Out of Bounds: Academic Freedom and the Question of Palestine

ISBN-13: 9781441127235 / Angielski / Miękka / 2014 / 392 str.

Matthew Abraham

Opis

Academic freedom is a key element of the academic enterprise in the U.S. However, it does not seem to exist when scholars seek to advocate on behalf of Palestinian self-determination. This unique work examines how the knowledge-power nexus is shaping the discourse around the Israel-Palestine conflict and restricting academic freedom. Beginning with a discussion of American Zionism, the work proceeds to explain why scholars working on the question of Palestine are often denied standard academic freedom. This is supported by prominent cases, such as Norman G. Finkelstein's denial of tenure, the Middle East Studies Department at Columbia University, and Mearsheimer and Walt's book, The Israel Lobby. The work of Edward Said and Noam Chomsky are also discussed and the book concludes with recommendations for protecting intellectual freedom to those seeking to critically pursue the question of Palestine.This scholarly study will appeal to a broad audience of faculty, students, and readers who seek to understand the importance of academic freedom and the thorny debates surrounding the Israel-Palestine conflict.

Recenzje

Scholars and activists working on Palestine have been complaining about restrictive university governance for decades. Therefore, it is important that a study systematically assessing those restrictions has been published. Even better, the study is intelligent, rigorous, and meticulous. Abraham often deploys the specialized language of his field, but I doubt any educated reader will have difficulty understanding any of it. In this way, Abraham's work satisfies the imperatives of both academic complexity and activist urgency. I enthusiastically recommend it. Steven Salaita Journal of Palestine Studies

Spis treści

Acknowledgments Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: The Politics of Perceiving Palestine Chapter 3: The Case of Norman G. Finkelstein Chapter 4: The Question of Palestine and the Subversion of Academic Freedom: DePaul's Denial of Tenure to Norman G. Finkelstein Chapter 5: Edward Said in the American Imagination after 9/11/01 Chapter 6: Noam Chomsky, Intellectual Labor, and the Question of Palestine Chapter 7: Recognizing the Effects of the Past in the Present: Theorizing A Way Forward on the Israel-Palestine Conflict Chapter 8: The Perils Of Separation: Fouzi El-Asmar's To Be an Arab In Israel As An Allegory Of Settler-Colonial Anxiety Chapter 9: Conclusion Notes Works Cited Appendix A Appendix B Appendix CIndex

O autorze

Matthew Abraham is Associate Professor of English at the University of Arizona, USA. His work on Edward Said has appeared in Cultural Critique, Journal of the Midwest Modern Language Association, Journal of Cultural and Religious Theory, College Composition and Communication, South Atlantic Quarterly, and JAC: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Rhetoric, Culture, and Politics. He is the co-editor of The Making of Barack Obama: The Politics of Persuasion.