfering with my work.

Like many Asian Americanists as well as scholars and activists from across the country and various parts of the world, I registered my concern and disapproval with the UIUC Board of Trustees. In my letter, I wrote,

In various editorial roles at three university presses I have been deeply involved in working with scholars across numerous disciplines, many of whom have advanced unorthodox, unpopular, and purportedly “radical” views. At times I have seen how these scholars—and their publishers—have been overtly attacked, threatened with censorship, closure, and sometimes even with great personal violence. In each instance, these individuals, the presses, and their staff members have weathered the storms, sometimes with their university’s support but oftentimes not.

So, this is where I want to discuss the act of publishing—or perhaps deciding not to publish something—in the shadow of the Imperial University. Piya Chatterjee and Sunaina articulate this concept of the Imperial University in their coedited volume of the same name. In their introduction they write,

The U.S. academy is an “imperial university.” As in all imperial and colonial nations, intellectuals and scholarship play an important role—directly or indirectly, willingly or unwittingly—in legitimizing American exceptionalism and rationalizing U.S. expansionism and repression, domestically and globally. The title of this book, then, is not a rhetorical flourish but offers a concept that is grounded in the particular imperial formation of the United States, one that is in many ways ambiguous and shape-shifting.

The Imperial University casts a pretty big shadow, and university presses are oftentimes silent and invisible entities within their parent institutions. (At least, that’s how they are perceived by a vast majority of university administrations.) They are little understood, and when acknowledged they are usually considered only as an expense or a drain on resources, no matter how little financial or operational support they receive from the university. It is often the case that a university press doesn’t enter the consciousness of the university unless something the press has published is deemed to be controversial.

This was almost certainly the case with Mark Yudof when he was president at the University of Minnesota and the press was vehemently attacked by everyone from the Wall Street Journal and Dr. Ruth Westheimer to the church of Reverend Fred Phelps of “God Hates Fags” fame for its publication of Judith Levine’s book, Harmful to Minors: The Perils of Protecting Children from Sex, in 2002, with a foreword by former U.S. Surgeon General Jocelyn Elders. While the administration did not cave in to calls for the book to be suppressed and the press offices shuttered, the threat felt by all the press staff was palpable.

And here within this anecdote lies the “ambiguous and shape-shifting” technology of intimidation deployed by the Imperial University and its controlling interests: It’s called getting fired. Or a “non-renewal” of your position. Or a “de-hiring.” And it’s an acutely felt threat hovering in all its abstraction over administrative staff who work in marginalized units within the university system, especially when they aren’t unionized and may have some investment in the...