Most “conservative” academics are not culturally conservative (even if they’re socially conservative). They are mostly from the same backgrounds as liberals. They are just frustrated trolls from within that sub-culture. It’s hard to be successful in an environment where you have no purpose except to be a troll. But some of them are still kept around for the sake of diversity.
Advice for a Conservative PhD student
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Most “conservative” academics are not culturally conservative (even if they’re socially conservative). They are mostly from the same backgrounds as liberals. They are just frustrated trolls from within that sub-culture. It’s hard to be successful in an environment where you have no purpose except to be a troll. But some of them are still kept around for the sake of diversity.
Those are librarians
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Leftist here - I have some Conservative colleagues with whom we discuss politics.
As long as the discussion respects boundaries (both in tone and in terms of respect for democracy), there is no problem.
If some of them would start saying that the election was stolen, or that the attack on Capitol Hill was justified, my reaction would be entirely different.
Bottom line: as long as you don't cross from Conservative to Fascist, you are safe.
(Same argument works also for us at the other end of the spectrum)Conservative professor here. Do NOT do this. It’s a trap lol.
There are a few professors in which you can have a honest conversation about politics and simply disagree, but it is like finding a unicorn. It does not end well 90% of the time.
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Most “conservative” academics are not culturally conservative (even if they’re socially conservative). They are mostly from the same backgrounds as liberals. They are just frustrated trolls from within that sub-culture. It’s hard to be successful in an environment where you have no purpose except to be a troll. But some of them are still kept around for the sake of diversity.
Those are librarians
Librarians are actually much more well-adjusted people than your average professor.
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Most “conservative” academics are not culturally conservative (even if they’re socially conservative). They are mostly from the same backgrounds as liberals. They are just frustrated trolls from within that sub-culture. It’s hard to be successful in an environment where you have no purpose except to be a troll. But some of them are still kept around for the sake of diversity.
Those are librariansLibrarians are actually much more well-adjusted people than your average professor.
Doggone autocorrect..
Those are "libertarians"
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Most “conservative” academics are not culturally conservative (even if they’re socially conservative). They are mostly from the same backgrounds as liberals. They are just frustrated trolls from within that sub-culture. It’s hard to be successful in an environment where you have no purpose except to be a troll. But some of them are still kept around for the sake of diversity.
Those are librarians
Librarians are actually much more well-adjusted people than your average professor.Doggone autocorrect..
Those are "libertarians"No, that’s why I specifically said that my comment also applies to many social conservatives in academia.
“Conservative” academics can be social conservatives, free market conservatives, free speech conservatives, foreign policy conservatives, anti-PC conservatives, foreign policy conservatives, etc. But most of them have had no serious cultural contact with anything like median Trump voter (there are more liberals in academia from that kind of background who rebelled against it). Most “conservatives” in academia are from cultural environments shared with elite liberals and theor “conservatism” is just irritable contrarian trolling. So it’s no wonder they have trouble getting along. They’re just social misfits.
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While their political ideology depends on a physicalist anti-metaphysic, their intellectual habits and desires cry out for some kind of higher spirituality in philosophy. Perhaps decoding the obscure nonsense of Foucault is in itself enough to placate their appetite for mystical theology, like a child on a Disney World ride. But the target of their pursuits is ultimately an illusion fashioned out of word salad. As such, those of the Left who are intellectually honest will actually embrace quantitative methods and no-nonsense analytical philosophy.
Kinda true.
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“Conservative” academics can be social conservatives, free market conservatives, free speech conservatives, foreign policy conservatives, anti-PC conservatives, foreign policy conservatives, etc. But most of them have had no serious cultural contact with anything like median Trump voter (there are more liberals in academia from that kind of background who rebelled against it). Most “conservatives” in academia are from cultural environments shared with elite liberals and theor “conservatism” is just irritable contrarian trolling. So it’s no wonder they have trouble getting along. They’re just social misfits.
