Synopses & Reviews
Marc Bousquet's How the University Works should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the future of higher education, including administrators, faculty members, graduate students, and--even more significantly--undergraduates and their parents.
--Thomas Hart Benton, The Chronicle of Higher Education
How the University Works is a serious wake-up call for the entire profession, and, based on what I overheard at the 2007 MLA] book fair, Bousquet is about to emerge as the Al Gore of higher education.
aThomas Hart Benton, The Chronicle of Higher Education
Marc Bousquet is the most trenchant theorist of the current academic labor situation, and How the University Works is the best study of academic labor conditions in the U.S. since the 1970s. It is thoroughly and creatively researched, theoretically bold, often mercifully frank, and frequently poignant in its arguments and findings.
aVincent B. Leitch, General Editor of the Norton Anthology of Theory and Criticism
As much as we think we know about the modern university, very little has been said about what it's like to work there. Instead of the high-wage, high-profit world of knowledge work, most campus employees a including the vast majority of faculty a really work in the low-wage, low-profit sphere of the service economy. Tenure-track positions are at an all-time low, with adjuncts and graduate students teaching the majority of courses. This super-exploited corps of disposable workers commonly earn fewer than $16,000 annually, without benefits, teaching as many as eight classes per year. Even undergraduates are being exploited as a low-cost, disposable workforce.
Marc Bousquet, a majorfigure in the academic labor movement, exposes the seamy underbelly of higher education a a world where faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates work long hours for fast-food wages. Assessing the costs of higher educations corporatization on faculty and students at every level, How the University Works is urgent reading for anyone interested in the fate of the university. ALSO OF INTEREST Author interview with Cary Nelson Author Blog on The Chronicle of Higher Education Call to Arms for Academic Labor--Review by Inside Higher Ed Author's Blog View the Table of Contents
Read the Introduction
Review
“Bousquet takes an uncompromising look at the way colleges employ those who teach - and how many professors have done nothing as tenured positions have been replaced with adjunct slots.”-Inside Higher Ed,
Review
“Bousquet takes an uncompromising look at the way colleges employ those who teach - and how many professors have done nothing as tenured positions have been replaced with adjunct slots.”
- Inside Higher Ed
Review
"Not only the most persuasive political argument, but also the most sophisticated theoretical analysis of the university's labor system."-The Minnesota Review,
Review
“How the University Works is a serious wake-up call for the entire profession, and, based on what I overheard at the [2007 MLA] book fair, Bousquet is about to emerge as the Al Gore of higher education.”-Thomas Hart Benton,The Chronicle of Higher Education
Review
"Bousquet serves up a stinging indictment of those universities that exploit their students from the moment they set foot on campus. . . . [He] reveals the dystopia that the contemporary university has become."-The Minnesota Review,
Review
"This is an extraordinarily important book, buttressed with a tremendous amount of convincing detail."
"Bousquet serves up a stinging indictment of those universities that exploit their students from the moment they set foot on campus. . . . [He] reveals the dystopia that the contemporary university has become."
“Bousquet takes an uncompromising look at the way colleges employ those who teach - and how many professors have done nothing as tenured positions have been replaced with adjunct slots.”
“Marc Bousquet's How the University Works should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the future of higher education, including administrators, faculty members, graduate students, and—even more significantly—undergraduates and their parents.”
“How the University Works is a serious wake-up call for the entire profession, and, based on what I overheard at the [2007 MLA] book fair, Bousquet is about to emerge as the Al Gore of higher education.”
