The tenure of university faculty has come under attack in recent years. As the attacks continue, this Cambridge University Press book by Deepa Das Acevedo should be of interest to tenured and tenure track faculty members and university leaders in the United States — if not the world.

The book has received positive reviews. Here is the Cambridge University Press description of The War on Tenure:

“As academia increasingly comes under attack in the United States, The War on Tenure steps in to demystify what professors do and to explain the importance of tenure for their work. Deepa Das Acevedo takes readers on a backstage tour of tenure-stream academia to reveal hidden dynamics and obstacles. She challenges the common belief that tenure is only important for the protection of academic freedom. Instead, she argues that the security and autonomy provided by tenure are also essential to the performance of work that students, administrators, parents, politicians, and taxpayers value. Going further, Das Acevedo shows that tenure exists on a spectrum of comparable employment contracts, and she debunks the notion that tenure warps the incentives of professors. Ultimately, The War on Tenure demonstrates that the job security tenure provides is not nearly as unusual, undesirable, or unwarranted as critics claim.” (bold added).

The book sounds to be a bold and innovative defense of tenure in a time when it is under attack in many quarters.