The financialization of the American academy and the decline of dissent

This article first provides a brief overview of the development of tenure and academic freedom in the U.S. amid a series of government efforts to surveille, discipline and remove from their university posts those anthropologists who spoke out against U.S. foreign policy or war, or in favor of civil rights. Following Ellen Schrecker’s focus on key moments of academic repression, I draw on cases from World War I, the McCarthy era and the Vietnam War. The article goes on to draw attention to the systematic repression of pro-Palestinian speech, and to explore differences in the way the 20th-century university (1915–1975) and the modern corporate university have handled dissent. I argue that the contemporary university, shaped by decreased public support, a precipitous decline in tenure density, a greater dependence on the bond market and private philanthropy, and a new type of administration drawn from business and industry rather than faculty ranks, has become increasingly obedient to both government and corporate power.