ABSTRACT

This chapter considers different forms of public intellectualism to critically examine the risks public criminological engagement poses to both the academy and to the individual researcher. It differentiates forms of public engagement by discussing their hegemonic or counter-hegemonic dimensions. The chapter’s main argument contends that the institutional push for faculty to engage in knowledge mobilization activities contributes to the suppression of critical academic knowledge and activist scholarship. Recognizing the oppressive nature of the institutional push for knowledge mobilization is an imperative first step in protecting critical and activist voices that are currently at risk of being silenced both inside and outside the walls of the academy.