Progressive Geographies

You can sign it here (set up by Thom Brooks).

Two interesting commentaries on this issue here and here (via Clive at Pop Theory).

From Kris Olds, originally posted to crit-geog-forum but reposted here with updated links with his permission. (And the links have now been fixed)

Dear colleagues,

If you wish to register your symbolic support for Bill Cronon, here is a Facebook page to do so:

Support Professor William Cronon: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Support-Professor-William-Cronon/112819782132021

Many lessons to be learned via this issue…an updated list of links to coverage has been pasted in below.  If this is news to you, here is a good summary of the issues:

‘Wisconsin gets weirder,‘ Inside Higher Ed, 26 March.

and it is worth looking at Paul Krugman’s op-ed in the NY Times:

‘Paul Krugman: American Thought Police,‘ New York Times, 28 March.

Bill’s original blog entry, his first (!) and the one that inspired the request, is here:

‘Who’s Really Behind Recent Republican Legislation in Wisconsin and Elsewhere? (Hint: It Didn’t Start Here),’ Scholar as Citizen, 15 March.

while this NY Times op-ed is also worth a read:

‘Wisconsin’s Radical Break,’ New York Times, 21 March.

Thanks for your support.  Kris Olds

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

The William Cronon/Republican Email Affair

‘Paul Krugman: American Thought Police,‘ New York Times, 28 March.

‘William Cronon did his job, what more do you want to know?,’ Sustainable Cities & Transport, 27 March.

‘Wineke: By Going After Prof., GOP Takes Aim At UW Tradition,‘ Channel 3000, 27 March.

‘An Open Letter to Governor Walker and Stephan Thompson from a Loyal Republican,’ Scholar Citizen, 28 March.

‘Professor Cronon’s Weak Cases,’ National Review Online, 28 March.

‘The professor’s political entomology runs into the left’s own rules,’ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 28 March.

‘Open records law used to muzzle critics,’ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 28 March.

‘Wisconsin: The Cronon Affair,’ The New Yorker, 28 March.

‘Wisconsin’s Cronon Affair: The Power of a Simple Fact,’ The Nation, 28 March.

‘NY Times slams GOP’s “petty and medieval” strategy to intimidate academics like Cronon and Mann,’ Climate Progress, 28 March.

‘Next Prey in Gov. Walker’s Corporatist Sights: University of Wisconsin-Madison,’ In These Times, 28 March.

‘Kill the Professors First!,’ Chronicle of Higher Education, 28 March.

‘Just Say “No” to the Republican Party of Wisconsin: Academic Freedom in the Public Sector vs. State FOIA Request for Prof’s Emails,’ Law Librarian Blog, 28 March.

‘Controversy Flares Over GOP Probe of Professor’s Emails,’ Slate, 28 March.

‘Obvious Assault on Academic Freedom,’ AAUP, 28 March.

AAUP letter to Chancellor Biddy Martin (PDF)

‘Cronon’s politics,’ Sapping Attention, 28 March.

‘Wis. Republican Party Assails Prof. Cronon Again,’ The Progressive, 28 March.

‘The Cronon Affair and the Political Culture of the GOP,’ U.S. Intellectual History, 28 March.

‘Academic Groups Denounce Wisconsin GOP’s Demand for Professor’s E-Mails,’ Chronicle of Higher Education, 28 March.

‘Krugman and the Smears of the Cracked Teapot Party,’ Daily Kos, 28 March.

‘William Cronon vs. Wisconsin Republicans,’ Wall Street Journal, 28 March.

‘William Cronon, University Of Wisconsin Professor, Targeted By State Republicans,’ Huffington Post, 28 March.

‘Paul Krugman: American Thought Police,’ New York Times, 28 March.

‘AHA Deplores Effort to Intimidate William Cronon,’ AHA Today, 27 March.

‘William Cronon did his job, what more do you want to know?,’ Sustainable Cities & Transport, 27 March.

‘Warning to parents about ALEC and its draft education legislation,’ Parents Across America, 27 March.

‘Wineke: By Going After Prof., GOP Takes Aim At UW Tradition,’ Channel 3000, 27 March.

‘FOIA “request” in Wisconsin could be violation of whistleblower protection law’, Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub, 27 March.

‘On Cronon: History, Law, and the Public, 2 of 2,’ AmericanScience: A Team Blog, 27 March.

‘On Cronon: History, Law, and the Public, 1 of 2,’ AmericanScience: A Team Blog, 26 March.

‘Wisconsin gets weirder,‘ Inside Higher Ed, 26 March.

‘Un chercheur intimidé par un politicien qui veut l’accès à ses courriels,‘ Agence-Science-Presse, 26 March.

‘How Wisconsin Republicans Respond to Their Critics,’ Big Think, 26 March.

‘Hi, Joe!,‘ Pharyngula, 26 March.

‘A Shabby Crusade in Wisconsin,’ New York Times, 26 March.

‘Because We Are All Bill Cronon: An Open Letter To Our Colleague In Madison,’ Tenured Radical, 26 March.

‘Publish and perish?,’ Halfway There, 26 March.

‘Surely ALEC wouldn’t be purging e-mails that are now evidence, would they?,‘ Millard Fillmore’s Bathtub, 26 March.

‘More on Professor Cronon and ALEC,’ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 26 March.

‘Republican Party of Wisconsin attacks UW professor’s right to speak — but can’t spell his name right,’ Madison.com, 26 March.

