Recent legislative and executive orders that mandate preferred methods for evaluating the No Child Left Behind Act of 2001 signal a much larger movement in the social sciences. Attacks stemming from the “culture wars” of the 1990s have spread to forms of research labeled “unscientific,” including postmodern research and qualitative research. Examination of the sources of the attacks reveals a wide network of new and recent foundations with decidedly right-wing political views, the establishment and growing power of the National Association of Scholars, and other well-funded efforts to discredit research that uncovers and exposes deep inequities in social life and schooling on gender, race, social class, religion, and/or sexual orientation. Each of these well-funded sources of attack is discussed and the agenda of each is dissected.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Bauerlein, M. (2001). Social constructionism: Philosophy for the academic workplace. Partisan Review, 68(2), 2-13.
2.
Berry, J. M. (1997). The interest group society. New York: Longman.
3.
Beverley, J. (2001). What happens when the subaltern speaks: Rigoberta Menchú, multiculturalism, and the presumption of equal worth. In A. Arias (Ed.), The Rigoberta Menchú controversy (pp. 219-236). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
4.
Balch, S. H. (2001a, August). Rediscovering liberal education: A case for reform in America’s universities. The Insider (No. 286). Washington, DC: The Heritage Foundation.
Balch, S. H., & Zurcher, R. C. (1996). The dissolution of general education, 1914-1993. Princeton, NJ: National Association of Scholars.
7.
Bloom, A. (1987). The closing of the American mind: How higher education has failed democracy and impoverished the souls of today’s students. New York: Simon & Schuster.
8.
Broder, D. (1993, July 18). Christian coalition, shifting tactics to lobby against Clinton budget. Washington Post, p. A07.
9.
Cheney, L. V. (2001). Defending civilization: How our universities are failing America and what can be done about it. Washington, DC: American Council of Trustees and Alumni.
10.
Chomsky, N. (2002). Intellectuals and social change. In P. R. Mitchell & J. Schoeffel (Eds.), Understanding power: The indispensable Chomsky (pp. 224-266). New York: The New Press.
11.
Clark, V., Garner, S. N., Higonnet, M., & Katrak, K. (1996). Introduction. In V. Clark, S. N. Garner, M. Higonnet, & K. Katrak (Eds.), Anti-feminism in the academy (pp. ix-xix). New York: Routledge Kegan Paul.
12.
Coontz, S. (1997). The way we really are: Coming to terms with America’s changing families. New York: Basic Books.
13.
Costain, A. N. (1992). Inviting women’s rebellion. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press.
14.
Covington, S. (1998). How conservative philanthropies and think tanks transform U.S. policy. Covert Action Quarterly, 63, 1-8. Retrieved January 24, 2001, from http://mediafilter.org/CAQ/caq63thinktank.html
15.
Craig, B. H., & O’Brien, D. M. (1993). Abortion and American politics. Chatham, NJ: Chatham House.
16.
Crawford, A. (1980). Thunder on the right. New York: Pantheon.
Foucault, M. (1972). The archaeology of knowledge and the discourse on language (A. M. Sheridan Smith, Trans.). New York: Pantheon.
25.
Ginsberg, E., & Lennox, S. (1996). Antifeminism in scholarship and publishing. In V. Clark, S. N. Garner, M. Higonnet, & K. Katrak (Eds.), Anti-feminism in the academy (pp. 169-199). New York: Routledge Kegan Paul.
26.
Graff, G. (1992). Beyond the culture wars: How teaching the conflicts can revitalize American education. New York: Norton.
27.
Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.
28.
Haack, S. (1998). Manifesto of a passionate moderate: Unfashionable essays. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.
29.
Herman, E. S. (1981). Corporate control, corporate power. New York: Cambridge University Press.
30.
Herrnstein, R. J., & Murray, C. (1994). The bell curve: Intelligence and class structure in American life. New York: Free Press.
31.
Jacoby, R. (1987). The last intellectuals: American culture in the age of academe. New York: Basic Books.
32.
Kimball, R. (1990). Tenured radicals: How politics has corrupted our higher education. New York: Harper and Row.
33.
Kincheloe, J. L., Steinberg, S. R., & Gresson, A. D., III. (Eds.).(1996). Measured lies: The bell curve examined. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
34.
Koertge, N. (1994, September 14). Are feminists alienating women from the sciences? Chronicle of Higher Education. Retrieved January 19, 2001, from http://www.chronicle.org/Koertge/9-14-1994/1-5
35.
Kors, A. C., & Silvergate, H. A. (1998). The shadow university: The betrayal of liberty on America’s campuses. New York: Free Press.
36.
Lawton, K. (1992, July 20). The new religious face(s) of the religious right. Christianity Today, pp. 42-45.
37.
Lemann, N. (1997, February). Citizen: An increasingly powerful agent in American life is also one of the least noticed. The Atlantic Online (The Atlantic Monthly Digital Edition). Retrieved from http://www.theatlantic.com/issues/97feb/5013c/5013c.htm
38.
Lerner, G. (1986). The creation of patriarchy. New York: Oxford University Press.
39.
Levine, L. W. (1996). The opening of the American mind: Canons, culture, and history. Boston: Beacon.
40.
Macdonald, H. (2000). The burden of bad ideas: How modern intellectuals misshape our society. New York: Manhatten Institute for Policy Research.
Miller, D. W. (1999, August 6). The black hole of education research: Why do academic studies play such a minimal role in efforts to improve the schools? Chronicle of Higher Education, p. A17.
44.
Miller, N. K. (1991). Getting personal: Feminist occasions and other autobiographical acts. New York: Routledge Kegan Paul.
45.
Moen, M. (1992). The transformation of the Christian Right. Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press.
46.
Murray, C. (2003). Human accomplishment: The pursuit of excellence in the arts and sciences 800 B.C. to 1950. New York: HarperCollins.
National Association of Scholars. (2000b). NAS celebrates its rising influence as national conference returns to New York City. NAS... Update, 11(1), pp. 1, 5-6.
49.
National Research Council. (2002). Scientific research in education (Committee on Scientific Principles for Educational Research, R. J. Shavelson & L. Towne, Eds., Center for Education, Division of Behavioral and Social Sciences and Education). Washington, DC: National Academy Press.
Pratt, M. L. (2001). I, Rigoberta Menchú and the “Culture Wars.” In A. Arias (Ed.), The Rigoberta Menchú controversy (pp. 29-48). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.
52.
Reason, P., & Rowan, J. (Eds.). (1981). Human inquiry: A sourcebook of new paradigm research. Chichester, UK: Wiley.
53.
Short, T. (1992). What shall we defend? Academic Questions. Princeton, NJ: National Association of Scholars. Retrieved from http://www.nas.org/statements.defend.html
54.
Sommers, C. H. (1994). Who stole feminism? How women have betrayed women. New York: Simon & Schuster.
55.
Stefancic, J., & Delgado, R. (1996). No mercy: How conservative think tanks and foundations changed America’s social agenda. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
56.
Wilson, B. P. (1999). The culture wars in higher education. Phi Kappa Phi Journal: National Forum, 79(1), 14-18.
