Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives PDF
Preview Becoming Right: How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives
Becoming Right Binder.indb 1 10/3/2012 3:49:59 PM Princeton StudieS in cultural Sociology Paul J. DiMaggio, Michèle Lamont, Robert J. Wuthnow, Viviana A. Zelizer, Series Editors A list of titles in this series appears at the back of the book Binder.indb 2 10/3/2012 3:50:00 PM Becoming Right How Campuses Shape Young Conservatives Amy J. Binder and Kate Wood Princeton university Press Princeton and Oxford Binder.indb 3 10/3/2012 3:50:00 PM Copyright © 2013 by Princeton University Press Published by Princeton University Press, 41 William Street, Princeton, New Jersey 08540 In the United Kingdom: Princeton University Press, 6 Oxford Street, Woodstock, Oxfordshire OX20 1TW press.princeton.edu All Rights Reserved Binder, Amy J., 1964– Becoming right : how campuses shape young conservatives / Amy J. Binder and Kate Wood. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-691-14537-2 (hbk. : alk. paper) 1. Conservatism—United States. 2. College students—Political activity—United States. 3. Education, Higher— Political aspects—United States. I. Wood, Kate, 1980– II. Title. JC573.2.U6B53 2013 320.52084’20973—dc23 2012029765 British Library Cataloging- in- Publication Data is available This book has been composed in Sabon and Trade Gothic Printed on acid- free paper. ∞ Printed in the United States of America 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 Binder.indb 4 10/3/2012 3:50:00 PM to edward, my love A.J.B. to geoffrey, for everything K.S.W. Binder.indb 5 10/3/2012 3:50:00 PM Binder.indb 6 10/3/2012 3:50:00 PM contents Preface ix chapter 1: Introduction 1 chapter 2: Who Are Conservative Students? 29 chapter 3: Sponsored Conservatism: The Landscape of National Conservative Organizations 76 chapter 4: How Conservatives Think about Campus: The Effects of College Reputations, Social Scenes, and Academics on Student Experience 113 chapter 5: Provoking Liberals and Campaigning for Republicans: Two Conservative Styles at the Western Public Universities 161 chapter 6: Civilized Discourse, Highbrow Provocation, and a Fuller Embrace of Campaigning: Three Conservative Styles at Eastern Elite University 213 chapter 7: Conservative Femininity 270 chapter 8: The Theory behind the Findings: How Studying College Conservatives Extends Our Understanding of Higher Education, Politics, and Culture 309 notes 327 references 363 index 381 Binder.indb 7 10/3/2012 3:50:01 PM Binder.indb 8 10/3/2012 3:50:01 PM Preface For more than half a century, critics located in right-l eaning think tanks, foundations, and the media have championed the cause of conservative undergraduates, who, they say, suffer on college cam- puses. In books with such titles as Freefall of the American Univer- sity and The Professors: The 101 Most Dangerous Academics in America, conservative critics charge that American higher education has become the playpen of radical faculty who seek to spread their antireligious, big- government, liberal ideas to their young under- graduate charges.1 In this portrait of the politicized university, middle- of- the road students complacently absorb their professors’ calculated misinformation, liberal students smugly revel in feeling they are on the righteous side of the political divide, and conserva- tive students must decide whether to endure their professors’ tirades quietly or give voice to their outrage, running the risk of a poor grade. Administrators, according to the critics, do little to stop the madness. Universities’ abdication of responsibility toward their undergrad- uates is said to have both academic and social consequences. Aca- demically, faculty are accused of turning their backs on Western- centered liberal arts training in favor of highly tendentious, politically correct curricula housed in the “studies” departments— ethnic stud- ies, queer studies, Latin American studies, women’s studies. Sociol- Binder.indb 9 10/3/2012 3:50:01 PM
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