How Harvard Rules: Reason in the Service of Empire [Paperback]

John Trumpbour (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Library Journal

A scathing indictment of Harvard that goes well beyond the fact that it is generally perceived as elitist. The contributors to this book, all Harvard graduates or faculty, assert that Harvard is, at least partially, racist, ethnocentric, sexist, and hostile to progressive intellectuals, and that it has compromised its independence. Frankly, this is a hard book to assess objectively without inside knowledge. However, the authors have made a strong case for several of the charges. First, it seems apparent tht the Harvard Corporation and administration wield disporportionate power over decisions which legitimately belong to the faculty; second, appointments are, in part, political decisions not based on merit, especially for the younger faculty with left-of-center views. Some parts of the book are simply mean-spirited. However, the issues raised and the documentation presented combine to make this a book which will undoubtedly focus national attention on the problems facing the research university in the 1990s. Recommended.
- Richard H. Quay, Miami Univ . Libs., Oxford, Ohio
Copyright 1990 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Paperback: 450 pages
• Publisher: South End Press (July 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0896082830
• ISBN-13: 978-0896082830
• Product Dimensions: 8.5 x 5.4 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,642,514 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Required Reading, March 12, 2005

By 

G. Espada (Somerville, MA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: How Harvard Rules: Reason in the Service of Empire (Paperback)

Given the recent interest in Harvard sparked by the women in science controversy, it seems many people are eager to learn more about the world's leading institution of higher learning (according to some, anyway) Because of the power the name Harvard commands, this attention is a good thing, and long overdue. How Harvard Rules is a collection of essays all by current and former Harvard insiders with tales to tell--the kinds of tales Harvard would not willingly make public itself. The tone of the volume is indeed critical, but these are not screeds--they rely much less on opinion than they do on straight history and facts. The lesson is this: we cannot afford to take for granted the benign nature of academic institutions. And not because the elite among them contribute to any kind of left-wing brainwashing of our youth--that's pure hogwash. Harvard is a revolving door for the wealthy and powerful, and as such does more than almost any single organization to validate the machinations of the world's rulers. Under a guise of books and ivy lies a corporation dealing in the joint commodities of knowledge and power. This book is a great place to start learning not just about Harvard per se, but the complex web of power and influence that it is essential to unravel to get at the truth about the way our world works. Get this book today!

0 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars The hysterical Left, January 2, 2010

By 

JCV "runblader" (Adventure, FL United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: How Harvard Rules: Reason in the Service of Empire (Hardcover)

You can toss this one in the trash along with anthropogenic global warming. Harvard, long considered a left-wing hotbed, is here accused of being a Great Right Wing Conspiracy.
The recent women in science controversey makes the point. In the 1980's, I was among the very last group to take the Law School Admissions Test (LSAT) with a mathematics section. The math section of the exam was cancelled thereafter upon the lobbying of feminists who complained bitterly that it embodied blatent discrimination against women because women were naturally inferior in the arts and sciences in comparison to men, women being more artistic and philosophical. It was the feminist left who first insisted the difference was biological, perhaps even genetic.
Flash-foward two decades and the President of the University is knocked out on a vote of no-confidence by that same feminist left for the crime of suggesting that their own theory may have been correct after all.