De La Salle Boy Faces Axe
The piece below from the Guardian tells us of the likely fate of our own - former pupil of De La Salle in Salford - Terry Eagleton. Terry is one of this country's leading literary critics but appears to have fallen out of favour at the University of Manchester. The main reason appears to be a high profile dispute with University's celebrity academic, Martin Amis. One wonders too if Eagleton's honest analysis from a Marxist perspective is out of step with the new corporate identity of the University. Terry has written about his experiences growing up in our community in a book called The Gatekeeper in which reminiscences of De La Salle feature prominently. He has also written extensively on Ireland including the light hearted book The Truth About The Irish.
Terry Eagleton, Britain's leading Marxist literary critic, faces the axe at Manchester University where he has been involved in one of the most ferocious literary spats of recent years with the novelist Martin Amis.
Their verbal duel over Amis's remark about making the Muslim community suffer "until it gets its house in order" was given added piquancy by the fact they were supposed to be colleagues.
Their verbal duel over Amis's remark about making the Muslim community suffer "until it gets its house in order" was given added piquancy by the fact they were supposed to be colleagues.
In July Eagleton reaches retirement age and speculation is mounting about his future at Manchester, which is in the process of losing 650 jobs to clear a £30m debt.
The institution, reportedly, also has to find the £80,000 annual salary it pays Amis for the 28 hours a year he works as professor of creative writing.
Yesterday, a university spokesman told EducationGuardian.co.uk that Eagleton's future at the Manchester was currently under discussion.
"July marks Prof Eagleton's normal contractual retirement date at 65 and discussions are continuing regarding his future role," he said.
The form these discussions might be taking would not be divulged, although Eagleton has made it clear that he resents having to leave his post as the John Edward Taylor professor of English literature.
The thought of retiring to help pay the salary of his opponent rankles with Eagleton who told the Observer: "It is certainly profoundly odd that during this financial crisis they can afford to hire someone like him".
The combative literary theorist complained: "They are throwing me out on the grounds of age ... along with two other distinguished professors. We're 65, but it is a discretionary decision. There is some financial crisis going on apparently. It's not as though they pay me a fortune but I suppose they will save something. The students are getting rather het up about it."
Eagleton has written that Amis is "with the beasts ... the Muslim-baiters and haters, these days as likely to come from the Groucho and Garrick clubs as the nasty secret venues used by the neo-fascists".
Amis is unlikely to attend Eagleton's farewell party, if it comes to that, after remarking that the critic had "submitted to an unworthy combination of venom and sloth", adding: "Can I ask him, in a collegial spirit, to shut up about it?"
The university has made no secret of its desire to attract research stars and position itself among the top 25 research-led institutions in the world.
The question is, will it want to keep on Eagleton or look for fresh blood from elsewhere?
Ironically, Manchester's two trumpeted Nobel signings fall foul of the age limit, though there is no suggestion they will be asked to leave. Sir John Sulston, a leader of the human genome project, is 65, while Prof Joseph Stigiltz, the economics laureate who chairs the university's Brooks World Poverty Institute, will be 65 on Saturday.
The university's stance towards "the best internationally known literary critic this country currently can boast" was condemned by John Sutherland, former professor of English literature at University College London.
The reasons for the age limit of 65 were "wholly accountant driven", he said. Manchester would be able to afford two junior posts instead of Eagleton and now that the returns for the 2008 Research Assessment Exercise were in, the university was no longer in need of his reputation.
In the United States age-mandatory retirement is illegal, Sutherland pointed out. "America's greatest Marxist literary critic, Frederic Jameson (b. 1934), is still very much in harness (and throwing bricks from behind his barricade) at Duke. The notion of throwing him overboard would seem very strange.
"Britain should follow America's example. Age-mandatory retirement should be dropped," added Sutherland.
Following a European directive, UK legislation has left it up to individual employers to set a mandatory retirement age for their workers, which has to be at least 65 (anything below has to be justified). An employee can ask to stay on after 65, but there is no guarantee they will be allowed. Decisions can be appealed against through employment tribunals, but it's not a quick or easy process. There have been calls for decisions on cases involving retirement age to be stayed until the European courts have determined if the UK has implemented the EU directive correctly.
As a well-known cultural and literary theorist and author, Eagleton will probably not be stuck for work if he does leave Manchester, should he want it. But if he is piqued at the thought, he can always consult Age Concern's mini guide to the age discrimination law which offers advice for all employees, not just high profile academics.