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Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Noam Chomsky at May 10, 2005

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Take Latin American studies. There's a professional association (LASA) and many outstanding specialists. In the 1980s, Central America, particularly Nicaragua, was the Big Story. After all, we even had a National Emergency called by the brave cowboy Leader hiding in the White House in panic because the Nicaraguan army was only two days driving time from Harlingen Texas. Typically, when the Leader declares priorities, it reflexively becomes the Big Story for the media. That reflects the internalized understanding that the task of "objective media" is to serve power interests, not popular interests. A very dramatic example today is Social Security vs Health care. The Dear Leader has declared that destroying (called "reforming") Social Security is the priority, so the media declare it the "hot topic," and focus on it, reflexively. They read the polls that show that health care is by far the most serious popular financial concern, with an "astounding" 6% (the word is that of the quite conservative Gallup analysts) saying they are satisfied with it. But that doesn't matter -- though it takes scarcely a moment to understand Bush administration priorities, adopted reflexively by the media (which, to be sure, allow some criticism, but that is hardly the point). Same in the 80s. Central America, particularly Nicaragua, was the "hot topic." There was a spectrum of opinion allowed. In the national press (where the studies are in print, if you want to check), the spectrum for Nicaragua ranged from hawks (step up the war and destroy the devils who don't follow orders) to doves (violence isn't working well, so we have to turn to other means to restore "regional standards" and return Nicaragua to the "Central American mode" -- that is, the standards and the mode of the US-run terror states that were carrying out vast slaughters, torture, and every imaginable form of barbarism). Usually, when some region becomes the "hot topic," the media can turn to the universities for "experts" who will say what is required. In this case, it didn't work. The scholarly profession knew too much about the topics, and commonly had concern for the people they worked with and studied. So they were mostly frozen out, and the media and journals of opinion had to create a new cadre of "experts" who would say the right thing -- sometimes in rather comical ways. The leading Nicaragua scholar, Thomas Walker, sent op-eds regularly to the NYT. None appeared. That continues, when he distributed an op-ed on the recent ludicrous claims about the "democratic elections" in El Salvador. Frozen out. To take one interesting example, the official pronouncement from Washington was that there was no election in Nicaragua in 1984, by doctrinal fiat. The press reflexively went along. It therefore had to freeze out the report of a LASA delegation consisting mostly of specialists with direct experience in Nicaragua, who did a detailed on-the-spot investigation of the background and the election, and agreed with international observers (including the British Parliamentary Human Rights Group, a very hostile Dutch government delegation, etc.) that the election was quite fair by general Latin American standards, and the most carefully observed in history. All had to be suppressed, because there couldn't have been an election -- obviously, or the US terrorist war and rejection of diplomacy would not be "legitimate." All of this remains totally suppressed, as we have just witnessed during the appointment of a condemned international terrorist, John Negroponte, to be the first counter-terrorism Czar, eliciting no ridicule, even attention. This is only one of many examples of the phenomenon, in the case of Latin American studies. In Middle East studies, there has been a complicated mixture, but it is somewhat the same. That's why the profession is under such severe attack by dedicated totalitarians who are not satisfied with near-total control and insist that it rise to 100% (in the name of "academic freedom," the typical totalitarian gambit, satirized by a long line of commentators from Pascal to Orwell). The claim is that the profession is biased against Israel. That's very easy to test: run a poll asking whether faculty in the field believe that Israel should have all the rights of any state in the international system. I suspect it would approximate 100% Yes, which is why the studies aren't undertaken: they would give the game away. For the totalitarian state-worshipping mentality, "anti-Israel bias" means unwillingness to adopt the US-Israeli claim that Israel should have vastly greater rights than any state in the international system, including an abstract "right to exist" -- a notion apparently concocted in the 1970s to bar diplomacy, when the US and Israel were alone in blocking international efforts to reach a diplomatic two-state settlement in which Israel would be granted "only" the rights of every other state. There are other cases, but by no means all. Depends on the particular history of the profession, its relation to power systems, state and private, and many other factors. Take archaeologists... Biblical archaeology began as an effort to demonstrate the historical validity of the Biblical record. After a very long period, these efforts began to crumble, in substantial measure the result of work of Israeli archaeologists. That has led to plenty of turmoil in, and around, the field, with slanderous denunciations of scholars as anti-Semites, neo-Nazis, etc. I think one can detect tendencies, which are not too hard to explain: insofar as regional studies involve engagement with the populations, it's quite likely that they'll depart from doctrinal orthodoxies imposed by power systems. But these are tendencies. There's a lot of variety… … The sciences will die unless they encourage independent inquiry, challenge to established beliefs and authority (in particular, by young people), and concern for truth. Those factors exist, but with less force, as we move from the hard sciences to disciplines where understanding is more shallow and human affairs are more directly involved, so outside pressures of institutional power structures play a greater role. The Pentagon was quite content to sponsor researchers who were organizing resistance against the Vietnam war and facing possible long prison sentences, because they understand, as the saner (and often most reactionary) parts of Congress do, that a free enterprise economy has to be avoided as strictly as democracy, and that costs and risks of R&D have to be socialized with eventual profits (maybe after decades in the dynamic state sector) transferred to private tyrannies. That's one illustration of how external pressures are often much less in the sciences -- but that's a more complex story too, as we see clearly as the mix of R&D shifts from science towards engineering: direct military R&D is the clearest illustration. As for English Egyptologists, as far as I am aware they were mostly apologists for empire a century ago, just as even the most outstanding figures -- like John Stuart Mill -- often were. An interesting history is American anthropology, which did not really begin to recognize the enormity of the crimes committed against the indigenous population, or even elementary truths about them, until quite recently: probably a result of 60s activism... Worth a careful study (probably there are some).

