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André de Avillez

Not the Answer - An Academic Carefully Assesses the Arguments for Open Access | The Sch... - 1 views

scholarlykitchen.sspnet.org/...-the-arguments-for-open-access

open access risks

shared by André de Avillez on 12 Jan 14 - No Cached
  • One of the forms of open access . . . consists in the creation and use of repositories for research writing: databases, typically run by university libraries, into which ‘pre-prints’ (basically, manuscripts) of journal articles may be uploaded for free download by anyone with access to the internet. This has recently become known as ‘green’ open access
    • André de Avillez
      André de Avillez on 12 Jan 14
       
      definition of "Green OA"
  • gold’ open access, which keeps journals open by moving the burden of payment from the reader to the writer
  • ...8 more annotations...
  • t represents a further drain on university budgets (since repositories are not free to run)
    • André de Avillez
      André de Avillez on 12 Jan 14
       
      definition of "Gold OA"
  • Authors are not producing work for publishers, but for other academics;
  • Gold OA will likely only work for academics at the richest institutions, creating closed access further upstream
  • OA advocates tend to conflate problems (e.g., library access with subscription prices with domain expertise with taxpayer status), which makes each problem harder to solve or address in a practical way
  • ublishers are in fact paid labor for academics, who are the ultimate consumers
  • Careers in publishing are getting harder, especially in editorial roles, which is leading to fewer young professionals pursuing these paths, bad news for the future of high-quality scientific communication
  • the pay-to-say system was devised in order to permit elite academics to continue publishing in the manner to which they had become accustomed, they will be under no obligation to write in a manner more accessible to an audience of non-specialists, and their publishers will be paid in advance even if no-one ever so much as downloads the articles they turn out.
  • André de Avillez on 12 Jan 14
     
    A reply to Daniel Allington's concerns with open access, including a conversation with Allington in the comments section
André de Avillez

Unionize College Football | Jacobin - 0 views

www.jacobinmag.com/...-college-football-northwestern

public academia labor

shared by André de Avillez on 28 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • The unionization campaign at Northwestern is no doubt exciting. That any group of people in their late-teens and early-twenties, football players or otherwise, thought to address their workplace grievances through organizing is, in this rabidly anti-union place and time, nothing short of remarkable. If they succeed (which is still far from certain), their victory could reverberate across the intercollegiate athletic world, transforming the NCAA in the process. And, not inconsequentially, they could pave the road for organizing advances by graduate students, medical residents, and many others who work for the same institution that bestows their degrees or credentials.
  • André de Avillez on 28 Feb 14
     
    Piece on the unionization efforts by Northwestern University's football team.
André de Avillez

The Work of Public Work | Jacobin - 2 views

www.jacobinmag.com/...the-work-of-public-work

DigitalScholarlyCommunication public PublicPhilosophy

shared by André de Avillez on 25 Feb 14 - No Cached
  • At the same time, I want to hold Robin accountable to his desire for a “materialist analysis of the relationship between politics, economics, and culture.”
  • I think he wrongly characterizes the conditions under which many of these young academics are writing
  • The risk of being a public intellectual, he posits, comes from the fact that these scholars are taking time away from their academic writing
  • ...13 more annotations...
  • The workload of academics has increased exponentially in recent years, as has been well-documented
  • I have found that writing for popular audiences is not solely an internal passion, but has actually become an external demand of young scholars, another metric by which their job application or tenure-file is evaluated.
  • The problem is that Robin goes on to romanticize the lives of young scholar-writers, saying that their work arises from intrinsic desires, whose realization is made possible by new technology:
  • The mantra of “publishing early and often” has intensified, especially in a tight job market. As tenured horizons grow grimmer, new scholars must do anything they can to stand out above a crowd of over-achievers. Publish early, publish often — and now, publish online.
  • The swelling workloads of academics are indicative of the micropolitics of neoliberalism
  • Young scholars are compelled to transform themselves into academic entrepreneurs, creating a brand that they promote through their blogs, tweets, and online profiles.
  • Consider the website Academia.edu
  • But the site also exemplifies the quantification of the productive self, with each profile displaying the number of views, article downloads, and followers for each academic.
  • It’s no wonder that I’ve also seen a growing number of colleagues (myself included) add a “Public Scholarship” section to their CVs
  • The labor of public intellectualism is more than a political project, or even a charitable effort of self-expression — it’s another manifestation of exploitation
  • As a result, young academics trying to keep up with new media are writing, reading blogs and engaging in Twitter wars during lunch breaks, between teaching commitments, and well into the night.
  • To meet the demands of academic capitalism, there’s now even less of a chance of ever clocking out.
  • Yes, let us praise the young writers whose voices are being seen and heard across the blogosphere, and luxuriate in the possibilities of transcending the borders of the Ivory Tower. But let us not forget that writing, even on the Internet, and even for the “public good,” is still work. And whenever we’re encouraged to do more work, we should be a bit wary.
  • André de Avillez on 25 Feb 14
     
    A response to Corey Robin's response to Kristof's article, raising troubling concerns regarding the commodification of public scholarship.  Seems worth amplifying, in conjunction with the critiques of Kristof's piece or on its own.
André de Avillez

