Many socio-economists recognize important connections between economics and academic freedom. As the aftermath of Katrina and the current recession has shown, in cases of economic exigency academic institutions have broader latitude in discharging faculty members and freezing their salaries.In light of substantial litigational transactions costs, the economic asymmetry between academic institutions and individual faculty members and the economic fears that faculty members face resulting from the reputational harm from protesting institutional actions also influence the quality of academic freedom. In addition, as the Supreme Court has recognized, orthodoxy can case a pall on the exercise of academic freedom. Economic orthodoxy is no exception to this rule. Given these considerations, important academic research reveals that group dynamics can play an important role in inhibiting the exercise of academic freedom.
In this session, the research literature on workplace mobbing (ganging up on a workmate by managers, co-workers, and/or subordinates) will be summarized in relation to the field of Socio-Economics, and then critically applied to a specific conflict in 2007-08, involving a professor at an American law school.