‘NYT Editorial and Other Coverage of Cronon Open Records Case’, Scholar as Citizen, 26 March.

‘Wisconsin GOP official files request for access to UW professor’s e-mail,’ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 26 March.

‘Republican Party demands access to Wisconsin academic’s emails,’ Times Higher Education, 26 March.

‘Wisconsin Professor’s E-Mails Are Target of G.O.P. Records Request,’ New York Times, 26 March.

‘GOP’s Radical Breakage Continues,’ Obsidian Wings, 25 March.

‘Reading Bill Cronon’s emails,‘ Sustainable Cities & Transport, 25 March.

‘Political Warfare in WI,’ Outside the Beltway, 25 March.

‘So, What Gives When FOI Meets Academic Freedom? On FOI As A Partisan Tool….,‘ The Art of Access, 25 March.

‘The Wisconsin Republican Party uses Open Records Law to get emails written by the Wisconsin professor William Cronon,’ Althouse, 25 March.

‘Demand for Emails of Wisconsin Professor Raises Legal Questions,’ FIRE, 25 March.

Chancellor Martin’s statement on open records, academic freedom, 25 March.

‘GOP won’t withdraw records request,’ Capital Times, 25 March.

‘There’s No Such Thing as a Bad FOIA Request,’ Slate, 25 March.

‘Wisconsin GOP Seeks E-Mails of a Madison Professor Who Criticized the Governor,’ Chronicle of Higher Education, 25 March

‘Wisconsin GOP: You’re friggin’ right we want that one friggin’ college professor’s friggin’ emails,‘ Daily Kos, 25 March.

‘Wisconsin GOP Seeks UW Professor’s Email After Critical Blog Post,’ Daily Kos, 25 March.

‘Wisconsin’s most dangerous professor,’ Salon, 25 March.

‘Bloggers Beware! (If You Work at a State University in Wisconsin),’ Econbrowser, 25 March.

‘WI Republican Party uses open records law to intimidate its most moderate critic,’ Crooked Timber, 25 March.

‘Academic Intimidation,’ New York Times, 25 March.

”Have You No Sense of Decency?’ The Wm. Cronon Story,‘ The Atlantic, 25 March.

‘Wisconsin Republican Party Seeks E-Mails of UW-Madison History Professor Critical of Governor Walker,’ Leiter Reports, 25 March.

‘UW Prof. Cronon: I Wish GOP ‘Could Have Spelled My Name Correctly’,‘ TPM, 25 March.

‘Republican Party Response to Cronon Critique of Open Records Request,‘ Scholar as Citizen, 25 March.

‘Wis. GOP: Attacks On Our Open-Records Request Against Professor Are ‘Chilling’‘, TPM, 25 March.

‘Wis. GOP FOIAs Emails of State University Prof Critical Of Gov. Walker,’ TPM, 25 March.

‘Wisconsin GOP: You’re damn right we requested Walker critic’s emails,’ Washington Post, 25 March.

‘Wisconsin GOP Seeks to Silence a Distinguished Dissenter. McCarthyism is Back,’ The Nation, 25 March.

‘GOP seeks e-mails of UW-Madison professor,’ Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 25 March.

‘Wisconsin GOP Blasts “Concerted Effort to Intimidate” Over Request for Professor’s E-mails,‘ Slate, 25 March.

‘Wisc. GOP defends request for professor’s emails,’ Yahoo.com, 25 March.

‘Professor’s Emails, Open Records, First Amendment: Wisconsin Professor William Cronon,’ Constitutional Law Prof Blog, 25 March.

‘UW history prof targeted for records request by Republican Party,’ Capital Times, 25 March.

‘An Open Letter to Chancellor Biddy Martin,’ Greg Bond/Facebook, 25 March.

‘Scott Walker’s Office Seeks Access to Critical Professor’s Email,’ Forbes.com, 25 March.

My Worlds Collide,’ TPM, 24 March.

‘Abusing Open Records to Attack Academic Freedom,’ Scholar as Citizen, 24 March.

‘William Cronon: Dissing Wisconsin’s traditions,‘ Madison.com, 24 March.

‘Wisconsin’s Radical Break,’ New York Times, 21 March.

‘Who’s Really Behind Recent Republican Legislation in Wisconsin and Elsewhere? (Hint: It Didn’t Start Here),’ Scholar as Citizen, 15 March.

Both Thom Brooks and Clive Barnett comment on the story that the Arts and Humanities Research Council has been pressured into devoting funds to research Cameron and Willetts’s idea of the ‘Big Society’.

While it might be good to have some substance behind what appears to be a nebulous political idea, this is work for party apparatchiks, rather than university researchers. Let’s hope, as Clive suggests, that this call can be diverted and used to fund work on more progressive understandings of this idea. The events in London at the weekend demonstrate that Cameron does not have everyone with him, and that it may quickly get out of control.

This story has been linked to by several others, but since Bill Cronon is on the editorial board of the Journal of Historical Geography, it now gives me a more direct reason to link to his blog. Well worth a look.

I’ve not been following the events in Wisconscin in detail, but you can find some background to the Cronon part of the story here. Lots of issues about academic freedom, the politics of universities, and their place within the wider set of issues around public sector cuts.

[Update – another version of the story here and an op-ed piece in the New York Times; thanks to Adrian at Immanence for the links]