Theory of Academic Social Control

Focuses on how educational institutions and knowledge-production systems (universities, journals, disciplines) regulate what is considered valid truth and who is allowed to speak it. Control is exerted through gatekeeping (credentials, tenure), defining legitimate topics and methodologies, and marginalizing "non-scholarly" or dissenting forms of knowledge.

Theory of Academic Social Control Example: The rigid requirement for a Ph.D. and peer-reviewed publications in a specific style to be considered a legitimate voice on a public health issue. This academic control marginalizes practical community healers or those using indigenous knowledge systems. It dictates whose expertise "counts," controlling the narrative by credentialing and methodology, not just by evidence.

by Abzugal Nammugal Enkigal February 7, 2026

Academic Neopentecostalism

The transformation of academia into a dogmatic belief system where specific theories (e.g., critical theories, neoliberal economics) become unquestionable doctrines. Adherence is a litmus test for legitimacy, dissenters are excommunicated (denied publication, tenure), and complex scholarship is reduced to catechisms and purity tests.

Academic Neopentecostalism Example: In certain humanities departments, deviating from a specific, prescribed theoretical framework in your analysis is not seen as a scholarly disagreement, but as an ethical failure. Job candidates are grilled on their doctrinal commitment to the theory, not their original thought, creating an environment of enforced orthodoxy.

by Abzugal February 8, 2026

Academic Compromise

When a student (commonly, in High School) takes so many advanced level classes (i.e. AP and IB) and extracurriculars that they cannot possibly pass or succeed in them all efficiently without sacrificing the time for basic human needs.

Person 1: Did you hear about Tony? He took 5 AP courses this year!

Person 2: Yeah, he’s also in Chinese club. AP Physics won’t stop giving him homework. He’s fallen into academic compromise.

Person 1: Poor, poor Tony.

by Parabeetle February 11, 2026