aaus-list @ ukrainianstudies.org -- [aaus-list] food for thought

[Natalia Pylypiuk <natalia.pylypiuk@ualberta.ca>]

Dear Colleagues,

With your indulgence, I am forwarding a message sent to H-Russia
by Douglas R. Weiner, whose arguments might provoke a fruitful discussion
by Ukrainianists.

Regards,
Natalia Pylypiuk

>Date:         Thu, 27 Mar 2003 07:09:51 -0500
>Reply-To: H-Net Russian History list <H-RUSSIA@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
>Sender: H-Net Russian History list <H-RUSSIA@H-NET.MSU.EDU>
>From: Dave Pretty <prettyd@winthrop.edu>
>Subject:      Role of non-academics in the field
>To: H-RUSSIA@H-NET.MSU.EDU
>Status:  
>
>Date: Fri, 21 Mar 2003 12:52:21 -0700
>From: "Douglas R, Weiner" <dweiner@email.arizona.edu>
>
>
>
>
>It seems to me that the Slavic Studies field and its institutional
>embodiments, AAASS and other academic institutions, has done itself, the
>national interest, Russia, and the rest of the world a significant
>disservice by according State Department officials and other government
>functionaries undeserved respectability as scholarly analysts and even
>"public intellectuals."  In doing so, we have managed to silence the
>voices of those of us who have undertaken long and profound study into the
>cultures, histories, and political economies of the societies of Eastern
>Europe and Eurasia.  The practice by universities of almost automatically
>conferring honorary degrees, not to mention faculty appointments, to
>former ambassadors, secretaries of state, and, no doubt, intelligence
>community members, -- "honoris causa" -- is a particularly corrupt one
>that has remained unchallenged by legitimate academics over the years.
>
>
>For well over two decades now, the arena of policy regarding Eastern
>Europe/Eurasia has been captured by "policy types," many coming out of
>"international affairs" programs that do not require their graduates to
>familiarize themselves with the histories and political economies of the
>societies about which they purport to be experts.  For the most egregious,
>a mastery of game theory is sufficient.
>
>Not only has this done terrible damage to policy -- witness the ruins of
>the "transition to markets and democracy" everywhere from Moldova to
>Kyrgyzstan (Steve Kotkin wrote a particularly biting piece called "Journey
>through Trashcanistan" that appeared in the New Republic some time ago
>which is well worth reading -- but it has done even greater damage to our
>democratic culture.  The corporate-dominated airwaves (including NPR and
>"public" TV -- read Eric Alterman's new book, What Liberal Media?) bring
>out the same "talking heads" -- in our area Dimitri Simes, Jack Matlock,
>and others -- from the same, limited number of Beltway think tanks and
>academic stables (CSIS).  And we have allowed these "talking heads," who
>have virtually nothing substantive to say, to represent the public
>face of our field.
>
>This is a particular disservice to democracy, because democracy requires
>the fresh air of hard questioning, a resistance to simplistic explanations,
>and a multiplicity of perspectives.
>
>I am sure that there are many honest and perceptive non-academic students
>of Eurasia, just as there is regrettably a surfeit of superficial academic
>scholars in the field, but I believe it is high time for LEGITIMATE
>scholars to begin to try to reclaim some public voice in foreign affairs.
>If we fail in this, a very good deal of time and money has been largely
>wasted training legitimate academic experts.
>
>Doug Weiner
>Professor of History
>University of Arizona
>
>Douglas R. Weiner
>Professor of History
>University of Arizona
>Tucson, AZ 85721
>http://www.u.arizona.edu/~dweiner
>dweiner@u.arizona.edu
>(520) 621-3736 direct
>(520) 621-2422 Fax