Post ATEZPzRimPE02fyuZs by henryfarrell@mastodon.social
 (DIR) More posts by henryfarrell@mastodon.social
 (DIR) Post #ATEZPtwLFe9YxuGHTM by henryfarrell@mastodon.social
       2023-03-02T20:34:11Z
       
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       On that NYT piece on conservative students being shoved out of the academy - Amy Binder and Jeff Kidder's recent book provides excellent background (Amy is soon to become a colleague, but I've loved her work for years before that).  Book here - https://press.uchicago.edu/ucp/books/book/chicago/C/bo156715802.html . Summary, which I am drawing upon - here  - https://nextbigideaclub.com/magazine/channels-student-activism-left-right-winning-losing-campus-politics-today-bookbite/34649/. Short version -  college students are "channeled not coddled" - contra Haidt etc, you can explain their behavior in terms of organizations, not neurosis.
       
 (DIR) Post #ATEZPucAk7c73dpgfo by henryfarrell@mastodon.social
       2023-03-02T20:36:49Z
       
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       The basic claim is pretty straightforward. Left leaning activists have access to resources within the university (DEI offices etc) which are sympathetic though often frustratingly ineffective. Their activism is inward focused. Conservative activists have far fewer internal resources, but can lean on extremely well resourced external networks, that provide them with lots of goodies and incentives to behave in ways that further the goals of a broader political movement.
       
 (DIR) Post #ATEZPvCKZgXMrmkZ28 by henryfarrell@mastodon.social
       2023-03-02T20:39:02Z
       
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       The result is that left leaning activists can get policy changes in the university, but become quickly and painfully familiar with the limits of academic policies to change stuff. They have a hard time finding post college positions that allow them to continue politics. Conservatives (esp. Turning Point types) are far less interested in achieving actual policy changes than using the university as an outrage machine - the talented ones often have clear post-college career tracks in politics.
       
 (DIR) Post #ATEZPvgSledkNEqd04 by henryfarrell@mastodon.social
       2023-03-02T20:41:28Z
       
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       That explains the political economy behind the production of op-eds like the one in the NYT (ithe demand side is a different matter).  As Binder and Kidder put it conservative: "activists .... are encouraged by organizations external to their schools to adopt a discourse hostile to the academic enterprise.  .... today’s political engagements from the right are mainly (although not exclusively) oriented toward targeting a liberal campus culture, which plays into a larger Republican game plan."
       
 (DIR) Post #ATEZPwGyZtqaCTvmue by henryfarrell@mastodon.social
       2023-03-02T20:43:56Z
       
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       From the summary - "The American Enterprise Institute ... nurtures future policymakers through a well-funded annual internship program and a recruitment funnel for full-time jobs. Turning Point hosts all-expenses paid conferences for its members and ... feedback and money to support students’ confrontational actions on campus. ... both [create] skepticism about higher education. Conservative students’ skepticism towards higher education was palpable among the activists we interviewed."
       
 (DIR) Post #ATEZPwvO9eAoDoq3u4 by henryfarrell@mastodon.social
       2023-03-02T20:45:51Z
       
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       In contrast, "Dexter, ... spent years as a leader of his school’s College Democrats chapter, but he was at a loss for how his experiences would translate into a paid position. ... progressive activists do not have the recruitment funnels found in the conservative channel....  burnout and cynicism when progressive activists feel their schools are failing to achieve diverse and inclusive environments. ... students of color, ... often feel administrators are merely paying lip-service."
       
 (DIR) Post #ATEZPxk57Aisl2YXuy by henryfarrell@mastodon.social
       2023-03-02T20:50:06Z
       
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       The bottom line - there is a clear political economy explanation behind both the performative aspects of conservative campus activism (they aren't interested in change so much as provoking an external reaction; there are jobs in the outrage machine) and the frustrations of left-leaning activists (they can get universities to listen to their complaints but DEI policies and trainings are a pisspoor substitute for wide reaching social change, and they don't have much access to political careers)
       
 (DIR) Post #ATEZPzRimPE02fyuZs by henryfarrell@mastodon.social
       2023-03-02T20:50:48Z
       
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       The "conservative channel" and the "liberal channel" provide very different resources, incentives, and machineries of self-identification, resulting in very different outcomes. Finis.