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By K, Mr at May 25, 2005 22:31 PM
here's a link: http://www.vshiva.net/aticles/bechtel&blood.htm

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By The-abyss, The-abyss at May 18, 2005 13:56 PM
More info. here on the U.S. position regarding the International Criminal Court (ICC): http://www.hrw.org/campaigns/icc/us.htm And, as much as I hate promoting Microsoft products and services, here's an easy-to-read article on MSN Encarta: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_701509042/International_Criminal_Court.html#s6

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By The-abyss, The-abyss at May 18, 2005 12:23 PM
George Galloway, accused by the U.S. of accepting oil from Saddam, gives the Americans a taste of their own medicine: http://globalresearch.ca/articles/GAL505A.html For the full testimony, click here: http://www.informationclearinghouse.info/article8869.htm George W. Bush told the world that American citizens will not fall under the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court (ICC). If a U.S. citizen commits a crime against humanity, the world will not be able to bring them to justice, or even demand that they give testimony. Given that America has decided it is accountable to no one but itself - and international law is irrelevant - why should Galloway have to justify himself before the U.S. Senate? In fact, he doesn't have to. So I support him for throwing undoctored information in the faces of hypocrites, including the American public, which probably won't hear the full testimony given how corrupt the corporate media is in the U.S. However, so I don't leave you with a false impression, Galloway has a lot to do to convince me that he's any different from all the other self-serving politicians.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Tolsen1, R4d20 at May 18, 2005 00:51 AM
"The dicussion wasn't about those who are specifically anti-Israel, it was about academics in general." Dr. Chomsky asserted that the results of a poll would demonstrate 100% percent support amongst Mid-East studies academics for Israel to have all the rights of any other nation. I said it would, but pointed out that VIOLENTLY ANTI-ISRAEL academics (however few there may be) would have an incentive to lie (who wants to be the next professor in the NeoCon Spotlight, or, even worse, subject to an FBI investigation?) and that this incentive would make the results untrustworthy. I never claimed there was a majority of Israel-haters in MidEast studies, because I dont think there are - just that the 100% figure is not believable and that his hypothetical poll would not prove anything. "I would think such results would be statistically negligible." Let me be clear. A poll that gives people an incentive to lie is not credible, even if there is no "proof" that people lied and even if YOU happen to think that they didn't. It is up to the makers of a poll to REMOVE any incentive to lie if they want that poll to be taken seriously by intelligent people - which is why anonoymity is usually considered a must for polls that ask questions which could be embarassing if the results were known. A non-anonymous poll (mideast stuides is a tiny field) about a controversial issue AND with the possibility of political repercussions based on the results, is NOT a good poll.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Tolsen1, R4d20 at May 17, 2005 02:42 AM
"Most mainstream American academics are stridently pro-Israel " This is irrelevent to a discussion about those who are NOT pro-Israel. " but even they would agree, I would think, that Israel should have the same commonly agreed-upon rights " You honestly believe that, in an organization of hundreds, not a single one will disagree?

