| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 94.1

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| Book Review | The Journal of American History, 94.1 | The History Cooperative

Book Review

Taking Back the Academy! History of Activism, History as Activism. Ed. by Jim Downs and Jennifer Manion. (New York: Routledge, 2004. xiv, 221 pp. Cloth, $80.00, ISBN 0-415-94810-X. Paper, $22.95, ISBN 0-415-94811-8.)
This interesting volume of essays prompts historians to go beyond business as usual by fusing scholarship and activism. Better yet, if the messages of this volume were heeded, they would probably transform the academic profession's conventional characterization of "business as usual" to include activism as an integral, not marginal, part of teaching and research. As such, it is simultaneously a graceful and unsettling work, especially for senior scholars who are tempted to succumb to indifference or cynicism about the inconsequence of their discipline for civil discourse, policy, and daily life—both on and off campus.	1
One caveat for the new and emerging generation of historians who shaped this book is their possible myopia in gauging the difficulties of the contemporary profession, especially the job market, compared to the situation historians faced in the past. For example, the back cover notes, "In an age of increasingly demanding hiring and tenure committees . . ."—how does one know that the hiring demands today are more demanding than in earlier periods? In 1973–1974 the American Historical Association distributed a volume of statements from history department chairs to potential applicants for faculty positions. A typical response was, "We have no vacancies—and expect none for the next twenty-five years." Or, consider Neil J. Smelser and Robin Content's 1980 book, The Changing Academic Market Place—an intensive case study of a hiring search by the sociology department at University of California, Berkeley, in which more than 250 highly qualified applicants applied for two tenure track positions. The historical lesson here is that one needs careful, informed answers to the question, "How good were the good old days?"	. . .

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