Higher education in the US and beyond is under attack. The potential of universities to act as sanctuaries of dissent is directly undermined both by the neoliberal "restructuring" of academic institutions and by external government pressure to control and suppress dissident thought. At the same time, the mass mobilization of students, student-workers, faculty, and staff around labor rights, academic freedom, justice, and peace across the globe has once again illuminated the importance of maintaining higher education as a progressive space for critical thinking and organizing. The workers' struggle at The New School expresses many of these tensions, prompting us to ask "why can't our universities be free" and to reflect on what is required to fight back.

In this hybrid event organized by the Series in Advanced Political Economy (SAPE), Professor of Economics Sanjay Reddy, Professor Emeritus of Economics Richard Wolff, and ACT-UAW Local 7902 President Micaela Suminski join us for a discussion moderated by PhD Economics student Danielle Twiss.

About Series in Advanced Political Economy (SAPE):

SAPE is a joint program organized by the Economics Departments at SOAS University of London, The New School for Social Research, and the Free Institute.

We launched the Series in 2022 to promote political economy beyond university walls and created a platform where academics, activists, trade unionists, and many others could come together to discuss pressing issues and explore ways to address the multi-faceted crises of our time. As of today, these lectures have collectively gained thousands of views on YouTube, in addition to the live in-person and Zoom webinar attendees.

Our series has been part of the General Federation of Trade Unions (GFTU) UK, through the UK government-funded Knowledge Transfer Partnership project. With this project, we aim to connect the academic and theoretical discussions in the lecture series with workers’ struggles in the UK and internationally. The objective is to reach a wider audience, particularly the union members, leaders, and shop stewards through the GFTU’s broad network of trade unions. Our goal is to equip workers with the tools necessary for understanding macroeconomic policies and the political economy of decision-making in contemporary capitalist society.

Please register to secure your seat.