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Tolsen1, R4d20 at May 16, 2005 03:20 AM
" that the USA has no recognized right to exist, for example; when informed of the realities of international law" Would you argue that people living in a country without a recognised right to liberty, or life, do not have a right to life or liberty? Probably not, so why do you aregue that the lack of a stated "right ot exist" in International Law indidcates that no such right exists. Pointing to Law on issues or Morality is what State-power enthusiasts do. I am not alone in rejecting Law, be it national or international, as a basis for morality. 2) You completely avoided addressing the substance of what I said -> that the virulently anti-Israel critics who DO want Israel destroyed will LIE about their motivations in order to remain under the radar, and that the results from any such Hypothetical poll would be completely meaningless.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Gammon101, Bwong at May 15, 2005 04:30 AM
I don't think abyss is a neo con infiltrator, just a very angry perosn(why I don't know) By "having exactly the same right as any state" Chomsky means repudiating Israel's "right to exist". Chomsky would say(technically correctly) "the right to exist" does not exist in International law and that states don't exist by any "right", they just do. But I don't think most people who are confronted with the question "should Israel have the right to exist?" would interprete it the way Chomsky does. A "no" answer to most people conveys the impression of "wiping off the map" rather than "having the exactly same right as other states". I notice Chomsky often uses words and phrases in ways different from common usage. No doubt he considers his mode of expression logically more sound and technically more correct. I usually agree with him but this does create problems for communication and generate unnecessary controversies for people who aren't familiar with his style. This "right to exist" is a case in point.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By K, Mr at May 15, 2005 03:27 AM
back on topic you delusional leftists haaaaaa one neo-con infiltrator wrecks the whole blog!

