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commented on Off the Books by Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh

Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh: Off the Books (2006, Harvard University Press)

In this revelatory book, Sudhir Venkatesh takes us into Maquis Park, a poor black neighborhood …

It was reading this book back when I did my PhD, and when I read it I was struck just how much the academic "career path" resembles the "tournament career path" of street gangs as described in this book - and then I realized I needed to make an exit plan for academia. #Academia #IchBinHanna

Others later came to the same conclusion independently, so it wasn't just me:

blogs.lse.ac.uk/impactofsocialsciences/2013/12/11/how-academia-resembles-a-drug-gang/

replied to Jürgen Hubert's status

@juergen_hubert Not to be *that* guy, but I think the outsider-insider principles Afonso and others describe applies broadly to late-stage capitalist buy-in, especially in the US.

The overwhelming majority of Americans will never become millionaires, let alone multi-million/billionaires. In fact, a random American has a better chance of being impoverished than having $1+ million. But between class and racial myths, the ethno-oligarchy is now deemed both the norm and desirable by the majority.

@BrainburnerGames@dice.camp This isn't even about "becoming millionaires" - merely about getting a stable, reasonably well-off job. This is getting extremely difficult in academia - the vast majority of academics will never get such a position, and fewer will do so every way. It's far easier to do so outside of academia, especially with postgrad degrees - I have such a job myself.

But within academia, tenure is seen as the only "true" and worthy career goal, and as a result anyone who hasn't gotten it will put up with extraordinary amounts of shit, just for that elusive hope that they might get it after all one day. Just like with street gang members hoping to become bosses themselves.