Eagleton faces axe at Manchester University

[spartan]

http://education.guardian.co.uk/higher/news/story/0,,2253953,00.html

Thoughts?

Poor old Marxist literary critic Terry Eagleton faces losing his job at Manchester University.

Eagleton is most recently famous for his literary spat with fellow novelist Martin Amis, which all started when Amis remarked that the Muslim community in Britain should suffer "until it gets its house in order" in response to the recent Islamist Terrorism and western unrest over Islam!

Eagleton responded that Amis is "with the beasts ... the Muslim-baiters and haters, these days as likely to come from the Groucho and Garrick clubs as the nasty secret venues used by the neo-fascists".

Is there any revleft members currently at Manchester University?

If so then is there going to be some sort of protest by the students over this descision to potentially get rid of him?

[Zurdito]

Doesn't like look like a specifically political sacking. I say protest all the redundancies though. A "you can fire the rest but save the Marxist" line might sound a bit sectarian.

Also protest that they are paying Martin Amos that amount of money. wtf!?

[benpuk]

Is there any revleft members currently at Manchester University?

If so then is there going to be some sort of protest by the students over this descision to potentially get rid of him?

Doesn't like look like a specifically political sacking. I say protest all the redundancies though. A "you can fire the rest but save the Marxist" line might sound a bit sectarian.

Also protest that they are paying Martin Amos that amount of money. wtf!?

I'm in my final year there, I'll bring this issue up with the SU, but as Zurdito said, it doesn't appear that this is political. There have been a lot of changes around here in recent years, and as the article says, they make no secret that they're trying to find new blood in an effort to improve their research stats. (New buildings and facilities a-go-go).


The students are getting rather het up about it.
Well, this is the first I've heard about him specifically being sacked. I think the Amis thing is unrelated, Guardian are just stirring the pot a little.

As for Amis' salary, wow. I had no idea, not to mention that he only works 28 hours a year - presumably he lectures one module and spends the rest of his time... what, writing? My forlorn (and well liked, if I must be honest) copy of Time's Arrow looks a little different this afternoon.

[Invader Zim]

Well, I was actually considering putting in an application to study in Manchester, primarily to under people like David Edgerton, but stories like this put me off.

[Lenin II]

I think it is politically motivated. They would rather fire the Marxist than condemn the man who buys into the neocon Islamophobia party line. Of course, it is their choice to side with a Marxist or an Islamophobic. It's a lose/lose situation, but that doesn't change the fact that it's most likely unfair.

On a side note, I recently read an article by Terry Eagleton about the definition of true literature. He is constructionalist. Constructionism tells us that everything - every perception, opinion, emotion, action, etc. is a social construct, and Marxist constructionism of course insists this is due to capitalism and class warfare. And yet dialectics tells us to believe in objective truth.

There comes the great contradiction of Marxist literary theory—if we insist that objective truth exists, how can we also say that every truth is a social construct? And if every truth is a social construct, would that also include the “truth” that everything is a construct?

Thoughts?

[Zurdito]

I think it is politically motivated. They would rather fire the Marxist than condemn the man who buys into the neocon Islamophobia party line. Of course, it is their choice to side with a Marxist or an Islamophobic. It's a lose/lose situation, but that doesn't change the fact that it's most likely unfair.

On a side note, I recently read an article by Terry Eagleton about the definition of true literature. He is constructionalist. Constructionism tells us that everything - every perception, opinion, emotion, action, etc. is a social construct, and Marxist constructionism of course insists this is due to capitalism and class warfare. And yet dialectics tells us to believe in objective truth.

There comes the great contradiction of Marxist literary theory—if we insist that objective truth exists, how can we also say that every truth is a social construct? And if every truth is a social construct, would that also include the “truth” that everything is a construct?

Thoughts?

Truth exists, but "unbiased" reporters of it do not. In a communist society hwoever this would be possible.

[benpuk]

Truth exists, but "unbiased" reporters of it do not. In a communist society hwoever this would be possible.
How would a communist society neutralise unbiased reporting? Just because there is no explicit agenda attached to it, doesn't eliminate human factors.

[benpuk]

I think it is politically motivated. They would rather fire the Marxist than condemn the man who buys into the neocon Islamophobia party line. Of course, it is their choice to side with a Marxist or an Islamophobic. It's a lose/lose situation, but that doesn't change the fact that it's most likely unfair.
They're not choosing between Eagleton and Amis at all - it's just that Eagleton has reached 65, and therefore the end of his contract.

Another thought occurs - Amis' profile is far greater than Eagleton's, I wonder if the university place much stock in this and think he's more worth the money?

As a student at the institute in question I can say it makes no difference to me either way. Unless you're actually taught by either, their presence doesn't have any effect, which is why it's shocking to learn that salaries are quite so high.

[benpuk]

"Something Amis! Defend Eagleton!"

manchester.facebook.com/group.php?gid=10116438435&ref=mf

Facebook group at Manchester focused on this issue.