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Tolsen1, R4d20 at May 15, 2005 01:09 AM
"That's very easy to test: run a poll asking whether faculty in the field believe that Israel should have all the rights of any state in the international system. I suspect it would approximate 100% Yes, which is why the studies aren't undertaken: they would give the game away." Openly holding very unpopular opinions can be dangerous in ANY country/setting, and the desire to see Israel "wiped off the map" is an unpopular opinion in America. Even if the poll were "anonymous", any remotely intelligent professor of Mid-East studies would see that there could be negative repercussions (ie. funding cuts) to having results that showed even a small (~10%) support for such a thing. Consequently, considering that the respondants would have strong incentives to lie about their feelings, the results of such a poll would be meaningless. Furthermore, those who are hostile to the very existance of Israel are more likely to be involved in social networks that could be risky from a "War of Terror" perspective. I'm sure that more than one Mid-East studies professor has done things which, though NOT actually "assisting terrorism", could be made to LOOK like it by Federal prosecutors out for a high profile bust. No Professor in his right mind is going to risk this by openly espousing views that will attract unwanted attention. The War on Terror gives them another very large incentive to lie about their feelings in order to avoid trouble.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Tolsen1, R4d20 at May 15, 2005 00:37 AM
"What I meant - and it's clear to anyone who isn't pig ignorant - is Chomsky picks the topics, and we, like obedient slaves, discuss the issues he raises. I call that orchestrating." I've been involved in more than a few discussions on this blog which rambled off-topic. Of course, they tended to ramble off in an organic fashion and not be the result of 1 post completely tangential to the topic at the time.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By The-abyss, The-abyss at May 14, 2005 19:16 PM
It's also rigged; set up in such a way that I'm prevented from creating my own threads to discuss topics I'm interested in. The blog is configured so that Chomsky is at the front and the thread set by him. That's what everyone sees when they enter the board: Chomsky's smiling face - like Blair's, another control freak. This heavy-handedness probably accounts for why this blog is so deserted, save for the same tired faces. Chomsky is nothing but hot air and a fraud. I'm glad I came to this board and found that out.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By The-abyss, The-abyss at May 14, 2005 18:53 PM
Anyone genuine, by 76 years of age, would have created a forum allowing people to discuss the issues he and others raise freely - and when we want! - without interference from monitors and others. "He doesn't "orchestrate" anything." You really are dumb as crap. What I meant - and it's clear to anyone who isn't pig ignorant - is Chomsky picks the topics, and we, like obedient slaves, discuss the issues he raises. I call that orchestrating. Chomsky is paid by Zmag to write these pieces, and Chomsky has brazenly told people to subscribe to publications like Zmag. Seems Chomsky is nothing but a cold, calculating businessman. I wouldn't be surprised if those running Zmag are good friends of his. Zmag founders: "Let's screw these dumb paupers for every penny they've got, hey Chomsky?" Graeme continues: "Anyone can say anything they want, and be judged by the other posters on the validity of those comments." Clearly they can't. Because you and jr2 told me to shut up and stay on topic - discuss what Chomsky tells you to discuss. No one has defended my right to raise whatever issue I feel is important to me. I'm being bullied. As I said before, this board is a clique-cum-school playground.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By The-abyss, The-abyss at May 14, 2005 18:29 PM
Graeme, the kid, writes: "Wow, you are one paranoid delusional dude." --- Yeah, dude, you hit the nail on the head, dude. I'm one paranoid nut, man. Stupid Yanky/Canadian talk. "Do you really suppose Chomsky ever even reads these things!?" Exactly my point. He doesn't want to bother with the riff-raff. Only the readers of the Financial Times are worth gracing with his presence. Chomsky doesn't give a damn about anything but his own life, and his own family. He likes the feeling of being an authority figure; journalists interviewing him, people consulting him - it's all just a sick game to him. Just like this rich pop star I contacted, and asked to help a hungry street kid sniffing petrol (which causes irreparable brain damage). The singer, famed for telling people to help the homeless, wasn't interested, and LIED to me, claiming he was too poor, the only reason he gave for not helping. The previous year, he'd earned tens of millions - if you call what he does work, that is. That's why I refuse to give Chomsky any money. Where I could, I bought his books second-hand in the past. Now I don't buy his books at all.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By The-abyss, The-abyss at May 13, 2005 17:19 PM
Graeme writes: "And what does the presence of "flamers" (real or imagined) have to do with the quality of Z Magazine articles?" --- If I come to a board that leaves a bad taste in my mouth, I'm unlikely to bother with the rest of the Web site, however good their articles may or may not be. I was seriously considering subscribing to Z mag. a while back, but after being treated like shit on this board, I've lost interest. This board is nothing but a clique, and all Chomsky cares about is his reputation among the well-to-do.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By The-abyss, The-abyss at May 13, 2005 16:56 PM
Graeme writes: "What a strange post. What is wrong with asking somebody to stay on topic?" --- Graeme proving that Chomsky has done nothing to change people's thinking for the better. This isn't a Chomsky university lecture room, Graeme, where we're having a discussion to pass an exam. This is meant to be about real life, and Chomsky, who talks about anarchism and freedom from authoritarianism has a blog in which HE decides what we can and cannot discuss, what issues can and cannot be raised, and when it is appropriate to open our mouths. How is that for oppression? If Chomsky doesn't raise the issue, no one is allowed to. Chomsky wants anarchism, so long as it's him who's orchestrating things. If Chomsky bothered to live up to his words, his board would allow people to raise topics that are relevant to them - AS OPPOSED TO HIM! CHOMSKY IS A HYPOCRITE AND AN ELITIST!!! Jr2 has no concern for anyone. And Graeme doesn't either. I'm beginning to think Chomsky works for the CIA. His job: get as many people talking about an issue in ridiculous detail for as long as possible, so no one actually goes out and changes things.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By The-abyss, The-abyss at May 12, 2005 19:47 PM
jr3xyz, formerly known as jr2xyz, writes: "please could you stick to the subject the-abyss!" And please could YOU mind your own business, or leave the board altogether. Z mag. should ban flamers like you; your presence just makes their publication look childish, which is why I hardly read any of their stuff anymore. Good article on Consortium News' Web site, analysing George W. Bush's V-E day speech: http://www.consortiumnews.com/2005/051205.html BE WARNED: the article is written by a grown up.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Snipe4mp, Theloominator at May 12, 2005 11:51 AM
As for your comment, jr3xyz, about academic institutions... of course they only exist for those reasons... had they not, 90%+ of the people in them would no longer be there. The colleges are not in control of us, we are in control of them, so they have to conform to the public's desires. And since the public's desires are getting a degree to get a higher wage career, the colleges have to provide a means towards that. Had everyone instead been more interested in the best possible approximation of the truth according to ration, colleges would be far more focused on that. As for lower academic institutions, K-12, they only exist to provide a basic means of existance, because mostly everybody is after that, once again, not truth.

