Skocpol's Tenure

To the Editors of The Crimson:

The protests against the denial of tenure to Theda Skocpol are entirely justified. I believe it is incorrect, however, to attribute her case to sex discrimination.

The real causes are probably ideological. Professor Skocpol's comparative study of revolution makes no secret of its use of Marxist categories and its indebtedness to Barrington Moore (who, though never an engage intellectual himself, in his very best writings owned a great deal to Marx). Despite his searching intellect and broad historical vision, Moore never became a full-fledged member in good standing of the Harvard faculty.

The simple fact is that no Marxists of any kind have ever been granted tenure at Harvard. They may get Assistant Professorships or occasional Senior Lectureships, and Harvard Press has even put out a Marxist book or two. But precedent shows that the University rigidly draws the line at giving lifetime tenure even to the most sophisticated of Marxist minds. There need not be an officially stated policy on this. Ideological and other forces at work at Harvard pretty much insure that things turn out that way. G.H. Bell-Villada   Ph.D. '74