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Technology, Rights and
the Public Interest In 1983, David Noble, Ralph Nader and Al Meyerhoff co-founded the National Coalition for Universities in the Public Interest “to bring extra-academic pressure to bear upon university administrations who were selling out their colleagues and the public in the pursuit of corporate partnerships” and “to galvanize student and faculty opposition to the corporatization of their institutions, chronicling the consequences of this trend while aiding those who suffered abuse and retribution for refusing to go along.” Twenty years hence, this type of vigilance in defending the public interest continues to inspire radical labor and collective activism in academic workplaces. Post 9-11, this vigilance is becoming increasingly critical. Charter and constitutional rights, civil rights and human rights— tenuous as they are for most in the world— have been seriously compromised in North America through the past three years. The assault on rights is intensified by convergences of biological, communication, information and medical technologies with the control of production, markets and politics. It seems one cannot speak of a group of rights that are not threatened by new technologies, and in consequence, there are few topics as far-reaching and relevant to academic labor in this day and age as Technology, Rights and the Public Interest. We will explore a range of issues related to this topic, juxtaposing the erosion of rights and the corporatization and commodification of the university against vigilance in defense of the public interest. The bulk of articles for the issue will come from the research of graduate students enrolled in a course under the same topic. Feature articles will be contributed by Drs. Mary Burgan, David Noble and Leonard Minsky, along with Drs. Mary Bryson, Teresa Dobson and Stephen Petrina, who were involved in a recent landmark decision on academic freedom and intellectual property rights. Co-Editors:
Dr. Mary Bryson, Dr. Teresa Dobson, Dr. Stephen Petrina |