An Anthropology of Academic Governance and Institutional Democracy

This anthropological study of university governance organizations has four main purposes. It aims to describe the principles of effective faculty governance organizations and shared governance; to help mobilize opposition to a large and extremely well-funded system of political attacks aimed at destroying faculty governance organizations; to demonstrate the value of the theory of human social organizations; and to enable universities to become more effective in generating the intellectual advances we must make in order to solve the current global crisis of sustainability and political instability. Political democracy depends on an educated public, and academic democracy is integral to producing such knowledge.

Builds a theory of organization applicable to faculty governance based upon anthropological theory Makes a compelling case for the concept of the university system as a self-contained community hinging upon effective and successful faculty governance A key resource for faculty, administrators, and policymakers who think seriously about how to defend and improve higher education in the United States

Autorentext

Murray J. Leaf is Professor of Anthropology and Political Economy at the University of Texas, Dallas, USA. Previous monographs include Information and Behavior in a Sikh Village: Social Organization Reconsidered (1972), Pragmatism and Development: The Prospect for Pluralism in the Third World (1998), Human Organizations and Social Theory (2009), Anthropology of Western Religions (2014), and Anthropology of Eastern Religions (2014). He has also served as Senior Social Scientist on USAID-sponsored development projects in India and Bangladesh.

Inhalt

Chapter 1: Introduction.- Chapter 2: The Theory of Organizations.- Chapter 3: The University in America.- Chapter 4: The Attacks.- Chapter 5: Governing Boards and Faculty in Texas.- Chapter 6: Governing Boards and Faculty in California.- Chapter 7: UCLA and the University of California.- Chapter 8: UT Dallas.- Chapter 9: Reed College.- Chapter 10: The University of Chicago.- Chapter 11: Conclusion.- Appendix I: Major Internet Sources.- Appendix II: Institutional Reports.