Academia's new identity: Political andcorporate agendae and the reduction of scholar to puppet

This chapter examines the current state of government and corporate funding inmodern academic environments. Conceptually, the existence of funding sources asproviding the backbone for productive and efficient academic research programs isperceived as logical and necessary. Indeed, it has been traditionally assumed that all suchsupport is offered within the context of academic freedom. Throughout the chapter, wediscuss how subtly identified motives on the part of government funding agencies and thecorporate sector may fundamentally compromise the integrity of scholarly research fromits inception in formulating research questions, to the reporting of results. A number ofcase studies are cited from a North American context to support the worrisome signsbesetting traditional scholarship directly relating to the erosion of academic freedom. Theimplications of a knowledge-based paradigm that is generated through a process ofconflicting interests leads to our discussion and conclusions of the question of social benefit. © 2010 Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved.