Manifesto of a Tenured Radical

Manifesto of a Tenured Radical is theSilent Springof higher education.--Constance Penley, University of California at Santa BarbaraArmed with a keen conscience and a fearless wit, Cary Nelson exposes the moral bankruptcy that underpins the current crisis of academic labor. From underpaid cafeteria workers and underemployed Ph.D.'s to overindulged professors and CEO- wannabe university presidents, Nelson's groves of academe are littered with inequality and injustice. Whether on the topic of the future of literary studies or the unionization of graduate students,Manifesto of a Tenured Radicalpresents a devastating case for the correction of the profession.--Andrew Ross, author ofReal LoveandThe Chicago Gangster Theory of LifeIn an age when innovative scholarly work is at an all-time high, the academy itself is being rocked by structural change. Funding is plummeting. Tenure increasingly seems a prospect for only the elite few. Ph.D.'s are going begging for even adjunct work. Into this tumult steps Cary Nelson, with a no- holds-barred account of recent developments in higher education.Eloquent and witty,Manifesto of a Tenured Radicalurges academics to apply the theoretical advances of the last twenty years to an analysis of their own practices and standards of behavior. In the process, Nelson offers a devastating critique of current inequities and a detailed proposal for change in the form of A Twelve-Step Program for Academia.