This inspiring book by Naspir member Jeff Schmidt, which includes extensive positive practical advice on how to be a radical in professional life, could change your life in a dramatic way.

Large excerpts are on Jeff's website. Jeff says:
 

Fired author follows own advice, wins justice... The power of a public campaign

Upon publication of Disciplined Minds, the American Institute of Physics fired author Jeff Schmidt.  He had been on the editorial staff of Physics Today magazine for 19 years.  Following advice given in the book itself, Schmidt and free-expression advocates mounted a campaign that brought public judgment to bear on Schmidt’s dismissal.  Such justice is available to anyone not afraid to go public.

The public campaign also led to a formal settlement whose terms are highly favorable to Schmidt.  Schmidt credits and thanks the hundreds of physicists and others who spoke out publicly.  “This is a victory for free expression,” says Schmidt, “and a demonstration of the power of organizing.”

DISCIPLINED MINDS

Who are you going to be? That is the question.

In this riveting book about the world of professional work, Jeff Schmidt demonstrates that the workplace is a battleground for the very identity of the individual, as is graduate school, where professionals are trained. He shows that professional work is inherently political, and that professionals are hired to subordinate their own vision and maintain strict “ideological discipline.”

The hidden root of much career dissatisfaction, argues Schmidt, is the professional’s lack of control over the political component of his or her creative work. Many professionals set out to make a contribution to society and add meaning to their lives. Yet our system of professional education and employment abusively inculcates an acceptance of politically subordinate roles in which professionals typically do not make a significant difference, undermining the creative potential of individuals, organizations and even democracy.

Schmidt details the battle one must fight to be an independent thinker and to pursue one’s own social vision in today’s corporate society. He shows how an honest reassessment of what it really means to be a professional employee can be remarkably liberating. After reading this brutally frank book, no one who works for a living will ever think the same way about his or her job.

Write the author: This Email address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it
 
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc.
Cloth / 304 pages / April 2000 / ISBN 0-8476-9364-3
Paperback / 304 pages / December 2001 / ISBN 0-7425-1685-7

Discuss this article in the forums. (0 posts)