has the academic world also undergone a process of ‘proletarianization.’ In the academic industry
wages have been cut, workers have been laid off, work loads have been increased, and class size
have increased dramatically over the past three decades. Thus, the academic industry does not
function outside the capitalist economy but rather is subject to the same dynamics that drive down
wages and increase unemployment in the manufacturing sector. A major difference, however, is
that while craft workers were replaced in manufacturing by relatively un-skilled wage workers, in
the academic industry workers are expected to maintain high levels of training and skills even as
their wages have declined and their work load has increased.