Critical Histories of the Discipline and University

Session Submission Type: Roundtable

Session Description

Our roundtable proposes to discuss recent critical histories of the discipline and university. It brings together Clyde Barrow, editor of the forthcoming Encyclopedia of Critical Political Science who is also working on a history of the Caucus for a New Political Science; Emily Hauptmann, whose analysis of how foundation funding shaped postwar political science led into her current exploration of the relation between US colonialism and the emergence of political science as a discipline; Isaac Kamola, who has written on how the late twentieth century promotion of globalization undercut area studies and changed the shape of many universities and is currently working on analyzing and resisting the right’s attacks on academic freedom; Paulo Ravecca, whose critical history of the politics of political science in Latin America exemplifies his ongoing commitment to a methodologically eclectic critical political science; and Robert Vitalis, critical historian of international relations and, more recently, of the discipline’s ultra-right-wing thinkers, centers, and the foundations that support them. In addition to discussing their recent work, each of the participants will comment more generally on what they regard as important areas for research in critical histories of the discipline and university as well as the most significant obstacles to doing such work. Some participants may also comment on how they have woven these concerns into their teaching and professional lives and the resistance they have encountered to doing so.

Sub Unit

• Division 42: Critical Political Science (formerly New Political Science)

Chair

• Emily Hauptmann Western Michigan University

Presenters

• Clyde W. Barrow University of Texas Rio Grande Valley

• Robert Vitalis University of Pennsylvania

• Emily Hauptmann Western Michigan University

• Isaac Kamola Trinity College

• Paulo Daniel Ravecca Saint Mary's University