Comment

Replies to Gilbert Levine's "Relations Between Unions and Universities in Research" published in the same issue. Argues that Levine's criticism is partly misplaced, i.e., that unions are excessively focussed on the here-and-now, that they want propaganda in place of analysis, that they lack the staff to evaluate the research being done, and that they do not know how to properly take advantage of researchers. Concludes that unions' preoccupation with social democratic politics leads them to reject explanations and lines of reasoning that cannot easily be accommodated by the status quo, and that union leaders must address the issue for an academic-labour rapprochement to occur. See also the article, "Academic Research on Labour: Strengthening Union-University Links," by Pradeep Kumar, published in the journal (no. 25, Spring 1990).