{"id":158039,"date":"2024-12-04T09:43:32","date_gmt":"2024-12-04T17:43:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=158039"},"modified":"2024-12-04T09:44:45","modified_gmt":"2024-12-04T17:44:45","slug":"the-rise-of-the-substackademic","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lukeford.net\/blog\/?p=158039","title":{"rendered":"The rise of the \u201csubstackademic\u201d"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chris Bickerton writes<\/a>:<\/p>\n

\nA successful academic entrepreneur must make themselves their primary focus. In an odd way, the academic entrepreneur is the realisation of Foucault\u2019s call for a \u201ccultivation of the self\u201d. The constant curation of one\u2019s status as a source of insights is the route to success…<\/p>\n

To whom do academic entrepreneurs address themselves exactly? Instead of creating a new public through the elaboration of a distinctive body of thought, academic entrepreneurs more often than not address each other and a small quasi-public drawn from a narrow social elite, such as those who will pay for the insights the academic entrepreneur provides. The \u201csubstackademic\u201d will struggle to go beyond a relatively closed conversation with like-minded individuals, one where the conversation itself is driven by the search for Likes and Up-votes.<\/p>\n

The final and perhaps greatest danger is that by breaking free from the academy, the academic entrepreneur is exposed to all the vagaries of corporate and political power. Political and social elites are the core audience for the academic entrepreneur, making them dependent upon their interest and goodwill. Speaking truth to power when one is entirely dependent upon its munificence is a perilous enterprise.<\/p>\n

…research in the social sciences is dominated by lots of little dots; what is missing are the threads to bring these dots together. Many of today\u2019s thinkers are not from within the academy at all. They are professional writers, or occasionally journalists who have risen above the cut and thrust of chasing news to devote themselves to writing.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

News and intellectual labor rarely pay for themselves. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chris Bickerton writes: A successful academic entrepreneur must make themselves their primary focus. In an odd way, the academic entrepreneur is the realisation of Foucault\u2019s call for a \u201ccultivation of the self\u201d. The constant curation of one\u2019s status as a … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[16281],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-158039","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-college"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t