You can check out the full Dutch-language interview with Gijs here: volkskrant.nl/boeken/woke-...

@princetonupress.bsky.social has just published a paperback edition of We Have Never Been Woke. More info about the book and its reception is available here: musaalgharbi.com/paperback-ed...

You can check out the full Dutch-language interview with Gijs here: volkskrant.nl/boeken/woke-...

@princetonupress.bsky.social has just published a paperback edition of We Have Never Been Woke. More info about the book and its reception is available here: musaalgharbi.com/paperback-ed...

All said, I think these new civic centers/ schools can have a positive value, but their impact is complicated by the illiberal tendencies of their promoters and the isolation of aligned scholars from the mainstream of their disciplines.

Other perspectives on these issues in Oliver's full report:

One bright spot is that, whether they want it or not, many of these centers will likely end up with viewpoint diversity because the pipeline in many fields is relatively small, so they're being forced to expand their search criteria in order to fill up slots: www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

A limiting factor on impact: most hired in these centers/ schools do not have dual appointments in the fields they hailed from. They aren't sitting on committees or advising students in their discipline. They may not be publishing in the top disciplinary journals. They may end up self-contained.

I also worry that the selection processes and institutional isolation of many of these schools and centers could lead to their own group think and tribalism -- that they'd end up reproducing many of the same unfortunate cultural and epistemological habits they are supposed to be helping to mitigate.

It's hard to have credibility on freedom whilst aligned implicitly or explicitly with the MAGA crackdowns. We got to this moment after a decade of left-led intolerance, purges and censorship, but that doesn't change the awkwardness of these liberalism centers being championed by illiberal actors.

The reception of these civics centers/ schools is complicated by the fact that they're often being imposed by right-aligned legislatures. Their "viewpoint diversity" rationale rings hollow when the GOP is overseeing defunding, suppression and purges of research: www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

These new schools and centers are, for the most part, hiring serious scholars who do good work that fills important holes and blindspots. They provide opportunities in fields like history, classics, humanities where the job market has been really bleak: www.theguardian.com/us-news/ng-i...

BUT...