University professors are highly conformist and suppress views conflicting with their academy’s beliefs
Evidence
[T]he censorship of professors is more severe than that of either trustees or the market. Could you conceive of Princeton appointing an economist who actively professed racist views? I cannot. Indeed I am impressed that Allen Wallis has yet to receive his first L.L.D.—I would welcome an explanation other than his association with Nixon in 1959–60. Professors are highly conformist and make very poor custodians of intellectual freedom when it conflicts with the academy’s beliefs. — Dieter Plehwe, Quinn Slobodian & Philip Mirowski (eds.), Nine Lives of Neoliberalism, 129
Categorization
- SHARE: Economist George Stigler — usually the free-market apostle — arguing that professors censor more severely than trustees or markets is a reversal worth sending to anyone who studies academic freedom or the economics profession.
- XREF: Connects to Mirowski/Plehwe’s broader project of mapping neoliberal intellectuals’ institutional strategies and their own internal tensions over academic freedom. — connects to: Universities undermine religious belief by inculcating analytic thinking — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 608; Scholars who pursue advisory roles forfeit credibility with both state and academy — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam: How the Media and the…, 143; Professors’ fear of losing control blocks any class critique in the classroom — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress: Education as…, 377 (+7 more)
Broader Connections
- Professors’ fear of losing control blocks any class critique in the classroom
#exemplifies(0.82) — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 377 - Tenure-track conformity to power precedes and explains academic quietism
#corroborates(0.80) — Hamid Dabashi, Brown Skin, White Masks, 325 - Ideology reproduces through apparent professional neutrality, not overt bias
#corroborates(0.80) - Universities undermine religious belief by inculcating analytic thinking
#expands(0.75) — Norenzayan, Ara, Big gods - how religion transformed…, 608 - Freire’s banking model of education was met with active hostility from university professors
#exemplifies(0.75) — bell hooks, Teaching to Transgress, 39 - University education lowers authoritarianism, most among high scorers
#contradicts(0.75) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 1109 - Scholars who pursue advisory roles forfeit credibility with both state and academy
#qualifies(0.72) — Edward W. Said, Covering Islam, 143 - Curriculum that conflicts with student values can silence and disconnect those students
#exemplifies(0.72) — James D. Kirylo (ed.), Reinventing Pedagogy of the Oppressed, 740 - Hate literature propaganda shifts even low-right-wing university students’ attitudes.
#expands(0.70) — Bob Altemeyer, The Authoritarian Specter, 3316