自由な意見交換の砦とされる大学ですが、大学キャンパスでの最近のデモは、この見方に疑問を投げかけています。大学を舞台にした言論の自由に関わる抗議の波は1960年代以来になりますが、今回は右派ではなく左派が言論と自由の制限について訴えています。本書の著者は、この論争では、言論の自由と社会主義的な理想が対立していると指摘しています。こうした傾向は、米国社会全体のメンタルヘルスに対する意識の高まりの現れでもありますが、大学での交流や議論に水を差す傾向も見受けられます。教職員や学生たちが、新しい言論・行動規範が唱える「礼節」に反してお互いを攻撃し合ったり、誰かを侮辱したり怒らせたりすることを恐れるあまり自主規制するからです。
実際のところ何がこうした不満の波を駆り立てているのか、本書ではその原動力を解明していきます。最近の出来事を、過去半世紀にわたる言論の自由をめぐる大学での運動の文脈に位置づけた上で、米国の教員と学生の政治的信条に目を向けます。さらに、ポリティカル・コレクトネス、カリキュラムをめぐる論争、入学審査、教員の採用、アファーマティブ・アクション（積極的差別是正措置）、学生の取り締まり、学問の自由と検閲、学生生活支援、そして「トリガー警告」や「安全な空間」を求める心理について論じています。最後には、社会的・人種的正義の目標と言論の自由へのコミットメントをいかにして両立するのかという問題提起で締めくくっています。
    

• Addresses current hot-button campus issues, including speech codes, sexual assault, and political correctness
• Directly examines the rise of psychological language and argument in campus politics
• Written in an accessible question and answer format that breaks down key issues

 
Universities are usually considered bastions of the free exchange of ideas, but a recent tide of demonstrations across college campuses has called this belief into question, and with serious consequences. Such a wave of protests hasn't been seen since the campus free speech demonstrations of the 1960s, yet this time it is the political Left, rather than the political Right, calling for restrictions on campus speech and freedom. And, as Jonathan Zimmerman suggests, recent campus controversies have pitted free speech against social justice ideals. 

The language of trauma—and, more generally, of psychology—has come to dominate campus politics, marking another important departure from prior eras. This trend reflects an increased awareness of mental health in American society writ large. But it has also tended to dampen exchange and discussion on our campuses, where faculty and students self-censor for fear of insulting or offending someone else. Or they attack each other in periodic bursts of invective, which run counter to the "civility" promised by new speech and conduct codes. 

In Campus Politics: What Everyone Needs to Know®, Jonathan Zimmerman breaks down the dynamics of what is actually driving this recent wave of discontent. After setting recent events in the context of the last half-century of free speech campus movements, Zimmerman looks at the political beliefs of the US professorate and students. He follows this with chapters on political correctness; debates over the contested curriculum; admissions, faculty hires, and affirmative action; policing students; academic freedom and censorship; in loco parentis administration; and the psychology behind demands for "trigger warnings" and "safe spaces." He concludes with the question of how to best balance the goals of social and racial justice with the commitment to free speech.
 
 
REVIEWS:
"Campus Politics [is] a valuable attempt to understand the protests that have swept American universities. Although Mr. Zimmerman is a man of the left who sympathizes with the protesters, [he] challenges liberal and conservative professors alike." - Wall Street Journal