Dangerous Counterstories in the Corporate Academy

Although the social reality is stark for progressive scholars who engage in scholarly activities or arecommitted to guiding their students to develop a social-just praxis in the circles of higher education somescholars have found fissures amid the alienating often hostile academic world to learn grow and createtransformative communities. Up to this date however their stories have not been captured. Therefore thepurpose of this volume is to highlight alternative narratives generated by transformative scholars who havemaintained their oppositional identity to the structures that oppress the vast majority of citizens. By bringingtogether these narratives we focus on those who have joined with likeminded colleagues to teach engage in activism and conduct emancipatory formsof research learning to negotiate and survive academic and corporate realities in spite of restrictive climates.Not only are these stories vital for helping students academics and the wider community understand how commercialized forces are impacting theprofessional lives of critical scholars in the academy they have the power to help current and future critical pedagogues define (and redefine)themselves in a social world which is continually promoting a narrow and intellectually stifling agenda for the role of education and turning the publicagainst the very idea of a critical education (McLaren 2006). As stated by Bruner (1986) stories give a map of possible roles and possible worlds inwhich action thought and self-definition are possible (or desirable) (p. 2 cited in Collins & Cooper 2005). These possibilities for definition andredefinition are what we seek to present explore and understand.