In lieu of an abstract, here is a brief excerpt of the content:

Reviewed by:
  • No University Is an Island: Saving Academic Freedom by Cary Nelson
  • Janis Breckenridge
Cary Nelson. No University Is an Island: Saving Academic Freedom. New York: New York University Press, 2010. 289p.

Passionately expounding his conviction that academic freedom is under attack and faculty must be prepared to respond, Cary Nelson continues his political engagement within academia in his most recent publication, No University Is an Island: Saving Academic Freedom (2010). Nelson deplores a perceived decline in faculty awareness of—and engagement with—shared governance. Underlying his fiery academic activism is the premise that academic freedom remains an ever-evolving concept that is “under constant pressure to redefine its nature, its scope, and its application. The need to clarify academic freedom anew, to elaborate on its implications, and to respond to its critics is never ending”(26). To this end, No University Is an Island tackles such pertinent issues as the interrelatedness of academic freedom with faculty governance and tenure, the precarious and unjust nature of increased reliance upon a non-tenure-track workforce, and practical aspects of collective bargaining and unionization of both faculty and graduate students. Writing from personal experience as a long-time advocate for reform as well as from his position as President of the American Association of University Professors (AAUP), Nelson fervently warns of the urgent need for collective action in a time of crisis. In short, Cary Nelson challenges his readers to become informed and engaged in response to an increasing corporatization of higher education.

A general introduction to No University Is an Island offers a concise yet thorough history of academic freedom while further explaining its nature and function. In this way, Nelson lays the groundwork for the chapters that follow, and explains that this book is primarily “an effort to evaluate the state of academic freedom in the emerging neoliberal university and then an effort to judge what role the AAUP can play in preserving it” (27). Nelson begins his sustained exposition and persuasive appeal by describing the interdependence of academic freedom with effective faculty governance. In the second chapter, he explicates a sixteen-point list of the dangers confronting academic freedom, reiterating his aims to increase faculty awareness, evaluate the state of academic freedom, and determine how this essential faculty right can be preserved. He cautions that faculty not only enjoy the rights and protections of academic freedom, but they also bear certain responsibilities.

Following these broader concerns, Nelson turns to more specific challenges currently facing the professoriate. A discussion of the threat to academic freedom [End Page 168] posed by an increasing reliance upon contingent faculty precedes an examination of issues surrounding political correctness and campus diplomacy; ensuing chapters focus on faculty unions and graduate student organization. Nelson embraces the concept of collaborative unions, ideally premised on a merging of “careerism” with social responsibility that would allow institutions of higher learning to become model institutions dedicated to social justice both in principle and in deed. Furthermore, the author consistently advocates solidarity: between ranks and disciplines, between institutions, and between institutions and communities.

In what might be the book’s most stirring and confrontational chapter, “On Weakened Ground: The AAUP, Pedagogy, and the Struggle over Academic Freedom” (Chapter 7), Nelson directly confronts attacks to academic freedom from the far right, particularly those of David Horowitz and Stanley Fish. Specifically, the author adamantly defends professors’ rights to state personal views, to promote advocacy and to make direct references to current events and politics within the classroom, principles that are clearly laid out in the AAUP’s statement, “Freedom in the Classroom.” In response to his own provocative question—“Could academic freedom . . . survive a perfect cultural and political storm?” (193)—Nelson boldly asserts that worst-case scenarios have already occurred (such as what took place in New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina) and once again concludes that faculty, together with the general public, must be educated regarding the nature and value of academic freedom; furthermore, he insists, faculty must embrace solidarity. Nelson stresses that although the future of academic freedom remains uncertain, faculty rights have already been severely tested, and neither administration nor faculty have adequately risen to the challenge.

In the book...

pdf

Share