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<< GOP Oil Drug Pushers | Main | Lies Around Medical Malpractice >> July 24, 2003Labor Studies v. Business SchoolsHere is a perfect example of why all the conservative whining about "leftism" in academia is such rotgut. Frontpage magazine complains about the existence of labor studies programs at some universities: For years, universities have offered courses in "labor studies," often taught by ardent labor movement activists...Increasingly, these programs have come to define their mission chiefly as supporting labor and its organizing efforts rather than educating students."What's so ludicrous about these sentences? First, only a handful of schools have labor studies programs, so if academia was so leftist, every school would have such a program. However, almost every major university has a business school or business studies major. And what is the purpose of those business program? Oh yeah, to train students to become "activists" in various business enterprises. Oh yeah, and to support faculty who often consult on behalf of business in a whole variety of ways. The reality is that between business schools and economics departments, there is a vast apparatus on campuses training students and supporting ideas at the service of business interests. But the handful of labor studies programs are continually under assault by conservatives. The conservative slant of academia is shown in the fact that business schools are seen as "normal" education while labor schools are treated as some politicized illegitimate endeavor. Posted by Nathan at July 24, 2003 08:29 AM Related posts:
Trackback PingsTrackBack URL for this entry: CommentsSame with the media. There are a plethora of business reports or shows, but nary a "labor report." I went to college in the mid to late 70s. One of the things I notice was the increasing flock of undergrads who were becoming business majors. I think this played a significant part in the turn to the right that followed. Posted by: Paleo at July 24, 2003 09:56 AM Bingo, Nathan. I was just thinking about this the other day. No one has yet attacked the existence of labor studies at my institution, at least not publicly, but I'm anticipating that will happen sometime in the near future. If folks are worried about the corrupting influence of labor studies programs, they really ought to investigate how limited they are. Take my institution, for example. My office is down the hall from the labor studies office. The labor studies program is, literally, housed in a single crowded room. The entire staff, including the program chair, consists of three people. The supervisory committee consists of five faculty members. It offers, on average, about one course per academic year. Students cannot earn a degree in labor studies. As you rightly point out, such a program is dwarfed by the business school. They have an entire building, a much larger faculty, and greater resources. Labor studies, at least at my institution, is a gnat compared to business education. Posted by: Brian S. at July 24, 2003 01:50 PM not only are there far more business schools than labor studies departments, every single school i am aware of that has a labor studies program has a much bigger and better funded business school. that even includes cornell, which boasts the best labor relations program in this country Posted by: upyernoz at July 24, 2003 08:11 PM Post a comment
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