"This collection of original essays grapples with the continued viability of the university as promoter of civic democracy under late capitalist and postmodernist conditions. Drawing upon and building beyond the critiques of Habermas, Bourdieu, and Baumann, the distinguished authors take a variety of positions, some pessimistic, some guardedly optimistic about the indispensability of the university as a site for the ongoing democratic conversation. The work insightfully analyzes, as well as contributes to, the rhetorics of contention surrounding the mundane activities of the university."
–Randall Collins, University of Pennsylvania

This volume offers a close look at one of the most pressing topics in academia today–the relationship between academic knowledge and political power. Rethinking the traditional view of politics and science as mutually exclusive fields of study, these scholars, primarily social scientists, explore scientific knowledge as a form of social narration. Their essays address a variety of relevant questions and issues: the link between politics and science; the role of the academy in contemporary society; how institutional dynamics affect the relation between political power and knowledge; the implementation of political correctness on college campuses; and the poetics and politics of academic texts. Timely and reflective, this fascinating collection will benefit professors, researchers, and students in the fields of higher education studies and educational policy and history, as well cultural and social studies.