That's a little too cartoonish. Academia is the last bastion of the old New England-style liberal conservatives. That's most of what you find in polsci. Most of them are old white guys.
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I am a conservative PhD student surprised at the open political biases of virtually all my professors. They openly express their support for the liberal order while condemning and mocking the conservative order in class.
How should a conservatives student navigate this landmine?The conservatives I remember from my grad program each struggled in grad school because they could barely get through the methods sequence, not for any partisan reasons. They tapped into the well funded affirmative action network for conservative academics (e.g. Jack Miller Center, Koch “freedom schools,” Hillsdale, etc.) and were handed jobs despite zero publications.
Being a conservative in political science is awesome. Though you are outnumbered, well-funded ideological institutes and programs are drawing from small pools of interested applicants, so it is a cinch to get a good paying position after the dissertation defense.
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and were handed jobs despite zero publications
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I know this world, and I call BS.Same here. There are a tiny handful of these kinds of jobs out there and plenty of philosophy/econ/history people who compete for those. Libertarian academics also tend to have pretty high expectations for publications and research. If you have links to these glorious sinecures, by all means please post.
Also, contrary to some perceptions, I've seen a number of Democrats/liberals get grants from Koch-affiliated orgs for doing research related to their areas of interest. Not all these orgs are necessarily a "gravy train" for the right.
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I am a conservative PhD student surprised at the open political biases of virtually all my professors. They openly express their support for the liberal order while condemning and mocking the conservative order in class.
How should a conservatives student navigate this landmine?
The conservatives I remember from my grad program each struggled in grad school because they could barely get through the methods sequence, not for any partisan reasons. They tapped into the well funded affirmative action network for conservative academics (e.g. Jack Miller Center, Koch “freedom schools,” Hillsdale, etc.) and were handed jobs despite zero publications.
Being a conservative in political science is awesome. Though you are outnumbered, well-funded ideological institutes and programs are drawing from small pools of interested applicants, so it is a cinch to get a good paying position after the dissertation defense.My experience is the opposite. Relative to others in academia, scholars focused on research methods tend to be on the more moderate-ish end of the spectrum (I’m not saying they are Republican-leaning). I think it’s because methods scholars tend to not view themselves as activists.
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There is indeed a very serious cultural shift occurring within the academy towards one of an activist and ideological bent, rather than an intellectual and scholarly institution. It's sad to see. It's also concerning that there is a non-trivial percentage of more senior and junior people not seeing this trend, and thinking about its serious negative repercussions.
I think that you are definitely correct here. There are serious negative consequences of this trend. One is that the APSA is rapidly losing its scholarly focus and is becoming increasingly politicized as political scientists--particularly those earlier in their careers--are demanding that the APSA adopt their political agenda. The idea of a politically neutral APSA practicing scientific detachment and open to political scientists of all ideological stripes has been abandoned. Regrettably, some scholarly journals and publishing houses are following this trend as well. It does not speak well of the direction that the discipline is going.
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To think that a few years ago I tried to sound the alarm here about what had happened at Yale to the Christakises and at Evergreen State to Brett Weinstein. I argued that if undergrads are intolerant, screaming ideologues, it wouldn't be long until grad students and junior professors are, too. Well. Here we are. The only remaining question is: will nonconservative, moderate, liberal, and progressive (as opposed to woke) faculty do anything about it?
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Conservative Professor suggests: keep your head down and your mouth shut. Periodically say something about what a crime it is that we don't have single payer health care and that you are disappointed that Biden is so conservative. Keep it to yourself. You'll be punished if you don't.
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Periodically say something about what a crime it is that we don't have single payer health care and that you are disappointed that Biden is so conservative.
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I'm back, and that is not what I am saying at all. What I am saying is that I can have a conversation about the filibuster or about the politics of health care or immigration that doesn't require me to make any partisan commitments. I can also have that conversation in way that doesn't invite other people to make partisan commitments either. I don't have to bare my soul to the guy in the office next door, and I don't need his approval either. All I need is for him to think that I am sensible and professional.