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Person

By Thefirstandverylast, Jr3xyz at May 11, 2005 13:14 PM
please could you stick to the subject the-abyss! this bit made me crack up: "The Dear Leader...." academic instutions exist mainly only for military and business purposes....thanks guys

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By The-abyss, The-abyss at May 11, 2005 11:48 AM
Remember the lies of Bush and Blair. Particularly Tony Blair, a man who has lied probably more than any other British politician in history. We all know about Blair's lies over Iraq. However, so this doesn't get forgotten, in October 2001, Blair promised, "If Rwanda happens again, we would not walk away as the outside world has done many times before." Rwanda IS happening again - in Sudan! Read this article on Democracy Now's Web site: http://www.democracynow.org/article.pl?sid=05/05/03/1357228 Blair and Bush stuck two fingers up to the world and the U.N., and invaded Iraq, saying it was the moral thing to do. Tens of thousands of innocent people have been killed. Currently, a brutal economic system is being imposed on the Iraqis for the benefit of global capital. Questioned about Sudan, Blair said: "I don't think that we have done nothing. I think we have done what we can do." Blair and Bush have done what they can - end of matter! Sudan, surprise, surprise, has oil, and U.S. companies are hoping by normalizing relations with an illegitimate government that is committing genocide, powerful oil interests will make a killing - quite literally!

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Street, Paul at May 11, 2005 06:09 AM
Wow - that's brutal, retrojoe. Kozol is a master of passionate moral witness, compelling reporting and research, and beautiful writing. His work puts a richly human face on the issue of persistent school inequality. He is a rarity: an uncorrupted true antiracist liberal who has dedicated his life to educational and social justice. His writings and speeches bring people to tears. It's too bad that meaningful metropolitan school equity porposals don't float your boat. The guy hasn't packaged and blue-printed all the solutions? Well, (a) who has done that? (b) who has done more to compel people to look for them? The answer to both question: nobody. People "write home about" the guy's work quite a bit: his books are actual bestsellers. I'm to his left I imagine but I love the guy's work. See my reflections at: http://blog.zmag.org/empire/archives/000381.html and http://www.dissidentvoice.org/May2004/Street0513-1.htm I have a forthcoming book titled Segregated Schools: Race, Class, and Educational Apartheid in Post-Civil Rights America (Routledge..later this year) and your comments have me thinking I should dedicate it to Jonathan Kozol.

