Includes bibliographical references (p. [287]-315) and index.

Introduction : why taking back higher education matters -- pt. 1: Pedagogy and the promise of democracy in the university. The post-9/11 university and the project of democracy -- Academic culture, intellectual courage, and the crisis of politics in an era of permanent war -- Cultural studies and critical pedagogy in the academy -- pt. 2: Higher education and the politics of race. Race, rhetoric, and the contest over civic education -- The return of the ivory tower : black educational exclusion in the post-civil rights era -- pt. 3: Incorporating education and shredding the social contract. Youth, higher education, and the breaking of the social contract : toward the possibility of a democratic future -- Neoliberalism goes to college : higher education in the new economy.