Art and Truth after Plato // Reviews // Notre Dame Philosophical Reviews // University ... - 4 views

ndpr.nd.edu/...8190-art-and-truth-after-plato

shared by André de Avillez on 17 Jun 14 - No Cached
  • The purpose of this book, we are told right at the start, is to address anew 'the old question, often neglected in contemporary aesthetic debates, about art and truth, or art and cognition' (p. 1)
  • His purpose is to survey these varied responses, trace their development and adjudicate among them
  • very widely, and considers many writers who get scant attention nowadays
  • ...23 more annotations...
  • His opening chapter sets out Plato's contentions about art and truth
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      Summary points here seem fair.
  • In any event, though the chapter on 'Christian Platonic and Anti-Platonic Art' is not noticeably shorter than the others, it does not have a key role in the philosophical trajectory that Rockmore is tracing.
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      Critical comment, but fairly stated, not harsh, matter of fact.
  • very widely, and considers many writers who get scant attention nowadays
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      Not clear if these are positive or negative points, but the focus on those who receive scant attention point seems positive.
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      Identifies aims - good, but relies on direct quotation - bad.
  • rather long and unusual excursion through Marxist aesthetics.
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      There is implicit judgement here, and no imagination about why Rockmore might be taking this approach. More generosity needed here.
  • This is a hugely ambitious book, and the range of reading that has gone into its making cannot but be impressive, though the steady flow of many lengthy summaries and brief references to a huge number of writers makes for rather heavy going on the part of the reader.
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      Praise, tempered by a sort of critique here. As if a simply positive remark can't stand on its own. Also, the vocabulary is one of coercion "cannot but be impressive."
  • more importantly flawed, and in a number of critical ways
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      OK, but is this the best way to say this?
  • No real evidence is offered of this neglect, and indeed the book is remarkable for making virtually no reference to contemporary work in aesthetics.
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      Fair point about references, but fine. Then belittling language "even the briefest survey would show..." - shame tactic.
  • Rockmore might object
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      Indication that the reviewer is imagining his way into the mind of the author - imagine a response. Good.
  • Viewed in this light, however, it does not come out very well.
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      So simple positive comments are avoided, but simple negative ones are not. Then ...  "conspicuous failures."
  • (to my mind)
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      Recognizes own position might be limited.
  • serious methodological weaknesses that undermine some of its claims.
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      Negative comment, not nasty, but not nicely put.
  • what most people recognize to be a caricature
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      Appeal to "most people" is a failure to take ownership of own critique.
  • It is no pleasure to give a serious and substantial philosophical work such a low rating. So on the positive side I think it can safely be said that readers will undoubtedly benefit from Rockmore's range of reference.
    • Chris Long
      Chris Long on 20 Aug 14
       
      Begrudging critique, but limited praise.
    • André de Avillez
      André de Avillez on 20 Aug 14
       
      Overview of target project.  Seems like one the author would endorse, but it's impossible to know without asking the author, and difficult to guess without having read the work being reviewed.
  • hat 'long ago'
    • André de Avillez
      André de Avillez on 20 Aug 14
       
      Derisive tone
  • story
    • André de Avillez
      André de Avillez on 20 Aug 14
       
      Referring to the content of the book as a story rather than as a historical overview implies that the work lacks academic legitimacy
  • 'Middle Ages'
    • André de Avillez
      André de Avillez on 20 Aug 14
       
      The use of scare quotes here, and the qualifiers that follow, imply a veiled criticism. It seems that criticisms must be open in order to be collegial, for otherwise they imply that the target's author is too dimwitted to grasp a meaning which is plainly grasped by the reviewer and the audience.
  • even the briefest survey would show, I think, that 'aesthetic cognitivism', as it is increasingly referred to, is not only widely discussed, but alive and wel
    • André de Avillez
      André de Avillez on 20 Aug 14
       
      Very critical language, framing a serious critique.  Yet it seems that the obvious has not been stated: the author was too focused on the continental tradition, and the reviewer was largely unfamiliar with that tradition (so much so that he saw the "excursion" into marxist aesthetics as unusual)
  • For example, he uses the expressions 'art and truth' and 'art and cognition' more or less interchangeably. But the conflation of 'truth' and 'cognition' confounds many of the issues he want to discuss, because there are important dimensions to cognition other than truth
    • André de Avillez
      André de Avillez on 20 Aug 14
       
      Criticism of the target, attempted at the target's own terms.
  • with which contemporary aesthetics is concerned.
    • André de Avillez
      André de Avillez on 20 Aug 14
       
      One has to worry here of how the discipline is being defined.  Does analytic philosophy have dominance over the field?
  • In doing so he ranges very widely, and considers many writers who get scant attention nowadays, devoting a whole chapter to 'Marx, Marxism, and Aesthetic Realism', for instance.
    • André de Avillez
      André de Avillez on 20 Aug 14
       
      Praise for target of review
  • n any event, though the chapter on 'Christian Platonic and Anti-Platonic Art' is not noticeably shorter than the others, it does not have a key role in the philosophical trajectory that Rockmore is tracing.
    • André de Avillez
      André de Avillez on 20 Aug 14
       
      Implies that the chapter is unnecessary, and does not attempt to see why it would have been left in.  Even if a philosophical aesthetics is not present in this long period, the author may have chosen to discuss it for the sake of completeness, and to show to what extent a philosophy of art/ aesthetics existed in the middle ages.
  • André de Avillez on 17 Jun 14
     
    A negative review which labors to see the merits in the target
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