TOJ : A question that I was going to hold for later but that seems appropriate to bring up now, given what you have just said about the lack of memory in both the modern university and society at large, is, why do American universities, while touting themselves as global institutions that reach out to all different types of people, still struggle to genuinely incorporate both minorities and the impoverished into their institutional life?
SH: Inclusivity is a way of forgetfulness. I often suggest that egalitarianism is the opium of the masses. This is simply because inclusivity is often nothing other than the direct attempt to eradicate difference. Therefore, I think that the presumption of inclusivity is exactly a way of preventing the conflicts we need to have in order to have healthy communities. I know that sounds counterintuitive, but I just think that’s the way it works.
TOJ: In a sense, it is a way of excluding the type of people who don’t fit into the type of inclusivity we’re looking for.
SH: Right. Exactly. I mean tolerance and inclusivity are always strategies of the powerful!
