Campus Power Struggle

In the two years since the first edition of this book appeared, some commentators have argued that the struggle over power on American campuses has died down or gone away. That vision, argues the editor of this new edition, comes more from wishful thinking than a sober assessment of long-term trends.

Howard S. Becker has long been involved with studies of student culture and problems of teaching and education innovation. Among his recent books are Making the Grade: The Academic Side of College Life, which he coauthored with-Blanche Geer and Everett C. Hughes and Culture and Civility in San Francisco of which he is editor. Professor Becker is perhaps best known for his work in the area of deviance and social control, particularly his studies of the social bases of the drug culture. He is a native Chicagoan and has taught at Northwestern University, the University of Washington, and the University of California at Santa Barbara. He is also a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences, Stanford, California. Professor Becker is the author of Outsiders: Studies in the Sociology of Deviance, and he coauthored Institutional Office and the Person: Essays Presented to Everett C. Hughes. He edited The Other Side: Perspectives on Deviance, and an important textbook widely used in American sociology courses, Social Problems: A Modern Approach. He is past editor of the journal Social Problems, and past president of the Society for the Study of Social Problems. Howard Becker is recognized as a pioneer in the development of a balanced appraisal of drug users, hospital patients, school students, and those generally classified as different and deviant. He is also considered a superb sociological stylist; firm in his judgments and clear in his expression of them.