Universities at Risk: How Politics, Special Interests and Corporatization Threaten Academic Integrity.

Ashley Thomson is a full librarian at Laurentian University and co-editor or co-author of nine books, most recently Margaret Atwood: A Reference Guide, 1988-2005.

The Canadian Association of University Teachers (CAUT) has long had an interest in shedding light on unseemly relationships between corporations and universities. The current book, which originated from a conference sponsored by the Harry Crowe Foundation in 2007, picks up the same theme—but it also examines how politics and special interests affect academic integrity—that is, the right of scholars to select their own research topics and to publish their results freely, without pressure from outside interests.

The editor, James Turk, Executive Director of CAUT, has done a splendid job organizing the various papers into a coherent monograph—not always the easiest task when multiple authors are involved. The first section looks at the impact tobacco and pharmaceutical companies have had and research that they have sponsored, and suggests ways that corporate influence can be constrained. The second section contains three case studies of academics who challenged powerful interests. The third is an examination of the role special interests have started to play in scholars’ lives—in particular, the intelligent design movement and conservative think tanks such as the Fraser Institute. The fourth section contains two papers that look at the impact of Middle Eastern and conservative politics on researchers. The fifth contains a single article that discusses the danger of a production-driven culture in the humanities. The sixth examines the perils of running a university in a corporate way. The seventh, concluding section, also one paper long, emphasizes why the public interest is best served when academics are allowed to do their work with integrity.

Not all papers in the collection arrive at the same conclusion—Arthur Schafer argues that the universities should accept no corporate donations (68), Sheldon Krimsky argues that they should, but there should be guidelines about what is acceptable. While one might think that the focus on the book is on Canada. In fact, it goes beyond our borders, presumably a reflection of the international panel of speakers at the conference, as well as the international scope of the problem.