Review
"Much of the current dialogue on race does not sufficiently interrogate its meaning. In marked contrast, Clara E. Rodr'guez offers a stunning example of racial formation by illustrating how Latino identities are formed and transformed in dynamic engagement with state definitions. She reveals the gap between state imposed categories and group self-definition; the dramatic distinctions between U.S. and Latin American concepts of race; and the political claims advanced through the Census. Best of all, she provides a rich sense of how individuals constantly negotiate the prevailing terrain of racial meanings."-Michael Omi,University of California, Berkeley
Review
"A timely work...Rodriguez does make a convincing argument that Latino self-identity is fluid and constantly changing." -Journal of American Ethnic History,
Review
"A timely addition. . . the author offers a competent, nontechnical overview of the issues concerning how our largest minority fits into this nation's bipolar black-white racial paradigm. . . . Rodriguez examines how Lationos may be changing that long-dominant paradigm." -American Journal of Sociology,
Review
"Rodriquez'a account is a solid introduction to the dynamic complexity of American ethnic life." -Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 26, No. 2,
Review
"Bousquet serves up a stinging indictment of those universities that exploit their students from the moment they set foot on campus. . . . [He] reveals the dystopia that the contemporary university has become."-The Minnesota Review,
Review
“Bousquet takes an uncompromising look at the way colleges employ those who teach - and how many professors have done nothing as tenured positions have been replaced with adjunct slots.”-Inside Higher Ed,
Review
“Marc Bousquet's How the University Works should be required reading for anyone with an interest in the future of higher education, including administrators, faculty members, graduate students, and—even more significantly—undergraduates and their parents.”-Thomas Hart Benton,The Chronicle of Higher Education
Synopsis
As much as we think we know about the modern university, very little has been said about what it's like to work there. Instead of the high-wage, high-profit world of knowledge work, most campus employees—including the vast majority of faculty—really work in the low-wage, low-profit sphere of the service economy. Tenure-track positions are at an all-time low, with adjuncts and graduate students teaching the majority of courses. This super-exploited corps of disposable workers commonly earn fewer than $16,000 annually, without benefits, teaching as many as eight classes per year. Even undergraduates are being exploited as a low-cost, disposable workforce.
Marc Bousquet, a major figure in the academic labor movement, exposes the seamy underbelly of higher education—a world where faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates work long hours for fast-food wages. Assessing the costs of higher education's corporatization on faculty and students at every level, How the University Works is urgent reading for anyone interested in the fate of the university.
Synopsis
Uncovers the labor exploitation occurring in universities across the country
As much as we think we know about the modern university, very little has been said about what it's like to work there. Instead of the high-wage, high-profit world of knowledge work, most campus employees--including the vast majority of faculty--really work in the low-wage, low-profit sphere of the service economy. Tenure-track positions are at an all-time low, with adjuncts and graduate students teaching the majority of courses. This super-exploited corps of disposable workers commonly earn fewer than $16,000 annually, without benefits, teaching as many as eight classes per year. Even undergraduates are being exploited as a low-cost, disposable workforce.
Marc Bousquet, a major figure in the academic labor movement, exposes the seamy underbelly of higher education--a world where faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates work long hours for fast-food wages. Assessing the costs of higher education's corporatization on faculty and students at every level, How the University Works is urgent reading for anyone interested in the fate of the university.
Synopsis
As much as we think we know about the modern university, very little has been said about what it's like to work there. Instead of the high-wage, high-profit world of knowledge work, most campus employees—including the vast majority of faculty—really work in the low-wage, low-profit sphere of the service economy. Tenure-track positions are at an all-time low, with adjuncts and graduate students teaching the majority of courses. This super-exploited corps of disposable workers commonly earn fewer than $16,000 annually, without benefits, teaching as many as eight classes per year. Even undergraduates are being exploited as a low-cost, disposable workforce.
Marc Bousquet, a major figure in the academic labor movement, exposes the seamy underbelly of higher education—a world where faculty, graduate students, and undergraduates work long hours for fast-food wages. Assessing the costs of higher education's corporatization on faculty and students at every level, How the University Works is urgent reading for anyone interested in the fate of the university.
Synopsis
Latinos are the fastest growing population group in the United States.Through their language and popular music Latinos are making their mark on American culture as never before. As the United States becomes Latinized, how will Latinos fit into America's divided racial landscape and how will they define their own racial and ethnic identity?
Through strikingly original historical analysis, extensive personal interviews and a careful examination of census data, Clara E. Rodriguez shows that Latino identity is surprisingly fluid, situation-dependent, and constantly changing. She illustrates how the way Latinos are defining themselves, and refusing to define themselves, represents a powerful challenge to America's system of racial classification and American racism.
About the Author
Clara E. Rodriguez is a Professor of Sociology at Fordham University's College at Lincoln Center. She is the author of numerous books and has been a Visiting Professor at Columbia University, MIT, and Yale University. She has also been a Visiting Scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation and a Senior Fellow at the Smithsonian Institution's National Museum of American History. She was previously the Dean of Fordham University's College of Liberal Studies.