Conflict in the Academy

“This short book is a gem. It illustrates and elucidates a big issue – that of the struggle over the future course of the academy – by looking through the lens of one particular case, the so-called MacCabe affair (1976-80). … This is an innovative book, which has the capacity to serve as a model for how to renew what has traditionally been called sociology of knowledge, mainly by drawing on the strong programme of cultural sociology.” (Andreas Hess, British Journal of Sociology, Vol. 67 (1), January, 2016)

"For too long analyses of intellectual disputes and campus politics have stood in the shadows of Bourdieu's Homo Academicus with its structural reading of fault lines. Conflict in the Academy at last moves the game forward with a pithy and yet impressively detailed case study. Building on recent cultural sociology it convincingly demonstrates that deep meanings and contingent performances also play a part. Making a significant contribution to the sociology of intellectuals and ideas this concise book punches well above its weight." - Professor Philip Smith, Yale University, USA

"When asked why academic disputes were so bitter, Henry Kissinger famously replied that it was because so little was at stake. Scholars have often been involved in intellectual debates whose intensity seems to far exceed their objective importance, much to the bewildered entertainment of those not involved. Yet, academics have spent far less time actually studying these conflicts. In this perceptive and highly original new study, Marcus Morgan and Patrick Baert dissect the dynamics of academic disputes. They have produced a work that will be a reference point for future study in this area." - Professor Anthony King, Exeter University, UK