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Wastedmind, Retrojoe at May 11, 2005 04:50 AM
I would like to say, as a college student who read Kozol's Savage Inequalities and heard him speak about the book, I fail to see much to write home about. The book proves its point quite well, and rather pedantically, as does Kozol in person: America has a racist policy towards the funding and education of its youth. Kinda racist. Sorta. Not exactly but mostly. (Those excellent qualifiers were emphasized in the public appearance.) I applaud the courage it must have taken to put that conclusion into print, but is it especially new or surprising? Further, Kozol does next to nothing to propose a program of change. He suggested that urban settings reshape their school districts to resemble pie wedges, taking both the inner city and the affluent fringes together. He also acknowledged that it would be quite easy to do this to the letter of the law, then turn around and promote the same inequities of yesteryear and the present day. My point, I suppose, is what do you folks see in him?

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Person

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By K, Mr at May 11, 2005 02:25 AM
Nobody knows more than a rich man. A rich man is the pinnacle of enlightenment in the capitalist system. Between God and money there is nothing else in a capitalist system. Each hominid has nothing else to do but to pray and earn capital as his only drive in life. Under the 'free market' intelligentsia is 'outsourced'. The market has turned into itself for 'enlightenment' and instead of looking for new innovative means of betterment the system turns to earning and praying for the messianic 'truths'. I have no means to argue Chomsky his words ring true. Be brave be a 'lefty' in an American political science class (we never left chapter one). Rugged individualism is dead and elite class theory is next. How much for my birth neo-cons? How much for a gulp of air? How much to smell the flowers? How much to listen to the neo-con lies? Our planets welfare. In the capitalist system the only socialism is when the natural disaster strikes and the neo-corps need a 'helping' hand. Sick snake tongued neo-cons are stealing our humanity. How much is 2+2 equal? In the neo-con book it could amount to anything. I'm more worried about the reprinting of books under this neo-con template. Ever since 9/11 History has been changed. I have the text books to prove it. PS Jesus would be pissed.

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Occupy_iowa_city_rally

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Street, Paul at May 11, 2005 00:56 AM
I have found much of academia to be profoundly thought-controlling and actually quite anti-intellectual. I'm sure M.Dawson is right, but I would favorably mention following American (so can't mention Bourdieu) sociologists who I've learned important and relevant things from, at admittedly various levels of readability: G. William Domhoff (maybe technnically a psychologist...writing is for a general audience). See especially The Powers That Be: Processes of Ruling Class Domination. William I. Robinson, Promoting Polyarchy: Globalization, US Intervention, and Hegemony. Giovanni Arrighi (important article on declining US hegemony in April New Left Review)and his world systems colleague Immanuel Wallerststein...but you need to master their discourse and so not readily accessible. GA's doctorate may be in economics but works in sociology departments. Douglass Massey and Gary Orfield on residential and school segregation. Bruce Western has produced some first rate articles on mass incarceration as a regressive, racist, and regulatory state intervention in the class/race system. David Halle wrote a good left participant observation analysis on working class life in and around a New Jersey chemical plant: "America's Working Man." Those are the best that come to mind as anti-intelelctual 1500-character limit looms and the point is that these folks tend to be exceptions that prove the rule. Neither Kozol nor Terkel are academics.

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Mcd

Re: Academic Freedom & and Systems of Power

By Dawson, Michael at May 10, 2005 20:19 PM
"The sciences will die unless they encourage independent inquiry, challenge to established beliefs and authority (in particular, by young people), and concern for truth." What a great observation! By this measure, my own discipline, sociology, has been deeply comatose since C. Wright Mills died in 1962. Its flagship journal, the _American Sociological Review_, is dedicated to printing only basically unreadable gibberish, usually about trivial topics.

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