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Great, so we're on the same page that investigating Oxman's academic output was an effective tactic for BI. Now if we're just going to focus on the social impac
by benzible 3y ago
Great, so we're on the same page that investigating Oxman's academic output was an effective tactic for BI. Now if we're just going to focus on the social impact, I guess it depends on what it is that you'd like to see "moved forward". The people behind the campaign against Gay, including right-wing activist Christopher Rufo, have been very open and explicit that this was about advancing their agenda and that plagiarism was a means to an end [1] so you'd have to be pretty credulous to pretend that this was initially about academic honesty.
Rufo and Ackman managed to shift the Overton window and have achieved their goals, for example, by getting mainstream press outlets like the NYT to publish "just asking questions" articles linking Gay's ousting with DEI. Given that this was the original motivation for this whole thing, from my point of view, BI did a great service in pushing back on this agenda, and looking at Oxman as an exemplar of a white academic (recent academic who became famous for her academic work, whatever) was the perfect way to do this.
[1] https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/01/04/msnbcs_ali_velshi_christopher_rufo_is_the_reason_your_conservative_uncle_knows_the_phrase_critical_race_theory.html https://www.realclearpolitics.com/video/2024/01/04/msnbcs_al...
- rahimnathwani 3y agoI agree BI did a great service, but not because I disagree with Rufo'a agenda and think it needs to be pushed back. BI 'poked the bear' and provoked Ackman into putting resources into shining a light on some (albeit limited) aspect of the problems with the academic establishment. Assuming he follows through, we will all get a bunch of interesting analysis, without spending a dime ourselves!
- benzible 3y agoCool, so we've established that you're somewhere on the spectrum from indifferent to supportive of the agenda of a man who is pretty explicitly trying to bring Orban-style authoritarianism to the US [1]. Personally, I'm far more concerned about a looming existential threat to US democracy than I am about academic plagiarism by the leadership of high-profile universities. So, agree to disagree, I guess. [1] https://www.vox.com/23811277/christopher-rufo-culture-wars-ron-desantis-florida-critical-race-theory-anti-wokeness https://www.vox.com/23811277/christopher-rufo-culture-wars-r...
- bongoman37 3y agoWhy is this about individuals at all? As a former academic I feel academia has a higher principle to uphold its principles about assigning credit where it is due and so on. Right and left are largely meaningless terms, we should be striving for the truth.